Interview with Sharon Ewell Foster: Part 2

Abraham's Well, a novel by Sharon Ewell Foster, is a 'is the rare historical novel that both entertains and educates.' [Publisher's Weekly]

Today we have the second and last part of Ms. Foster's interview. Here's the first part.

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LLH: I've been told that AA (African American) Christian fiction is 'so different.' Someone even told me that since I'm black I could 'get away' with so much more. What are your thoughts on that?


SEF: Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. You know, I guess I don't get it. What's the payoff for keeping this kind of false separation in place? I don't get it. It's so unnatural.

One church. One faith. One baptism. We all read God's word and we are able to relate to it, across all kinds of barriers. Jesus prayed that we would be one. I don't get it.

Certainly, there might be some cultural differences, but at the heart of it, we all struggle with the same things, don't we? We want to be loved and respected. We all suffer, we all get disappointed. We all know what heartbreak feels like. We all know betrayal; it has no color. We all fluctuate between hope and despair. We've all experienced some kind of rejection or oppression. We may have different forms of worship, but we worship the same King.

Hopefully, all of us are writing in ways that honor God. Hopefully, all of us are writing the best we can and stretching ourselves. If someone, despite color, feels caged in by man's rules, then he or she needs to stretch. If someone, despite color, is writing under God's name, but is producing material that dishonors God, then I would hope he or she would do a heart check. I don't think it has anything to do with race. There are lots of writers pushing boundaries.

Actually, I enjoy reading all kinds of writers. I think it's a benefit. It's a blessing. It's God's intentional blessing. He didn't make us different by mistake; it is part of His divine plan, and we miss blessings He has for us if we are too foolish to move beyond color. Again, we don't just grow pink flowers and we don't just eat oranges. I'm not about to miss out on some wonderful literature, or a word that can bless my life, because the author is white or brown or yellow or red! My goodness, I would never want to miss To Kill a Mockingbird, or the Old Man and the Sea, or Of Mice and Men! I'm like the Canaanite woman, I want my blessing! (Matthew 15:21-28) I'm not about to give up a blessing--not a good book, or a flower, or a piece of fruit, or a word that might make my day brighter--because I'm offended by someone's color! I hope my readers, whatever their color, are proudly flashing my book covers whatever their color! We are too mature in Christ's love to let color stop us!

LLH: What do you feel Christian African American audiences want to read or don't want to read?


SEF: People, no matter their color, want great, exciting stories that are well-written. They want stories that make them think, that are relevant, and that are passionate. They want stories that deal with universal themes. They want unique stories that are honest. It has nothing to do with color.

LLH: In your opinion, does labeling and shelving practices in bookstores and catalogs listings limit books written by AA authors?


SEF: You know what? I don't understand the practice. It seems archaic to me. No one's ever explained it to me in a way that makes sense. It seems like a vestige of a bygone era, but we still have many of old things in place.

LLH: I've only been around CBA fiction a short while but it seems there's a bit of a divide between what's considered mainline CBA and AA CBA fiction. Should the divide exist? If not, where should we go from here to address the separation?


SEF: I don't know, Linda. Perhaps, it's time for us to begin to make it uncomfortable for these divides to continue. We've sat in separate churches for so long, and it seems to be the same in publishing. We seem to be so far behind the secular publishers. I think it requires that we get out of our comfort zones. We have to remember that Christ didn't call us to be comfortable. Most of what the Lord preached makes us uncomfortable when we initially put it into practice, it's the same with breaking down racial barriers.

For example, there are often CBA author panels at booksellers conventions. I don't remember seeing an African American authors on any panel. It may just be that people haven't thought about it. It may be time time to bring it to someone's attention. We are called to love one another, to be one, not to live in separate houses; I would like to believe that we will respond, if the truth is spoken with love, and remove some of these barriers.

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Thanks once again, to Sharon for answering my questions. Visit Sharon online at http://www.sharonewellfoster.com/

Interview with Sharon Ewell Foster: Part 1

Sharon Ewell Foster is a double-RITA finalist and the author of seven multicultural novels. Her first, Passing by Samaria, won the Christy Award for best first novel. Her latest, Abraham’s Well, a historical novel that earned her her third starred review, won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Inspirational Fiction. The former Pentagon staffer is a beloved speaker on topics from history to reconciliation to purpose to virtue to education, she is a favorite of reading groups, also teaches writing workshops, and has just inked a three book deal with Simon and Schuster.

You can find out more about Sharon and her books at www.sharonewellfoster.com

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Here's Part 1 of our interview:
LLH: You've been writing for quite a while. You've got quite a few titles in the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). What is your biggest achievement as a writer in the CBA?

SEF: First, Linda, thanks for this opportunity. So many wonderful things have happened to me since I began writing, so it's difficult to pinpoint one or two. But if I have to choose two things:

a. My first book, Passing by Samaria, won the Christy Award for Best First Novel and was also a RITA Award (Romance Writers of America) double-finalist, as well as a Golden Pen Award Finalist (Black Writers Alliance) and CBA bestseller. That was really wonderful for a first book ... or for any book for that matter.

b. My second book, Ain't No River, appeared on the CBA bestsellers list and the Essence bestsellers lists simultaneously, which says that one can write in a way that honors God while appealing to the masses. Ain't No River also won the Golden Pen Award and was a Christy Award finalist.

LLH: Writing is a business. Capturing your audience is key to the success of an author. Do you feel pressured to write to a certain audience? Are there things you are told not to write about?

SEF: See, I disagree with the premise. Writing is not a business, it is an art. The marketing, promotion, distribution, and sale of writing is business. But writing itself is art. As artists, we get in trouble when we forget that truth. I began writing to serve God, it's a form of worship for me. It is to this day. God is the source of my creativity, not man. He's my lead, it's His word and spirit that I follow, though sometimes I've had to be pretty assertive about it.

My job is to tell the best stories that I can, to pour as much love, creativity, insight, wisdom, and truth as I can into each piece that I write. I'm the vessel into which the Lord breathes and pours the stories that I'm supposed to tell, just as you are the vessel into which He pours your stories. I'm responsible for delivering the truth and the love. It is a sacred communion, like the communication between a pastor and the Lord. I believe that as writers we have to be careful about that and about not giving or forsaking the truth God gives to us just for money or simply so that we can be published.

The word of God prevails; if I stay connected to the vine, my writing will bear fruit. I know this doesn't jibe with a lot of advice that others might give, but it is what I know to be true. We only touch people, heal people, deliver people, or give them hope and joy when we stay connected to what God says. Our promotion comes from God. It's the spirit of the Lord which draws faithful readers. My writing, the marketing, the publicity, the distribution, all of those are seeds. We are responsible for doing all we can to plant good seeds in good ground. But the increase and the promotion come from God Almighty's hand.

LLH: Do you ever feel like you must write about people of color? How does your audience respond when you don't?

SEF: Funny, I just finished a series of articles on this topic for Romantic Times Magazine (Jan and Feb editions). I've never considered myself a writer who only wrote for or about people of a particular complexion. So, I write about all kinds of people. We live in a world full of color. It would seem odd to people if I only wrote about the color blue, or only painted with the color blue. My books are multicultural, my audience is multicultural. No reader has ever expressed a problem with it. I think it's sometimes challenging for some publishers because they've been a monochromatic mode for so long. In fact, I had a publisher that didn't want a story I was writing about Mary and Martha, because it wasn't "ethnic". Really, that was just blindness, you know--even historical blindness.

But most people are used to living in a world with people of all complexions. My readers embrace it. It's natural.

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That's it for now. Visit tomorrow for the rest of Sharon's interview.