Chatting with Pamela Thibodeaux.

I am so excited to share with you all my interview with Pamela S. Thibodeaux. I discovered her a few months ago and have read some of her books and enjoyed them. I hope that after reading my interview that you will want to check them out as well.

I want to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions.

Thank you, Cheryl for having me here!

What is the best advice you’ve ever received? And what is the worst?

The best and the worst advice have been “write from your heart.” You see, writing from my heart is what I’ve always done, which is the reason it’s the best advice. However, what I write isn’t always accepted or is judged “less than” by Christian standards, which makes it the worst advice. J However, I am “true to thine own self” because I keep writing from my heart and trust God to open the doors of publication where He will.

If you were not a writer what would you be?

I am an avid reader so with all the opportunities to work with the written word, I’m not real sure, though I think I might be a reviewer/interviewer. I’m also a horse lover and have been thinking lately of following my childhood dream of working with horses. Haven’t had the opportunity to find out the details of a job like that, but there are more and more horse farms/stables/etc. blooming around here, so who knows.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

Meeting different people, I enjoy people and writing enables me to meet so many whether it be online or in person at an event.

Do deadlines help or hinder your muse?

I’ve never really had a deadline “looming” as some authors put it. The editors I’ve worked with to date all understand the demands on my time and have been very amiable to work with. That said, when I have a deadline, I try to work on nothing but that particular project so that I can meet it.

What made you decide to put most of your books in E-book format?

Personally, I prefer print and all of my full-length novels are available in print. However, I am grateful for the fact that having my books available in E-format, gives me a chance to reach more readers.

How do you juggle writing all the different books and series you have?

One project at a time LOL!
Seriously, I’ve been writing for a long time. Once-upon-a-time most of my books were initially written in a notebook. The others developed as a result of typing those stories. I rarely work on more than one-at-a-time. Once I started two novels at the same time but one took off and I worked to finish it then went back to complete the other one. Although I always have ideas floating around, my time to write is so sparse that I find it difficult to really focus if I’m trying to write more than one story. When that happens, usually nothing gets done, LOL! However, if I find myself stuck or bored or just plain tired of one story, I may get on a tangent and work on a different one – I may take a break off a novel and write a short story or an article or essay.

Which comes first for you … the character or the plot?

Usually the character, but sometimes the plot idea will come with it. For instance, my novel The Inheritance evolved out of a simple thought….they say life begins at forty but for Rebecca Sinclair, that’s far from the truth. Of course I had to find out why that wasn’t true for Rebecca. J

Do you like writing series more or stand-alone books more? Is it a draw?

I enjoy writing – period, whether it be an article, blog post, short story, essay, devotional or novel, I enjoy writing.

How do you decide how many books will be in a series? Do you have another series in the works?

No, I don’t have another series in the works. Actually, I never intended to have a series. When the initial idea for the Tempered books came to me, I was out to write only two –Tempered Hearts and Tempered Fire. However, I’d jotted down a scene where a woman and her abusive husband were in an auto accident as the idea for another book. That’s all I had, the scene and the characters in it. Once Dr. Scott Hensley introduced himself to me in Tempered Hearts, I knew he was the one man who could rescue this battered woman, heal her heart, and show her the true meaning of love - hence, Tempered Dreams. I’m not real sure how Tempered Joy came about, I’m just glad it did. Now I have an idea for a 5th Tempered novel, but have no idea when or if I’ll actually sit down and write it.

What do you want your readers to take from your books?

My prayer is that every person who reads my books walks away with a truer knowledge of God and the reality of a personal relationship with Him through Christ. You see, I’m a firm believer that Jesus died so that we could be restored to a relationship with God again. The kind of relationship Adam and Eve had with Him. Anyone who has read Genesis knows that God walked with Adam and Eve and talked with them. They had a personal relationship with Him. I believe we can have that today, if we just open out minds and hearts to receive it. I believe that God is a lot more personal than many church doctrines teach. Of course He is holy and just, but He desires to walk and talk with us, just as He did in the beginning and I hope to show through my characters that this kind of relationship with Him is possible.

For more information on my books readers can visit:
My Website http://pamelathibodeaux.com/
My Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com/

They can email me: pthib-7@centurytel.net or pthib07@yahoo.com or pthib07@hotmail.com

My full length novels (Tempered Hearts, Tempered Dreams, Tempered Fire, Tempered Joy and The Inheritance) are available @ Amazon.com. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-3165282-8434425?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Pamela%2C%20S%20Thibodeaux