About the book:
Daria's
Her past has taught her that evil is real, that it can consume a person. She saw it happen with her husband, before he took his own life. Widowed, with no family, Daria becomes a tutor to Lucas, a rich traveling merchant from Ephesus. There she discovers evil has a strong foothold and that Lucas himself seems drawn to evil and sorcery.
As her relationship with her employer grows, she fears that she will be unable to pull him to pull him from demonic influence. Tension in the city is about to erupt, as a new sect called The Way continues to draw followers. A man called Paul
When she learns more of the ways of the Christians and their ability to defeat evil, she begins to have hope. But then Lucas is arrested and jailed for a brutal crime, and it seems not even the Christians can help.
Tensions escalate in the city until thousands are pouring into the arena to protest the influence of the Christians, and a plot to kill Paul is underway. When Lucas's execution is scheduled, Daria must find a way to prove his innocence, save his life, and help her new friends before everyone she loves is destroyed.
Interview Questions with Tracy
1. 1.
You
have gone on so many amazing travels. What was one of your favorite things
about visiting Ephesus?
I think it was the sense of being somewhere “where Paul
walked.” Sitting in the theater, looking down over the Harbor Street where he
was likely kept prisoner at times, I had this amazing moment of “I can’t
believe I’m here” – the kind of moment that gives you chills and makes you feel
connected to something larger than yourself.
2.
For
you, what is the hardest part of the writing process?
The actual rough draft, the first time I get the words out
of my head, is the hardest part. I have to discipline myself to stop the
research, stop the planning and plotting, and just start writing!
3.
What
is a typical day like for you, as an author?
Since last fall I’ve started a new routine, which is
working very well for me. I get up at 5 AM every day and work on writing until
about 8:30 AM. The rest of the day is given to the “business” side of writing
and life, and my other business. Sometimes I’ll add in some more research or
planning during the rest of the day, but those quiet early hours are when I’m
at my most creative and get the most done.
4.
What
inspired the theme of So Shines the Night?
The idea of community
is dear to my heart, and the struggle we all have to not live in isolation. I
wanted to take a look at two people struggling to do the right thing, but going
about it the wrong way because they were isolated both from other people and
from God, and to see what would happen when they brushed up against a community
like the first century church.
5.
In
your last book, Garden of Madness, the heroine came in contact with the
Biblical figure Daniel. Does Daria get to meet Paul and interact with him
in So Shines the Night, or does she view his ministry from afar?
Oh, it was great fun getting Daria and Paul to meet. Challenging, too, since everyone has a fairly specific concept of Paul and the way that I write him might not exactly conform to others’ preconceptions. Daria also meets some other biblical characters from the book of Acts, and I tried to portray them each struggling and human in their own way, wrestling with what it meant to be this new kind of Jew, this person whose Messiah had come.
Oh, it was great fun getting Daria and Paul to meet. Challenging, too, since everyone has a fairly specific concept of Paul and the way that I write him might not exactly conform to others’ preconceptions. Daria also meets some other biblical characters from the book of Acts, and I tried to portray them each struggling and human in their own way, wrestling with what it meant to be this new kind of Jew, this person whose Messiah had come.
6.
When
you visited Ephesus, what was it like to be in the same city that Paul
ministered in centuries ago?
It was thrilling, to be succinct. There is a sense of
“this is real – this really happened” that sweeps over you and pulls you back
in time and into the world of the Scripture in a new and fresh way. I loved it.
7.
What's
one thing you learned about Ephesus and its importance to Christians that you
found surprising/interesting/challenging?
I had never realized or noticed until studying this time
in Paul’s life, how much time he spent there (nearly three years). I always
pictured him hopping around from place to place fairly quickly. I was
challenged by the time that he invested in people’s lives, the relationships
and bonds he formed. Later, when the Ephesian elders said goodbye to him, the
book of Acts tells us that they were literally weeping. It’s easy for me to
minister to people “from afar” but I was really challenged by Paul’s relational
approach to sharing Christ.
8.
What's
the best piece of writing advice you've ever received?
Keep writing. If
you haven’t finished anything, keep writing. If you’ve finished something and
are trying to submit and sell it somewhere, don’t wait for an answer, keep
writing. If you’ve gotten some interest and it’s moving through the process,
keep writing. The publishing industry can move very slowly, and the best way to
be ready for your “big break” is to keep improving through practice, practice,
practice.
9.
What's
one thing on your bucket list (even if i you don't have an official
"list")?
I think I might like to skydive someday. I’ve never
admitted that before! (And now I’m terrified.)
10.
What
made you interested in writing ancient history fiction?
I’m not sure! It evolved in my mind, and I suppose it was
the tie-in to biblical history, to the time period which informed my faith and
held so many stories I already knew and loved. But I’ve never been content to
look at Scripture through the single historical lens of the Judea. I’ve always
wanted to see the Old and New Testament periods through the eyes of the world
outside the Jewish people, from the pagan perspective.
11.
How
do you do your research?
It’s a multi-tiered approach, with very basic research at
first (sometimes even juvenile non-fiction), to get a high-level view, then
going deeper into the specific days/years I’ll be writing about, and then
getting a broad view of the daily life and culture through dusty textbooks. All
of this goes into my “notebook” and inspires specific plots and scenes. As I am
actually writing the first draft, I often leave placeholders where more
specific research is needed, like an XX where a number or detail should go. At
the end, I go back and find all those placeholders and research the details,
often online where it’s much easier to search for very specific information.
12.
Can
you share anything about your future projects?
The best way to get a sense of what I’m working on now
would be to visit this page: http://tracyhigley.com/books/work-in-progress/
Although, don’t hold me to all those thoughts about the book I haven’t
started yet – who knows where that will go!
13.
What
is your favorite thing about writing?
You.
Seriously, writing is an isolated and lonely profession at
times. I spend a lot of time in my office alone, working to put together
stories that people will love, and that will touch their hearts. When I hear
from readers, start to see the reaction to a new book, that is my favorite
thing about the process.
14.
Where
is your favorite place that you have visited in research for you books?
Egypt. I’ve been there twice, and loved every minute of
both visits. The people, the history, the culture – all of it is very near to
my heart. It’s a connection I can’t really explain, but I hope to return again
someday.
15.
What
is something new you learned while doing research for So Shines the Night?
That’s a tough one, because there were so many things! The
whole city of Ephesus is such an interesting study. Because the river that fed
into the harbor carried so much silt with it, the harbor eventually became too
clogged for ships and the people basically abandoned the city. This rarely
happens in the ancient world – most ancient cities, like Rome, are a mix of
ancient, medieval and modern and you have to travel around to the pockets of
ancient monuments that are left. In Ephesus, all you have is the ancient city,
so it has this frozen-in-time feeling like Pompeii, which I loved.
16.
Your
books remind me of a time machine, whereas the readers are transported into the pages. How do you make the stories seem so real and
life like?
Thank you so much for saying that! It is exactly what I aspire to, so you’ve made
my day! I don’t have a simple answer, except to say that there’s nothing in the
world I’d like more than a time machine, so it’s definitely a priority. One
thing that I do before I sit down to write a scene is to take some time walking
around in it in my head, trying to really experience the sensory of the scene –
the sounds, smells, tastes, textures, colors, temperature, and spatial details.
If I don’t do that exercise, often those things don’t make it to the page. But
when I do, I believe it helps bring the scene to life.
17.
How
has your writing, research, and travels affected your spiritual life?
Great question. All of it has definitely given me a larger
sense of the world and what God is doing in it, both now and through the past.
It’s made me realize, as I’ve studied God’s work in the nations throughout
history, that He has always been calling all people to Himself, and that He
still is. It’s also given me a desire to see the kind of Christianity that was
born in the fires of Roman persecution become part of our experience now – a
living, breathing faith that radically transforms our lives.
18.
What
character has been your favorite through your writing journeys over the years
and why?
Sophia, from
Guardian of the Flame. She is the
most like me, and ironically probably the character many of my readers have
liked the least. She is withdrawn and
isolated, and doesn’t feel herself worthy of interaction with people and
although it’s probably more honesty than you asked for, I will say that I
struggle with this idea often. She learns that she is loved and accepted by God
first, and that God’s love makes all other relationships possible. It’s a
lesson many of my characters are often learning, and it comes from a deep place
within me.
19.
What
are your 5 favorite things, excluding your family?
Dark chocolate, BBQ chicken pizza, a good book, foreign
travel, a movie that makes me cry.
20.
What
was the hardest topic to find info on that you've ever researched?
Writing Petra
was difficult. We don’t have much information about the daily life of the
Nabateans, compared to say the Romans or Egyptians. I had to manufacture more
than I based on known facts, and that was more of a challenge, to make the
setting and people seem real.
21.
What's
your favorite city so far that you've used as a setting?
Probably Pompeii.
It was really fun to be able to have people running around the city
where I had actual buildings and layout to draw from – actual streets and
temples, brothels and theaters and arenas. It was very real for me.
22.
I
think one of my favorite subjects in school was history. Are you a history
lover, if so, have you always been?
Yes, and yes. I’ve always loved stories in general, both
fictitious and historical. Loved escaping into a story from the time I was a
young child. History was a natural extension of that, and I still hope to help
people “time-travel” into the past with every story I write.
23.
Where
do you get the inspiration for your stories?
The setting is usually what inspires me first. Many
writers start with fascinating characters or a compelling plot, but I usually
start with a place and say “ooh –
what would it have been like to live there, in that time?” After that, it’s
often the real history of the place that begins to inspire the story itself.
24.
I
love the historical aspects of your books. It must be very difficult and take
alot of studying to get all that information accurate and then make a
believable story out of it. How much time do you spend studying the history of
the place you are writing about?
Too much, perhaps!
It’s a big part of the writing process – from many hours before I start
writing, to research breaks along the way, to digging up specific details to
fill in the gaps later. I end up with so much information and I want to get it
all in there, so the challenge is to feed it to readers in a way that’s
entertaining while informative, and not boring or overwhelming.
25.
What
can you tell us about the challenges of interweaving actual historical events
with fictional ones?
It’s actually quite fun!
The historical events give me sort of “anchor points” for the story and
help me structure the plot. Then I fill in around them with all the fun
fictional stuff. I really enjoy it when the place and time give me lots of
history to work with.
26.
What
advice would you give other writers who want to bring their story settings to
life and leave their readers feeling like they've been there?
Research is key, of course. Don’t skimp. You will end up
with more than you can use, but you never know when a particular detail you’ve
found will breathe life into a scene, or inspire a major plot point. Second,
take time for the sensory. When you think about and make sure the page shows
all the colors and sounds, tastes and smells, textures and feeling of a place,
it will start to come alive.
27.
As
a fellow writer I know that every story seems to have one character who just
captures your heart. Was there a character like that in So Shines the Night for you, and if so, who was it?
I think I might have had a little crush on Timothy, if you
must know. And Lucas, well, sigh.
I just had to rescue him.
28.
How
was the experience of writing So Shines
the Night, compared to your other Seven Wonders novels?
It was much the same, with the addition of really being
able to picture the city itself, as I could with Pompeii, after having walked
the streets that are still so intact. It was also fun bringing in the “guest
characters” from the book of Acts, and even an appearance of some characters
from another novel (I’m not saying who – you’ll have to figure it out!)
29.
How
do you start writing a new novel? Do you make an outline, use a gazillion
different colored Post-It notes on a big wall grid, just sit at the computer
and knock it out, or what?
I am definitely an outliner and a plotter, but most of
what I put together is on the computer.
For the past few books I’ve been using a program called Scrivener, which
I really like. I have notes in my
personal “template” file that pertain to all stories – to the structure behind
them – and I look them over as I plot through the scenes. For every scene I
create a brainstorming worksheet before I write it – something that gives me
the high-level look at what’s going to happen in the scene, and contains some
of the sensory details I’ve imagined. I
print this out and have it next to me as a I write the scene.
30.
What
advice to you have for someone who wants to write "The Great American
novel' and struggles to even get started? I know that's broad...
Like any huge, overwhelming project, the best advice is
just to start. See what kind of writer
you are by getting started. Does an outline and a plot make you feel stunted?
Do you fear the blank page and need to think it through first? There are tons
of writing helps out there no matter what kind of writer you are. Find some,
read and digest them, and then come back and keep writing.
31.
Who
is your greatest inspiration - as a writer, mom, Christian?...any and all of
those criteria.
As a writer, I’m inspired by C.S. Lewis (of course), but
also by Stephen Lawhead and Frederick Buechner, both of whom have the ability
to pick the reader up and carry them somewhere else. As a mom, it is the
awesome friends I have, whose daily interactions with their children I am
privileged to witness, that inspire me most. And as a Christian? The lives of
those who live big and adventurous for the kingdom – willing to love and risk
because they are secure in Christ.
32.
Do
you and the main character have anything in common?
Daria is very independent, and thinks she can get things
done on her own. It’s hard for her to ask for help. I can relate!
33.
If
you could travel through time to see any of the seven wonders, which would you
choose.
Even though the Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt) is the only
one of the Seven Wonders still intact, I would still choose that one – to
travel back and see it in its glory, to see the people and the culture… ah, that would be amazing.
34.
Do
you worry about the integrity of the story when you have to add so much to the
story to flesh it out from the actual Biblical account?
Yes. It’s a core value of mine that as I write fiction
that brushes up against actual biblical events, that I not alter what we know
of this history and people. I may not always get it right, and some may argue
about their interpretation of what really happened versus mine, but I always
strive to keep the integrity of the biblical account intact. There is plenty to
“flesh out” around the reality, and I let myself get creative there, but not
with what we truly know from Scripture.
35.
While
visiting modern day Ephesus, could you really get a "feel" for what
it was like in Paul's time?
Yes, the streets and buildings are in ruins, of course,
but there is plenty there to know what the different buildings were used for
and to picture the streets full of townspeople and the shops and temples being
used. You can see mosaics and writing and all kinds of “daily life” things that
make it easy to picture the city in its heyday.
36.
How
long did it take to complete this story from start to finish? Was that about an average amount of time?
This story took about five months, which is just a little
shorter than average. I usually like to
spend six to eight months on a book, but sometimes life intervenes!
37.
What
inspired you to write this book?
I’ve been writing about the Seven Wonders for awhile now,
and when it came time to write about the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, it as a
no-brainer that the action in Acts 19 would form the basis for the conflict of
the story. From there, I had fun bringing it all to life!
38.
What
advice to you have for authors who are looking at writing early history such as
this?
There is plenty to study, so get busy! Do your homework, honor the history even when
it takes you places that are unexpected and challenging. Resist the urge to
make your characters 21st century people in tunics (or “Baptists in
bathrobes,” as my friend Randy says). It’s a challenge, but it’s important.
39.
What
is your favorite book you have written and why?
I am absolutely in love with the Beauty and the Beast
motif, and Guardian of the Flame was
my homage to it. I really loved writing that book.
40.
You
are not only a writer but also run your own business. When do you find time to
write?
Over the years, the only way I’ve found time to write is
by making it a priority. Sometimes other parts of my life didn’t get the
attention they wanted/deserved. Lately, I’ve been finding that rising early
(which is not natural for me) and writing from 5 AM to about 8:30 AM is working
really well, and leaves the rest of the day for business and life-stuff.
41.
What
advice do you have for writers launching their first book?
Find your people. It’s tough, but there are folks out
there who are very much like you and will love to read what you write. So the
first step is truly understanding yourself and your special brand of writing.
The second step is to make sure your books, your website, etc all match up to
that special brand. And then start spreading the word to find those like-minded
people who will be your best fans.
42.
Why
historical fiction?
I’m addicted to stories, and there’s a never-ending supply
of them in history!
43.
When
you write speculative, how do you research and get information?
I haven’t written much speculative, except for my
time-travel book and the little bit of the supernatural I bring into my ancient
history. Since much of that is just out of my crazy brain, I guess I don’t do
much research there!
44.
What
touched you the most on your travels for this book?
I think it was the sense of “realness” that being in the
same city where Paul ministered brought to me. There’s a connection to faith
and Scripture that happens, and it’s very powerful.
45.
What
do you hope people will take away from this story?
There are a number of themes I explored here, so it will
vary from person to person, depending on where they are on their journey. I
hope people will get a sense of the reality of the first century church, of
Paul as a man. I want people to see that the love God has for us makes us
secure, and that from that foundation we can risk to love others. I want
readers to long for a sense of community that is found in the church of
Ephesus.
46.
What
was the inspiration for So Shines The
Night?
The 19th chapter of Acts was just too delicious
to pass up!
47.
How
do you pick your character names?
It’s always hard. I want them to be historically accurate,
but I also want people to feel connected to the characters and that can’t
happen if they can’t pronounce the person’s name. I comb through historical name lists on the
internet, looking for ones that aren’t too wacky!
48.
I
am an aspiring writer myself. I am currently working on a project for school
and have taken a fairy tale and revamped it for today's kids. Where do you find your inspiration for your
stories and characters?
That sounds like lots of fun! I love fairy tales. My inspiration often comes from myth, fairy
tale and legend – there is so much richness there, and themes that resonate
with all people, from all cultures and times. Beyond that, the setting and
history of a place really inspire me.
49. What is the condition of the Ephesian church today?
Ephesus was eventually abandoned as a city because the harbor became clogged with silt, so there is no real city or church there today. The nearest city is Selçuk, which is a predominantly Muslim population. I did a quick Google search in answering your question, and came up with this page, which is really cool: http://www.worshipinephesus.com/
50. What influence of the Ephesian church do you see on the culture in that area?
Well, the Temple of Artemis is in ruins, and certainly Christianity came to that part of the world during the medieval period. These days, the Christians are again the minority, but I am sure they are working hard to share the love of Christ with their neighbors.
51. In Revelation, Jesus commends the perseverance of the church of Ephesus, but He also says that they have left their first love and urges them to repent and do the things they did at first. What evidence do you see in Ephesus that the church received and did (or didn’t) act upon this letter?
That’s a really tough question to answer. We don’t have any writings specifically about the Ephesian church after that time period, but it is traditionally believed that after John’s exile to Patmos he returned to live in Ephesus, and also that Timothy pastored the church there. With these two godly men in place, and such a specific revelation to challenge them, it seems to me that God would have been doing mighty work there, as He continues to do around the world today.
http://tracyhigley.com/enter-to-win/
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