Worth a Thousand Words Blog Tour (June 23)

MEET STACY HAWKINS ADAMS

Stacy, tell us about yourself.

I’m a wife and mother of two. I grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and was always an avid reader and writer. I decided in high school to pursue journalism as a career and after obtaining a degree in mass communications, worked for newspapers in Florida and Virginia. I never stopped loving fiction, though. My first novel was published in 2004. These days, along with penning books, I serve as an inspirational speaker, freelance writer and marketing consultant.

What type of jobs or careers have you worked in the past?
I’ve always been a writer! My college internships were at newspapers around the country, including The Albuquerque Tribune and USA Today. My first job was as a general assignment reporter at Florida Today. I left there to join the staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where I spent a dozen years writing in various capacities – courts reporter, social issues reporter and eventually spirituality columnist.  For a while, I also delivered live reports from the Times-Dispatch newsroom on the local CBS affiliate’s 11 p.m. news broadcast.

When did you begin to realize you wanted to write?
My 10-year-old daughter asked me this question the other day and was amazed when I told her around ‘first grade.’ It’s the truth, though. I was very shy at that age, and often lost myself in the world of books. I soon began cranking out poems and short stories, and my family was surprised by how well they read. My eldest sister would take the pieces I produced, type them up and staple them together in what she called a ‘book.’ I guess the seeds were planted then. Everyone I knew – from my family to my teachers to my friends – would ask me to write something for them. Their enthusiasm encouraged me, and I just kept at it. As a fellow writer, Rhonda, I’m sure you know what it feels like to have to write something that’s burning inside you. That’s how it has always been for me, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction.

Tell us about your journey to publication.
My road to publication actually began through a journalism connection. I had written a newspaper column about a Richmond woman who operated a faith-based ministry for women in her home, and it was picked up by a freelancer for Today’s Christian Woman. An acquisitions editor for Revell Books read that version of the story and contacted the woman I had featured to ask her for a book proposal. He asked if she knew any writers who could help her, and she recommended me. I helped her with her proposal, and during that process, the editor asked to see my fiction and nonfiction work. I had been working on my first novel, Speak To My Heart, off and on for three years. I pulled it off the shelf and sent it to him, and several months later, he called to discuss a publishing deal.  

Are you a full-time writer? If so, describe your day?
Yes, I’m a full-time writer, but not all of my writing-related work centers around my novels. I typically rise in the mornings between 4:30-5 a.m. and work on my fiction for about two hours. That’s when I seem to be the most creative, and my mind hasn’t been filled with the clutter of a busy day.

After I get my kids off to school, my schedule varies, depending on whether I’m working on my parenting column or other freelance assignments, or assisting one of my nonprofit marketing clients. I write the bulk of the published material for two Richmond-based charities, from drafting their volunteer manuals and press releases to creating brochures and producing electronic newsletters.

At the end of the day, after trying my best to catch up on emails and participate in various social media (I’m trying to do a better job of this!), I’ll revisit my fiction and tweak the storyline or something about the characters or setting. When I’m on deadline for a manuscript, this schedule is completely altered, and I go into what I call my “cave,” which is really a mindset, where I set aside emails, extracurricular activities, etc., and spend eight to 12 hours a day cranking out a draft of the book.

What is your biggest accomplishment to date?
I still very much view my writing career as a work in progress, but I was honored to have my third novel, Watercolored Pearls, place second in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s 2008 Book of the Year Contest, and to have a collaborative project, the anthology This Far By Faith, win first place in the 2008 African American Literary Awards Show anthology category.

However, I honestly have to say the biggest accomplishment so far has been knowing that the fictional characters I’ve been given the inspiration to create have truly made a difference for readers. It’s humbling to hear from people across the country – a woman who was contemplating suicide until she read Speak To My Heart; a medical student who landed a prestigious fellowship after being inspired by Watercolored Pearls to pursue her dreams; a wife and mother I know well who told me months after Nothing But the Right Thing was published that this book had given her the courage to leave her abusive spouse.

Those are results I couldn’t pay for, and every time I hear from readers with stories to share, I’m reminded of what I heard a fellow author say at a writer’s conference about 18 months ago: When a book is “born,” that means the person God ordained it for is ready to read it.

Stacy, we’ve learned quite a bit about you today. To close out this part of your interview, do you have a favorite bible verse and or quote you wish to share?
Rhonda, it has been a pleasure to be your guest! Thanks so much for allowing me to share more about myself with your readers. Different verses have sustained me at different

periods in my life. Psalm 62:1- My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him has been the most recent.

On New Year’s Eve, however, I flipped open my Bible and was led to a familiar passage that will serve as my guide for 2009: Habakkuk 2:2,3- Then the Lord replied: Write down the revelation and make it on plain tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Worth a Thousand Words
Jubilant Soul Series Book Two
by Stacy Hawkins Adams

Life has always gone Indigo Burns’s way. She’s smart, pretty, and talented, and she knows exactly what she wants. A photography internship at her hometown’s local newspaper is the next step in her well-laid plans for her future. But her long-term goals are put to the test when her boyfriend Brian proposes-two years before he’s supposed to and in front of all the guests at her college graduation party.

Too concerned about his feelings to say no, she heartily agrees, but inside she’s cringing. Indigo knows in her heart that she’s not prepared to sacrifice her dreams to become Brian’s wife-not before she has achieved any of them. Will she find the answers among family and friends in Jubilant, Texas? Or will the picture-perfect life she dreams of be left behind?

Follow the blog tour schedule at http://bitly.com/WorthAThousandWords

For more information about Stacy, visit her at stacyhawkinsadams.com.

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