Author Interview

1. What is your name and the title of your book(s)?
My name is Linda Wiggins-Edwards and the name of my upcoming book will be "I Am Beautiful" featuring the God's Angels characters.

2. What is one thing you think your readers would like to know about you?
I think readers would find it interesting to know that I'm a trained scientist. I have a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Medical Sciences. I've previously worked in research & in the diagnostics industry. I also have an education background. I've owned two tutorial services, and I've also been a classroom teacher, teaching 4th & 6th grade science, and 9th grade advanced algebra & Biology. Even though these have been my career choices, I've always made a hobby of writing, ever since I was a little girl. I've written stories, plays, poetry, and started writing children's books for the last 7 - 8 years.

3. When did you know that you wanted to become a writer?
As I said, I've always made a hobby of writing, ever since I was a little girl. However, I didn't think of publishing any of my work until my husband read a poem that I had written for our youngest daughter when she was born. When he read it, he told me how good it was, and that I could turn it into a children's book. I thought about it for about 6 months to a year, before I really believed that he could be right. Once I decided to really pursue this, I re-wrote the poem into a story and began submitting it to publishers. What happened next however, caused me to stop writing for a while, because it made me feel as if my writing was not any good. I submitted my work to agents and publishers, and started getting one rejection letter after another. Once that happened, I stopped writing, even though I had several stories in progress by that time. It took until I submitted my work to Tate Publishing for me to realize what I had been doing wrong all along. I was submitting my work to publishers that published children's books, but I wasn't specifically looking for a Christian publisher. This is what made all the difference in the world. Once I realized that my purpose was to write Christian children's books and that I needed to find a Christian publisher, my work got accepted immediately, and I've been blessed with being able to write again, with a renewed spirit.

4. What are your strong points in your writing style or methods?
I think my strongest point is being able to write about Christian values, and to honor & glorify God through my writing, but to be able to do it at a level that a young child will be able to understand.

5. Are you a reader?
Absolutely. I've always loved reading. A good writer must also be a good reader.

6. What are you reading right now?
A book called "Hearing God's Voice" by Henry and Richard Blackaby.

7. Do you have another book that you are working on and hasn't been submitted for publication? Tell about it.
Yes. I have the one that is currently being published, and I've already completed another one and I'm in the process of finishing a 3rd. The 2nd one is about children as God's gifts and the 3rd one is about a parent's love.

8. What are your biggest obstacles to writing and how do you overcome them?
I guess my biggest obstacle is being able to focus on what I'm writing at the moment. So many times while I'm writing one book, I get great ideas for other books and then I have to switch to another document to write down my notes and ideas, and then come back to the first book that I was writing. It doesn't cause me too many problems though because I always pray when I write, to make sure that I stay focused, and that I write about the things that God wants me to say.

9. How can readers contact you or purchase your books? Please put your website or blog here.
When my book is complete (which will be in about 6 months or so), readers will be able to purchase my book from the Tate Publishing website. I am also in the process of building my own website, blog and Facebook fan page, so readers will be able to also find my book and more information about my books on these. These will become active once I have the illustrations completed for my book.