Author of the Parker Twins Series and other books
by Trisha Bleau Smith
T4JYM: I had so much fun reading through the Parker Twin Series. They reminded me so much of books I read as a child, especially Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, but with a Christian flair. Where did the idea and the inspiration for the books come from?
JW: I see my inspiration for writing as two-fold: First, while born in the U. S. I grew up and have spent much of my life in the jungles, villages, and cities of Latin America. I discovered a world outside safe American borders that is often troubled, conflict-torn, and very needy, yet filled with lovable people and fascinating sights and sounds, places and cultures. My desire in everything I write is to open that world to my readers and broaden their horizons beyond the comfort zone of their own neighborhood. While the Parker Twin books are fiction, the events in them are based on real life and places and experiences I myself have encountered.
My vision as well in everything I write is to share my own heart felt conviction that for all the turmoil and conflict in our world, this universe DOES make sense and has both a purpose and a loving Creator. My prayer for the Parker Twin series is that each book, along with its exciting mystery/suspense story, will teach a specific Christian value and open children’s minds to a great, exciting world of other peoples and cultures not so different under the surface than our own.
T4JYM: Who have been your biggest influences in life? Who have been your biggest influences in your life as a writer?
JW: Definitely the people who have been the biggest influences in my life have been the missionary community in which I was raised–both my own parents and the many missionaries with whom they worked around Colombia and Venezuela as well as those who were dormparents and teachers at the missionary children’s boarding school I attended. Their faith and willingness to serve God out in the jungle and villages and in many other difficult circumstances had enormous impact on my own life. My own call to Bible college and missions came as a result of their influence.
As far as my life as a writer, I would again say that the biggest influence was the teachers we had at boarding school. We had college-level English teachers who gave up their time to come down to Venezuela and teach MKs, and they not only instilled in us a great love of reading and good literature, but taught us to write well.
T4JYM: How have your books been received by the general public? Has there been positive feedback? Any negative feedback?
JW: I did have one mother inform me that if her children ever got into so many dangerous scrapes, she’d have locked them into a closet after the first book. But the feedback I’ve had has been positive. It is fun and rewarding as a writer to have children run up to me in churches and school and say, “Mrs. Windle, I just LOVE your books. When are you going to write some more?”
Interestingly, I have collected some adult fans for the Parker Twins. One adult reader wrote from Australia to tell me he’d picked up the Parker Twins at his Christian bookstore and was planning a trip to South America to see the places I’d written about.
T4JYM: What are your next plans for writing? Do you plan to do any more children’s books? Will you move on to other styles of writing and target audiences?
JW: Yes, I do plan to write more Parker Twins than the six that are presently finished. But I also do a variety of other writing. At present I have nine books in print, including the six Parker Twins books, and an adult political/suspense novel, CrossFire, set in the American counter-narcotics operations in Bolivia, where my husband and I served as missionaries for 16 years. My first children’s fiction book is called Kathy And The Redhead and comes out of my own growing up years at boarding school in Venezuela. I also have an illustrated 5-chapter missionary biography called Yandicu: From Witchdoctor to Evangelist. Beyond that, I write frequent articles and short stories for Christian and missions-related magazines as well as the occasional video documentary. I have also recently finished another adult political’suspense novel, DMZ, set in the guerrilla-controlled demilitarized zone in Colombia, where I grew up, and a teen novel, Jana’s Journal. Both of these books will be released in late spring, 2002.
T4JYM: Tell us a little about yourself.
JW: I grew up overseas in the countries and places described in my books. My parents were missionaries in Colombia. My own childhood was spent canoeing up and down the jungle rivers, flying in Cessna to boarding school in Venezuela, hiking up the Andes mountains and into the jungles of South America. Most of the countryside in which I grew up is now guerrilla-controlled, a theme that comes into the third Parker Twin book and is forming the basis for my next political/suspense novel. As an adult, I have lived in and visited many other countries, and most of these places and experiences end up at some point in my books.
My husband Marty is also an MK raised in Bolivia, S.A. We spent 16 years as missionaries in Bolivia with Gospel Missionary Union. My husband was field director the last 7 years and involved in an extensive conference/teaching ministry as well. Along with my own writing in both English and Spanish, I worked in women’s ministries and with children’s clubs.
We moved in June, 2000 to Miami, FL, when my husband took the position of Director of Personnel for Latin America Mission. As well as my free-lance writing, I am involved with Christian writer-training in Latin America and as editorial consultant to several non-profit Christian magazines and committees. We have four children – three teenage sons and a 10-year-old daughter. Our oldest is in his sophomore year at Seattle Pacific University.
T4JYM: What are some of your favorite memories of South America?
JW: Rifting along jungle rivers in a dug-out canoe. Swinging a vine off a cliff into a mountain pool below (just like Swiss Family Robinson). Innertubing down mountain cascades, bruises and all. Hiking Andes trails too steep for muleback and jungle paths with monkeys and parrots chattering overhead. Waking up on a Colombian mountain coffee farm with the air as clear as crystal and the coffee bushes tumbling away from the very edge of the verandah to the valley thousands of feet below. Sailing across Lake Titicaca. Standing at the cliff edge of an Andes pass and watching the clouds drift by a thousand feet below, not above. Stars so clear and bright they do not look real. Carribean beaches with water as warm as a bathtub. And above all, the people. Often needy, but warm and generous and fun and oh, so lovable.
T4JYM: What do you do in your spare time?
JW: I have to admit that my greatest hobby is reading, and all I meet who knew me as a child have memories of myself and siblings curled up with a book at any mission function. I play the piano as well when time permits, though most of my spare time is spent in activities with my children -beach, zoo, museums, etc. Our life involves much travel, and we plan in stops at every tourist and scenic attraction we can from Inca ruins and Carribean beaches to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore.
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