Interview with Author Stephanie Grace Whitson

A native of southern Illinois, author Stephanie Grace Whitson has lived in Nebraska since 1975. She began what she calls "playing with imaginary friends" (writing fiction) when, as a result of teaching her four homeschooled children Nebraska history, she was personally encouraged and challenged by the lives of pioneer women in the West. Since her first book, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995, Stephanie's fiction titles have appeared on the ECPA bestseller list and been finalists for the Christy Award, the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, and ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year. Her first nonfiction work, How to Help a Grieving Friend, was released in 2005. In addition to serving in her local church and keeping up with two married children and three children in college, Stephanie enjoys motorcycle trips with her family and church friends. Her passionate interests in pioneer women's history, antique quilts, and French, Italian, and Hawaiian language and culture provide endless story-telling possibilities.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your writing, and your publishing journey.

In the early 1990's when I was home schooling my four children and they became bored with their state history textbook, we did a "hands-on" project that involved researching the people buried in an abandoned pioneer cemetery near our country home. As a result of that project I began reading diaries and reminiscences of pioneer women in Nebraska. At some point in that process I began writing scenes in the life of an "imaginary friend." Those scenes eventually became about two-thirds of a novel I didn't have time to finish when a home-based business I had founded began to experience explosive growth.

Knowing that writing usually meant rejection from publishers, I sent off three query letters to three publishers who, according to Writer's Market, were accepting unagented proposals from unpublished writers. I honestly expected a rejection notice that would be God telling me to put the story away and give more time to the home-based business. But God took that unfinished novel and put it in the hands of Lonnie Hull Dupont who was, at the time, with Thomas Nelson Publishers. With Lonnie as my champion I was subsequently offered a three book contract which became Walks the Fire, Soaring Eagle, and Red Bird. Two of those three books landed on the ECPA bestseller list and my career was born. (I know in hind-sight that a great part of that miraculous beginning was God's way of providing for me and my four children since my husband would die in 2001 leaving me with a family to support. . . and no real marketable skill besides writing.)

What is the greatest historical novel you’ve ever read and why?

I'm not comfortable with declaring anything "greatest," but the first book that comes to mind at the thought is Gone with the Wind because of the unforgettable characters Margaret Mitchell introduced to the world in that book.

Did you have any experiences that prompted your love of fiction and historical fiction in particular?

One of my earliest memories is of my mother reading Pinocchio aloud to me when I was sick as a child. My mother was not an educated woman in the usual sense of that word. She was forced to drop out of school with only an 8th grade education, but she educated herself by reading and I credit her with teaching me to love books. She always said that books were her friends. She had an unhappy childhood (to put it mildly) and disappearing into an Elsie Dinsmore novel probably saved her sanity more than once. Her passion for reading was life-long and it spilled over to me. Mother introduced me to Eugenia Price, Grace Livingston Hill, and Catherine Marshall, and I am certain God used both those writers to point me to the wonders of historical fiction long before I ever considered writing it myself. When I was home schooling my children I often used historical fiction to encourage them to get beyond dates and places and into the lives of the people living that moment in history. Reading Quo Vadis, for example, ended my oldest daughter's complaint that ancient world history was "boring."

I don't honestly know why I love history but I always have. I nearly minored in history in college and I often contemplate going back for a master's degree in history.

How much time does it take to research your stories – what balance would you say there is between research and actual writing?

My publishing schedule is a book every nine months. The research schedule varies depending on whether or not I am using a setting I've researched before. But a completely new setting requires more time to research than it does to write the story. I think that's largely because I always collect about three times as much information as I honestly will use to write a book, but since I never know what I will use and what I won't, and since I love history and I never know when a "bunny trail" will take me to a new book idea, I overdo the research part.

Describe for us, if you will, your writing style, as in plotter vs. seat of the pants, and do you put more time into developing characters or plot or are they equal?

About as close to an outline/plot plan as I ever get is a list of scenes. Before I start writing I usually know how a story will end, so at least I have a place I'm headed. But beyond that I have a list of characters and a list of scenes and settings and I jump in and start writing. I keep wishing I were more organized, but every time I try someone's method for outlining I get impatient and want to start writing. Developing characters happens for me as I write. I throw a character into a situation and see what happens. Analysis comes later in the rewrite when I try to make that character's personality consistent throughout the story. I do write a long character description using a combination of charts from various books on writing, but more often than not the character ends up changing my "plan" before a book is finished. For example, in my most recent release Jacob's List I initially had Michael Nolan work as an insurance executive. About a third of the way through the book I realized he was a pediatrician. . . and that was a "duh" moment literally. Once I realized Michael was a pediatrician a LOT of things in the story fell into place. But I didn't know that about Michael until I got to know him by watching him interact with his wife and friends in various scenes. This sounds very strange even as I write it, but that's honestly how it works for me.

As to time spent developing plot and character. . . . I spend very little time developing either before I start to write. Especially with historical fiction, historical events are driving the story, so real history provides the overall plot and timeline for me. To me, this makes historical fiction a little easier to write than contemporary, although with contemporary fiction I can dress, feed, and move people without researching first. I enjoyed that about writing my three contemporary novels.

Join us tomorrow for part two of Stephanie's interview. And don't forget to post a comment to win a copy of Stephanie's historical Secrets on the Wind.