My Answers to Your Questions!
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my blog’s birthday, and in that post, I included a Q+A form and a short survey about the content of my blog. Thank you so much to those of you who participated and gave questions and answered my questions. 
It is very much appreciated, and due to community interest, I’ll be working on – Lord willing – more writing advice and ramblings about my life. We’ll see how those go …
But as promised, here are the answers to your amazing questions! Y’all really asked some good ones.
1) What is your favorite dessert?
Anything that fits into my weird diet and preferably has chocolate. I make a really yummy gluten free, refined-sugar, dairy free chocolate pumpkin bread, and it’s soooo yummy.
2) What inspired you to set the Grace Sufficient series in Russia?
I think it’s a combination of things—Russia is just really mysterious and a good setting for juicy stories. Added to my enjoyment of ballet and armwrestling (weird combo, but both are popular in Russia), and I couldn’t resist. I also wanted Gabe and Sophie’s story to be some kind of spy novel, and while that novel didn’t include that story line, a future novel did (Untold), because spies in Russia are just too interesting to pass up. 
3) Are you more outdoorsy or indoorsy?
This one’s hard. I really enjoy going outside and doing things like hiking, enjoying the sun, etc. But on the other hand, the majority of my life has been spent inside (especially in recent years) while I work on writing or homework.
Madi’s Questions1) What first drew you into writing?
I started writing when I was ten or eleven (when I first learned to type), but I don’t really have a dramatic memory of one thing pushing me into writing. The Lord’s Will, I guess, and I just always enjoyed making up stories and writing them with speed! (Aka typing instead of handwriting. I cannot handwrite things and be happy if it’s a work of fiction.)
2) What has the Lord taught you through your years of writing/blogging?
Wow, such a good question, and so hard to answer because it’s so many things! Every single book—especially the ones I’ve published, given I spent more time with them than any other, has been used to teach me so much. Most of the themes my characters learn and work through encourage me, too, alongside them! But another huge part of writing and blogging is just God’s faithfulness and His goodness toward me in directing my life in the direction He sees fit. I want to see the whole story, beginning to end, but He demands trust—even in the unknown. And when I look back at all He’s done—one of those things, allowing me to become an author—His faithfulness is just a further reason to trust Him!
3) Which book of yours is your favorite?
Ooh, this is hard. I’ve gotta go with Unworthy, thought Unknown is close to my heart since it was my debut, and Untold was so much fun (I just love Nikolai and Molly!) But Unworthy, though it wasn’t my favorite really to write or edit, had really hard and deep themes that hold a lot of significance to me. I’m also a fan of that plot—it came together almost too well in the end, which makes my happy little every-has-to-tie-together heart very joyful.
4) What is your favorite genre to read? What about your secondary genre?
Probably historical fiction, but I also enjoy contemporary. And suspense.
5) What is one random writing goal?
Well, one would be to someday publish Unforgiven. But just to always remember for Whom I’m writing!
6) If you could live in any fictional world, or in any period of history, where/which would it be?
Maybe like 1920 on a farm somewhere nice? I don’t know—every era has its problems, and I really do like modern conveniences!
Kristina’s Question
1) Why didn’t you make your blog a birthday cake and sing it “Happy Birthday”? It told me it is quite angry!
I’ll have to make it a cake and sing happy birthday. But how do blogs eat? This is confusing.
Saraina’s Questions1) What’s your favorite breakfast?
So I very often have a protein shake for breakfast, and it’s super yummy. But for actual breakfast foods, I love oatmeal, anything with eggs (especially fried ones, and if you add an avocado in there …) And pancakes—gluten free, of course—are always yummy, too.
2) Do you have a favorite out of all the posts you’ve written?
Probably either this one about “preachy” fiction or this Valentine’s post.
3) Is there a certain hymn you think is wildly underrated?
“Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.” I almost never get to play/sing that in church, and it needs to be sung and played more.
4) What’s your earliest book-related memory?
Hmm … I remember working on reading with my mom with these sort of pre-reader books, and I also remember trying to read one of Kristina’s books that she was reading (I think?) and only being able to pick out like “a” “an” and “the.” Somehow that was helpful?
5) What’s your favorite violin-performance memory?
I have several, but one that immediately comes to mind was my recital of last November. That was such an amazing day, and it was such a blessing to me! I also really savor part of a rehearsal that’d happened that week too—I honestly had never felt how I felt as my pianist and I were rehearsing part of the Franck. Music has made me “feel” things many times, but the depth of losing myself in the music with complete trust and communication with my pianist in that moment in something that was bigger than the two of us … it was amazing. I’m not good at explaining what it was like, but I imagine that’s what the best musicians in the world feel like all the time, haha!
6) Do you have a bucket list? What are some of the things you’re most dying to do one day?
Not really … but I’d love to play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto well. Maybe go to the UK. And Russia, too. As you can tell, I’m not much of a “dreamer.” I’m very much one of those practical homeschoolers – except when it comes to plots.
1) What is your favorite genre? Movie, book and writing.
Movies—probably Westerns. Books—historical, suspense, and contemporary. Writing—suspense, historical, and maybe even fantasy?
2) Who are your favorite authors (notice I put it in plural form ;))
Oh, thank you for your mercy, Sara! Okay … let’s start off with my favorite, Kristina Hall. Then in no particular order, there’s Madisyn Carlin, Sarah Sundin, Susan May Warren, Angie Thompson, and others!
1.) What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of writing or music?
Definitely working out and cooking healthful recipes (even when they don’t turn out exactly as I’d like them to.) I love natural remedies and all of that kind of stuff. And also armwrestling! It’s a super fun sport, even if I’m not the best at it, haha!
2.) What inspired you to start writing?
I guess the whims of my childish brain—and the Lord!
3.) What’s one thing you wished you knew before you started self-publishing?
The positives of self-publishing—it was a super exciting thing to think about being published, but I really had no idea of all the amazing authors/bloggers/readers that I’d get to meet. Being self-published is more than I ever dreamed of!
4.) What made you decide to choose the self-publishing route (and would you ever consider going traditional?)
Since my sister, Kristina, self-published a few months before I considered doing the same, it was pretty clear to me that I was going to self-publish. I likely wouldn’t get a contract with a traditional publishing company, and I really didn’t want to wait for years on the slim hope someone might just snatch me up. Plus, I wanted more control over what I publish, especially in regards to the faith content.
I guess if someone contacted me and asked to publish one of my books traditionally, I might think about it. There are definitely perks to being traditionally published, but I’m content at this time with self-publishing.
1) Have you considered another series/novel after the Grace Sufficient series is completed? (Richard asks this question. But nearly everyone who reads what you post has no idea who he is, so you can just … put this under me. XD)
Yes and no. Because I’m sorta exiled in this series for a good … two to three more books, and at this pace, it’s gonna be a while before I get out of Russia. But I will say that I might have a different project coming up shortly that’s yet to be publicly disclosed.
2) Who’s your favorite composer/songwriter to listen to for inspiration for your stories? (Or just in general.)
So I used to be someone who liked to listen to a lot of music while I wrote, but recently it’s been more of a struggle because I can’t stop listening more to the music than focusing on my writing. But then some days it’s really helpful to listen to something, too. I definitely go through spurts of what/who I listen to—for awhile I was really into listening to Sierra Hull’s music (she’s a phenom of a mandolin player, and while her style is completely different than a lot of artists I’ve ever listened, I can jam really hard to her stuff.) Then there are people like the Gettys who I also enjoy listening to—just in general that stream of Christian artists.
3) What are your favorite songs to listen to for said writing inspiration?
Usually some sort of hymn or worship song, though there was this version of “Say Something” (I don’t really even know what sort of song it is) that I always felt went with Vlad and Katya’s story.
4) Do you like snacking while you write, or do you prefer to just write and snack later because snacking distracts you?
I gotta snack apart from writing. On occasion, I’ll eat while I’m writing, but I usually stop and snack for a bit.
5) Do you handwrite any pieces of your stories?
No. I hate writing long things by hand, and the one time I tried to do that many years ago, it was a failure. I wish I could be as cool as the people who handwrite stories, but I can’t be. Y’all are epic.
Allyson’s Questions1) Why did you start your blog?
I’d wanted to start a blog for a few years, but I never would’ve started if I hadn’t been publishing a book. So I tried to sorta establish my platform before I published my first book.
2) What are your hopes, dreams, and plans for your writing future?
I know this probably sounds awful, but I’m honestly not one of those massive dreamers. (Those of you who are, I think that’s so amazing!) But I really just want to do what the Lord calls me to with my writing—to be faithful even if I never publish a book again or if I publish one hundred more. I’ve learned that I can’t rush the process (more to come on this!), and so in the end, I just want the Lord glorified through my obedience in everything I write.
3) What’s your favorite genre to write in?
This is so hard. I guess suspense, but I also love writing historical. And contemporary is fun, too.
4) What’s your favorite genre to read in?
Historical fiction.
5) What made you want to start writing?
Again, my childlish whims, I suppose, and most of all, the Lord’s grace!
Issabelle’s Questions1) If you could live anywhere that isn’t the good ole U S of A where would it be and why?
Good question. Hmm. You know, part of me would love to live in Russia, but it’s not exactly the freest country in the world. But it would be so cool to be able to go there and be a missionary or something. Or Ireland. I really want to go to Ireland, but again, not the most free country in the world, either. So Russia or Ireland?
2) Who’s your favorite character from the Grace Sufficient series? (It better be Nikolai! XD)
Hahaha, I do love good ol’ Nick. He and Molly were probably my most-loved characters when I was editing them – I adored those kids so much. But that’s faded now, and overall … I’ve gotta go with my original, Gabe Kelly. I love writing about him (as a side character, now), and he gets to live on in all six books of the GS series. He’s probably a better side character than main character, but he’s just so fun to write, and he’s the best sidekick. And he has the best words of wisdom for everyone, haha! I love his personality and his bravery and his kindness even as a more “average” person who does outrageous things for the Lord.
So, all that to say, I love all of my babies, but Gabe narrowly beats the rest of the field.
3) Do you prefer the beach or mountains?
Mountains, I think. I really enjoy the beach, but mountains (Appalachians included, though they’re hardly mountains compared to the ones out West) are probably my favorite.
4) What is your favorite planet besides earth?
Um … Pluto? Except that one’s not a planet. I did a report on Jupiter, I think, once. But that reminds me of the cool settings Gustav Holst’s wrote for each of them. Here’s a gorgeous link to it!
5) What is your favorite historical setting?
Either WWII era or Civil War, I think – to read and to write. 19th century in general, too.
