Meet the Author: Susan G Mathis
Just for fun, I thought I’d start out my Meet the Author blogs with my husband interviewing me!
Tell us about your newest book. Why did you write The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy?
I feel like my entire life has led up to this novel. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy is based on my family story—my great great grandmother, Margaret, and loosely based on my personal story as well. The hardest part about writing Maggie’s story was not holding too closely to mine!
The historical family is my ancestors. Margaret and James have six children from ages nine months to thirteen years. Can you imagine immigrating on a famine ship with six young children? And how did they feel leaving Ireland and moving to the New World?
The contemporary character has struggles similar to my past. She’s a single mother who has lots of challenges, especially when her only daughter nearly dies in Africa. Yes, it is two stories of my personal journey in one novel.
What genre do you focus on and why?
I am so blessed to have accomplished such diverse published works, but it’s tough to promote books to three different audiences—the nonfiction premarital audience, the picture book audience, and now the historical fiction reader audience. So what have I learned? I love historical fiction and am going to stick with that! Smiles.
Why do you write? What drives you?
Eric Liddel said, “When I run, I feel His pleasure,” and I can sure relate. When I write, I feel His pleasure! So even though it’s hard work, I enjoy it immensely.
What does a day in your writing world look like?
Since I’m a morning person, I generally spend three to five hours plugging away, depending upon the project, deadlines, etc. I spend the first few minutes answering emails, checking on my social media pages, and planning my day. But then I buckle down and write, write, write! When I’ve exhausted my creativity, I take a break and move on to the editorial aspects of writing.
What’s the best part of your author’s life? Why?
Connecting with my audience, whoever they are, is the best part of being an author. Whether I hear from them in person, through my website or email, or on Social Media, hearing the stories of how my work has touched their lives keeps me going and helps me remember why I do what I do.
What writing are you most proud of?
Although I am so humbled to have five published books fir adults and children, have published works in several book compilations, have written curriculum, wrote a weekly newspaper column, have had several hundred magazine and newsletter articles, and more, I’m most thrilled to have my family legacy in print. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy has been a work of the heart, mind, and emotions.
What is your favorite pastime?
I love to travel the world with my husband, Dale. We’ve been to more than 40 countries and still have several more on our bucket list. When we’re not globe trotting, I love Skyping with my four granddaughters who live in South Africa.
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
I currently have five published books. My debut novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, just came out, and I’m excited to turn my attention to writing historical fiction full-time. My journey has been multi-faceted, and I consider my writing as ministry.
My first two books are Tyndale published nonfiction premarital books—The ReMarriage Adventure and Countdown for Couples. Last year I had two published children’s picture books—Lexie’s Adventure in Kenya: Love is Patient and Princess Madison’s Rainbow Adventure.
What are you working on now?
I’m halfway through writing my next novel. It’s called Katelyn’s Choice, and it’s the first in the Thousand Islands Summer series. It’s the story of nine-year-old Katelyn Kavanagh who leaves her family’s struggling farm to work on Pullman Island for the famous George Pullman. There she finds herself serving powerful men such as President Ulysses S. Grant and General Sheridan—and falling in love with her best friend’s brother. Katelyn gains popularity with some of her friends by spilling the sensitive high society gossip she’s privy to. But when she overhears a possibly damaging presidential conversation, she knows she can’t tell anyone. She could lose her job—and endanger the president’s 1872 reelection—and jeopardize her relationship with the man of her dreams. Still, the scandalous news just keeps begging to be told…
If you haven’t connected with me on Social Media, please do. Here are the links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Blog | Goodreads | Google+ | CAN |
What did you like about this interview, and what other questions would you like my author friends to answer?
Oh, and would you please send this to a few of your friends? I’d love to connect with them as well. Thanks!
Meet New Authors!
With the release of my novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, I’ve been interviewed on nearly a dozen blogs. I’ve been asked some very interesting questions and enjoyed doing each one. I’ve heard from old friends and made new ones. I’ve connected with new potential readers and enjoyed getting to know the interviewees.
Over the past year, many of you have asked me to recommend authors and books to read. I finally got your message! To better serve you, I’m changing up my blog.
Although I’ll still write a personal blog now and then, I’m moving from my various ponderings to providing author interviews. I hope this will meet your voracious reading needs. Smiles.
Each Wednesday, I’ll be introducing an author to you. These authors are all Christian authors and friends or acquaintances of mine. They will tell you about one of their books and what they are working on, yes, but they’ll also answer some fun questions, too.
You’ll learn about what drives authors to write, why they name characters the way they do, what their writing days look like, what they like and dislike about being an author, what their favorite pastimes are, and much more.
I’d love to know what you think about this. Let’s make this a conversation, ok? Who would you like me to interview? What questions would you like me to ask? And as you read them, whose interview did you enjoy? I want to serve YOU, so let me know, please!
Birthday Memories
When I was a kid, my mom got together with three other moms who had kids my age who were born on April 4. The four moms decided to throw a birthday party together. The problem was, I was the only girl! Three boys and I sharing one birthday party? Are you kidding me?
As you might guess, the boys had a blast, but I was left out in the cold. Cowboys and Indians, scalping the squaw, and chasing each other through mud puddles was not my idea of a Happy Birthday!
Birthdays can be lots of fun, or they can be a great big disappointment. There can be expectations that aren’t met and sometimes they are even exceeded. But whatever the case might be, birthdays are a special time to look back on our lives and see what God has done in the past and look forward to the future.
So, in honor of everyone who was born on April 4th, here’s some fun trivia I thought you might enjoy.
- April 4, 1841 President Harrison ends the briefest term in U.S. history when he dies in office.
- April 4, 1895 Arthur Murray, the ballroom dancer, was born.
- April 4, 1949 NATO was formed.
- April 4, 19XX Susan G Mathis was born. Smiles. As a birthday gift, my mom could have bought me a Shetland pony or a Great Dane out of the Montgomery Ward catalog! (She didn’t, but it’s a fun thought anyway.)
- April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
Hope you enjoyed this bit of trivia with me. It’s sure better than a scapling!
Join me in the Journey?
I just released my debut novel, The Fabric of Hope on Friday, March 17, 2017. That was St. Patrick’s Day, perfect for this Irish Family Legacy novel. I’ve enjoyed doing a few book signings, interviews, etc., but no matter how you cut it, it’s a lot of work to let other know about any book baby you birth.
The reality is, there are so many books out there that it’s easy for The Fabric of Hope to get lost in the crowd. So I need you, my friends. Would you be willing to journey with me in getting the word out?
I’m forming an “Influencer Launch Team”—friends and readers who help me promote my book in exchange for a free copy of the book. So what does an “Influencer” do?
- Post an Amazon review. Your review doesn’t need to be fancy. Just a sentence or two would be great. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Hope-Irish-Family-Legacy/dp/1542890861/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1487430815&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=the+fabric+of+hope+by+susan+g+mathis
- Post on Social Media. You can post your review on your social media pages, and I will also email you a list of tweets and Facebook posts, links, and hashtags to share on your Twitter and Facebook accounts. If you are on Pinterest, Goodreads, Instragram, etc., please use the list there as well. And, of course, it’s always great to repost and retweet my posts (or any posts you see about the book).
- Blog. If you have a blog and would like me to be a guest blogger, I’d be happy to do that. Or if you know of someone who has a blog who might be interested in interviewing me, a personal introduction would be greatly appreciated.
- Create awareness. If you have a book club, I’d love to be a guest author for it in person or through Skype, Google Hangout, etc.
- Take pictures. Send me photos of you with the book, on a library or store shelf, at a book club, etc.
- Pass the word. Tell your friends, family, local library, etc.
As a member of my Influencer Launch Team, you will receive a free e-book and be entered in a drawing to receive a gift box with a signed paperback as well as a special china teacup and a selection of tea!
The truth is, word-of-mouth is the most powerful way to make a book successful. So I’d like to invite you to be an Influencer—as long as I have room on my list and as long as you agree to promote the book.
How will I help? I’ll send you an email with step-by-step ways to write a review, and I’ll provide Facebook and Twitter posts to make it super easy. We’ll have contests and giveaways from time to time and you can easily post or repost these as well.
Interested? Awesome! Just send me an email at susangmathis@gmail.com, and let’s get started. And thanks, for joining me on the journey. You are a blessing!
St. Patrick’s Shamrock
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, because I’m Irish, and because I just released my debut novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, I want to share with you how St. Patrick used a simple weed to share the Gospel.
St. Patrick lived in the fifth century Ireland where the shamrock clover was abundant, even a staple food for livestock. The shamrock is a weed that grows quickly and is hard to get rid of. In Ireland it was everywhere, so as Patrick traveled the country, he had a ready-made symbol that he could easily find, pluck, and use as a teaching tool. Sounds like something that Jesus would have done, doesn’t it?
As he spoke Patrick would note that the shamrock has three leaves, just as there are three persons in the trinity. In using the shamrock as a symbol, he taught about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who they were, what they did, and how they could change the listeners’ lives. Then, whenever folks would see the shamrock in their garden or fields or yard, their minds would instantly connect to the Trinity and think of God. Brilliant!
As Patrick traveled throughout Ireland spreading Christianity, the shamrock became an important symbol of the Trinity and of God’s work in man’s life. Even today, the shamrock is Ireland’s national symbol and still points to the Trinity as well as to 1 Corinthians 13:13, “and now these three remain: faith, hope, and love”. The number three is so important to the Irish that they use three cords in their Celtic knot, in their three-fold repetitive rhythm of Irish storytelling, in their idea of past, present, and future, and a lot more.
So when you see a shamrock during this holiday, remember that it means so much more than just “the luck o’ the Irish.” It’s represents biblical truth, wise teaching, and a beautiful way to share God’s story.
What tools, symbols, or stories to do you use to share the Gospel?
Irish Heritage
According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau, about 56.7 million Americans say they have an Irish heritage. That’s nearly 12 percent of the U.S. population, and many Irish still retain a sense of their Irish heritage, including me. I love tea, Celtic music, step dancing, and the color green.
When Irish immigrants came to the U.S. and Canada, they weren’t looking for a handout. They were looking for hope and a future for them and their children, a topic I cover in depth in my upcoming novel. These immigrants took many of the menial jobs, everything from farming to hard labor to domestic work. And in large cities, the Irish are known for being at the top of the public service sector, especially law enforcement, teaching, and firefighting.
The Irish have contributed to the American culture in so many ways: literature, film, art, politics, law, medicine, and sports, just to name a few. Irish-Americans you’d know are Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Pierce Brosnan, and Presidents such as Kennedy, Reagan, Andrew Jackson, and over a dozen others.
So why am I sharing this with you? Because, whether you have Irish heritage or not, you do have a heritage—traditions, beliefs, and achievements that are a part of your history. Your heritage has laid a foundation for you, whether you are conscious of it or not. Exploring that heritage will enrich your life, if you take the time to do so.
For me, my Irish heritage runs deep, but I forgot about a lot of it in the busyness of living life. It was everything Irish in my childhood home, and the color green was prominent. I learned a strong work ethic and my Irishness became a part of me.
So when I started researching about Ireland and the Irish for my novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, I realized that my Irish heritage, in a large part, made me who I am today. I assessed all of it—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and embraced once again the “Irishness” of my heritage. I am proud to be Irish!
What foundations of heritage have been laid for you? I’d love to know!