I have not had the privilege of meeting Elizabeth White in person yet. We had hoped that would happen at the ACFW Conference this past September, but with hundreds of people milling around, somehow we missed each other. But after reading her novel, Under Cover of Darkness a few months ago, I asked Beth for an interview for Spotlight. She graciously agreed.

Elizabeth White was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up in north Mississippi. In 1979 she earned a music education degree from Mississippi State University (which is where she met her husband, Scott). She and her husband attended seminary in Fort Worth and wound up serving at a church in Mobile! While their two children were small, Beth performed as a vocalist and flutist and taught music lessons—privately as well as at church and in a variety of public and private schools. All this time she was writing fiction as a hobby.

Eventually she decided to teach high school English and needed a few more courses to complete that certification. During a college fiction writing class she met her critique partner, Tammy Thompson, and began submitting for publication. She also joined Romance Writers of America and learned a lot about the craft of writing through her local chapter. At an RWA conference in Gulf Shores in 1998 she met an editor from Tyndale House who was instrumental in her first novella sale—“Miracle on Beale Street,” which is the genesis of the Mississippi Gonzales clan in three of her Tyndale novellas. Fair Game (her latest release, coming from Zondervan in February 2007) returns to Jackson County, Mississippi, too!

Here’s the back cover blurb for Fair Game:

Jana Cutrere’s homecoming to Vancleave, Mississippi, is anything but dull. Before she’s even reached town, the beautiful young widow hits a stray cow, loses her son in the woods, rescues an injured fawn, and comes face to face with Grant Gonzales, her high school crush.

Grant recently returned to town himself amid hushed controversy. His only plan: leave the corporate world behind and open a hunting reserve. Seeing Jana again ignites old memories…and a painful past. Tensions boil over when he learns exactly why she returned. Jana plans to convince her grandfather to develop a wildlife rescue center—dead center on the prime hunting property he promised to sell to Grant!

With deadlines drawing near for the sale of the property and no decision from her grandfather, can Jana trust God with her and Grant’s future, or will explosive emotions and diametrically opposing views tear them apart?

You can pre-order Fair Game at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Christian Book Distributors. I haven’t read Fair Game yet, but I did read Under Cover of Darkness several months ago, and it is an intriguing suspense. I truly enjoy Beth’s writing!

I asked Beth to give us some insight into the calling behind her writing ~

Jill: When and how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Beth: I’ve been journaling since I was twelve years old, and started writing little scenes and stories about that same time—hid them in a big flowered notebook I kept under my bed (I have three younger sisters, and privacy was at a premium). As a young teenager I read Little Women over and over—I wanted to be Jo March, the writer, scribbling in a garret with ink stains on my sleeves. Writing fiction has always been fun, an escape. In college I wrote a novella called “The Saga of Tea Boy” for my buddies that had three hand-written copies passed around the dorm. I guess that was my first full-length story.

Jill: Tell me a bit about what you write now and what you hope to write in the future.

Beth: Romantic fiction has always been my passion—both as a reader and as a writer. Now I have the privilege of writing contemporary Christian romance for Zondervan and Christian romantic suspense for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense line. The Zondervan books are very Southern in flavor and humorous in tone (Fireworks is the first one, and Fair Game will follow). The suspense books I’ve written so far (The Gatekeeper Series) feature Border Patrol heroes. Readers seem to appreciate the adventure, romance, and touch of humor woven into scary situations.

The future? I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing. Romance as a genre appeals to almost everyone (men, too, they just won’t admit it!). One thing I’m branching out into, now I’ve established a readership, is historicals. I have a brand new two-book contract with Love Inspired Historicals.

Jill: If and when did you realize your writing was a calling?

Beth: I remember taking a walk one day, at a point when I’d joined Romance Writers of America and knew just enough about the publishing industry to be dangerous. I was debating (with myself) whether I’d make more money or have an easier time breaking into the general market than the Christian market. Anyway, as I walked that day I prayed for clear direction for a story I was developing at the time: should I leave the spiritual thread in it, or take it out and submit it to the secular market?

As you can imagine, the Holy Spirit spoke to me loud and clear. It was one of those “Ebenezer” moments (see I Samuel 7:12). That story I was working on was instrumental in my first sale to Tyndale in 1998, and has just sold to Love Inspired Historicals for a 2008 release. I’m pretty happy about that!

Jill: What means did God use to confirm in your heart that this is exactly what He has prepared for you to do for Him?

Beth: I think of the line in Chariots of Fire, where Eric Liddle says, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” That never fails to choke me up, because I feel that way when I write—well, most of the time! In the hard grind of writing a first draft there are often long stretches of desert-like loneliness and frustration. But sometimes I sit in my office all by myself and laugh with the joy of the Holy Spirit because I feel His strength and power flowing into my characters, my words, my creativity. And I get confirmation when I hear from readers (either face-to-face or by mail) who tell me the Lord has spoken to them, directed them to His Word, or simply given them a few hours’ innocent entertainment. I feel God’s pleasure.

Jill: When and how did you come to realize that writing meant more to you than a means to meet physical monetary needs or fulfill your dreams?

Beth: Wow. That’s a good question. Let me answer it a different way, though. It’s not writing itself that means so much, it’s following God’s will for me. He’s designed me, apparently, as an artistic person, and right now that artistic expression of following His will is in writing fiction. As a young adult I dreamed of being a singer—I trained for years to be a singer—but God repeatedly shut that career door. I could not understand it.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the opportunity and compulsion to study fiction writing appeared. By that time I had been broken of my selfish desire to be on a stage. I won’t kid anybody, I want my work to be read by as many people as God will allow. But it absolutely belongs to Him, and He’s perfectly capable of yanking the whole thing out from under me for His own good reasons. I know from past experience that if He does that, He’ll replace it with something better. My dreams are so lame compared to His good gifts.

Jill: How would you say that God has used writing to change you – to strengthen your faith and to make you more like Christ?

Beth: Though faith, the work/ministry of writing, and family has gotten enmeshed until it’s all one journey, God has definitely used writing as a shaping tool in my life. From the beginning, the Lord began to develop patience and humility through rejection and waiting on publishers to read my submissions. Then, once I began to get more positive feedback I had to practice humility. Success has its own built-in spiritual dangers. I’ve learned not to let a day go by without spending time in God’s Word. Otherwise I’d be walking in the dark.

I am required to daily surrender my work to the Father. I find myself unbelievably intimidated by the whole process of writing for publication. Story conception, plotting, character development, research, composition, revision, editing, marketing. Some of those things I’m naturally wired to do, some of them I’m not. Besides the infusing creativity of the Holy Spirit, I have to rely on other parts of the body of Christ to help me where I’m deficient—editors, critiquers, story consultants, publicists, artists, and above all prayer support. There are several godly women who have committed to pray for me and my writing ministry. I’m so grateful for them.

Jill: I know exactly what you mean. I think humility and dependence on the Lord for every aspect of writing is something we have to always keep in mind. One of my favorite verses says it best–“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (See Proverbs 3:5-6)

Jill: Has writing opened opportunities for you to give your testimony and witness for Christ or minister to fellow believers? If so, can you give one example?

Beth: This year I was one of two published authors in a fiction writing class at a local university. My published status gives me some credibility, for which I give the Lord glory. More than once, after reading my class submissions—which contain distinctly Christian content—fellow students were prompted to share personal needs and prayer requests with me. I was blessed to be trusted with these vulnerabilities.

< b>Jill: That’s cool!

Beth’s books that are still in print:
Prairie Christmas – “Reforming Seneca Jones”, Tyndale 2000
Sweet Delights – “The Trouble With Tommy” , Tyndale 2001
The Texas Gatekeepers series (Steeple Hill/Love Inspired Suspense)
“Protecting the borders…and the women they love”
Under Cover of Darkness (July 2005)
Sounds of Silence (December 2005)
On Wings of Deliverance (April 2006)
Fireworks (Zondervan May 2006)
“Former ATF agent Susannah Tait has faced danger all her life. But nothing prepared her for Quinn Baldwin’s explosive southern charm.”
Fair Game (Zondervan October 2006)
“Jana wants the land for wildlife rescue and Grant wants it for hunting. But God knows even stubborn enemies sometimes fall in love…”

Upcoming release:
Off the Record (Zondervan August 2007)
“For Laurel and Cole, the path to confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation takes a wild and crazy journey under the searchlight of the public eye—where one’s true feelings must be kept off the record.”

If you’d like to get to know Beth better, you can visit her website here.

I hope you have enjoyed this interview with author Elizabeth White. Please click on over to one of the above online stores and look for Fair Game–coming soon!

Thanks Beth for joining us this month on Spotlight!