Interview with Gail Sattler

This week I’m hosting Marta Perry with The Guardian’s Honor, Bonnie Leon with Touching the Clouds and Gail Sattler with The Narrow Path. If you want to enter the drawings, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (July 11th) evening.

Interview with Gail Sattler:

1.What made you start writing?

I don’t think mine is a typical answer to that question. I had been working full time, and when the company closed down and I was laid off, I thought I was going to have a lot of time on my hands. I had a huge box of books to read, and one of them was really terrible. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and no time to see where it took me, but I suddenly did. So I started writing to see if I could do better. Back then, I couldn’t, but I had so much fun I just kept going. I don’t even remember the name of the book or the author, but some people say a book can change a person’s life. That one bad book certainly changed mine.

2.How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?

I had been writing about 2 years when my first book sold, and it sold on my 40th birthday. I won’t say how many years ago that was.

3.How do you handle rejections?

Better than I used to. It helps to be working on another project. Being busy works best for me.

4.Why do you write?

Because I love it, and I can’t not write. I’ve always had an active imagination, and this is a fun and productive way to see where it takes me.

5.What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?

Learning to play the violin. An electric violin, with headphones.

6.What are you working on right now?

A couple of projects, none yet contracted. Believe it or not, one is a supernatural thriller.

7.Do you put yourself into your books/characters?

No. I don’t want to write about people like myself. I try my beset to make every character an individual.

8.Tell us about the book you have out right now.

It’s based in an Old Order Mennonite community, which is my hero’s home town. My heroine comes from the big city, and even though she is also a Mennonite, she has a hard time with the culture class. They butt heads at pretty much everything as they try to work together, and in the end, well, I won’t give it away.

9.Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read. Lots. When you find something that doesn’t work, whether it’s in a published book or by another aspiring writer, stop and try to figure out why it’s not working, and then see if you can think of something to make it work.

10.How important is faith in your books?

Very. Their faith is what keeps my characters grounded, and if I have a character whose faith isn’t solid, a major part of the book will be about what it takes to get that faith back on solid ground, and that character back on their feet.

11.What themes do you like to write about?

I like to write about when someone is out of their comfort zone. They will have decisions to make, some good, some bad, and I like to explore where those decisions will go.

12.What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?

That’s a hard question. Every book I’ve done is special for its own reason. So I don’t have an answer.

13.What is your writing schedule like?

I don’t really have a schedule. I lead a very busy life, so I write when I can squeeze in the time, which isn’t necessarily on the weekends. I don’t write every day, but there are also days that I don’t do anything except write. Of course, when I have a deadline I naturally write more, but the only schedule I can say for sure would be weekends and evenings when I’m not at a band practice or we have a gig. Still, regardless of doing it for fun or on a deadline crunch, I still love it because the bottom line is that I find writing fun, or I wouldn’t be doing it.