WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT ... You?  Is this one of your best days ... or not? Why I write inspirational romance novels? Where I get my own inspiration? For more biographical details, click here. For an interview with Patt, click here.

I hope you have great people in your life ... people who are good to you ... people who let you know you're lovable, likeable, capable and competent. Daily confirmations of those qualities is such a big deal. It's hard to be happy without them.

Hopefully, you have several people to give you these proofs. Sometimes people who love you are too busy, or they may not like you much at the moment. Sometimes they're going through such a bad spot themselves that they can't be there for you.

When you have a bad day... ... the reason is often because someone has pointed out that you aren't lovable, likeable, capable or competent. Maybe you weren't for a moment, but one thing I know. You didn't mean to be. You didn't wake up and say, "Today I am going to make my loved one look at me with disgust," or "Today I'm going to make a mistake so big that I get yelled at or treated like a five-year old." Each person does the best she can at ANY GIVEN MOMENT.

I've tested that statement for thirty years and never found it to be untrue ... as long as you add the last three words.  We may not have done our all-time personal best or even as good as we usually do, but there was a reason for that.  Sleep deprivation, hunger and fatigue bring us down.  Bad information processing habits (e.g. flying off the handle), poor self-esteem, lack of information and misinformation can be to blame.

Can you remember a time when you tried to be unlikable or incompetent? Probably not.  It just happens, and it can happen so fast.  Knowing that makes it easier to forgive yourself, and you can more easily forgive others.   They weren't trying to be awful, even if they were.

Some people thrive on stealing your joy. I put at least one of these villains in every book. They're fun to read about, but terrible to deal with in real life. Wisdom says you stay away from these people, but when they're part of your family or someone you have to work with, what can you do?

Fill your life with people who know how to love, how to be kind and how to laugh. Find a way to give your mind and emotions a rest. Escape in the way you like best. My husband fishes. My sister-in-law straightens drawers and organizes closets. I read books or watch old movies, the ones where two people fall in love and live happily ever after.

When I am depressed or furious, I pick up a paperback romance. For two or three hours, I drop into someone else's head and experience the hope and joy of new love. Not for a minute have I ever been unfaithful to my husband, but I love that sweet "falling-in-love" feeling. Two or three hours later, I emerge a stronger, happier woman, ready to take on new stress. I can barely remember why I was so upset before.

I have a degree in counseling and saw clients for years. I know that many of us never get to the root of our problems, but we can be happy today.

Romance novels can be better therapy than movies because ... Others may join you when you watch a movie-even the people who made you feel stressed in the first place. When you read a book, you get time alone. You may not like the actors in a movie, but you can cast the characters in your book any way you like. They are so many more choices. More than a thousand new romance titles are released each year, including 48 Steeple Hill Love Inspired books (like I write). That's 4 per month or 1 a week. Join the book club and de-stress a lot, or find authors you like and buy individual books at stores like Target, K-Mart, Walden Books and some Christian book stores.

WHY I WRITE INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE

They keep journals and write words they know won't be read by others. That's not me. I'm a born teacher. I played school from the time I could talk. Even on this web site I can't resist passing on everything to know. And I'm a drama queen. When I was little, I acted out every movie I saw. We didn't have TV until I was fourteen, so I read a lot and imagined more. Everything in my life is a production–birthday parties, wedding showers, holidays. I don't understand why people don't spontaneously burst into big Broadway production numbers like they do in a show.

I've always made up stories, but most were scripts for people or puppets at church. It didn't occur to me to write novel-length fiction until I got my first computer in 1989. For years, I'd been a happy-ending addict who read hundreds of romances. Writing one myself seemed like a fun thing to do. If I hadn't been clueless about writing for publication, I wouldn't have tried.

You have to write what someone wants to buy, and that's an ever-changing factor.

The second lesson was that you don't know if you've done a good job for months, sometimes years. The last and hardest lesson for me to learn was that writing is a solitary job. I've spent most of my life in the company of others. My job was a teacher, and then a counselor. I liked to help people and know immediately that I had. At church I taught or was involved in music. At home, I planned parties, cooked big meals and spent time with family and friends. This was my life, and I loved it, but it didn't prepare me for the life of being a writer.

I took early retirement from counseling and teaching with the goal of writing a romance a year.

I'd studied "how to write romance" for several years and had full confidence I could do this. When I didn't have anything else to do, I spent time in the office and managed to produce manuscripts that finaled in the RWA Golden Heart contest for unpublished authors in 1994 and 1995. Although those manuscripts didn't sell, a Silhouette editor said she thought I would get to publication soon.

The fall of 1995, I attended a time management seminar where we were asked this question:

"What would you most like to do if you could do anything?"

Since I'd already done everything I ever wanted to do but sell a romance, I started to answer the question with that, but that answer wouldn't be the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Grace Livingston Hill was the prolific author of faith-based romance novels set in contemporary times during the 1920's and 1930's. Her critics say the books are formulaic, and they are. Poor girl meets rich guy. One of them knows God and helps the other know God. There are problems along the way, but their love for each other and their Lord conquers all. The couple is sure to live happily ever after.

You see how God was there for that couple. You realize his timing is perfect and he's waiting to guide you to a better way than you would choose for yourself. Millions of Hill's books have been sold, and people still buy them. Critics can say what they will about their simplicity, but they touch the heart and have endured. Books similar to hers were what I wanted to write, but who would publish them? If there was a publisher who bought faith-based books in contemporary settings at that time, I didn't know about it.

My husband and I, along with some forty others, did something we never expected to do. We began a new church. There was no time to write romance, but I loved writing the print ads and directing the music program. Membership mushroomed to a congregation of nearly 1000 in three years, and it has grown since. Others came along to do what I'd been doing at church.

It was the perfect time for me to go back to writing for the most amazing thing had happened. Harlequin, the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world, had started publishing Christian contemporary romances called Steeple Hill Books. Their "Love Inspired" line was being sold to book club subscribers and in stores like Borders, Walden Books, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart.

With great joy, I added the faith element to that manuscript that didn't sell in 1995, and Steeple Hill bought it for the Love Inspired line! That book won the National Readers Choice Award for Best Inspirational Romance of 2000.

I hadn't learned the discipline of writing as a vocation, not a pastime. I didn't have the faith that this was what I was supposed to do. I still wanted to do things my way and have God bless that. And, the biggest thing, I hadn't learned to love the solitary life of a writer.

In the summer of 2003, the transition began. Since I was a child, I've tried to honor God and do his will, but what he's having me do now feels very different. There's been a surrender to the solitary writer's life, even a new love for it that makes it feel like a mission or calling. I love to pray and see what words come to mind. It's an absolute thrill to think these words, written today, may be used as a blessing for you or someone else, even years from now.

At this moment, I'm writing on my porch and listening to the rustle of leaves in the trees. My heart is full, feeling the presence of God. I'm wondering who will read this. Sending this out on the internet is sort of like putting a message in a bottle and tossing it into the sea. I've always thought that was a strange thing to do. Hmm. Maybe not.

WHERE DO I GET MY INSPIRATION?

I love this version of the Bible. Instead of reading from Genesis to Revelations, the daily readings include portions of Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each. I've read and studied other versions, but this one has helped me understand the mind of God the best, probably because it's so easy to read, I seldom miss a day. My pastor mentioned that he noticed a difference in me. The credit goes to this daily method of reading the Word. You can read more about this version here.

This is my all-time favorite daily devotional, especially for people who've lived a few years. If you can find the slim, black leather-bound version (about $10), get that. I've ordered dozens of them from amazon.com, but lately they're only showing the paperback version (about $5).

One of my favorite pages is May 1, titled "Delay is not denial." We're reminded that our lives are so linked with others, that it takes God's orchestration and his timing to answer your prayers and mine. For more information, click here.

If you're going to read one inspirational book this year, this is the one. This easy-to-read book is sweeping the country. Whole churches are studying it as one body. So many people say it has changed their lives.

One of My Favorite Inspirational Thoughts:

"Keep it simple. That's the Calvary way."

Sometimes we make complications in our lives to prove our worth. When we make mountains out of molehills, we put Jesus back on the cross.

More Biographical Details

Patt is a published author, a musician, a counselor, a business teacher and a church leader in music, drama, TV production and education. Born Patricia Campbell in Chillicothe, Missouri, Patt was raised and adopted by her maternal grandparents. Her school friends knew her as Pat Donovan, the girl who played the piano and clarinet, who always had a job (Library, Chamber of Commerce, J.C. Penney's), who loved being Barnwarming Queen, who played the organ at church before she was old enough to drive and who skipped her senior year because her grandfather was ill and wanted to see her graduate from high school and go on to college.

As a teenager, she read the library's collection of Grace Livingston Hill's faith-based romances, but she didn't dream of writing a book herself. She won the Freshman Writing Award at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, but writing wasn't as interesting as the captain of the basketball team. Patt married David "Squeak" Marr the summer after his graduation, and they moved to Macon, Missouri. He coached and taught, and she led a Girl Scout troop, drove cheerleaders to away games, kept the basketball shot chart and was active at church.

At the same time, Patt commuted to college — Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) — and took the maximum load — mostly business classes, preparing to support herself if she had to. Any children she might have would not be raised by grandparents. She didn't expect to graduate, but she did at age 20, with honors and with child.

During a prayer for financial help, Patt received a phone call with an offer to teach in a one-room school — grades one to eight. Since she knew nothing about children and wasn't prepared to teach them, she declined the offer and returned to praying. The idea, however, stuck, and she did accept the position for one year. Patt says she learned more from the children than they may have learned from her. Later, she saw this period as a God set-up, for she worked with thousands of children in Sunday school, children's church, children's choirs and vacation Bible school over the years.

Son Dane was born two years after daughter J-J. The family lived in East Moline, Illinois, where David coached and Patt was a substitute teacher. When the kids were in school, Patt taught business full-time, earned her master's degree in guidance and counseling, switched to the counseling department and loved being a mother. During those busy years of raising children, attending ball games, doing church ministry, performing music, building a house and working a challenging job, Patt discovered a perfect way to relax.

Short contemporary romances provided a wonderful three-hour escape, and Patt's friend Jackie provided the books. In the church parking lot, Jackie passed on big grocery bags full of romance novels. Jackie rated the books by tearing off the cover corners, and Patt learned that readers don't always agree on what makes a great book, even when they're great friends.

After reading a few hundred of these books, Patt knew she could write one herself. She bought her first computer, gave it a try and discovered that it was so easy it only took her 10 years to write a book that would sell. That book was a faith-based romance, a little like the Grace Livingston Hill books Patt still loved. Angel in Disguise, a Steeple Hill Love Inspired book, won the National Readers Choice award for the Best Inspirational Romance of 2000.

When Patt's next book was rejected, she redecorated the house and focused on her terrific family, her treasured friends and her wonderful church that started with 40 people and grew to more than 1,500 in eight years. She ran from the rejection instead of remembering that readers don't always agree on what makes a great book.

Finally, in the winter of 2003, she realized that words were cheap, and it would cost her nothing but free time if she got back to business and tried again. If God wanted to use her to write inspirational romance, she could do her part. It was a good decision. She sold that book that July! Her husband was thrilled, possibly because she would stop redecorating. Her family and friends rejoiced and made her think she had done a great thing.

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH PATT

On Writing and Reading...

What do you love most about being a writer?

I love that there's no dress code on my job. And there's no time clock.

I love that my summer office is our screened-in porch where I can sit in the swing and write, and I love my winter office that's all white except for a big green chalkboard and lots of green plants. Both offices overlook our lake in the woods. I am a very blessed woman!

I love the chance to give readers an escape from everyday problems, and I love fan letters that confirm I've done my job.

I love to create characters who make me laugh, who overcome difficulty and who love deeply.

What do you like least about being a writer?

Writing is a job, a good job, but who wants to work when they could play? When I'm writing, I don't have lunch with friends. I don't take trips or watch movies. I don't cook for loved ones or entertain friends. There's physical pain when I get caught up in the story and forget to move until the muscles scream and the eyes go blurry.

Do you have a favorite locale or setting for your novels? What is it and why is it your favorite?

The setting isn't very important to me. For me, it's all about the characters - how they feel, how they fall in love and how they believe in the promise of happy ever after.

Which of your books is your favorite?

The book I've just finished.

What is your all-time favorite book?

"The Rosary" by Florence Barclay, published fifty years ago. It was in my grandmother's library, and I first read it when I was about thirteen. I've re-read it many times, and our only daughter is named for the heroine.

It's the story of a woman who rejects the love of a slightly younger, very handsome, gifted portrait painter because she considers herself too plain and too ordinary to hold his love. It takes extraordinary circumstances for her to believe in his love and for his wounded heart to accept her love.

What one specific piece of advice would you give a would-be writer trying to kick-start a career?

Writing is like other arts. It takes practice. As a musician, I knew that I'd practiced millions of notes that no one ever heard, but I was slow to realize that I might need to write millions of words that no one would ever read. When you're not ready to jump in and write full time, go ahead and write something. Often! Daily! Set up files with similes, metaphors, and descriptions of places and people. Keep a journal. Write about your feelings and the emotions you witness. Write letters. Write e-mail! It all counts.

What gives you the most satisfactions in your job?

Ultimately, the greatest satisfactions comes from people who say the story made a difference in their lives. On a daily basis, satisfaction comes when the characters come off the page and make me feel what they feel, especially when they make me laugh.

As a Christian romance writer, what is your goal?

The ONLY reason I write is to encourage readers to believe in a better future through faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

On Romance...

What quality do you most admire in a man?

Kindness . . . and that includes fidelity, generosity and accepting people as they are.

Describe the ultimate romantic meal.

I used to think it was candlelight and water-front elegance, and I still write that! But now the ultimate romantic meal is chili cheese dogs or pizza. It's romantic because my husband picks up the food after a round of golf and brings it home to his hungry, scene-writing wife.

What is your favorite romantic song or composition?

I love ballads like "The Very Thought of You" and "When I Fall in Love." For the classics, my favorite is still my seventh grade recital piece, Debussy's "Clair de Lune," that I learned from my wonderful, darling piano teacher, Sister Joan of the Sisters of St. Francis. I wasn't Catholic, but the sisters took me under their wing when I was eleven and my mother died.

What is the most romantic gesture or gift you have received?

When I was seventeen, a college fraternity guy sent me a cross necklace with a poem that began with the words, "The night has a thousand eyes; the day but one." I had sung these words in high school choir and loved the song so much that I fell for the guy and enrolled at his college...only to realize he wasn't the one for me! Talk about a big disapointment...

But the captain of the basketball team was terrific! That adorable guy loved me more than I knew a person could be loved. He gave me his name, two wonderful children and the chance to love him until I die. My book, MAN OF HER DREAMS, is dedicated to him...of course.

What tip would you give your readers to make their lives more romantic?

Say encouraging things to each other, never criticize the other in public (and very little in private), don't disagree in front of the children, don't spend money you don't have and don't over-idealize romance. Remember that your relationship began and will end with each other. Save energy for loving each other.

And Lastly...

Do you have a good luck charm or superstition?

No, charms and superstitions aren't part of my faith. But I do some things consistently because they are good for me. I give God the first of everything - the first tenth of my income and the first part of each day.

 

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