Q&A With Author Chris Fabry About “The Forge”
Question: Without giving too much away, can you tell us a little bit about the storyline of The Forge?
Chris Fabry: The novel is slightly different from the film because it shows more of the story of Isaiah’s mother, Cynthia, as she struggles to love her son well and give him a vision for manhood. We learn a lot of the backstory of these two in the novel and see the effects of an absent father on the heart of a young man. When Isaiah comes into contact with a business owner who sees something in him, the story takes off.
What was it about this story that intrigued you when you first heard it was in the works?
I love character studies, the “smaller” stories where you get to know a person well and see their hangups and struggles. So this is not a novel filled with explosions and car chases— although a car is a big part of it—but the explosion and change is internal. I was excited about this novel/film on so many levels.
What are some of the major themes of this story?
The biggest theme you’ll encounter is forgiveness. It’s also the hardest theme to portray authentically because forgiveness costs the forgiver. But the person forgiving is perhaps the most blessed. To watch that modeled in the lives of people in The Forge is inspiring. We also deal with what it means to be a man, what it means to be a disciple of Christ, the struggle of being a single parent, and trying to change someone and help them.
How is writing a novelization different or similar to your writing process for your other novels?
I like to say that the Kendricks make all the hard choices with plot and characters, so they put up the fence and I get to play in the pasture. I have the basic outline and dialog for the story, but I get to follow my curiosity. So you will see more backstory and material about the major characters in the novel simply because there is more time to explore that than there is in the film.
How do you decide which parts of the story you want to expand or build upon?
There are people and scenes that jump off the page and wave at me and say, “Over here! Look over here!” For example, there is a 1966 Ford Mustang gathering dust in a garage. It’s a metaphor in the film that grabbed my heart because I love that car. Always dreamed of owning one and never did. Where did the car come from? Why is it in disrepair? What were the hopes and dreams of the original owner? When I find an object or a person who gains my interest, I have to follow those questions.
Who was your favorite character to develop further in this story and why?
I love writing in first person and I knew that Cynthia needed more of her perspective shown. I’m not a single mom, obviously, and writing from a female perspective is a challenge, but I wanted to walk in her shoes as a small business owner with a dream, show the devastation of a difficult marriage and a spouse who abandoned her, and the frustration of wanting something better for her son but not being able to make it happen on her own. I was so satisfied with the way the story played out because Cynthia is not perfect, but she is teachable.
How do you hope this story will resonate with readers, particularly young people like the book’s main character?
We did not want to “preach” to younger people. Standard writing advice is show, don’t tell. So we did a lot of “showing” of Isaiah making mistakes and seeing the results of those mistakes and wanting something different. There is one scene between Isaiah and his mother, after he’s made a mistake, that is so filled with guilt and shame and regret, you can taste it. I’m hoping younger readers will experience that and say, “I sure know how that feels.” That will pull them further along into the rest of the story and the heart change that happens.
Have you experienced the fruit of godly mentorship in your own life?
What was that experience like? I was blessed to have older men and women pour into me. There was a nurse who taught Sunday school to high schoolers, Jeane DeVos, who was so excited about the power of God’s Word. Later, in college, I attended a Bible study led by her husband. And through the years there were other people who gently guided me with their words and just the way they lived their lives that helped tremendously.
What is there in this story that the world needs to hear in our current cultural moment?
The younger generation is hungry for real, authentic relationships. The question is whether the older generation will see the opportunity and seize it.
A Special Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and Chris Fabry for the images and Q&A.
