S.V. Farnsworth Interview

Q: Let me start by asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. My name is Summer (S.V.) Farnsworth and I teach English as a second language at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. I have lived in Asia and speak Korean, French, Spanish, and English. I enjoy traveling and all my stories/novels are inspired by the setting.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A. I’ve been an avid reader all my life and that’s saying something since I have dyslexia. Even so, I lived in books and naturally progressed to telling stories at an early age. Oddly, no one ever told me to study writing in college or even suggested being a writer was a possible career. Silly people.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?
A. I am an independent author, so I make my breaks. It took me 10 years from the time I completed my 1st novel, Woman of the Stone, until I had the skillset to make publication happen. While I learned, I wrote another 5 novels and many short pieces including around 30,000 words of creative nonfiction. I edited the Joplin Writers’ Guild 2019 anthology, Season of the Four States, and they are pleased with the results. However, I discovered that though I enjoy working with authors, I don’t enjoy editing for them because it keeps me from my writing projects.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release A Rare Connection?
A: A Rare Connection, is an inspirational romantic suspense novel set in picturesque locales around the world such as South Korea, California, Southern Utah, and France. The opening scene is set during a subway strike in Seoul, South Korea. I experienced one in real life back in 1997 while traveling to the U.S. Embassy from my apartment, so the reader feels like they’re there. I hope readers will love the places this book takes them.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for A Rare Connection?
A: Arches National Park and the Manti-LaSal Mountains inspired me to write the novel for NaNoWriMo.org when my family lived in Moab, Utah a few years back. It was the year with the dress that went viral because some people saw blue and black stripes and others saw white and gold stripes. Thus, my fascination with high fashion began and a flirty, French, heiress named Nicole Moreau was born onto the pages of fiction.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: I want readers to remember they are enough for others when they are enough for themselves and to constantly be refining their character and attributes. All the while, it is important to remember the challenges of life cannot be overcome without the Savior.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A. I write about #MeToo issues. The true stories remain unwritten because they are not mine to tell. However, many of my readers have been affected by a tragedy endured by someone close to them, as have I. So, I write for readers who need a happy ending as much as I do.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. I’m writing the second book in the Modutan Empire series, Monarch in the Flames. It’s an epic fantasy that appeals to readers who like strong female characters with depth and enjoy a good sword fight now and again.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?
A. I enjoy amateur nature photography on a cheap camera. Honestly, it just gives me a good excuse to walk local trails and discover new places. Having said that, my favorite views are from my porch, because I live in a paradise.