Marta Perry Interview

Q: How did you get your start writing fiction and what genre do you predominantly write in?

A. I started writing short fiction for Sunday School take-home papers, primarily for children at first. From that I branched out into writing for other Christian magazines and eventually into writing short stories for women’s magazines. I eventually decided it was time to write the novel I’d been thinking of for years! I write primarily inspirational romance and romantic suspense in the sub-genre of Amish fiction.

Q: What does your writing space look like? (Insert picture if possible)

A: I couldn’t possibly share a picture of my office as it looks today, since I just finished a book! Cleaning the office will obviously be my next chore. When I started writing, our children were young and our house was full, and I wrote wherever I was, including in the stands at practices. Now that we have an empty nest, I have the bookshelf-lined office I always wanted, but I still find that I can write anywhere, including in a moving car as long as someone else is driving!

Q: In this busy world, how do you find time to connect with God and how does this impact your writing?
A. I think that daily contact with God is crucial to every Christian, and I’m very involved in work, service, and worship in my church. There is always a spiritual theme to my writing, whether it is explicitly stated or not, and that becomes a touchstone for me in writing that particular book.

Q: What part of a writing career do you find most difficult?

A. I find keeping up with the promotional aspects and maintaining an online presence to be a challenge, since what I really want to be doing is writing the next book. Maintaining that balance is challenging, but I find the use of goal sheets, calendars, and time lines a big help in seeing what needs to be accomplished when in order to keep from being overwhelmed

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Abandon the Dark?

A: In this third book about a group of childhood friends, graphic designer Lainey Colton returns to the Amish community of Deer Run to care for her Amish great-aunt and discovers that the memories of the summer she spent there when she was ten hold the secret to a long-undiscovered murder. Attorney Jake Evans isn’t sure he can trust this outsider, but even as he questions her motives, he is drawn to her deeply. But no amount of attraction will matter if he can’t keep her safe from a killer who has killed before and will do so again.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?

A: When listening to my now-grown children talk about their memories of various events of their childhoods, I noticed how those events became clearer as each one’s memory nudged another to recall something. The idea of three friends sharing their memories of a particular summer led me to ask the first “What if” question, and the story was off and running.

Q: Tell us a little about your main character and how you developed him/her.

A: Lainey Colton is a flawed heroine, fleeing from the mistakes she’s made and seeking refuge in the house which has always represented the ideal of home in her gypsy-like life. Subjected to the whims of an erratic mother, her only stability was in Deer Run with her Amish great-aunt. As I developed the character, I saw the need to show her mistakes while still keeping the reader’s sympathy. I realized that whatever Lainey had done wrong, she’d always longed for home and family even while thinking she didn’t deserve it, which to me made her a fascinating character I wanted to know better.

Q: What did you enjoy most about writing this book? Least?

A: I loved writing a story set in the central Pennsylvania mountains and valleys I call home, and every bit of the setting is based on a place I love. And after living with the characters for three books, the most difficult thing was to say goodbye.

Q: What is the main theme or spiritual message of this book?

A: The spiritual message is one of facing the mistakes you’ve made, asking forgiveness, and then accepting that forgiveness and moving on to do better.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

A. I’m working on The Rescued, the second book in my contemporary/historical series for Berkley Books, Keepers of the Promise. Each book is the story of the struggle of a contemporary Amish woman contrasted with the story of one of her ancestors, an Amish woman living in a different time and place, but with whom she shares a common need.

Q: Do you have a favorite hobby?

A. I love to sew, and recently my grandchildren have been keeping my busy making costumes for them. The most recent one is a Princess Elsa costume (from the Disney movie, Frozen) and I’m enjoying it.

Q: What is the most rewarding thing you have ever done?

A. Raising three children who have grown to be everything their father and I hoped for and more.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

A. Please visit me at http://www.martaperry.com. I’m also on Facebook at MartaPerryBooks.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

A. Write to me at marta@martaperry.com, and I’ll be happy to send you a signed bookmark and my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.