By Catherine Gruben Smith
Today we are going to bring you an interview that was formerly contained in our June 2024 email list! This interview is by Catherine Gruben Smith, Emilie's older sister and author of nineteen YA books and counting. She's answering questions on writing, reading, and how it is to be a stay-at-home mom as an author. We can't wait for you to enjoy her interview!
Hi, Catherine! It’s great to have you here! To start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Greetings! Thank you for the opportunity to say hello! I am not a turtle, for which I am thankful. I don’t care enough for lettuce, fish, or bugs to be happy as a turtle. I live in Texas, and I am thankful for that, it is a good state to be in. Probably better than a magical tower… though I debate that sometimes. I am a wife to a wonderful knight in dented armor, and mother to three little ones currently aged 6, 3, and 10 months. The youngest just began walking, and gained his first skinned knee this morning. I grew up in New Mexico, and will always bear the quirks. I tend to wear hats so I don’t have to do my hair.
I love libraries, the book of Romans, board games, bright sunshine, hymns, hot tea, and good stories of bravery and honor. I have three different series published, and nine or ten completed books that I will (Lord willing and if I don’t die) eventually re-write and also publish.
How long have you been writing? Why did you start writing?
I started writing because I wanted to. I was sixteen, sitting at the family computer with nothing else to do, and wrote a short story about the donkey in the manger scene.
I continued to write because the world needs good stories. It is a way to slip in the backdoor of a person’s mind and leave an impression on their soul. What you read stays with you. You may not remember all the details, in a few years you may not even recall the title. But everything you read becomes a part of you. There aren’t nearly enough good stories that leave you brighter than before you started. Especially in my genre, most of mine are Young Adult, and when you walk into the Young Adult section, everything suddenly turns dark. The covers are grays and blacks, and most of them are filled with only angst and no real hope. A book doesn’t have to be happy, but it needs hope. As Christians we are the only ones who can exhibit real, lasting hope that corresponds to the reality we live in every day. As readers, we don’t necessarily pick up a book to polish our souls. Most of us pick our reads because they look interesting, or someone recommended them as fun. And that gives authors an opportunity. A book, with a plot to keep a reader turning, and characters with enough weight to stick with a person, can be a light that shines the brilliant beams of heaven into an unsuspecting reader. Writing is a creative outlet for me, I love to create characters and watch them take on their own personalities; it is entertainment, I really enjoy the process; but it is also my mission field.
I officially published my first book (The Parabaloni) ten years ago. I now have nineteen books published.
How have you grown, as a woman and an author, during your writing years?
I always learn things through my writing. Each book comes with its own challenges and learning curves, as well as unique research and spiritual thoughts that you find popping up in everyday life. I have some blog posts about the individual ones, if you want more on that (here’s one of several). Writing also hones my self-discipline, if I tell my readers I’m releasing a book on a certain date I have to actually get it done by then. I have learned many things about me on time crunches.
Writing itself is a learning process. I know much more about how to make a book a good read now than I did ten years ago. My writing has improved, I recognize when I go back and cringe at some of the things I wrote ages ago. And I know I am still learning, in another ten years I will doubtless be cringing at the books I am working on today.
Which authors have influenced you the most, and in what way?
I have to say Paul, because it’s true. He is an incredible author with, of course, the Spirit’s help. After that, in no particular order, Charles Dickens, G.K. Chesterton (Manalive over The Man Who is Thursday always and forever!), Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis (The Last Battle is my favorite Narnia), Eve Titus, J. Aaron Gruben, Lewis Carrol (Jabberwocky!), Elizabeth Barrett Browning, P.G. Wodehouse, J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit is the best), Carl Barks, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alistair Macleon, and the list goes on. I am an old soul, and I pray always will be. I like lots of words, deep characters, good plots, and especially good truths couched in cabinets of gold (as Bunyan puts it in his preface to Pilgrim's Progress). I would be hard pressed to claim one single author. Did I mention that everything you read becomes a part of you? I am a mish-mosh of so many brilliant authors! If forced to pull one, it would probably be Lewis. His fiction draws me in like few other books, and his non-fiction turns the world on its head and then lets you realize you’re only just now seeing it right side up. No author is without their faults, of course, and I don’t agree on all Lewis’ points, but he is an author who polishes off the debris of the world and lets me shine God’s reflection brighter than before.
You are a stay at home mother of three young children. How does that affect your writing?
Excuse me for a moment while I get my baby away from the lego table. Again.
Time management is a big one, of course. Deciding the most important way to spend my time is one of the gifts my three littles give me. It is a constant chore to reorient my days to what is important in the light of eternity and not just my own preferences. (Dishes overflowing the counter, blog post that needs written, or three-year-old begging for a tea party? All three are important. But the three-year-old has a soul that lasts forever, and in the long run she will remember the conversation over a tea party, not the dirty dishes on the counter or the blog post.)
Having to lay aside what I would choose to do without the little ones about gives me the opportunity to grow in so many ways I would never have without them. And with growth comes new knowledge and experience, and all of that finds its way into my writing and makes my works a little deeper than before.
What advice do you have for young women who would like to be stay at home mothers, but also authors?
Living everyday with other souls interrupting and bringing new thoughts and new joys and new frustrations creates skills and life-lessons that can’t be learned anywhere else. Yes, I teach them something everyday. But they teach me too, and I just pray I can learn what’s really needed. You’re learning now, whether you’re a mom, sister, aunt, or friend. Every person you come in contact with changes you. It’s up to you whether you’re changed for the better or the worse. If you do have the blessing of being involved in children’s lives, take advantage of the time. You have a rare moment to make a difference in a timeframe you may never actually live in. It is like access to a time machine, but better, as you work to help other souls learn more about how to serve their Savior. We aren’t on Earth for our own enjoyment (though that is a wonderful gift from our good God and a byproduct He applauds). We are here for a brief moment to bring glory to God and help others see the Light and serve Him better. Do that now, no matter what season of life you’re in. Don’t assume you will suddenly do it well without any practice once you’re married and have children. Wherever you are, serve God now.
Also headphones. A good pair of sound-excluding headphones is one of the only ways to write well with little ones running about.
What would you say is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your years of writing?
1. Keep writing. When I get stuck, I just keep writing. I might end up erasing three chapters of fluff when I’m done with the work, but sometimes to just write anything is the only way to finish a story. Editing is where most of an author’s time is spent.
2. Writing isn’t the whole story. Once I have a book (written, re-written, edited a zillion times, formatted, and published) the next stage of work begins. Getting that book to readers is a whole different level of learning and skills that I am certainly still working on figuring out myself.
3. To always remember why I write. For the glory of God, to bring enjoyment that enriches and enlivens to readers who need His Light.
Thank you so much for being here and allowing us to interview you!
Thank you for the opportunity. Be thankful you’re not a turtle. We humans lead much more interesting lives.
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