Sarah Sundin lives in northern California with her husband and three children, a skittish cat named Janie, and a yellow lab named Daisy who is determined to destroy her writing career by distracting her and eating her manuscripts. However, Daisy is a fantastic source of humorous Twitter and Facebook posts, so Sarah says they’ll keep her.

Sounds like our Shadow and Tiger – furry distractions.

When Sarah is not ferrying kids to soccer and karate, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist and teaches Sunday school and women’s Bible studies.

Sarah’s first book, A Distant Melody, Book One in the Wings of Glory series, releases this month (March 2010) with Revell (my favorite publisher!)

Here’s the blurb:
Allie Miller is promised to a man she doesn’t love, but Lt. Walter Novak, a furloughed B-17 bomber pilot, captures her heart—will she honor her family’s wishes or take a chance on true love?

Never pretty enough to please her gorgeous mother, Allie Miller will do anything to gain her approval—even marry a man she doesn’t love. Lt. Walter Novak—fearless in the cockpit but hopeless with women—takes his last furlough at home in California before being shipped overseas. Walt and Allie meet at a wedding and their love of music draws them together, prompting them to begin a correspondence that will change their lives. As letters fly between Walt’s muddy bomber base in England and Allie’s mansion in an orange grove, their friendship binds them together. But can they untangle the secrets, commitments, and expectations that keep them apart?

A Distant Melody is the first book in the Wings of Glory series, which follows the three Novak brothers, B-17 bomber pilots with the US Eighth Air Force stationed in England during World War II.

I love historical fiction! I can’t wait to read this one!

You can purchase A Distant Melody at these online bookstores:
Amazon
CBD
Barnes & Noble

When and how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
January 6, 2000. How’s that for exact? Although I always read voraciously, I didn’t consider a writing career. Instead I chose a practical career in pharmacy which allowed me to work on-call and stay home with our three children. Then in 2000, I had a dream with such intriguing characters that I felt compelled to write their story. That first novel will never be published, nor should it, but it got me started.

Can you share with me some of the highlights of your writing journey – something particularly memorable or humorous?
In 2005 all doors to publication seemed closed and padlocked. No one wanted to buy historical fiction, I was accumulating “good” rejection letters, and I wondered whether I had heard God correctly. Was I meant to write? Was I wasting my time when I could be doing something more productive?

Sounds very familiar!

That year at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, I went for a morning walk under the redwoods and stopped to admire a little white flower. I praised God for the flower and felt touched—had He made that flower just so I would praise Him? Then I looked around me. Hundreds of redwoods covered the hills, and thousands more out of my vision, all surrounded by white blossoms. How many of those flowers would ever cause someone to stop and praise God? Were they created in vain? Did the Lord waste His time creating them? Of course not. God is a creative Being, and He made us in His creative image. In His mercy, the Lord showed me that even if my writing was never seen by another human being and never caused anyone to praise Him, I did the right thing obeying His call to write. I was not wasting my time.

Great insight. Thanks for sharing that, Sarah.

Tell me a bit about what you write now and what you hope/plan to write in the future. Do you have a favorite genre?
I just completed the rough draft of the third book in my Wings of Glory series, which follows three brothers who fly B-17 bombers during World War II. I have plans for another series set during World War II. Right now I’m drawn to historical fiction, although I could see myself writing contemporary women’s fiction as well.

Do you consider your writing the work God has given you to do for a lifetime or for a season of your life? If you could pursue anything else, what would it be?
I’ll leave that answer up to the Lord! Since my call to write was such an abrupt change for me, I’m acutely aware it could be just for a season. He could remove the desire and/or ability to write just as instantly as He gave it. However, I deeply hope it’s a lifetime calling. I can’t imagine anything else I’d enjoy more.

Are there people in your life who encouraged you, who are responsible for you becoming a published author?
Too many to count! First of all, I’ve learned so much from my critique group (Diablo Valley Christian Writers) and from the faculty at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and from the membership of American Christian Fiction Writers. My supporters include my entire church family, which has prayed for me since I began this adventure, and especially my small group and my book club. I couldn’t do it without them!

Can you share one struggle that entered your life as a result of writing and how God helped you to overcome it?
In 2001, I was working on a (really bad) contemporary romance, and the Lord used it to show me I was living under a heavy cloak of shame. My heroine and I learned together how to absorb the truth of God’s forgiveness and to shove off the shame that held us back. That was important work in my life, and soon after, the Lord drew me into service in my church, and my writing career grew. I was able to use this journey again in the second book in my World War II trilogy, A Memory Between Us.

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?
Every time someone reads A Distant Melody and tells me it blessed them, I’m stunned that the Lord can use this little suburban carpool mom!

Coming up for Sarah:

A Memory Between Us, Book Two in the Wings of Glory series, Fall 2010 from Revell. Maj. Jack Novak has never failed to meet a challenge until he meets Lt. Ruth Doherty, a striking nurse with a shameful secret—can they confront their deepest sins, face their greatest fears, and learn to trust and to love?

Book Three in the Wings of Glory series, Fall 2011. Young widowed Helen Carlisle buries her pain in volunteer work, but the sparks of her romance with Lt. Raymond Novak flings them both into peril—can they find the courage they need to face their trials?

To learn more about Sarah or her books visit her website or her blog.