Interview with author, Miralee Ferrell

April 15, 2008 | interviews, reviews, writing

I just finished the fiction novel, The Other Daughter. I invited the author, Miralee Ferrell, to talk about her new book and the issues behind the story.

Suzie: Miralee, this is your first published book. Tell us a little bit about your writing journey.

Miralee: Hi Suzie, it’s great to have a chance to chat with you. I started writing seriously with the thought of publication three years ago. The Lord spoke to me through a special speaker at church when he prayed for me. He felt the Lord was saying that I needed to be writing, and whatever I chose to write should be published. I prayed about it for over two weeks, and decided the Lord was nudging me that direction.

I started by writing my memories since my husband and I met 33 years earlier, with the things we’ve encountered and the spiritual applications. From that, I moved to short stories (non-fiction) and had three of them published in magazines. Then a friend and fellow author suggested I try Christian fiction. I didn’t think I could do it, but came up with a story line who’s inception was an incident in our past, then embroidered and changed it fiction.

Two years after starting to write The Other Daughter, it was was published by Kregel Publications.

Suzie: So, let’s talk about the heart of your story. Your book is about a woman who is married to a Christian man who has a secret. How does she cope when it is revealed?

Miralee: Probably better than a lot of us would, but it hits her hard and rocks her world on its axis. She’s not a believer, and likes to be in control. The marriage is already struggling due to Susanne and David being spiritually at odds, and this new revelation of David possibly being the father of a 13-year-old girl who’s a stranger to them doubles the stress on the marriage.

Susanne feels badly for the child, but doesn’t want Brianna thrust into her home and possibly negatively influencing her own younger children. She’s caught in a strong emotional struggle, as she wants to do the right thing, but isn’t convinced the girl is David’s, and if she is, to what degree they need to be responsible.

Suzie: The young teen is caught in the middle of this story. In real life, what can a parent do when their marriage is in trouble, and it is affecting the entire family?

Miralee: Something that Susanne and David should have done, but struggled with: Communicate at a heart level.

Their emotions were both so near the surface that they had trouble setting them aside and talking rationally about what would be the best for Brianna, as well as for their own children. Since they weren’t both Christians, praying together wasn’t an option, as Susanne wasn’t open to that suggestion. Both had their own agenda and both had a different viewpoint about what should happen.

Neither took the time (at first) to consider what their responses might be doing to Brianna, or what type of example they were setting for their own children. Unfortunately, kids (even very young ones) sense our emotional level and respond to it. Had Susanne and David been willing to put aside their own needs and hurts and think about the kids first and themselves last, the issue would have been resolved sooner.

Suzie: What was your most difficult moment in writing this book? Your best moment?

Miralee: I think one of the most difficult things was to make Susanne a likeable person and help the reader to understand the deep emotional struggle she was experiencing.

Most people would take in an orphaned young teen if they showed up at their door with no place to go, and it would be easy for the reader to get irritated with Susanne at not welcoming this child with open arms. I had to find a way to help the reader understand the sense of betrayal she felt towards David, and that even though she didn’t want it to, those strong emotions kept her from being able to bond with Brianna.

The best moment was when I finished my final revision, LOL! The first time I wrote the book, Susanne wasn’t a very likeable person at all. By the time I’d finished it the third time through, a new character had stepped into the picture…David’s native American grandfather. I fell in love with this gentle man, and loved sharing him with future readers. I felt that he added a depth to the book and to the family, and helped balance out some of the strong emotional swings that both Susanne and David experienced.

Suzie: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Miralee: First, don’t let anyone discourage you from following your dream if you truly have a calling to write. You may never be published, but don’t write for that goal. Write because you love to write, and because you know it’s what you have to do. Being published is nice, but the satisfaction of doing a good job and following your dream is most important.

Second, if you’re serious about being published, do the work necessary to get there. Join writer’s groups, get involved in a solid critique group, read books about the craft of writing, attend conferences, and study hard. Writing the book is only about 1/4 of the job…then comes the hard part. Revising, rejections, edits, marketing, web sites, blogging, speaking, and so much more. It’s a big package and it’s a good idea to go in with your eyes open to what it entails. But if you know you want it, then go for it, and keep studying and working until it’s a reality for you.

Suzie: Are you writing another novel? If not, what is in the works?

Miralee: Yes, I’m actually working on three different projects right now. Anyone who reads The Other Daughter will meet Susanne’s friend Jeena. She’s the main character in the second book. It has a working title of Past Shadows (subject to change by the publisher) and is currently undergoing some revisions prior to being possibly acquired by Kregel. If it’s accepted and contracted, it will release sometime next spring.

I just signed a contract with Summerside Press, a new Christian publishing house starting a romance line this fall, called Love Finds You In…. Mine is Love Finds You In Last Chance, California. There will be a large number of books releasing centered around real towns or ghost towns (mine is a ghost town and set in 1879) across the U.S. It’s due to release in February of 2009.

They’re also reviewing a proposal by me for another town set in Oregon, but nothing is contracted for it yet. I’m very excited to be working with this new house, and hoping for an ongoing writing relationship with them as well as with Kregel.

Thanks for this opportunity to visit with your readers. I’d love to have them stop by my web site at http://www.miraleeferrell.com. If they sign my guest book, they’ll be entered in a drawing for one of my new releases coming out next year.

Posted by Suzie @ 11:03 am

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