AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE SUTTON

I am so excited to be speaking with debut author, Michelle Sutton, also known as “the Edgy Inspirational Author.” I have read some of Michelle’s work and have long waited to see it published. Now it’s happened, and I’m tickled and honored to have her here.

Welcome, Michelle. I’m so glad to be a part of getting the word out about you and your young adult novel, It’s Not About Me.

Michelle, on your Web site, you’ve said that you first experimented with writing in 2003, but had no idea what you were doing. Will you share with us about that? How did you become inspired? How did you know where to start?

When I said I had no idea what I was doing I meant that I thought I could just sit down and write a book. I did just that and it wasn’t written well, but I pumped out about 80,000 words in less than three months.  What inspired me to try and write a story was corresponding with Cynthia Rutledge, Love Inspired author. I loved her books and she told me she never wrote a word until her kids left home. Then she took a class on writing at the local college and the rest is history.  Somehow that encouragement made it seem doable for me. So I sat down and wrote an edgy Love Inspired type of romance. I didn’t know where to start. I just sat down and started. Does that make sense? It’s like not reading the directions before you put that big wheel together on Christmas morning. You just do it.

You are widely known throughout the Christian publishing industry for the reviews you post all over the internet, including your own blog. Did you ever think something this huge would stem from your writing journey?

Not at all. In fact, my very first review ever was posted on Amazon.com after I read What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck. I laughed out loud and loved the story so much I wanted people to know, so I posted a review on Amazon. Then I started agreeing to be an influencer for people, and things just grew like crazy from that point on. Since that time I’ve written close to 300 reviews for Amazon. I’ve read about 100 more books that I never posted a review on and another 100 books that I started but never finished.

You wear many hats, Michelle: wife, mother, social worker, writer, volunteer officer on the American Christian Fiction Writers operating board, Editor in Chief of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, web designer and Marketing Director of Sheaf House Publishers. How do you manage all this without going insane?

Who said I wasn’t?

What made you decide to write edgy inspirational fiction?

I don’t like fluff. Never have. Stories have to be deep and meaningful, or at least insightful and a bit funny, in order to hold my attention.

You have numerous works either completed, or in various stages of progress. Will you share with us how it was decided that your young adult novel, It’s Not About Me would be the first to be released?

It was a mutual decision. My publisher and I thought this would be a great book to launch with and since YA is hot in the ABA and starting to pick up more in the CBA, this is perfect timing.

Michelle, please tell us about It’s Not About Me.

It’s a story about a girl with a perfect life. She has loving parents, good looks, friends, a steady boyfriend, and had fantastic grades…enough to get a scholarship to the school of her choice. But her perfect world is destroyed and changes the direction of her heart and mind forever. Her security and innocence were shredded and she had to look beyond herself for hope and answers.  It’s basically a story about a young woman who is forced to re-examine her life when things change forever. She has to decide to allow her struggles to make her a better person rather than a bitter one.

Are such traumas, like the one portrayed in the book, and the effects of them in teens issues you deal with as a social worker?

I worked with a great deal of trauma victims while at Child Protective Services and can tell you that pain plays out in peoples' reactions in very different ways. I've also dealt with a lot of addiction issues with parents and teens.

In what ways would you help them?

Providing unconditional support is a biggie. And reminding them that they did not ask to be abused and did not cause the abuse.

Are you allowed to use spiritual counseling?

Officially, no, except for the three years I worked at a Christian agency. However, over the years I've been prompted to share when people asked me spiritual questions and I didn't hold back the truth if they were genuinely interested. I would never force the issue on people and always tried to pay attention to where they were at emotionally and be supportive first.

One element of the story is how Annie's boyfriend tries to pressure her to have sex. How do you think parents can help their teenaged daughters become self-confident enough to resist such pressure?

I hope to portray through Annie's experience that most girls will start to give in for all the wrong reasons. They don't want to lose the guy, they think they have to do that to keep him, etc. Tony uses some pretty sophisticated arguments and because Annie doesn't know the Bible very well she's not sure if he's telling the truth or making things up. I hope parents would use this book to start discussions with their teenagers (male and female) that will bring up the core issues parents need to discuss with their kids.

Michelle, your characters are always so vibrant. Do you base them on people you know?

Every character I create is a mixture of about ten people I know. No one matches anyone exactly. Ironically, the female characters are named Annie and Susie (my sisters’ nicknames) but they are nothing like my real life sisters.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about It’s Not About Me?

Just that the focus of the story is how Annie deals with her traumatic experience and grows despite the challenges she faces. Her outward beauty is stripped away. You have to read the story to find out how that happened. (No spoilers allowed here.) Then Annie has to choose between two brothers knowing that no matter who she chooses, the other brother will get hurt.

One last question. What do you like to do just for fun?

Read!

It’s been fun chatting with you, Michelle. Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to visit with us.

To learn more about Michelle and her book, visit her at www.michellesutton.net, or her blog at http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com .

To win an autographed copy of It’s Not About Me, enter the drawing by using the “Contact” page on this site, and type “drawing” in the comments box. The deadline to enter is August 24th.

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