Author Mindy Starns Clark and I met last year at the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference in Dallas. I found Mindy to be a warm and caring person, easy to talk to and helpful to a wannabe published author like me. :)

Mindy Starns Clark is the bestselling author of the “Million Dollar Mysteries” series and the “Smart Chick Mystery” series, all from Harvest House Publishers. Her novels include A Penny for Your Thoughts, Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels, A Dime a Dozen, A Quarter for a Kiss, The Buck Stops Here, The Trouble with Tulip, Blind Dates Can Be Murder, and Elementary, My Dear Watkins. Mindy has also written an inspirational nonfiction book called The House That Cleans Itself, which is a humorous but helpful home care guide for the “housekeeping impaired.”

A singer and former stand-up comedian, Mindy is also a popular inspirational speaker and playwright. She lives near Valley Forge, PA, with her husband and two teenage daughters—which means that most days she feels like a cross between an ATM machine and a taxi driver!

Mindy’s lastest novel Elementary, My Dear Watkins

Here’s the blurb:

Sometimes, to move forward, you have to look back.

Dear Jo Tulip…
For the resourceful blonde with the high household IQ, everything’s off-kilter these days. With her health and her home already in question, Jo’s family–and her past–suddenly take center stage. An attempt is made on her life, forcing her former fiance to sacrifice himself to save her. As his life hangs in the balance, Jo must learn what he was trying to tell her–and what family secrets are hidden within the walls of her grandmother’s mansion.

Dear Danny Watkins…
Life is good for Danny. The woman of his dreams loves him back, and he’s finally moving forward in his photograph career. It seems things couldn’t be better–until they take a turn for the worse. Is someone trying to interfere with Danny’s internship at Scene It? More importantly, how do his encounters in Europe tie in with the mystery absorbing Jo Tulip back at home in the States?

Trapped an ocean apart, Jo and Danny try to figure out two sides of the same puzzle. As they long for answers–and for each other–they must learn to depend fully on God and the strength that only He provides. Love, adventure, and excitement about in this satisfying final book of the Smart Chick Mystery series by the author of The Trouble with Tulip and Blind Dates Can Be Murder.

You can purchase Elementary, My Dear Watkins at these three online bookstores:

CBD, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. Amazon also features an excerpt of the book – well worth the read.

I asked Mindy to give us some insight into how God is using her and her writing.

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

Mindy: I think I was born to write. According to my mother, by age three I was reading; by five I was an avid storyteller; and by seven I was penning short stories—though I doubt they were much more than a few sentences! The decision to make it my lifelong career came near the end of high school, when it was time to make some decisions about the future and choose a college, but I think I had always known this was what I would do.

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

Mindy: I have written two mystery series (five books in the first and three in the second), plus one nonfiction guide called The House That Cleans Itself. Jill here – I need that book! In the future, I’d love to tackle other genres, from Women’s Lit to Devotionals, but I think I will always sandwich those between more mystery novels.

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

Mindy: It was a slow “awakening”, if you will, prior to ever being published. I kept writing practice novels as a way to improve my craft, but by the third one, I knew that something was wrong with what I was doing. The plots were good and the writing style seemed to work, but the characters really fell flat. It finally dawned on me that the missing element was a spiritual one: Though my faith was at the center of my life, I was trying bring to life characters who never thought about their faith at all. Once I understood that, I went back to square one and plotted out a series about a private detective who just happened to be a Christian. Finally, a story really worked, and by the time I wrote “The End”, I understood that this was what God had been waiting for all along. That book, A Penny for Your Thoughts, was the first novel I ever tried to sell, and it became the foundation for the five-book Million Dollar Mysteries series. Once I put God at the center, things really began to happen!

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?

Mindy: There was an absolute certainty when I wrote A Penny for Your Thoughts that I was doing exactly what He wanted me to be doing. I think only another writer could understand what I mean. My books without Christ in them fell flat, but my books with Christ in them felt far richer and deeper to me. In other words, He confirmed my calling by making the writing seem “right.”

Jill: Can you share one struggle that entered your life as a result of writing and how God helped you to overcome it, to make you more like Christ?

Mindy: There was a moment of terror, the night before my first book came out, when I realized that my faith was about to be proclaimed, loud and clear, to the entire world. There’s a reason we sing “I am not ashamed of the gospel”, because our sin nature does makes us feel ashamed sometimes. I had never hidden my Christianity, of course, but neither had I declared it quite so blatantly. From now on, I realized, anyone who read my books would understand exactly what I believed and the One I believed in—and that was scary. Would people judge me? Would they snicker? Would they turn away? Looking back now, of course, I can see the depth of my the spiritual immaturity at that time. God had so many blessings waiting for me, but they were only going to come into my life as a result of that very public proclamation of my faith. Only good things have come from it, by the way, things I could never have envisioned when I was so spiritually timid. Nowadays, I would hope that I have become more Christlike in that I no longer have such concerns but instead have gone far in the other direction. I want the world to know about Him, and I will continue to write the stories He puts on my heart, to spread the word as much as possible.

Jill: Likewise, is there a particular joy in this writing business/ministry that God has used to remind you that He is, in fact, using your words to His glory?

Mindy: Letters from readers are a huge joy to me and very reaffirming. I treasure every letter that comes in, and I’m repeatedly amazed at how God can use something simple like a fictional mystery story to impact real lives in significant ways. For example, the widowed female protagonist in my first series faced the challenge of remaining celibate outside of marriage—despite the fact that she was falling in love again with a very handsome and viral man. I wrote of that couple’s struggle with purity and how they remained strong in the face of temptation, and many people sent letters to me thanking me for showing them how to do the same. I was deeply awed and humbled! If my characters with all of their flaws can serve as helpful examples for living a Christian life, then I know God’s hand is in it. That’s a very joyful thing.

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?

Mindy: Yes, and it comes back to that public profession thing, Once my faith was totally out on the page for all to see, I found that people would seek me out in the most surprising situations to unburden themselves or ask for prayer. I’m no pastor or theologian, but I believe that God has been able to use me, one on one, in some very exciting ways.

Also, because my books are mysteries, I am frequently given the opportunity to make appearances and give talks in secular settings, such as mystery conferences and panel presentations. I never bring it up myself, but almost always someone will ask about my subgenre, and I then have the opportunity to talk about my faith. I don’t start preaching, but I do give a brief, earnest explanation of why my stories have Christianity in them and how God is the center of my life.

Finally, Christians frequently thank me for giving them books that they can pass along to nonbelievers, as a subtle tool for witness. I have been told that the mysteries are compelling enough to balance out the message and keep them reading to the end, which then can lead to a wonderful dialogue between the one who gave the book and the one who received it.

I’m just grateful that not only do I get to write stories for a living, but that those little stories can have an impact on real lives, through the grace of our Lord.

You can visit author Mindy Starns Clark and get to know her better by checking out her website.

Thanks Mindy, for joining us this month on Spotlight!