AJ, describe yourself for our visitors.
More than anything I’d have to describe myself as a story lover, because if I’m not reading (or writing) novels, I’m usually watching movies or waiting for the next good one to premier. Sometimes I joke that I should own stock in The Weinstein Company. I even have this dream of writing stories that translate to the big screen someday. Music and the performing arts (live concerts, plays, dance) also rank high on my list.
My favorite sport is horseback riding, but I rarely get to ride these days. Writing has become a ministry of sorts for me, because when you put your words out there—especially on topical issues such as my new singles book, Where Have All the Good Men Gone? (Harvest House)—readers email with all sorts of questions and regard you as an expert. I try to encourage them and offer whatever counsel I can.
How do you find time to connect with God?
I subscribe to two online devotionals, and each morning before leaving for work I spend a few minutes with God through His Word. Remember where the apostle Paul exhorts, “Pray without ceasing”? I used to wonder what he meant by that, but I think I’ve learned to do so without even realizing it. I will simply talk to God in my mind—and sometimes out loud—as I go through my days. I tell Him my frustrations, my celebrations, my worries, my joys. I believe God wants us to be closer to Him than our busyness typically allows (and I’m definitely including myself here).
Who are your favorite authors? Favorite books?
I lean toward edgier fiction, stories that aren’t afraid to show characters’ all-too-human failings as well as their triumphs. The best example of this I’ve ever read is the Starbridge series by Susan Howatch. An English author, her books are not CBA fiction, but she writes more compellingly about faith and failings and redemption than anyone I know. Other authors whose writings have influenced me are Gail Godwin, Sue Monk Kidd, Leif Enger, C.S. Lewis, and the Bronte sisters. My favorite books include Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Glittering Images (and the rest of the Starbridge series), Father Melancholy’s Daughter, Peace Like a River, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Tell us about your journey to publication.
My journey to publication was much slower than it should have been, because I’ve worked in Christian publishing for twenty-plus years now as a writer and editor. I’ve known for about as long that I was supposed to write a novel. It was just “there” inside me, this knowing. Like so many people I was afraid to take the leap because once you do, you face the possibility of failure—or non-acceptance of your work. Plus I’m a procrastinator at heart, which is a terrible trait for a writer!
I wrote Skizzer over a span of about three years, but the actual writing was done in bits and snatches of time stolen in the form of long weekends away, vacations, and late-night inspiration sessions. I hope to be able to write my next novel in concentrated, sequential time. The story builds more momentum of its own that way, I believe. I found out my manuscript was accepted via an email from my agent, who informed me that Baker/Revell had made an offer. That was a thrilling day for me and one I had waited for a very long time. Once I had a tangible offer and a hard deadline, I knew I would find the momentum to finish the book (I sold Skizzer based on a seven-page synopsis and three sample chapters).
Tell us about your current book?
The story centers on two sisters, Claire (the main character) and Becca, her younger sibling. At the outset, Becca has disappeared–up and leaving her husband with just a cursory note offering no real explanation. Claire drives to North Carolina to pursue a hunch that Becca might have fled to the town where they grew up, perhaps taking refuge with their elderly Aunt Jess. She stops at a place where they used to play as children—an old estate the local kids called haunted—and finds a letter addressed to “Skizzer” inside a sister-secret box she and Becca left there more than twenty years earlier.
The letter says “something both terrible and wonderful has happened” and that Becca needs time to herself, urging Claire not to look for her. But of course that’s exactly what Claire and her distraught brother-in-law do. The story weaves between the present and the past through flashbacks to the girls’ growing up years in North Carolina. The search for Becca ultimately takes Claire and her brother-in-law to England, to a town that imprinted the girls heavily in their youth. The theme of the story is that the people we think we know best don’t always turn out to be who we thought they were.
How did you come up with ideas for this book?
The idea for Skizzer, as a story, is mostly fiction, but the word “skizzer” itself very much has roots in my life story. I grew up in a large family with five children, and my next nearest sibling in age—my sister—was almost like my twin. My mother tells me that when we were little bitty girls, I would call her my “skizzer,” being unable to say “sister” properly as a toddler. So the word and the family story stuck in my mind over the years.
About twenty years ago, when I first thought about writing a novel, a germ of an idea took shape. I knew I wanted to write a book about sisters, as that was always such a powerful influence in my life, and the name Skizzer came to me but nothing more. Over the years I worked professionally as a journalist and book editor, and I kept telling people that someday I would write this novel. A writer friend finally lit a fire under me, and I forced myself to sit down and start writing. Now I wish I hadn’t let so many years go by, squandered on “thinking” about writing a novel rather than just doing it.
List your three most recent books:
I write nonfiction as well and just made the leap to fiction with Skizzer, but fiction is my first love so I hope to write more stories. In order of publication, my last three books are: Where Have All the Good Men Gone? (Harvest House, March 2008), Skizzer (Revell, January 2008), and Jaded: Hope for Believers Who Have Given Up on Church but Not on God (Revell, March 2004).
What’s next for you?
I am most definitely thinking about a sequel. I loved the character of Colin so much (Englishman Claire falls for) that I’ve considered telling the story of the intervening years on his side of the Atlantic, or, conversely, how the love story between Colin and Claire picks up where Skizzer leaves off.
How can visitors find you online?
Readers can visit my website at www.ajkiesling.com. I would love to hear from my fellow story lovers!
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