By Kelvin Oliver
T4JYM: How long have you been a Christian?
GM: I was born into a Christian family and knew Jesus from the moment I heard my mother’s voice – – or perhaps even longer. I knew Jesus from a tiny child and have always loved the Lord.
T4JYM: Can you share a short testimony with our readers?
GM: I believe in the Triune God – – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I rejoice in the gifts that God has given me from birth, especially the gift of His Son who died for my sins and gives me eternal life. I was baptized as a baby, renewed my baptismal vows at fourteen, and have always walked with Jesus daily in prayer and in His Word. I feel the Holy Spirit in my life, guiding my work and my daily decisions. Though a sinner, I know that I am forgiven because of God’s mercy and unending love for His children. I am church active, communing regularly, as well as having served many positions of leadership and worker, such as: Sunday school teacher, worship leader, special program writer and director, puppet ministry, music ministry—soloist choir member, and handchime player. My husband is a believer and has dedicated his life to the Lord just as I have done. I know that God has blessed my life, my writing and my speaking. He has opened doors and filled my mind with stories so that I may share my testimony and faith with people all over the world.
T4JYM: If you could meet any one person, past, present or future, who would you meet? Why would you choose that person? What would you ask them?
GM: I think we all long to talk wtih Jesus face to face, but if I could speak again with someone from my past, it would probably be my mother who went to live with Jesus two years ago. I so long to tell her what God has done for me since she’s been gone. I long to hear stories that she told me that I have forgotten about her life and mine. I long to hear her voice singing God’s praises. I would probably ask her about heaven, but I have no doubt, my mother is knelling at the hem of Jesus’ garments.
T4JYM: What is the message you wish to share with your audience?
GM: As a novelist, I share stories of God’s loving kindness, grace, and mercy as we bungle our way through life, trying to find our own way and solve our own problems, often feeling alone and empty. I want readers to close my books at the end, renewed in their faith with the knowledge that they are never alone, never lost, never unloved. The Lord is by our side, waiting for us to listen to His quiet voice and to see His outstretched arms. My novels are read by people of all ages. I have ninty year old men and women to preteens and teens. My books are read by men in prison and by others serving in some form of church work. A good Christian story has no age limit for readers.
T4JYM: Do you ever get criticized for your work?
GM: Being a writer is not all sunshine and roses. Readers have tastes and they vary in their beliefs. Ninety nine percent of my reader mail is filled with poignant messages of how my stories have touched their lives, but on occasion, a reader does not like some issue or phrase in a book and they truly let me know it. I’ve heard from vegetarians who are angry that my stories have people eating meat, that my heroine called herself a fool, that my hero was described as having warm, tender lips. I always write to those angry people, telling them that I hope I am forgiven for my offense and that I wrote the book as guided by my values and the Lord’s presence.
I can’t make everyone happy, but I’m glad that only a small handfull find criticism.
T4JYM: Who, or what, are your biggest influences?
GM: Besides other writers, I’ve been influenced by my parents who were lovers of books, read constantly thus creating in me the love of books.
They were also encouraging with my earliest childhood efforts of writing poetry and short stories. My teachers, too, were also very supportive of my work and encouraged me. Now my readers are tremendous influencers. I have about a thousand people who are on my reader mailing list. These people write to tell me how much they loved the novel and how the story changed their lives. That is a definite influencer.
T4JYM: How much editing was involved? Did you do it all alone or did you send it to people to edit?
GM: An author edits her/his own book many times. I edit as I write. I always go back after a break or a new day and rereadwhat I’d written the day before and then edit as I go. Eventually I will print off six chapters and edit, then continue the story. By the time I end the book, the story has been edited many times. Once completed, I will do two more complete edits and then it will go to my proofreader who’ll give it a final read.
I’ve read it so many times by then, I read what’s supposed to be there and not always what I typed. Once it reaches my editors, the book is copy and line edited again, sent to me for approval of line edits and for any revisions necessary, then it goes back and is read again two more times at least. It returns to me in galley format for one final read where only typos are corrected. Then it receives a couple more reads before it goes to the printer. This does not hold true for people who self-publish or sell to POD (publish on demand).
T4JYM: How do you find time to write? Life is busy and time management is hard to do sometimes. When do you do your best writing and where?
GM: I receive tremendous support from my husband who has taken over many household tasks to give me time to write full-time and our children live on their own. I treat my writing like a job. I go to work in the morning, although it’s only going into my office, and I take a lunch break as well as an exercise break and work until dinner. When I’m on deadlines, which is often, I work into the evening sometimes and often on the weekends. I’ve given up some of my social life and do not take on a lot of committee activites, etc. since my writing has become my focus.
I have a wonderful office–a fifteen by thirteen foot room with desk, computer desk, work table, bookshelves, filing cabinets, copy machine, fax machine, storage and much more. I have an ink jet and laser printer as well as a notebook laptop to take when I travel (which is a lot). I have another computer in our den which is my on-line computer.
T4JYM: Who are some of the authors you read? Why do you like their works?
GM: I have always been a reader and love the work of certain authors or specific books which influence me to become a better writer with each book. Three secular authors are my favorites: Maeve Binchy, Rosemund Pilcher, and Anne Tyler. Their voices and stories are unique. I also like my contemporary, Debbie Macomber, for extended her faith into secular books. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is a story that made the greatest impact on me because it serves as an analogy of God’s undying love for His children.
T4JYM: What training do you have in writing? Did you take any writing courses in college to obtain the skills you have currently?
GM: Writing is one of those careers that does not require an education, only a solid understanding of the principles of English, creativity, and the love of a wonderful story. Personally, I have a master’s degree and was an English and public speaking teacher, then a high school guidance counselor for many years. I taught English at Davenport University in the Detroit area. But knowing English does not make a writer, poet, or novelist. It’s a unique skill acquired through practice and study—books, magazine articles, and workshops. Colleges do teach creative writing, but I never took one for some reason. I did have to do a lot of writing though in college. No matter, even with writing courses, a writer must continue to hone his/her craft by continually learning more about their chosen genre and by reading other people’s work.
T4JYM: When did you start writing? What kind of writing did you begin with? Do you do any other writing for fun, like journaling, poetry, etc.?
GM: I began writing as a child, poetry mainly. When I was about ten, I started my own Nancy Drew-type series, four girls who solved crimes. As a preteen and teenager, I wrote love stories that often had a tragic ending.
I didn’t know that romance had to have a happy ending. As a teenager in high school, I wrote teen columns for two local newspapers. Later, I wrote professional materials and reports through college and in my employment. I often wrote skits or short plays for the teachers and also for church choir which we preformed for an audience as a music fund raiser. I wrote puppet scripts as well as worship services and Sunday school programs for special occasions. I now have twenty books of programs like this published by a variety of Christian publishing houses. I continue to write program books and articles on writing for magazines or ezines as well as my Christian fiction. I am the author of thirty-two fiction works in book length for Steeple Hill single title, Steeple Hill Love Inspired, Steeple Hill romantic suspense, and Barbour Publishing. God has blessed me through it all.
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