Kathy Herman Interview

Q. Let me start with asking you to share the highlights of your professional writing career including the story of how you came to be published.

Well, I’ve certainly had some highlights that have brightened the pages of my memory. I’ll never forget that phone call in the summer of 2000 from the editorial VP at Multnomah Publishers saying they were sending me a contract for my Baxter series. Or the moment my first book, Tested by Fire, arrived in the mail. I held the padded mailer in my hands, my heart racing, then got in the car and drove to my husband Paul’s bookstore so we could share that moment together. It was surreal. That evening we started a tradition of celebrating each new release at Peppers, a quaint out-of-the-way pizza place we love. The owners got tickled with our quiet celebrations and soon started reading my books. Another highlight was the first book signing at Paul’s LifeWay Christian Store. A line of people showed up-some of them friends-but many just nice folks who came to support a hometown author. Texans are like that. And I’ll never forget what it felt like the first time I attended the Christy Awards as a published novelist. It was amazing just being in the room with authors whose novels I had read long before I was published. But the best highlights-the spiritual paychecks-come every single time someone tells me that God has used the words of my stories to speak directly to them. And there’s no greater highlight than knowing something I wrote has helped bring someone to Christ. At times it’s overwhelming, especially since I never aspired to be a novelist.

Oh, I always knew I had a knack for writing. I aced every essay test in school and used my writing skills in every job I had. Though I never once considered writing a novel, I did hope to write a children’s book.

At age 50, I retired from working in our family-owned Christian retail store due to joint problems. I decided to take a stab at writing a children’s book. I had specialized in them for the previous eleven years and thought for sure I could write them. After two weeks of staring at a blank laptop screen, I got depressed. My husband told me to write something-anything-it didn’t have to be a children’s book.

So I played with it and ended up writing a scene that involved a detective sitting on a park bench, a lake in front of him and a quaint little town with a clocktower behind him. He was waiting for something to surface in the lake?I had no idea what it was and was intrigued that I didn’t! The next day I wrote the prologue to Tested By Fire, which was my first suspense novel. When it was finished, I got brave enough to let my husband’s bookstore staff read it, and they got really excited and wanted to know when I was going to write another.

But they were my friends, right? I would expect them to act excited. Truthfully, I thought it was a fluke that I actually managed to crank out a novel. I didn’t think I could do it again. But the next day I wrote the prologue for Day of Reckoning, and ten weeks later, it was finished. Same reaction from his staff. Then I wrote Vital Signs-same reaction. I had managed to write three novels in just eight months, and Paul convinced me it was no fluke and that I needed to pursue getting published.

We prayed about it. And Paul, in hopes of finding out the process involved in trying to get published, contacted a former retail friend who was then working for Multnomah Publishers. Paul “accidentally” hit the voice mail of the president and started to hang up. Then he decided that since we had prayed it might not be an accident, so he left a message for the president, Don Jacobson, and asked that he call back-and he actually did. Don reminisced about the time he had visited our bookstore, and then Paul told him about my three manuscripts and what we were trying to do. Surprisingly, Don said he was interested and offered us an hour-long interview with their publishing board at the Christian booksellers convention, which was just weeks away. That kind of opportunity almost never happens. We jumped at the invitation and began to make some plans.

Paul and I came up with a clever marketing approach and, with guarded optimism, used it as we presented the Multnomah publishing board with three completed manuscripts. Everyone seemed enthusiastic, but we had no idea how serious they were about my work. Two weeks later on a Saturday morning, we got a call at home from Bill Jensen, the VP of Editorial. He said he had some bad news, that he had started reading Tested by Fire. My heart sank to my toes. He went on to say the bad news was that he didn’t have time to finish it, that he had fifty solicited manuscripts he had to read through-but that he loved mine! It was as if it were happening to someone else. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation, other than Bill complimenting me on my characters. He said he’d have a contract mailed to us for the three-book series within ten days. Paul was on the other line and said, “Oh, Kathy’s got at least two more in her.” And believe it or not, Bill said, “Well then, we’ll send her a contract for five.”

My reaction? Tears, joy, utter disbelief. When we hung up, Paul and I hugged and just thanked the Lord. After the news sunk in, I realized I was about to get a contract that included two books I hadn’t yet written and hadn’t even thought about. That was a little scary. Certainly getting a contract this way is not the norm. I have no idea why the Lord opened wide that door for me. But I consider it a privilege writing stories that inspire and challenge. And I never take for granted the gift He has given to me.

Q. Your book are so varied with characters, settings and plots. Where do you find your inspiration for your novels?

I honestly don’t know. Some authors have pages of story ideas they write down. I’ve NEVER done that. I’ve never even consciously created characters based on personal experience or people I know, though I’ve got fifty-eight years of data stored in my brain that’s bound to get recycled through my characters. The truth is I’m highly intuitive and seem to have an innate understanding of human nature that’s proven to be invaluable when it comes to creating believable characters. But when I’m writing, I honestly never think about whether a character is like someone I know or have met-or even like me. I just work to make them as genuine as possible.

Also, I’m a seat of the pants writer (also known as an SOTP) and find it much easier to create the plot and characters without the constraints of an outline. As for the setting, I tend to pick locations that appeal to me because I “live”(in my imagination) in that place for the entire time it takes to finish a series. I decided on Colorado for the Phantom Hollow Series because I was a resident of Colorado Springs years ago and did a lot of traveling around the state. Before I started writing this series, my husband and I took a car trip to the western slope of Colorado to do a little research. One of the things I enjoy most about starting a new series is putting together a mental picture of the fictitious elements I want to create. Phantom Hollow does not exist outside the pages of my novel. But it’s as real to me as Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. I can close my eyes and see the jagged peaks of the San Juans that rise high above the valley floor and surround the little town of Jacob’s Ear like a pure white fortress. I can smell the rich, robust aroma of coffee wafting from Grinder’s Coffee House and taste every buttery bite of a homemade fruit muffin at Jewel’s Caf?. Once I feel at home with the setting, adding the fictitious elements is fun.

And once I’ve chosen the setting, I decide which characters will populate the story and give them names that seem to fit their age, role, and socio-economic background. Sometimes I change a name later on, but I don’t spend a lot of time naming my characters. Mind you, they don’t come to life for me until I get into their heads, but creating a cast of characters isn’t difficult for me.

And BEFORE I EVEN BEGIN TO WRITE THE STORY, I choose a Scripture that I can build a story around-something that lends itself to a suspenseful story and is relevant to the reader. For example, for Never Look Back I chose Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” This verse lends itself perfectly to the situation faced by my protagonist, Ivy Griffith, who has just been released from jail after serving six months for covering up the strangulation death of a high school classmate ten years earlier. She’s paid her debt to society. Kicked her decade-long drug habit. And recommitted her life to Christ. But she hasn’t even begun to deal with the judgmental attitudes of other people. Or her haunting fear that God is holding her past sins against her.

Everyone in her hometown of Jacob’s Ear, Colorado knows what she did. And her brother Rusty wants nothing to do with her or the child he thinks she should never have had, seven-year-old son, Montana. Plagued by her own shame, her brother’s rejection, and her little boy’s cries for male affirmation, Ivy is reminded of her failures every single day. Keeping Psalm 103:12 as my central focus, I knew that Ivy must eventually confront her doubts about whether God truly did remove her sins as far as the east is from the west-and not just the sins others judge her for, but the secret sins she can’t forgive herself for. Not only is this verse powerful, but it also worked well for me to weave a highly suspenseful story around. The spiritual theme I choose gives me direction but leaves the story wide open for all kinds of twists and turns.

Q. One of the things I admire most about your books is your three-dimensional characters that always resonate with me, no matter their background, occupation, or struggle they are going through. How do you so fully develop these characters?

Again, I think I’ve been blessed with an innate understanding of human nature. But exposure and experience plays a big role. I can’t discount the fact that I’ve been people watching for fifty-eight years. Or that I’ve been through a lot of personal trials. Or that I’ve walked with other people through hard times. And even when I watch movies or TV programs, my mind is like taking in a lot more data than I can consciously recall. But it’s all in there. I pay attention to characterization whether I intend to or not. I even watch “cop” shows for homework. But the bottom line is I just understand people. I have no formula for how I’m able to develop three-dimensional characters. But it’s a gift when writing novels.

Q. On the subject of characters, no matter how many of your books I read and I’ve read most of them, you have one character that stays with me, Sally Cox, in Poor Mrs. Rigsby. Even after studying her, I cannot figure out any reason for this. Has anyone else commented on her or can you think of any reason she might stand out? Other than psychoanalyzing me? LOL

Actually, I still get a lot of feedback on Poor Mrs. Rigsby even though it’s been in print for several years. Readers seem to relate to Sally’s financial dilemma and her reluctance to trust God to provide. Some relate to her marital betrayal and struggle to forgive Sam. But my hunch is that Sally stays with you because she’s the first character in any of my books that I made three-dimensional. In fact, Harry Rigsby was three-dimensional, too, and I get a lot of feedback on him. I think Poor Mrs. Rigsby was a turning point in my style of writing. Not every reader would notice the way you did. I’m not sure if that’s why Sally stood out to you. But I loved writing that book and getting deeper into the characters than I’d ever done before. And I’ve been doing it since. Thanks for noticing!

Q. What project are you working on now?

I’m playing around with the idea of a trilogy set in East Tennessee. I know I want to wrap the first story around Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. My husband and I are going to take a car trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and I’ll research the area until I can see, hear, smell, and touch it with my eyes closed.

Q. You have been a published author for some time. How have you seen the CBA publishing world change?

Well, as a former retailer, I’ve observed the evolution of fiction over the past twenty years. I remember when Janette Oke and Frank Peretti were the two really popular fiction authors. There wasn’t much to choose from back then. I don’t have any statistics to back this up, but I think Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness opened the door to Christian fiction for tens of thousands of people who weren’t reading Christian fiction up till then. I’m one of them. His books made me hungry for more. In the years since Frank entered the scene, Christian fiction has exploded exponentially. The Left Behind books have had unprecedented sales, but there have been numerous fiction writers that have risen to the top. Today most major publishing houses are looking for and growing fiction authors, and most bookstores, religious and secular, have ample shelf space dedicated to Christian fiction.

Naturally the financial success of Christian fiction has drawn the attention of publishers in the general trade. Everyone seems to want a slice of the pie. We’re seeing huge secular publishing houses buying Christian publishers and also a significant number of independent Christian bookstores going out of business or being bought by Christian bookstore chains. Today, an impressive selection of Christian books can be found in general trade bookstores as well as Wal-Mart and Sam’s. And just about every Christian book in print can be bought online.

Another way the publishing world has changed is that it’s almost impossible to get published without an agent to represent you. And it’s difficult to get an agent to take you on unless you’re published. Seems like a Catch 22. More than ever, wannabe authors need to attend writers’ conferences and get to know agents, authors, and editors. Repeated exposure and building relationships seems to be the best way to get your name out there and increase your chances of getting your work “read.”

Another change I’ve noticed is that with a glut of new fiction titles, an author’s sales numbers are more crucial than ever. I’ve seen the publishers’ sales expectations rise in recent years due to the success of the top authors. If a title doesn’t sell enough copies, the author can forget getting a new contract with the same publisher. That in itself isn’t new, but with so many of the A authors doing well, it seems to me that the expectations for B and C authors are also higher.

Q. What jobs have you had in the past and how do they influence your writing?

I worked for the Christian Booksellers Association for five years and then with my husband and son in our family-owned Christian bookstore for eleven years. The way my job background has influenced my writing is that I’ve seen the impact Christian books can make on a person’s life, and I’m thrilled to be a part of that. I saw it at CBA. I saw it up front and personal as a retailer. And now I’m hearing it firsthand from my readers.

Q. I understand you don’t outline or plan extensively. I too write this way and always enjoy hearing about other writers who do. But more than that, I love how my characters surprise me and then later in the book their surprise becomes an integral plot point and I say, “that’s why you did that.” Do your characters surprise you and if so, what’s the best surprise you’ve had lately?

My characters surprise me all the time! But if I tell you how they have surprised me lately, I would spoil the surprises in this series. But since Sally Cox from Poor Mrs. Rigsby has stuck with you, let me share something fun about that. I was writing chapter eight and Sally was out jogging, her mind racing with what Mrs. Rigsby had told her. A red Camaro pulls up beside her and low and behold it’s her ex-husband Sam! He was not on my list of characters and I had no idea why he was there. I just let the dialog flow, and as you know, Sam became a major part of the story. I just love it when that happens! There are pros and cons to writing this way. Sometimes I wish I had the ability to outline and have the entire story nailed down. It can be stressful when I’m on deadline and one of my characters takes an unexpected right turn or I have writer’s block and am not sure which direction to take the story. But I absolutely love the surprises.

Q. As a follow up, did or does this method of writing hinder your proposals for future books?

That’s a great question. I think being a seat of the pants writer rather than a plotter would make it difficult to write the kind of detailed proposal that I or any author would need to do when seeking a new publisher. Fortunately, I’ve been with the same publisher for thirteen books, and it hasn’t been a big issue. I told you the story of how I got published, and that I already had three completed manuscripts to give Multnomah Publishers at the time. They gave me a contract for five books, and I gave them a general idea of the two stories still to come. Thankfully, they trusted me to deliver. But after the Baxter Series was completed and I wanted a new contract with Multnomah, they asked me to give them a synopsis for a stand-alone novel. I had no idea if I could even do that. I prayed about it and sat at my laptop, trying to come up with a storyline. My fingers started moving, and in about twenty minutes, I had the storyline. They loved it and gave me a contract. Of course the story changed numerous times, but it turned out much better than if I had followed the synopsis to the letter. It’s been that way with each new contract I’ve gotten with Multnomah. But I’m not the norm. I think every wannabe writer should go to writer’s conferences and learn how to write a good proposal.

Q. How has being a published author differed from what you thought it would be?

Writing professionally is more work than I ever imagined. I put in more hours writing than I ever did when I held a job. And my office is in my head, so I can’t just leave for the day and forget about it till the next morning. This profession is not for faint-hearted. It requires discipline, diligence, and determination. But the spiritual paycheck is awesome.

Q. Which author has most influenced your writing?

That’s an interesting question since I never aspired to be a writer. Though I love a good book, I don’t devour novels the way many authors claim to. I’ve always felt a little embarrassed about that and hesitate to admit it. But so many times I get bogged down in detail and slow-moving novels that I often don’t finish them. Maybe that’s why Frank Peretti was a powerful influence. I loved This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. My favorite was The Oath. They were suspenseful, fast-paced, and entertaining. And they made me think deeply about some aspect of my faith.

Years ago, my husband and I were privileged to talk with Frank over lunch when he was on tour and did a book signing at our Christian bookstore. I remember being far more enamored with his talent than his notoriety. Most of the questions I posed to him were related to how he came up with characters and the unique storylines. Frank influenced me in ways I didn’t realize at the time. But it’s interesting that the novels I write more than a decade later are also fast-paced, suspenseful, and entertaining. And they’re designed to make us think deeply about some aspect of faith. Yet my writing style and storylines are nothing like Frank Peretti’s. I found a way to incorporate the elements I loved about his writing into mine but without emulating him. Many of my readers admit that they have normally found it difficult to finish a novel and often felt bogged down-until they discovered mine. Now they’re fans and can’t wait for the next book. THAT’S exciting and very humbling.

Q. Have you ever had writer’s block and if so, how did you work through it?

I do get writer’s block from time to time. It’s terrifying, especially since I don’t have every aspect of my plot nailed down in advance. When it happens and I start to panic, I email my prayer team and ask them to pray. I do the same. Usually if I just calm down and get back in the flow, the story will start to pick up again.

I will say that at some point in every book I come under spiritual attack. I didn’t used to recognize it as such, but after writing thirteen novels, I’ve learned that it’s a “given.” While I don’t believe writer’s block is spiritual attack, I do think the enemy loves to use it to make me think I’m wasting my time to think I have anything to offer. I’ve gotten wise to his schemes, but I think spiritual attack is something everyone in Christian ministry experiences.

Q. At least two books by you are released each year. What kind of writing schedule do you maintain to keep up this pace?

My writing day Monday through Friday begins after my husband leaves for work around 8:00 a.m. I start by editing what I wrote the day before because it helps me get back in the flow. Plus I always notice areas that need revising or polishing. My goal is to write two thousand words a day, but it doesn’t always happen. I’m not like many authors who write whatever comes to mind and then pare down later. I edit as I go. And for some reason, I have the ability to write a story from start to finish without changing the sequence of scenes or chapters. I find that amazing since I’m so random in my thinking process. Occasionally I will add or cut a scene. But when I write the story, it seems to come out in the proper sequence. I use the synopsis I give my publisher as a guide and then let the characters take the story where it needs to go. I absolutely love being surprised when the story takes a right turn.

Most weekdays I’ll write from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and then stop to fix dinner (Yes, I actually cook!). It’s amazing how fast the time goes when I’m “in the flow” of the story. I never stop to break for lunch. I grab something I can eat while I write. Saturday is sometimes my most creative day because I’ll get up at 5:00 a.m. and work until noon without any distractions because my husband Paul is there to run interference for me if the phone rings or someone comes to the door. I set aside Saturday afternoon and evening to do something fun with Paul. On Sunday mornings, I get up at 5:00 a.m. and work until it’s time to get ready for church. Then I turn off the computer until Monday morning.

Q. What advice would you give to an aspiring unpublished writer?

Stay passionate about writing. Keep writing, even if you’ve finished a work and you’re trying to get it published. And stay teachable.

Q. What do you see as the greatest obstacle to becoming published today?

I addressed this earlier, but I think the single greatest obstacle is simply getting someone in a position to further your career to “read” your manuscript. It’s so hard to get a foot in the door. That’s why writer’s conferences are important.