Patty, describe yourself for our visitors.
Hello! I’m Patti Lacy, a contemporary women’s fiction writer. I compare my career path with a woman trying on practical winter coats, trying to see which one fits best. My degree from Baylor University enabled me to teach junior high science and English. Then my husband Alan and I loaded up a U-Haul and moved to Arizona. To get a job, I agreed to coach the boys tennis team!
The lure of the legal field prompted me to quit teaching and become a court reporter, and I continued this career for over a decade. In the meantime, we moved to Texas and started a family. A better job for my husband in the Midwest allowed me to become a homemaker, my favorite career of all! Years later, with grown children, God pushed me into writing, something I’d never really attempted (except some melodramatic poetry).
Mentoring young women through Bible study and prayer is another God-given calling. I also enjoy teaching the Word, especially using Beth Moore studies!
When I’m not searching for the perfect metaphor, to relax and connect with nature, I take long walks with Alan and our mixed breed mongrel, Laura. Another avocation is travel. Last summer, Alan surprised me with a trip aboard the Empire Builder Amtrak train. The smells and flavors and sights of Seattle—the bustling Pike’s Peak market, the colorful public art, the breathtaking sculpture garden—made our 30th anniversary trip unforgettable. Love you, Northwest America!
A favorite Saturday pastime is cranking up Tracy Chapman, Daniel Bailey, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Eden’s Bridge or any number of my “favorite” artists, opening up the windows, and letting my perennials enjoy the music as I garden. Music also helps make house-cleaning fun!
How do you find time to connect with God?
After I hop out of bed, I get on my knees, praising God, then asking Him to guide my actions and my words through the day. There’s always a Bible study—and a marked-up Bible—by my favorite study chair, and before I start work, I glean precious nuggets from God’s Word. Just lately, I’ve been asking for wisdom and using God’s weapons (the Word and Spirit-led prayer) to battle spiritual strongholds. Last month, I completed Beth Moore’s new study on the Psalms. God’s word never ceases to amaze, humble, convict, and inspire me. If I want to get anything right in these computer files, I’d BETTER put Him first.
Who are your favorite authors? Favorite books?
You’ve probably seen the t-shirt, “So many books, so little time.” I think that phrase resonates with us writers. My old friends are the classics. A few months ago, I reread Stegner’s Angle of Repose and again cried at the ending. I love Austen, Dostoyevsky, Elliot, Tozer, Lewis, Hugo, Walker, and many others! New friends include Kingsolver, Edwards (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter). In the Christian realm, I devour Lynn Austin, Maureen Lang, and I’ve just discovered Lisa Samson. The plucky protagonist of Quaker Summer made me angry, happy, and sad—because Samson captured so many of my own vices with humor yet honesty. What a voice that woman has!
Tell us about your journey to publication.
In 2006, I attended Right to Publish, my first writer’s conference, and was inspired by Lynn Austin, the keynote speaker, and Julie Dearyan, a bubbly woman who needed a ride and in exchange, gave me priceless advice. “Get an editor,” she told me as she hopped out of my car.
Soon after, I hired Camy Tang of Story Sensei and Sushi series fame to edit my book—not once, but twice! Before Camy got her claws off the manuscript, the POV had changed, and so had half the chapters! Somewhere in that time frame, I submitted to Writer’s Edge. Maybe six weeks later, Kregel Publications requested the partial, then later, the full. Kregel’s fabulous editing team polished and hacked a bit more on the poor Irishwoman—and in the process taught me loads about writing. Just this spring, my second novel sold. I’m presently working on a three-book series entitled “Spanning Seas and Secrets.”
Tell us about your current book.
An Irishwoman’s Tale was born on the front porch of my house in Terre Haute, Indiana, when “Mary,” a member of the book discussion group I’d started, stayed to help clean up. I thought she just wanted to pick through the tasty Southern hors d’oeuvres I’d made, but what she really wanted to do was spill out the secrets she’d bottled up inside for decades.
As she spat out her first memories—a shattered cup, cheap tea, bitter voices asking what’s to be done with the little eejit—chill bumps had their way with my arms and legs. For hours, she explained to me why she was and wasn’t Irish and her frustration with God for yanking her from the majestic cliffs of west Ireland, her homeland.
Four years later, we moved to Normal, but my friendship with the Irishwoman blossomed—and so did the idea of writing her story. In 2005, God sent Mary and I back to those haunting cliffs and showed us how He’d worked for good in her life. Over forty years later, God explained why he’d sent her to America—and a few other things.
As we dodged sheep and pedestrians on Ireland’s narrow country roads, I used a hand-held tape recorder to capture much of Mary’s story. When we got back home, I flavored it with my own imagination, still trying to preserve the mystical wonder of Ireland—and God’s grace and forgiveness—on paper.
How did you come up with ideas for this book?
Mary pretty much provided this story for me by asking me, “What is your first memory?” then sharing hers. When I begin to write any story, I search for that image that burns a hole in my brain and won’t let me sleep. In An Irishwoman’s Tale, it was a wild-haired, scared five-year-old, sitting at a table, hearing rude adults discuss her future.
List your three most recent books.
An Irishwoman’s Tale is my debut novel. Kregel has also bought Unsettled Waters, which is slated for release sometime in 2009. I can’t wait to hear what you think about Sally, Mary’s gregarious Southern friend, who has buried her past in the murky waters of a Louisiana swamp. (Tyora of this great blog helped me get this book right!) My Name is Sheba, the first novel in a three-book series, is my current WIP.
Where can visitors find you online?
My website, www.pattilacy.com. In the next couple of months, this old dog plans to learn new tricks and blog!
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