Welcome!
Thanks so much for hanging out with me in this space! I love writing this newsletter and connecting with all of you.
Life happened in September (!) so I did not get to this newsletter until now. So . . . happy September/October. :)
A hearty welcome to my new Colorado subscribers from the Timberline Writers Club. How I have enjoyed getting to know you and talking with you about words and God.
In this newsletter, you will find some interesting tidbits.
- An interview with Cheryl Grey Bostrom, my award-winning fiction-writing friend.
- An autographed book giveaway.
- Some photos of Wyoming and another location across the ocean.
- A link to a warehouse book sale.
- A verse of Scripture that makes me think about how I connect.
- A writing opportunity.
- Coming in early November: A Gratitude Calendar.
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An Interview with Cheryl Grey Bostrom
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I met Cheryl through the Redbud Writers Guild and quickly grew to love her kind heart and beautifully written words. I want you to meet her. And I want you to hear about her book Sugar Birds—full of rich, complex characters and themes. (Spoiler alert: I wanted to climb trees after I read it.) Enjoy this interview.
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You began writing fiction in earnest in your sixties.Tell me about that decision and what you did before you pursued fiction writing.
I’d long considered the knack for writing fiction like an eye color that wasn’t mine—a little sprig of DNA that some possessed, some didn’t. Since I believed myself in the latter category, I stuck to writing poetry, essays, and long-form non-fiction that included two books. A few months after I turned sixty, however, my heart made a tectonic shift. My granddaughter Gwynie was born, and with her the inklings of a story I hoped would be a gift to her and an offering of gratitude to God. I banished my “eye color” mindset and did a deep dive into learning how to write that tale. Slow and clumsy at first, I prayed nonstop. And learned.
How did you come to this idea of Sugar Birds?
I was actually pretty far into the story before the character Mender called the story’s antagonist a sugar bird. Her comment was an aha moment for me, and since the concept applies to every character in the book (and to every human being) at some point, the plural birds worked best. At one time or another, don’t we all scratch and peck to feed our hungry hearts?
Your young protagonists Agate and Celia find themselves in both the physical wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and the wilderness of emotional pain. Tell me a bit about why you chose this setting to unwrap emotional pain and why it works.
I spent much of my Pacific Northwest childhood roaming forests and climbing trees like those in Sugar Birds, so I know the setting well. The country is wild and dense, enticing and dim, comforting and harsh—a good place to hide, to get lost, and from which to emerge. The physical wilderness illustrates well the isolating and confusing emotional landscape into which Aggie’s shame and Celia’s anger drive them. Also, the food, shelter, and healing the girls discover in that forest offer a metaphor for the care, love and forgiveness that eventually extract both girls from their fear and pain. |
One of your supporting characters in Sugar Birds is a tender-hearted, autistic savant named Burnaby. How did he emerge in your writing of the story?
Burnaby entered the story as a secondary character, though he quickly developed into much more—a composite of people I love best. I felt like I knew him, and I wanted to share dimensions of his character that, once understood, could offer readers new insights into themselves and also into the neurodivergent people in their lives.
Sugar Birds first appeared in the world in August 2021 and quickly garnered awards. How did you react to that?
I'm nearly seventy, so cartwheels weren’t an option. Gotta say though, I was thrilled, grateful, and under no illusions. The honors recognize God’s beautiful hands on this work, not mine. He gave me the inspiration, then daily strewed the manna of ideas, many redeemed from my own childhood. He directed me to experts who could teach me how to write them down, helped me persevere, led me to publication, then instilled favor with readers that led to his sort of abundance: over a dozen mainstream and Christian awards and finalist spots in others. I’m trusting they’re door openers for his plans to bless through the story. I've taken great joy being his UPS girl, delivering his goods.
And now in October, Sugar Birds will re-release with a new publisher. Tell me about that.
Last year my wonderful agent Cynthia Ruchti took a chance on my indie-published, general market novel and offered it to Tyndale House. They said yes! This month the new edition of Sugar Birds will return the story to the mainstream market and also offer it through Christian market retailers for the first time. A Sugar Birds sequel will follow next May, and a third (nearly finished) stand-alone novel in 2025.
What is your hope for the readers of Sugar Birds?
After readers savor Sugar Birds' setting and ride its storyline, I hope they’ll consider wilderness and rescue, lostness and hope, and that they’ll emerge from their own forests encouraged.
BONUS:
In this audio interview, Cheryl talks about her writing process as well as how her own difficult childhood figured into the writing of Sugar Birds. |
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****A Book Giveaway****
Cheryl has graciously offered to sign a copy of Sugar Birds for one of my readers.
So . . . do me a favor and forward this newsletter to someone you think might enjoy hearing about Sugar Birds. Once you do that, let me know. Then I'll put your name in the hat for the autographed copy.
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Some Favorite September Photos
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We spent some time in Norway with John's relatives and took some picturesque hikes with his cousins. And then just last week we discovered Aspen trees turning a shimmering yellow in Wyoming.
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Click this link to discover a warehouse sale from
Tyndale Publishers!
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This verse from The Message makes me pause and think and pray about how I interact with people . . .
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I write with a wise group of faith-filled maturing women at The Sage Forum. We publish a monthly newsletter, and now we have just started publishing a mid-month devotional. I know some of you could do this sort of writing so well. So, please join us. If you have questions, email me.
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COMING IN NOVEMBER: a printable gratitude calendar.
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Know that I love to hear from you and know that I'm cheering you on as you seek to live connected. Intentionally.
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