AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHI MACIAS

This month I would like to highlight the works of a fellow member of the Transformational Fiction Authors Facebook group. Kathi Macias is a multi-award-winning author and speaker. Her current release is The Deliverer, the third installment in her Freedom series about human trafficking.

Welcome, Kathi! I am so excited to have you here!

Kathi, why do you call yourself the “Easy Writer?”

I actually got the name years ago when my husband still had his Harley. I rode with him, and when it came time to pick my “road name,” I was looking for ways to interchange “rider” and “writer.” I came up with Easy Writer and everyone thought it was perfect, so it stuck. When my husband finally traded in his Harley (a couple years ago) for a sunburst orange Corvette, I decided I could keep the name because now I’m “cruising” in a Vette instead of on the back of a Harley.

Human trafficking is a subject that has touched my heart for some time. What was the starting point for your passion to stop it and help its victims?

I’ve known about it for some time, but I must admit that I had no idea how prevalent it was. I was talking with my publisher one day as I was pulling together the final book in my previous Extreme Devotion series (four books about the persecuted Church around the world) when she asked what topic I’d like to tackle next. We tossed a couple of ideas back and forth, and then she suggested human trafficking. I agreed to do some initial research and get back to her. I did, and was stunned at what I discovered. Like so many people I’ve talked to since, I thought it was some awful thing that happened in some third-world country, far, far away from here. Oh, how wrong I was! I learned there are an estimated 27 million people around the world held in some sort of human trafficking (modern-day slavery) today, many of whom are children. This is a 32-billion-dollars a year business, mostly organized crime, so it isn’t going away easily. But I also discovered that approximately 100,000 to 300,000 CHILDREN are held in sexual slavery here in the US—right now, at this moment, as we read these words. I was horrified! But I was also committed, from that moment on, to do everything I could to help educate others and to call them to join the fight to “rescue the perishing” and to restore hope to the hopeless. Now, in addition to writing the Freedom Series on this topic, I am speaking across the country (and beyond) on the topic every chance I get.

I understand you are getting a lot of feedback on how people are taking action against human trafficking because of your books. You’ve even been contacted by Homeland Security. Can you tell us in what way they’ve asked you to help them?

I have been both humbled and stunned at the response. I hear almost every day from someone who says they, along with their church or women’s group or some other group, are joining together to make a concerted effort to do whatever they can to fight this evil and to rescue and restore the victims. That thrills me! Homeland Security invited me to join them on conference calls on the topic, which enabled me to meet others, both within the religious and civic communities who are already fighting this, and also with government officials who are recognizing the enormity of this situation.

Kathi, we know your Freedom series is about human trafficking, but can you share some deeper details of the storyline, or perhaps give us the back cover blurb from The Deliverer.

I think Lisa Thompson, National Liaison for the abolition of sexual trafficking for the Salvation Army, says it best: “[In this series] Kathi Macias brings readers a startling encounter with the real-world horrors of sexual trafficking. In an intricate [ongoing] story that could have come from the pages of any major newspaper, her fictional account makes readers confront the hard facts that slavery still exists and that everyday people may be only a brief encounter away from its victims. [This series] reminds us of our need to be alert to the signs of exploitation that surround us, and summons us to be bringers of Christ’s light, hope, and healing to a dark and hurting world.”

In my own experience, some publishers shy away from hot-button issues in books. Was it difficult finding a publisher for such a courageous storyline?

It wasn’t so difficult with this particular series/topic because the publisher actually presented it to me and asked me to consider writing it. But I had a very difficult time finding a publisher for the previous Extreme Devotion series for that very reason. New Hope, however, willingly took it on and has encouraged me to continue writing on these hot-button topics, which I plan to do.

Please explain what you mean when you say you are “going into all the world” as an author of Christian books.

The Great Commission calls all of us as believers to “go into all the world” and preach the gospel and make disciples. Not all of us can physically do that, but I believe my part is to write novels that not only engage my readers but also educate them to difficult situations and show what we, as the Church, can and should do about them. And, of course, each of my books shows someone coming to Christ, with the message of the gospel clearly laid out. That message can go into all the world, even when I can’t. In fact, Red Ink, the novel I wrote that’s set in China and based on the true story of a young woman serving a 15-year prison sentence for distributing Christian literature to children (which won the 2011 Golden Scrolls Novel of the Year and was a finalist for a Carol Award), has just released in the Netherlands. (The title there is Rode Inkt.) That’s my third book to be translated into a foreign language, which helps me fulfill my part of the Great Commission.

What can we expect from you next?

My annual Christmas novel releases in October. It’s called Unexpected Christmas Hero and tells the poignant story of a young mother and her two small children who end up homeless when the husband/father dies unexpectedly, leaving them in terrible financial straits. A homeless Vietnam vet befriends them and helps to bring about a blessed but unexpectedly joyous Christmas. Especially exciting is the fact that we recently learned the man on the cover of the book, representing the homeless vet in the story, really is homeless and is hoping to reunited with his family, particularly his grown daughter. We have launched an Internet campaign to help make that happen. You can read about it on my Easy Writer blog at http://kathimacias.com/help-reunite-a-family.

Kathi, will you share with us what you are reading right now?

I am privileged to be reading a soon-to-be-released novel titled When the Morning Glory Blooms by Cynthia Ruchti. It is marvelously written, but then I expected nothing less from such a talented author.

Last question, just for fun. What was it like being an avid Harley rider? Can you share something specific that happened?

Most of the time I loved it. There were some hot (100 + degrees) and some cold rainy days that weren’t quite so much fun, but overall we had some great adventures. Contrary to what many might think, not all Harley riders are bad guys. You’d be amazed at how many Christian bikers are out there, ministering every chance they get. The group we sometimes rode with would go to big biker gatherings and set up a booth where they would polish boots for free (sort of a new take on washing feet!) and offer to pray with their customers and or give them a tract or New Testament. We really enjoyed being part of that.

Thank you so much for taking the time from your extra-busy schedule to do this interview, Kathi. I pray the Lord continues to bless you richly for what you are doing in His name.

If you would like to win a copy of Kathi’s current release in the Freedom series, The Deliverer, use my "Contact" page, and type “drawing” in the comments box. The deadline to enter is October 24th.

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