Interview Stephanie Redmont

by

Camille Cavanagh

1) How long have you been a writer?

About two years. I started writing in 2005.

2) Is writing your full time job?

Writing is one of my several full time jobs, but it’s not the one that pays the rent. For a paycheck, I do test and development work on a large computer application.

3) Do you write strictly in one genre, and if so, what drew you to that genre?

I just write the story I want to tell. After the work is done, it’s time to figure out which genre best describes it.

4) Is there one particular theme you like to explore in your stories or does each story have a theme of its own?

I’m interested in writing about people and how they are shaped by relationships, historical events, environmental circumstances, and their own choices. This presents an endless variety of interesting material.

5) How do you get your story spark? Does the idea for the plot come first or is it a character or something else?

I like to start with a premise, usually a situation. I plan the general plot development, and then work on the characters. Before I begin the first sentence of the first chapter, I write a personality profile and physical description of each major character. If a house, office building, or other structure is important to the action, I draw a floor plan and briefly describe the decor. I do a timeline that begins with the plot situation and work backwards. For instance, if the action begins in 1800 and the hero is 30 years old, then obviously he was born in 1770. If the heroine is five years younger, I have a reference point that establishes her birth date as 1775. If she went to school between the ages of five and sixteen, her education began in 1780 and ended in 1791. This takes a lot of self-discipline, because all the time I’m doing this preparation work I’m just bursting to get started telling the story. However, the up-front work pays off. If I want to drop an event into a character’s past, the time line allows me to set the date easily because the math has already been done. As for the spark, I have a notebook stuffed with ideas for stories. A hundred years wouldn’t be enough time to get them all done!

6) How do you name your characters?

 I try to choose names that “fit” the character, because I believe name associations set up readers’ expectations about the character’s personality. For instance, Eudora is a name that was used in my family for many generations, although not recently. I wouldn’t call the heroine of a futuristic novel Eudora, but that name would slip easily into a story set in the19^th century.

7) What writers have influenced your writing?

My mother is a writer, and I’m sure she has had the most profound influence. Probably every writer whose work I’ve read has left some lasting impression, and that’s a vast multitude--Beowulf to Virginia Woolf.

8) What type of books do you like to read?

 I particularly love classic epics and well-researched biographies, but I’ve read a little of everything.

9) What advice would you give a new writer, embarking on their first novel?

Don’t be discouraged by what other people say or think. Not everyone likes every book.

10. What inspired you to write this particular novel?

People used to ask me occasionally why I didn’t try to write. My truthful response was that I had nothing to say. Becoming a Christian gave me a voice. Now I want to tell everyone about the peaceful delight that comes from a vibrant relationship with God. I hope that theme is evident in Lord, I’m Coming Home and everything else I write.

11) If you could say one thing to your readers, what would it be?

 Never give up on your dreams.