What is it about Smithville?
An
interview with Beth Wiseman,
author of
The House that Love Built
Q: Is there one particular message or “moral of the story”
you hope readers walk away with?
I hope
that Brooke, Owen and the rest of the gang will stay on readers’ hearts for a
long time, that readers will reflect on the very different ways that the
characters handled the events in their lives. And in turn, hopefully the story
will inspire people to turn to God in both the good times and the bad.
Q: Forgiveness of self and others is one of the themes that
runs through The House That Love Built. Why do you think it is so hard
for us to forgive ourselves and let go at times?
People
often say we are only hurting ourselves when we can’t forgive someone. That
holds true when we can’t forgive ourselves, too. God forgives us . . . and so
easily. Yet, we beat ourselves (and others) into the ground over the burdens of
our past. I personally have trouble forgiving myself, so that ends up in my
books a lot.
Q: Both of your lead characters have “baggage” that keeps
them from wanting to pursue a new relationship. Do you think sometimes we let
our past get in the way of what God has planned for our futures?
Carrying
our burdens of the past is self-destructive, and my goal for this story was to
have several of my characters shedding their burdens as they grow in their
faith and put their trust in God.
Q: Even though she questioned God’s will, Brooke clung to
God after her husband died. However, Owen did the opposite when his wife left.
Do you think there’s any reason in particular some people have one reaction
versus the other when something bad happens in their life?
I have no
idea why people react so differently during a crisis, and I intentionally
wanted to incorporate both sides, so to speak, into the story. The spiritual
arc in this book is clearly Owen’s, so I wanted to show his struggles and how
he eventually reaches out to God. But I also wanted to show that there are
people who do not turn from God
during a crisis—like Brooke—no matter how unfair things might seem.
Q: Has there been a time in your own life where you could
really sense God was putting you in a situation for a reason?
That has
happened to me many times, but I couldn’t foresee the reasoning — especially
during the bad times. It has taken years to understand that much of what I have
experienced was to give me a better understanding of certain situations so I
could write about it and hopefully help others. I’m not sure I could have
captured the hospital scene in my second novel if my own son hadn’t spent a
month in the hospital. My character was fifteen, just as my son was when he was
sick, so my emotions ran deep. I’ve witnessed a miracle, so I wrote about one. I’ve
made mistakes I’m not proud of, and those seem to find a way into my stories,
as well, painful as some of them might be. I’m adopted, so I’ve written about
that. Each book I write ministers to my own soul, and I pray the stories will
bring peace to my readers.
Q: The House that Love Built is set in
Smithville, Texas, where several Hollywood movies have been set. You live
nearby. What’s so special about Smithville?
I love
writing stories set in small Texas towns, and Smithville is really quaint with
friendly people who live there. The movie Hope
Floats was filmed there, and the town is very welcoming to authors, film
crews and the public in general. There are a lot of older homes like the one
Owen purchases in my story. The “mystery” surrounding the house was inspired by
a house in another small Texas town: Schulenburg.
Q: You are best known for your Amish fiction, and The
House That Love Built is just your second venture outside that genre. What
persuaded you to try something new?
I think
it’s natural to want to spread your wings a bit when you’ve written so many
novels and novellas in the same genre. For me, writing about Texas comes
naturally since I live here, and I love to write about a community, as opposed
to just “boy meets girl.” I like a good love story, but my secondary characters
usually end up with large roles because I like to show how God puts certain
people in our paths for a reason, however unlikely it might seem to us at the
time.
Q: What’s on the horizon for you? What will you be writing
next?
I just finished
book number six in the Daughters of the Promise series, releasing in October
2013. I’ll also be doing some Amish novellas for the next couple of years. But
the next full-length book I will be working on jumps way outside of the box. It
will take readers far away from Amish Country and Texas to a dangerous place on
the other side of the world. I can’t say too much yet, just that it is inspired
by a true story and something very close to my heart.
Learn more about Beth Wiseman at bethwiseman.com and follow her on Twitter (@bethwiseman). She also hangs out
at Fans of Beth Wiseman on Facebook and
loves hearing from readers.
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