Brenda's books and blog

An interview with author Colleen Wait. Her bio - 

Colleen Wait is married with 4 children. She has been very involved in her church's youth activities including children's musical, Daughter's of the King, SonQuest and various other youth events. She recently was involved in a local mission trip with her church's youth group. She is an avid reader, especially the classics and began writing short stories in elementary school. Colleen is also a runner who began racing 5K's in 2009. She did her first half-marathon March 2010, second February 2011. Colleen's son Devin, is about to complete tech school in the Air Force. His photograph graces the cover of 'Mount Mission'. To date, Colleen has written and published 6 ebooks to date. Her 7th, now in progress is about the homeless.

One of her books

Imagine sitting in in a primitive cage...imaging sitting there day in and day out...imagine the horror of what you see around you...imagine the horror of finding out what you had seen was about to happen to you...imagine being freed... Imagine finding out how long you had been Captured.

1) Hello, Colleen.  What got you interested in writing?

 Thank you for your time. Well, from as early as I can remember, I have had a great imagination.  I think it stemmed from being a lonely shy child and so made up stories in my head to keep myself company.  I can remember sitting up in a tree in my back yard when I was very young making up stories about a prince coming to rescue me and take me to far away lands. The first time I put them to paper was in elementary school.

2) How do you come up with your ideas?

*** Dreams mostly.  The self-story telling did not stop, ever. Whenever I had a difficult time falling asleep I would make up stories.  Sometimes, it was an actual nightmare that woke me up one night and I continued it night after night. Two of the books, however, were based on actual events that I thought would make great fiction. 

3) Did you do any research on any of your books?

  *** Oh yes. Research is a fun part of writing.  I try to get my settings just right. For one particular book, I did character studies while riding the subway in New York.  I would sit with a notebook, pretending to read and instead took notes on the people around me.  More importantly, from a Biblical aspect, I try to make sure I research any scripture I use and go to an advisor to be sure I do not state an idea or a belief in the wrong way.  

4) Do you like to keep a basic theme for your books? Do you write for a particular audience?

  *** Not all of them have the same theme, however, I do tend to write for young women. Most of my books have the message of purity and putting God first in your life. My main goal with my writing is to lead the reader to Christ. 

5) How do you come up with the names of your characters and how do you keep them all straight?

  *** That's a tough one for me.  I try to fit the name to the character while at the same time not using the names of people I know.  I have a large church family so that makes it very difficult.  I do use baby name web sites and scour the internet news sites for unusual names.  Often I will google a name that fits a character's traits and find what fits.  As far as keeping them straight I keep a notebook. 

6) Are you currently working on a book?

  *** Yes. God recently laid it on my heart to write about the homeless. We have a local homeless ministry that serves the surrounding area.  I have interviewed 11 of the folks there ranging from a 29-year old young woman to a 63 year old war veteran. Currently, I am in the process of transcribing 12 hours of taped interviews. 

7) Sounds amazing.  I look forward to seeing the final project.  Good luck with your books. 

  *** Thanks. So do I! 

You can check out the rest of Colleen's books here.