{"id":987,"date":"2019-05-24T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/news\/?p=987"},"modified":"2019-05-24T10:29:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T16:29:00","slug":"author-interview-stacy-monson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/news\/archives\/987","title":{"rendered":"AUTHOR INTERVIEW: STACY MONSON"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAPEVINE<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

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GRAPE BUNCH (acrylic on canvas) by Lorenda Harder<\/h6>\n

My Interview with Author STACY MONSON\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019d like to introduce you to award-winning novelist Stacy Monson<\/a><\/span><\/strong>,<\/span> who resides in the Twin Cities and is part of Mosaic Collection<\/a><\/strong>,<\/span> the international author\u2019s group I recently joined. Her contemporary, faith-based stories reveal\u00a0an extraordinary God at work in ordinary life.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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DEB:<\/strong> Welcome to my corner, Stacy! I see you\u2019ve published four books, with a fifth coming out soon. Was there a catalyst that launched your writing journey?<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> An Oprah Winfrey<\/span> <\/strong>show on midlife opportunities! I\u2019ve written stories my whole life, but always in secret. One day I was home early from work and Oprah was talking about changing our focus from midlife crisis to midlife opportunities.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you have personal experiences with any of the events in your novels?<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> Let\u2019s see\u2014one heroine was a supermodel, one lost a leg in a car accident, and one is dyslexic. I haven\u2019t had personal experience with any of that!<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> That\u2019s funny. : )<\/strong><\/span> I read your book Open Circle<\/em>, which you set in a southern Minnesota town where the social worker is struggling to keep the only adult day program open for the seniors she loves. It\u2019s a homey read\u2014gives me lots of good feels. What would be your favourite quote in that book?<\/p>\n

STACY: “The sun is shining, the grass is growing, and the cows are giving milk.”<\/em><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s just such a simple way to look at the day and be thankful.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Yes, your voice comes through in even that short line. It makes me want to ask you about your personal life. I know you\u2019re a long-married mother and grandmother but, come on, tell us something really personal about you<\/span><\/em><\/strong> that might not come up in casual conversation. Go ahead\u2014get it off your chest!<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> Um, okay . . .\u00a0 I am a professional grade procrastinator<\/strong><\/span>, I am addicted to sugar and gobble down jelly beans<\/span><\/strong> when I know<\/em> I shouldn\u2019t, and someday I want to ride in a hot air balloon<\/strong><\/span> and a helicopter. Oh, and I love, love, love long bubble baths. While eating chocolate. And reading. With a candle lit.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Yes, I have a mental picture of you now, but you\u2019re in the tub surrounded by foam! (Oops!)<\/strong> <\/span>So tell me about how and when the idea of your first novel grabbed you.<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> Shattered Image<\/em> (in the Chain of Lakes series) took root back in high school\u2014when I was going to concerts and wondering about singers\u2019 lives offstage. Also, I was a huge<\/em> John Denver fan,<\/strong><\/span> and I loved the story about how he met his wife. I wrote that first draft in high school and then eventually threw it in the fire (literally) while my mom was saying, \u201cYou don\u2019t want to do that. You\u2019ll want to read it someday.\u201d And I said no, I wouldn\u2019t. And now I do. How do moms know so much?<\/strong><\/span> The final product is a take-off from that original story.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Tell me a bit about that novel.<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> Kiera Simmons\u2019 career as a high-profile fashion model ends abruptly when a failed relationship nearly lands her in jail. Now she forges a quiet life helping teens understand their eternal value in a world saturated with the distorted messages of society. Peter Theisen is on the fast track to everything the celebrity life promises, with each step of his meteoric rise in the music world orchestrated by his ambitious manager. Their sweet, unexpected romance is threatened by her past and his future, a life-changing diagnosis, and financial devastation. As they struggle to find their way back to each other, and to the One who matters most, the allure of wealth and fame may jeopardize everything.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Sounds as though I need to order Shattered Image<\/em> as my next Stacy read! Now that you\u2019ve published so much, do you find an organizing theme<\/strong><\/span> to your body of work?<\/p>\n

STACY: All of my stories wrestle with identity.<\/span><\/strong> Who are you when all you\u2019ve been known for is your face in front of a camera, or you\u2019re a dancer who has lost a leg? Who are you when all your life you\u2019ve been told you don\u2019t measure up, you\u2019re stupid, unable to learn, won\u2019t amount to anything? Who are you when you find out the father you adore isn\u2019t your biological father? All of these are instances when that person\u2019s identity has been formed by societal norms, or other people\u2019s opinions, or who they think they should be. The underlying theme in every story is that our identity is based on who God says we are<\/strong><\/span>, who He created us to be. Trends come and go\u2014God doesn\u2019t. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Let\u2019s wrap up this interview with one last question. Can you give any hints<\/strong><\/span> about what you\u2019re currently working on?<\/p>\n

STACY:<\/strong> My first book in the Mosaic Collection (and the first in My Father\u2019s House series) is the journey of a young woman who discovers that nothing she\u2019s known about herself or her family is true. She leaves it all behind to search for the truth and discovers things about herself and those around her she could never have imagined. Again\u2014it\u2019s about identity!<\/p>\n

DEB:<\/strong> Thanks for giving us a peek into your life, heart, and writing. Now, I need to go order that book of yours . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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FRIENDS: <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n