Catherine Palmer Answers The Faithful Fifteen
May 2005
Catherine Palmer has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Christy Award, the highest honor in Christian fiction. Her latest novel is SWEET VIOLET, the final installment in the "English Ivy" trilogy. In this interview Palmer talks about how she espoused the Christian faith as a young girl in Kenya and what it means to be a Christian writer. She explains the significance of "teatime" between her and her husband and why she believes Christian fiction is such a powerfully affecting genre, using the true story of a woman and her ill spouse as a poignant example.
FaithfulReader.com: What kind of testimony to your faith are you demonstrating in this book? Do you write fiction that is based upon your faith, or that has a message for the reader? Is your goal to demonstrate your faith in your writing?
Catherine Palmer: At its heart, SWEET VIOLET is an "apologetic" --- or defense --- of Christianity. The main character is a young Englishwoman who has been raised in India by a Hindu nanny. When she encounters a handsome missionary, their contrasting faiths come into conflict. As the story of their relationship progresses, readers come to understand why Jesus Christ is the only Way, Truth and Life, and no one comes to God except through Him.
I write only fiction, and it is absolutely based on my faith in Christ Jesus. Every book has a Christian message, and my goal in writing is two-fold. I pray that my books will: a) strengthen the faith of Believers and b) be used by Christians as a witnessing tool to non-believers.
FR: When did you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus? Where are you today in your walk? Is your faith an important part of what you do?
CP: I surrendered my life to Jesus when I was a young girl growing up as the daughter of missionaries to Kenya. I was about eight years old when ---- during a worship service --- I came to realize my sinful state. I was baptized during another service shortly after that. My faith journey has been a long one, with many mountains and valleys. Today, I feel I am more completely surrendered and closer to Christ than I have ever been. At the same time, I realize how much deeper I still need to grow in Him. I plan to spend the rest of my time learning more about Jesus, yet I know I now can only see through a glass darkly. I look forward to the day when I will see Him face to face. Like St. Paul, I can say that for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. My faith is more than an important part of what I do. It is the only reason for my existence.
FR: Tell us about your church experiences, how you grew up (or maybe didn't grow up) in the church, where you attend now, your involvement in your local assembly, etc.
CP: As I mentioned, I grew up as the daughter of missionaries. When I was three years old, we served in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). When I was seven, we began serving in Kenya. I moved to the United States for college, attending Southwest Baptist University and Baylor University. I now belong to First Baptist Church of Camdenton, Missouri. We have recently moved to this area, so I haven't become involved in ministry here yet. I do serve on the Missouri Leadership Team (board of directors) for Prison Fellowship. My primary ministry outreach interest is to serve as a volunteer in correctional facilities. I am also involved in a project to minister to the families of U.S. servicemen and woman. My husband and I are giving away 5,000 copies of my book (co-written with author Peggy Stoks) THE LOVED ONE.
FR: Tell us about your current church family/fellowship. How does it influence your work?
CP: My current church family is rather new to me. I'm still putting names with faces! I have always felt that a church family should be the support system surrounding Believers. Within a church body, I find the opportunity to share in worship, prayer, ministry, and learning. I have always been particularly close to my Sunday School (or Bible study) group, as this is the place where I find I am best able to really dig into Scripture and have the chance to grow as a Christian.
FR: Who are your spiritual mentors? Your professional mentors?
CP: My spiritual mentors have been my parents, Harold and Betty Cummins, and my husband, Tim Palmer, whose lives have demonstrated the beauty and effectiveness of the Christian life. I also have found spiritual mentors in former pastors --- particularly Mark Kiekhaefer of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Jefferson City, Missouri. Both spiritually and professionally, I have learned from Francine Rivers, Randy Alcorn, Peggy Stoks, Anne DeGraaf, and many others.
FR: Discuss your calling/mission --- as a writer, and as a Christian.
CP: For a long time, I struggled with an idea that God had laid on my heart. I felt that He was saying that my spiritual gift was to be a prophet. I knew I had no ability whatsoever to foretell the future, so this just couldn't be right! After studying the prophets of the Bible, I came to understand that many of them were not foretelling the future, but they were called to take messages from God to His people --- usually to lots of people, rather than to just one or two. Given that definition, I have finally accepted that I am a prophet. God certainly lays His messages upon me. These messages always come directly from Scripture, and yet they burn in my soul as though they were brand new announcements! When they come, I feel that I must write about them, or I will be disobedient. Like Jonah, I have actually tried to run away from delivering God's messages. I have also faced persecution because of what I wrote. But I have no doubt that I am called by God to deliver His important words, and I try my best to obey.
I really cannot separate my calling/mission as a writer from my life as a Christian. To me, they are one and the same. I am to serve God in obedience by growing deeper in Him and by reaching out to others with His Word.
FR: What are your Scripture reading habits?
CP: I am currently reading through THE ONE YEAR BIBLE in Tyndale House Publisher's New Living Translation. I read a day's passages each morning before I begin writing.
FR: What books have most influenced your work?
CP: Because I grew up in Africa, we didn't have all that many books. The Bible, of course, is my primary influence. I also devoured stacks of Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I have no idea why we had all those on our shelves, but we did! Later influences include JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Anne Tyler, Francine Rivers, Jan Karon, Alexander McCall Smith, Fannie Flagg, and too many others to count. Every book I read influences me in one way or another.
FR: Do you read secular fiction at all? If so, who are your favorite authors, and why?
CP: I do read some secular fiction. I enjoy Jane Austen because of her language usage and funny plots. I love the characters in Alexander McCall Smith's and Fannie Flagg's books. Unfortunately, I can't read fiction while I'm writing it (which is most of the time). I find that the other author's style mixes in with my own. So I only get to read during vacation times.
FR: What are your other media habits --- television, movies, music, etc.?
CP: I watch very little television, and I have only seen one or two movies in the past few years. I have to confess that I don't like many kinds of music either. If we have music on, it's mostly instrumental. My husband and I call it "tea music," because we try to have teatime together every day, and that's when we listen to music.
FR: Do you and your family have any special faith-based traditions?
CP: My husband and I raised our two sons in church and always read Bible stories to them and prayed with them each night before bed. We celebrate the usual Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter the same way most people do. Probably our most special time is teatime. We began this ritual when our boys were little, and now my husband and I have teatime together. We always have a teatime prayer even when we are with non-Christian guests. Teatime is when we share what God is doing in our lives.
FR: Tell us about your prayer life and habits.
CP: My personal prayer life goes on basically all the time I'm awake. I don't get out of bed in the morning without praying --- thanking God for the day and especially lifting up my family and close friends in need. I pray before meals, and I also have a special prayer time after I read my Scripture each day. At night, I pray for friends while I'm working my crossword puzzle. I choose only special people to get my crossword puzzle prayers! All day long, I'm basically communicating in one way or another with the Father. And I have faith that when I'm too stressed out, upset, or busy, the Holy Spirit is lifting me up before Him.
FR: Describe what you believe the role of writing in religion is.
CP: Obviously, we wouldn't have the Bible unless people had written down what God had inspired them to write. So writing is essential to our faith. Also, Christ used oral fiction --- parables --- to bring messages from God to people. Later, those parables were also written down. Nowadays, we are blessed to have wonderful writers who illuminate God and His will for us through both nonfiction and fiction.
I personally believe that fiction is more powerfully affecting than nonfiction. With a novel, a reader mentally and emotionally steps into another person's shoes and walks with them through an experience. By doing this, the reader has the same experience as the character in the book. Such an event can be powerfully transforming. The ancient Greeks called it "catharsis." By reading about a fiction character's experience, the reader can actually feel and know a similar change in his or her own life. Thank God for fiction!
FR: Tell us about one or more of your favorite encounters with readers.
CP: It's impossible to choose a favorite. I love every encounter I have with readers. When I get to meet these dear friends or receive their letters and emails, I am reminded why I spend my time at the computer day after day. If readers tell me God has affected their lives in some positive way because of my books, I know it was worth all those hours.
One of my beloved readers always makes me chuckle when she sends me cards and letters. For some reason, she feels compelled to re-tell me the entire plot of my book! She adds her own opinions about the characters and events as she works her way from the beginning of my story to the end. I wonder if she thinks I have forgotten what I wrote, or if she simply enjoys recalling every detail of what she has just read!
FR: Would you share a story about someone you've brought to Christ or share how your writing has helped someone?
CP: I don't believe I have any power to help or change people. That is God's work, and I'm just His servant. Here's a recent event that illustrates how the Lord knows what He's doing much better than we ever will:
About six months ago, I gave one of my novels to a new neighbor --- a self-confessed non-reader. She read that book (to her astonishment and pride!) and became absolutely starved for more. I gave her copies of nearly all my books, which she read so fast it shocked both her and her husband. Then she went online and found a used-book source. Next, she joined a Christian book club. Now she hunts down Christian books at bookstores and wherever she can get them. She has had to buy new shelves to hold all her Christian books! During this time, she started going back to church. She took her husband along, too. And then one day about two months ago, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is now in the hospital, and we don't think he will live much longer. My friend sits by his bed day after day, reading every book of Christian fiction she can get her hands on. She has told me how grateful she is that she started reading --- and she believes that God must have been preparing her for the hard road that would soon lie ahead.
We never know what God can do when we put a book in someone's hand!
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