First of all, get ready to be impressed by Barbara Hattemer…and possibly win a free book, too!
I’m thrilled to introduce a long-time acquaintance (and now friend) Barbara Hattemer today! Barbara and I met at a conference years ago, then I had the joy of reconnecting with her at the Florida Christian Writers Conference this past March. What fun it was to catch up and see all the amazing things she’s been up to! My goodness, she’s living proof that we never have to outgrow the joy of learning, growing, and producing! Believe me, you don’t want to miss her story.
Friends, I love that you’re such an encouraging group for fellow writers, so I can’t wait to see your comments after this interview. Barbara has an amazing story! And don’t forget to leave a comment and you’ll be in the drawing for a free book! Just be sure to check back next week to see if you’re the winner.
Welcome to the Christian Writer’s Den, Barbara. First of all, what inspired you to write novels?
I was born shy and expressed myself better in writing than speaking. I started my first novel about Deer Isle, the island in Maine where we summer, when I was 9 years old. I never finished it, but I have wanted to write a book about it all my life.
Instead I wrote poetry to friends on special occasions, articles for a variety of magazines and chapters for other people’s books.
For 15 years, I fought the spread of pornography at the local, state and national levels and wrote my first book on the research proving harm from pornography consumption. While doing hundreds of radio interviews, I kept thinking that many more people would read a work of fiction than a research book on the subject.
I often prayed about this and felt the Lord telling me that one day we would write together. I began attending Christian Writer’s Conferences to learn the craft of writing fiction and combined my love of the Maine coast and my deep concern about the collapse of morality in our country in a novel entitled An Island Just for Us. Often I walked around an island and prayed for direction. Sometimes God gave me a whole scene and I couldn’t wait to get home to write it down.
When I finished it in the late 90’s, I learned that Christian publishers were not ready for this subject. Four publishers liked my setting and my characters but asked me to take out every word about pornography before they would look at it. I set it aside but I still had the desire to write novels about difficult subjects and make them fun to read.
So how did you choose another subject?
There was another experience I wanted to share. Having three known generations of Alzheimer’s disease in my family, I was diagnosed in 1980 as soon to be acutely senile. The story is the history of my family and what happened to me after the diagnosis. I wrote Field of Daisies to give comfort and hope to families with Alzheimer’s who feared they would be next.
I set that story on the farm in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania where my grandfather and grandmother were caretakers. Since my parents traveled for business for six months at a time, my grandparents were very special to me. I loved their custom of eating a piece of home-made pie every evening and sharing their day. It was their marriage that I wanted to emulate and I dedicated the book to them. I was thrilled to introduce my children both to the farm and to my grandparents. The romance was total fiction but the farm and the romance made the book fun to read and many people have been encouraged by it. They have also benefitted from my blog, “Live Every Day of Your Life,” which discusses the new epigenetic science about how the life we live can change the way our genes are activated.
How did you get An Island Just for Us published?
The day after my publisher Ramona Tucker of OakTara handed me the first hot-off-the-press copy of Daisies, she said to me, “I like your writing so much, could you have another novel ready for me in three months? I sent Island to her and she wrote back, “I’m hooked. I want to publish that book.”
What thrilling news! It seems to be a subject whose time has come. When I took it last year to CBA, retailers were delighted that there was a Christian book on this subject. Morality in Media, which heads the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation, is selling the book at their conferences because it is a good introduction to pornography’s harms and a way to encourage women to begin to talk about it.
Barbara with major leaders of the anti-pornography movement: Bob Peters, Past President of Morality (MIM) in Media; Bruce Taylor, Justice Department Prosecutor of Pornography Cases; Pat Trueman, President of MIM.
Strong on family and the delights of Maine’s beautiful and challenging coastal islands, it contains an intriguing romance, an approaching hurricane and two days lost on the bay in a penetrating fog. It is both fun and exciting to read. Readers have requested a sequel which I am writing now.
And do you mind sharing how old you were when you had your first novel published? I received the first copy on my 80th birthday. It has been fun to have younger women tell me they thought they were too old to start writing. I tell them it is never too late for you to share what God has given you that will bless others.
Barbara receiving 1st copies of her 1st book from editor Ramona Tucker at a writers conference on her 80th birthday!
Oh, Barbara, what great advice for all of us! Thank you for sharing your story with us. I sure am glad you didn’t give up! I can’t wait to read the coming comments!
Bio: Barbara has been published in a wide variety of magazines. After 15 years fighting for high community and media standards throughout the country, she wrote her first book, Don’t Touch That Dial: The Impact of the Media on Children and the Family, a layman’s version of social science research on the harms of sexually explicit and violent media. She gave hundreds of radio and television interviews on the book and her work was featured in Christian Herald Magazine, Focus on the Family’s Citizen and on a full-length video by Dr. D. James Kennedy.
She now writes novels for OakTara Publishers about difficult subjects in the genre of Women’s Fiction. She concentrates on making them fun to read. Field of Daisies offers hope and comfort to families who have a history of Alzheimer’s disease in successive generations. An Island Just for Us highlights exciting adventures on Maine’s beautiful coastal islands, a tender romance, strong family relationships, and the determination to fight the effects of our increasingly sexual culture on our youth.
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Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now it’s time to celebrate YOU!
Congratulations to these writers who are doing the hard work of being a writer…and finding success. We have a lot to cheer about!
1. Cheryl Barker (KS): My “For My Amazing Mom” piece is being featured in the 2015 Blue
Mountain Arts calendar, “Thank You, Mom, for a Lifetime of Love“. They’ve used it previously on cards and calendars so it’s a real blessing to see it used again!
2. Ellen Andersen (SC): I had my first article published this month! It was in The Simpsonville Sentinel, a local paper in Simpsonville, SC. They liked it so much it was put in word for word!
3. Dawn Mooring (GA): I am going to be a co-host for a new TV show called “The Christian View.” We air on Sept. 2nd on Chanel 57 in the Atlanta area or can be streamed via the website thechristianview.com. I’m so excited to represent the Lord and spread the word through modern day topics.
4. Verna Bowman (PA): My first book, Crumbs Along the Broken Path was released by Ampelos Press in the beginning of May. It’s been an amazing opportunity to share God’s story that He has allowed me to be part of through the collection of personal stories, interviews, and speaking engagements. I invite you to visit my blog at and check out the Book page!
Congratulations, writers! And friends, if you don’t see your name on this list, be sure to check back next week where we’ll have a new list of writing opportunities just for you!
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And Who Earned a July Entry for the 2014 MoGo7000 Drawing for $100?
These CWD writers have earned a July entry into the end-of-the-year drawing for $100 in cash!
#14: Joan – 20,452 words
#15: Susan Baganz – 32,677 words
#16: Jeanne Doyon – 7,675 words
#17: Linda Greer – 10,743 words
Woo-hoo! Congrats, friends! Keep up the good work and you’ll earn even more entries into the drawing.
Writers, want to know how you can qualify for the $100 challenge? Check out the MoGo7000 Challenge here. It’s free and open to everyone all year long!
Okay, that does it for a fun-filled day at The Christian Writer’s Den. Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me. I look forward to seeing you Friday as we open to His Word to hear His voice.
Happy writing!
Vonda
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Readers, I’m excited to introduce my friend, author, speaker, and Christian Communicators grad, Verna Bowman, to you. Be sure to read her bio below, but for now, let me just say that Verna and I met at CCC in 2011 and it didn’t take me long to realize what powerful stories she had to tell!
kidney failure, Journey of a Lifetime.
It’s time for writing opportunities collected just for you!
As you know, Fridays are usually a day to look at a specific Bible passage or Bible truth God has shown me through His Word. But today I want to share a post from my friend, author, speaker, artist, and AMOKArts founder, Dave Weiss.
at the same precipice looking into the unknown and wondering if it was worth it to live another day, and while I didn’t have all that he had, I had plenty to live for, but I couldn’t see it. Thankfully for me this has changed.
