Meet the Author: TERESA SLACK April 23, 2009

Local author Teresa Slack will visit Southern State Community College’s South Campus in Fincastle 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, to discuss her books, publication challenges, standing out in a crowd, finding inspiration and making the economy work for you.

As a child, Slack and her sisters made up stories of small-town life in Hillsboro. She wrote her first full-length story, “Summer of the Dead,” when she was in the seventh grade, followed by “Someone is Watching You” written in high school.

“Even back then, I couldn’t imagine doing anything besides writing,” said Slack. “I used to hide notebooks behind my textbooks and write stories during class. I remember walking down the hallways of my school scribbling furiously into a notebook and crashing into other students. They learned quickly to clear a path when they saw me coming.”

She has written several Christian fiction books, including “The Ultimate Guide to Darcy Carter” and “Tender Reed,” as well as three books in the Jenna Creek Series: “Streams of Mercy,” “Redemption’s Song” and “Evidence of Grace.”

Admission to Southern State’s Meet the Author event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact South Campus LRC Manager Mary Ayres at 1-800-628-7722, ext. 3681, or mayres@sscc.edu. Southern State’s South Campus is located at 12681 US Route 62, Fincastle.

Q&A with Teresa Slack

What is your new book about? Evidence of Grace is the third book in the Jenna’s Creek Series. I don’t want to give too much away for readers just starting books one and two. Suffice it to say, new evidence surfaces in the murder of Sally Blake. The guilty party may be hiding more secrets about that night or may not have acted alone in the murder. Christy Blackwood has vowed never to speak to her mother again after finding out the secrets of her past. But now Christy is home and hiding some secrets of her own.

What were some of the challenges in writing the book? Evidence of Grace is probably the hardest book to write so far in my career. I had so many story lines going on at one time, I had to make sure I gave each one ample billing. I also wanted to make sure the reader cared strongly about each story line. It was a challenging book to write, but also a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. Of course, I always say that after a book is finished. While I’m writing it, it’s a pain and I wonder why I ever started it in the first place.

Have you ever started a book you haven’t been able to finish? Not since I started writing full time. You put too much of yourself into a project to walk away from it when it gets tough. No one would do that in any other line of work. If you did, you would lose all your clients.

I know writing is a very isolating experience. How do you deal with being your own boss? That is a very difficult task. I probably waste a lot more time than I would if I had a boss breathing down my neck. I’m dedicated about getting up at 6:15 every morning. I start my day with prayer and an exercise workout. If I don’t, it seems like the whole day gets frittered away with very little to show for it.

How much understanding and encouragement do you get from the people in your life? More than I ever imagined. My husband is wonderful. He works nights, so he gets up about nine o’clock in the evening to get ready for work. If he wakes up to a tearful wife, he knows it’s been a bad writing day. If he wakes up to frozen pizza for dinner or no dinner at all, he knows it’s been a good writing day.

What would you do if you weren’t writing? That’s a question I don’t really have an answer for since I truly feel called to write and blessed that I’m able to pursue it full time. I am naturally good with small children, so I suppose I would enjoy teaching at an early grade level. Or maybe I could become a nuclear physicist. I wonder if you need any special training for that.

Do you have any words of encouragement for people who dream of writing for publication? Everywhere I go, someone asks me the formula for getting published. It’s like losing weight. I’m sorry to say there isn’t a twelve-step program to success. We all know what to do; it’s just having the discipline to stick with it. Dedicate yourself to sitting in the chair and writing your story. Then polish and make it absolutely perfect. That includes typos and coffee stains. No editor wants to see a messy manuscript on her desk. Last but not least, don’t give up. I am living proof that an un-agented, first-time writer can find a traditional publisher. It isn’t easy or fast. But it is possible. Just keep writing.

Official Website: http://www.sscc.edu