Terri Blackstock
MARCH 2011
WG: Welcome and thanks for stepping into my spotlight this month. To start off, please tell us about yourself.
TB: I was raised in the Air Force, so for the first twelve years of my life, I lived all over the place - four years in the Netherlands and all over the US. We settled in Mississippi when I was in seventh grade, so I consider that my home. I went to college in Louisiana, where I earned a Bachelor's Degree in English, and I went on to graduate school but never finished, because I chose to write my first novel instead of my thesis. I sold my first book at age twenty-five, and have been selling novels ever since. I think I have over seventy titles that have been published, and those have sold over seven million copies worldwide. My three children are adults now, so my husband Ken and I have an empty nest.
WG: Let's talk about your own personal road to publication:
Is there some individual, group or event that you can point to as the catalyst/impetus that set you on the road to becoming a writer?
Explain.
TB: I think the fact that I moved so often as a child contributed to my being a writer. I was often alone and was always the new kid in school, and some years I didn't have many friends. There were five and seven years between me and my siblings, so we weren't really playmates. But I wouldn't trade any of that, because God used those years to develop and nourish that imagination that helps me write novels today.
WG: Tell us about your journey.
TB: Honestly, I decided to pursue publication in my early teens. I was getting The Writer and Writers Digest magazines when I was fourteen, and I had every intention of majoring in something in college that would help me become a better writer. I worked on my first novel after I'd given birth to my first child, and I joined an RWA group in Shreveport, Louisiana (the NOLA Chapter). I learned about the industry of writing in that group, and made good friends with the same goals.
When my first book was finished, I went to an RWA conference and met my first agent. She sent my book around, but it was rejected. By the time I got those rejections, though, I'd finished my second book. The editors who'd rejected me were interested enough to look at the second effort, and Silhouette bought it. After that, I was able to sell almost everything I proposed.
WG: How many books did you complete before you sold your first? Have all/any of them sold since?
TB: There was just that one that didn't sell, and I'm very thankful that it didn't. Now that I look back, it was pretty amateur. Sometimes rejection is the kindest thing that can happen to us.
I did have rejections of ideas from time to time. I'd pitch something to my editor and she/he would say that they'd already done something like that, or they were sick of that theme, or they just didn't like it. But usually by the time I put it into a proposal, it had been vetted to some extent, and they bought it.
WG: Can you tell us something about your experience in getting 'the call'?
TB: It was a very exciting day. My agent called and told me that we'd had an offer, and I had to sit down in the middle of the kitchen floor to keep from falling over. I still get a thrill when I think about it.
WG: How has being a published author impacted your life?
TB: I've loved being a writer. I love the fact that I can set my own hours and work at my own pace, and I'm doing what I enjoy and getting paid for it. About fifteen years ago, I came under conviction that the things I was writing weren't pleasing to God, so I made the switch to Christian fiction. I promised God I wouldn't write anything that wasn't glorifying to Him, so all my novels since that time have had Christian themes. I started over writing suspense rather than romance, and I love that. Suspense holds my attention like no other genre, so it's a good fit for me.
WG: What aspect of life as a published author surprised you the most - either in a good or bad way?
TB: I think I pictured myself having a more glamorous life, but most days it's just hard work. Over the years, things have changed a lot. It surprises me now that I have to put so much effort into marketing. I have to manage a web site, as well as social networking, and as a book is about to launch, things get really busy with blog and radio interviews, and more traveling than I normally do. It's against my nature, because I'd rather just sit in a room and write. But I'm very blessed that I've been able to do this so long and have such loyal readers.
WG: What about your writing process:
Do you maintain a set schedule? Is there such a thing as a typical day for you?
TB: That has changed over the years. When I was raising children, I kept school hours, and that worked for me for a long time. Now that I have an empty nest, I sleep a little later and get started about mid-morning, and I often work into the night. I do try to take weekends off, though, to let my brain rest.
WG: Do you set writing goals for yourself?
TB: When I'm first-drafting, I try to write at least ten pages a day. Then I rewrite the book line by line five to ten times, literally. You wouldn't recognize it from the first draft to the final draft.
WG: Do you have a 'mood setter', something (music, ritual, environment, etc) you use to get you going when you sit down to write?
TB: Silence is what I need the most when I write. But there are times when I work better to background noise of the television. Music can be distracting to me, so I usually avoid it unless I'm trying to drown other noise out. If I use music, it's usually classical - something I can't hum along with.
WG: Do you do a lot of up front plotting before you start or do you just dive in?
TB: I do a lot of up-front plotting. I have to have a map or I won't know where to go each day. But my outline changes a lot as I go. I use Scrivener software, which makes it easy to outline and move scenes around as I go.
WG: Do you normally start with storyline or with character or with some combination of the two?
TB: It all depends. Sometimes I'll start with a situation that feeds my imagination. Sometimes a theme. My book Intervention was inspired by my own experiences dealing with my daughter with a drug problem. Its sequel, Vicious Cycle, kept the same theme of drug abuse, but came from crystal meth addicts I met doing prison ministry or through my daughter's drug treatment. My book Predator came from my experiences using social networking, and my concerns that people were posting way too much information about themselves. So I wanted to write a book that scared them into being more careful. Usually, God calls my attention to something and puts a heavy burden on my heart about it, and then gives me an idea of some page-turning plot that works with it.
WG: Do you find certain themes or character archetypes making recurring appearances in your stories?
TB: Yes, I do. A recurring theme in all my books is that the crisis can sometimes be the blessing. Some of the best things in my life have come from the greatest suffering. I love that irony. As Joseph said, "What the devil intended for evil, God intended for good." So I love to tell stories where evil is overcome by good, and beauty comes from ashes. God often works in my own life through crises that I experience.
WG: What do you see as your own personal strengths as a writer?
TB: I think I'm empathetic, which makes it easier for me to get into the heart and heads of my characters, and create people readers can relate to. I think writers have to be able to see things in a deeper way, with more insight, than other people do. That's a gift from God, and probably something that can't be learned.
WG: Are there any obstacles/conflicts, specific to your particular lifestyle, that get in the way of your writing? If so, how do you try and overcome them?
TB: I have back problems from all those years sitting at my desk, and the pain can be a distraction. There are days when I have to cut my work short because of that. I've written a few books lying mostly on my side with my laptop, just to take pressure off of my back. I also have a desk that rises and falls with the push of a button, so I can work sitting or standing. It seems to be an occupational hazard, because I know a lot of writers with back problems.
WG: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about your process?
TB: I write my first drafts through without much judgment, as fast as I can, and I don't go back to change or rewrite anything until I've finished that draft. Then I get creative in the subsequent drafts. And I'll sometimes do ten or more drafts before I'm finished. Each time I get deeper into my characters and setting, rewriting line by line to make it the best it can be.
WG: Do you have a favorite sub-genre as a writer? as a reader?
TB: My favorite genre is suspense, and I like to read it as well as write it. I have a fairly short attention span, so I need something exciting to hold my interest.
WG: Is there a genre you haven't been published in yet that you'd like to try your hand at someday?
TB: I've actually published in four genres during my career, so I know what is the best fit for me. I've enjoyed writing suspense the most, but I also enjoy women's fiction. This fall I have a book coming out that falls more into the contemporary fiction category. It's called Shadow in Serenity, and it's about a con artist who comes to a small Texas town to fleece the people out of their savings, but he encounters Carny Sullivan, who was raised by con artists before she settled there and changed her life. She's the only one in town who has his number, and if it's the last thing she ever does, she's going to expose him and protect her town. It's a fun, romantic story that will be a nice break from some of the heavy subjects I've been writing about.
WG: Do you have any advice to offer writers still striving toward publication?
TB: I would tell them not to compromise their values or beliefs in the interest of selling. I did that for the first thirteen years of my career, writing in the secular market. At first I went into that market planning not to compromise my Christian beliefs by writing sex and profanity, but eventually I did in the interest of fame and fortune. Eventually, I had to repent of all that and start over. I came to the Christian market because that was where I felt the most free to write the things I believe and the things God put on my heart.
WG: Is there a specific 'ah-ha' moment you've had as a writer that you would like to share with us?
TB: It wasn't an ah-ha moment, but it was a moment of deep conviction and repentance, when I got down on my knees and repented of the things I'd been writing, and promised God I wouldn't write anything else that didn't glorify Him. He gave me my gift for a specific purpose, and I didn't fulfill that purpose until I made that course change in my career.
WG: Rejections, notes from unhappy readers and less than stellar reviews are all part of this business. What is your own method for dealing with these and moving on?
TB: I hardly ever read my reviews, because I know I'll focus on the negative. I do see the negative letters, though, and I read them with interest to see if there's something I need to do differently, or if it's just something written by someone who loves to bring people down. I use the constructive criticism and the letters from Christian sisters and brothers pointing out things in my work that bother them, and the rest of it I take in stride.
WG: What do you find to be the most rewarding thing about being a writer? What aspect do you struggle with the most?
TB: The most rewarding thing is the letters I get from people who tell me that God used my books to change their lives. That's the best affirmation I could get, and those letters always seem to come when I need them most.
The aspect I struggle with the most is probably speaking. I get a lot of invitations to speak, but at this point in my life, I can't take many of them. I find that they pull me away from writing books, which is my main job right now.
WG: When you're not writing, what do you do for fun or what is your favorite self-indulgence?
TB: I'm an HGTV junkie. I love watching home decorating shows.
WG: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
TB: I've wanted to be a writer since I knew there was such a thing. Even before that, I was making up plays and stories in my head.
WG: What are your favorite movies and/or TV shows? Why?
TB: I love "Criminal Minds." The episodes are fascinating because they deal with criminal profiling, which is of great interest to me. I also enjoy "House" because Dr. House is such an interesting and complex character.
WG: Please tell us about your current project.
TB: My book that's just released is Vicious Cycle, which is my second book in my Intervention Series. The first book, Intervention, was a New York Times best-seller and a Carol Award Winner. I think it resonated with readers because it was inspired by my journey with my own daughter through drug abuse, and I poured a lot of my own emotions and experiences into Barbara Covington, the mother in that book. Vicious Cycle deals with the same family as the first book. "When fifteen-year-old Lance Covington finds an abandoned baby in the backseat of his car, he knows she's the newborn daughter of a meth addict he's been trying to help. But when police arrest him for kidnapping, Lance is thrust into a criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse."
WG: What inspired you to write this particular story?
TB: As I dealt with my daughter in rehabs, and during years doing prison ministry, I met a lot of people struggling with crystal meth addictions. (This was not the drug my daughter was on.) This is one of the most evil of all the drugs, because it's so easy to manufacture at home. It has ingredients like those in rat poisons, blood thinners and battery acid, yet somehow Satan has managed to make people think it's glamorous and fun. But it's anything but glamorous, because it makes your teeth rot out and your hair fall out, it causes sores to form on your skin, it creates holes in your brain, and it changes the bone structure in your face. People who use meth age decades in just a couple of years, and the damage to the brain is irreversible. It's my prayer that this book will turn people away from that drug, but that it'll also give readers more compassion for those caught in bondage to drugs. Some of those on drugs were reared in families where everyone is an addict, and it's much harder for them to stay sober when they finally do get help. Vicious Cycle tells the story of one of those people.
WG: Tell us about your upcoming plans.
TB: In September, I have Shadow in Serenity coming out (mentioned above), and then in February I have Downfall, the third and final book in the Intervention Series, releasing. After that, my collaboration with David Lambert will release. Dave has been my editor for the last sixteen years, and he's a good friend. We haven't got a definite title for our book together yet, but we're working on it right now.
I am contracted for several more books with Zondervan, so I should be busy for the next few years.
WG: And before we close, tell us how your readers can get in touch with you.
TB: They can write me at terri@terriblackstock.com, or go to my web site at www.terriblackstock.com, where they can read about and purchase my books, watch interviews and video trailers, and sign up for my updates. They can join me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorTerriBlackstock, or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TerriBlackstock.
WG: Thanks so much for spending time with me and my readers this month. It was fun 'chatting' with you, as always!
TB: Thank you, Winnie! I appreciate your giving me the chance to tell readers about what I'm doing.
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