Guest Post - A Chat with Courtney Stevens

The following is a reprint of Myra McEntire's interview with Courtney on her author blog. It is special to me in about a zillion ways (as you can guess), but one particular thing is that I also remember that day from the past when Courtney ( agentless and still writing FN) met Myra (who's 1st book I had already read and loved!) at a friend's breakfast. She called me later that day to say that she'd met a special person she knew would become a friend. And Court said those words to me that she quoted in the interview: "Myra is one of my people."  (I'm thinking in total fan girl mode,  Courtney, you just had breakfast with a BOOK STAR!) And it was true.

So fast forward and Courtney finished FN, acquired her dream agent, went on submission and then got the call on her 33rd birthday that her book had sold, all in less than a year. When it was time for Courtney's Faking Normal cover reveal this year, Myra did this blog interview with Courtney. And it is an awesome thing. AWESOME.
 

So I remember all that and am thankful for good friends and special people. And blessed that the writing community is so strong and so encouraging and so special. Thanks, Myra!

 

Faking Normal and a Chat with Courtney Stevens

July 1, 2013 By Myra McEntire

Today I have a guest who’s also a dear friend. I love her for lots of reasons, and I think you will, too. Welcome Courtney Stevens, author of the upcoming FAKING NORMAL. This is such a special book, y’all. Trust me. 

 

M: OKAY. Questions. I’d just like the give the reader a taste of your personality – the way I see you. How did we meet? 

 

C: We met via Twitter (first) on the weekend I wrote the first fifty pages of Faking Normal. One of my friends saw you on a panel and said you used to be a youth/children’s minister. I DM’d you after that because I was also a writer and a youth minister. Later on, one of our mutual buddies threw a breakfast par-tay and we bonded. BEGINNING. Woot!

 

M: What about that time we ate Mexican food and you told me about the heart book that was so special to you? 

 

C: Post breakfast par-tay, we met at Chuy’s to share creamy jalapeno and stories. (Both being awesome and addictive.) I know we connected over books, but I remember thinking … Myra is one of my people. That has proved to be true in so many ways. That day we talked a little bit about 23 (the former title of Faking Normal) and how it was “the book I had to write.” The encouragement, laughter, thoughtfulness, listening ear, and suggestion that I meet one of your friends (CJ Redwine), was a gift and half. I am so very thankful for that day.

 

M: How long did it take you to draft FAKING NORMAL? 

 

C: I had the idea for Faking Normal on August the 8th. I put the final draft in the mail to an agent on October 18th. (Yes, of the same year.) 

 

M: Did it come out in one burst or was it a slow process? 

 

C: It actually came out in three bursts. I wrote the last 170 pages longhand at the beach in 13 days. (In a lovely red chair that I sometimes set up in the living room if I’m having a writing crisis.) Some books come out like old syrup; some come out like Niagara Falls. Faking Normal was my Niagara Falls.

 

M: You always send encouraging texts just when I need them. Why do you think you’re so sensitive to other people’s needs? 

 

C: First, I’m glad those texts are there when you need them. Second, I don’t know. Maybe it’s that people are sensitive to my needs, and the only response is to give back or pay it forward. As much as I believe in the power of the written word, I believe in the power of the spoken (& texted) word. For me, words act as anchors. And when I’m drifting around or worried or upset or need encouragement, I go back to powerful, encouraging things people have said to me. It would be amazing to think I could give people those anchors.

 

M: How do you want to extend that sensitivity to your readers? 

 

C: More than anything, I hope readers find an authentic and loving me behind the book of Faking Normal. I don’t know how that love will take shape–probably in many different ways–but I hope it’s visible no matter where I am or what I’m doing. This is a very lofty (and probably unobtainable) goal, but I don’t just want to write books, I want to be someone who impacts readers with love and truth.

 

M: What do you want your readership to look like? I mean, all writers want everyone to love our books, but who’s that one reader you want to reach? 

 

C: Honestly, I was that one reader. I wrote Faking Normal for me. Maybe that’s selfish, but I needed it. So everything that’s happened beyond that one girl channeling brave to write those words down is a bonus. An awesome bonus. Specifically, and I dedicated the book to them, there are girls and guys out there who believe the pain they have been through makes them unlovable. I’d like to drop an anvil and a battle axe on that lie.

 

M: One of my favorite things about you is that acceptance and love rolls off you in waves – it’s such a part of who you are. Does any of your previous job of youth minister carry over into your current job as author?

 

C: I hope so! My previous job was to love students. I still see that as my job. Not a job, a privilege! I do it a little differently now, but the goal is still the same: serve God, love people. And I guess what I mean by that is I’d like to think that the people who meet or read me find a thoughtful, truth-seeking, grace-giving human being who lives everyday with love on the agenda and thankfulness in the heart that any of these opportunities ever happened to her .

A grace-giving human with love on the agenda. SEE WHY I LOVE HER?