Interview with the Author: Novelist Katie Ganshert

Phew!  What a great weekend!  Beth Moore On Saturday with 180,000 other sisters in Christ, Charley's Buffet, (for anyone who lives in SW or Central MO, this is the best place to eat that you might possibly never hear of,)  awesome service in the house of God on Sunday morn, and steaks and time with my family Sunday night. All in all, a very full and very satisfying weekend.  (Literally, I think I'm still stuffed from Charley's!)

And what a great way to start the week...  I am so very pleased to post an interview with contemporary inspirational romance author Katie Ganshert today!  Katie's debut novel, Wildflowers in Winter, will release in May 2012 from Waterbrook Multnomah, and Wishing on Willows will follow in April 2013.

Katie was such a sweetie, being gracious enough to respond (very thoroughly) to some of the questions that I'm really curious about.  These are things that a novice writer ponders, but only someone who has been through the process of book writing and publishing would know anything about.  I am very grateful to Katie for answering so honestly and candidly, for she settled my mind on a few issues.  I hope you enjoy her thoughts as much as I did, and you'll grab her book when it's released as well! 



KJ:  What are your favorite books on the craft of writing?



KG:  Oh, there are so many I would love to recommend, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll stick with three. Self-Editing for the Fiction Writer was the very first craft book I read and I ended up highlighting half of it. It’s a must-read for beginning writers. I also highly recommend Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. This book helped me understand the structural points I need to have in place in order to not only sustain a novel but captivate an audience. And finally, a content-heavy book and probably my all-time favorite—Techniques for the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain. This puppy changed the way I write stories and I think ultimately helped me land an agent and a publishing contract.


KJ:  Do you have any advice for the writer who gets discouraged and wants to trash a manuscript before it's finished?


KG:  Oh goodness, yes! Mainly this – you’re not alone! So many writers (myself included) go through this emotion, and it’s usually somewhere around the middle of the book, which I think is the hardest to write. If you’re a writer and you find yourself in that place, I think the first thing to do is figure out the root of the discouragement. Is the overall story idea lame? If so, then no amount of great writing can save it and perhaps tossing it is the best option. Just make sure you don’t make that decision on your own. Seek other opinions and demand honesty. If the overall response is positive, then the story’s not the problem. You are. And there’s nothing to do but buckle down and write through the discouragement. Know that the first draft is going to be crap and that’s okay! If you saw my first drafts, you’d be shocked I had a book deal. They’re awful. In fact, I’ve ordered my husband that if I should die suddenly, he is to delete all the rough drafts from my computer.


KJ:  How much insecurity did you feel about your writing before securing a publishing contract, and what advice would you give to novice writers on this topic?



KG:  You know what’s crazy? I think, the farther along in this journey I travel, the more prone I am to insecurity. In the beginning, there was this air of naivety about me. I honestly thought my writing was great. I thought I’d send my first novel out into the publishing world and it would be snatched right up. It wasn’t until a few rejections and a professional critique that I came off my naïve little cloud and realized how much work I had ahead of me. I think, if we’re not feeling at least a little bit insecure, then maybe something’s wrong. Maybe we don’t get how much there is to learn and how far we have to grow.

The advice I’d give to a novice writer, or any writer, would be to work through the insecurity. Don’t let it freeze you up. In fact, let it spur you onward. Let it fuel you to learn and study as much as you can about storytelling and the craft of writing. Let it fuel you to give each story your best effort. Once you’ve done all you can with that particular story, let it go and move to the next one, trusting that it will be better than the last. And hold fast to the truth that ALL writers struggle with insecurity. It comes with the job description.


KJ:  At what point did you start your blog/start blogging about writing in your career... After the contract, or before?


KG:  For me, blogging was my “stake in the ground” moment, where I publicly declared my dream of becoming a published author. I couldn’t hide anymore. My dream was out there. It was also the moment I decided I wanted to seriously pursue publication. So for me, this all came before the contract. I started blogging in January of 2009. I didn’t sign my publishing contract until January of 2011. And those two years of blogging helped me in so many ways. Not only did I make wonderful connections with other writers, but I’m also learning, as I work with more and more people at my publishing house, that many of them visited my blog while they were deciding whether or not to offer me a book deal. I have to believe my online presence helped.



KJ:  Have you ever had the urge to write a book in a genre other than romance?


KG:  A couple years back, I had this giant urge to write a middle-grade fantasy adventure story. Crazy, huh? I even plotted the story out and did a bunch of research. But I never actually wrote it. It’s saved somewhere on my computer, where I’m sure it’ll stay. We’ll see…..maybe someday. However, I do have an idea for a paranormal romance, which is not something I typically write. And I do plan on writing this one in the next year or so.

 
KJ:  Just how important is an agent in the publishing journey?


KG:  Totally depends what route you want to take. If you want to go the traditional route—which means being published by a decently-sized publishing house and seeing your book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and other retail stores, then having an agent is a must. An absolute must. There is always the .5% who do it without, but then, there are people who win the lottery too. However, self-publishing your work in an e-book format is becoming more and more popular each and every day. And if this is the route a writer chooses to go, then having an agent isn’t at all necessary. I will say, though, that even if I someday decide to go down this road, I’m going to covet the guidance and wisdom my agent has to offer. She is so much more than a deal-maker for me. She looks out for my overall career. And that is the type of agent you want in your corner.

 
 
KJ:  How do you juggle your writing career with mommyhood and being a wife?


KG:  Up until this year, I had to juggle full-time work, my writing career, mommyhood, and being a wife. So now that I no longer leave the house for nine hours of the day, it’s easier to balance. I will say though, that life as a contracted author is way busier than life before I got the book deal. I have to juggle multiple projects, stay in contact with multiple people from my publishing house, and put more time into building a readership and marketing. Keeping to a schedule helps a lot. I try to do most of my writing in the morning before my son wakes up and during his afternoon naptime. That way when my husband comes home from work, I can step away from the computer and be present at home. I’m also very blessed in the fact that my hubby is the epitome of supportive, so not only does God give me abundant grace when I mess up, my husband does too.



 
KJ:  A little about you? What do you want readers to know? (If anything!)



KG:  Hmmm….I’m left handed. I’m in love with black labs. I could live off chocolate, chips and salsa, but not all mixed together. I used to have an insane crush on Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell. And I’m so incredibly excited and thankful and nervous and in awe that I get this opportunity to share my stories with readers.

 

 

More about the author:   Katie Ganshert was born and raised in the Midwest, where she currently writes inspirational romance novels set in present-day America. When she’s not busy plotting ways to get her hero and heroine to fall in love, she enjoys watching romantic movies with her husband, playing make-believe with her wild-child of a son, and chatting with her girlfriends at Panera®. She could talk books all day and is often spotted around town pushing a stroller, walking her dog, and reading—all at the same time.

Thanks a million Katie!  I look so forward to reading your book when it hits the shelves, and I hope it is wildly successful!


~Kristen