Celebrate Lit AUTHOR INTERVIEW for The Fragrance of Violets by Susan K. Beatty

cheriswalwell

2 years ago

About the Book

Book: The Fragrance of Violets

Author: Susan K. Beatty

Genre: Christian Women’s Fiction

Release date: May 17, 2022

Life crushes us with its weight sometimes.

Fiona’s father abandoned her when she was twelve. So when she learns that he’s the groom’s father in the wedding she’s been assigned to manage, all the old hurts resurface. Maybe if he’d just explain himself and ask forgiveness, she’d get over the pain he left her with—pain she obviously hadn’t left behind after all.

When Nason discovered he wasn’t Fiona’s biological father, and when her mother tried to sabotage his marriage, he felt like he had no other option but to leave and never look back. Running into her again—awkward to say the least. And he can’t understand why she feels betrayed—why she expects him to seek forgiveness.

As if life weren’t complicated enough, Fiona meets Trevor, which sparks a possible romance. New faith, an overdose, and revelations combine with Trevor’s discipleship and shows her how forgiveness really works.

What will it take for Nason to swallow his pride and see how his actions hurt an innocent child?

The Fragrance of Violets—as Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Who says you can’t begin a new career after middle age? Certainly not Susan K. Beatty. She is passionate about writing about finding courage through faith and grit, particularly through the trials of breast cancer and other life trials. Her daughter is a metastatic breast cancer “thriver” and has been an inspiration for her writing. Susan’s first novel, Faces of Courage, debuted May 2021, as part of the Faces of Courage series, including several novelettes. She is also the author of An Introduction to Home Education (AKA California Homeschool Manual). Susan is a professional writer/journalist and is active in the writer community. She is proof you can begin a fiction writing career at any age.

More from Susan

The Fragrance of Violets’ story has yearned to be told for many years now—before I created my tagline, Courage: The Intersection of faith and grit. But it fits perfectly. A similar situation existed a long time ago in the life of an acquaintance. I thought all parties handled it badly, and I longed to make it right. Of course, being an outsider, the only way I could make it right was by creating a novel.

Fiona and Nason, the main characters, are total figments of my imagination, and the details of the story are substantially different. But the core, abandonment, the need to ask for and grant forgiveness, and the courage to meet them, is real and universal.

I desired to show that even when we think we’ve done nothing wrong, we need to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal where we need to own up to our mistakes and seek forgiveness. Also, I wanted to show that although it is difficult to forgive when we’ve been horribly wronged (and how horrible to have the person you thought of as your father abandon you and with no apparent explanation or remorse), it’s possible with courage. The courage that comes from faith and action.

My prayer is that Fiona and Nason (despite his past) will inspire readers to find their own courage through whatever situations in which they find themselves.

Author Interview for The Fragrance of Violets:

What role does God play in your writing career?

I don’t want this to sound trite, but He is why I write. Since I became a Christian in my twenties, I sought His leading on when and what to write. I come from a journalism and technical writing background. He plopped me into the beginnings of the homeschool movement in the 1980s and had me concentrating on teaching my children and writing to help others in homeschooling. After thirty-five years in that ministry, I finally felt as if He was calling me to write fiction—a lifelong dream and a whole new ballgame from the type of non-fiction writing I’d been doing. It was through circumstances that could only have been the Lord that six years ago, I met other writers and, eventually, my publisher. While I certainly don’t claim my writing is from the hand of God, I do rely on the Holy Spirit to inform what I write and always pray it’s a glory to the Lord.

What one thing do you love most about writing? Why?

I love creating new worlds. Not in the SciFi sense, but in the ordinary sense of my characters’ worlds. Where they live, their history, who they are, and how they navigate their stories. It’s very satisfying, like making new friends (although there are characters I’ve created that I don’t like much). I also love it when a character takes the story into a new realm I hadn’t planned on. It’s an exciting adventure.

Are you a “punster” or a “plotster” or a little of both? What does that mean to you and how do you use that when writing a book?

This is a tough one. I like to think I’m a “plotster,” but really I’m a “panster.” I start out daydreaming about characters and what they are going to go through. Then I sit down and create a meager plot line. This takes me ages, and I soon tire of the detail, itching to begin writing. So, I write and flesh out the plot as I go. Sometimes the plot takes a fresh turn I hadn’t thought of. I enjoy being a little of both. It gives me some structure, but the freedom to change with my characters.

What inspires your stories?

Life! My first novel and two companion novelettes were inspired by my daughter’s breast cancer journey. The strength she derived from the Lord through horrific circumstances and her faith journey made me want to share stories like hers. Moving from breast cancer, I’ve tapped into the real lives and struggles of people I know to write on topics like forgiveness and abandonment. I hope to give readers stories that reveal aspects of life they may not have experienced while encouraging and challenging them in following the Lord.

What are some new projects you’re working on?

I’m about to turn in a Christmas novella that will be part of a multi-author series. My major work in progress is Relinquished, a novel about a birth mother who discovers her relinquished child is kidnapped and inserts herself into the search. In her heart, she struggles with the need to reclaim her child. But, even if it were possible, is it the best for all concerned? Were the child’s adoptive family culpable? Sometimes we struggle with the natural consequences of our actions and accepting God’s will for our lives. Simmering on the burner are three novellas for a multi-author series that takes place in a fictional set of islands in the South Pacific.

Relinquished sounds amazing! I can’t wait to read it! Thanks for sitting down and talking to us today.

Thanks for connecting today.

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