As we gear up for summertime, with all of its heat and humidity, vacations and lazier days, we here at ckevinthompson.com want to wish everyone a wonderful beginning to this season of more time with the kiddos, hopefully more outdoor time with the family, and a safe and happy Fourth of July!
However, before we jump to conclusions, literally, I first want to welcome to the Florida front porch another writer about whom you will learn a little. And I hope this series has been helpful to our readers in finding authors they or someone they know may like. Many of these folks you may not hear about through normal channels like the Amazon Top 100 or the New York Times Best Seller List, but they may write something that could resonate with you. So, our hope here at ckevinthompson.com is to help our readers find other writers.
Also, just so you know, I post additional writers and his or her website on my Facebook Author Page on the first Saturday of each month. Just another way to get the word out about writers I know or have read (or both!).
So, please help me welcome another author in this growing list of great authors. Please welcome Kathy Collard Miller!
Kathy, give us a quick bio. In fifty words or less, who is Kathy
Collard Miller?
I was a
child abuser and thought God didn’t want to help me. Now I see God’s hand in
every experience through marriage, parenting, grandparenting, writing, and
speaking. He’s helped me write over 50 published books and to speak in over 30
U.S. states. I’m amazed at his generosity.
Wow! You got our attention. :-) Are you married? Single? Have kids?
I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart, Larry, since
1970. I hated him by the time we’d been married seven years. I even prayed for
the plane he was flying to crash. He worked two jobs as a policeman and real
estate agent, and also flew planes for a hobby. He was far from being the
Prince Charming I expected. At that time our daughter was two and our son was a
newborn. Larry didn’t help me, and I became increasingly angry and depressed,
blaming everything wrong on him. I took my anger out on our two-year-old
toddler and feared I would kill her in one of my rages. That terror caused me
to consider suicide. I was a Christian at the time and thought God had given up
on me. But He hadn’t. He just had a different plan and method. In time, He gave
me patience with our daughter and restored the love in our marriage. That began
my ministry of sharing my story and writing about it. Now, our family includes
two grandkids, and we all love and value each other—something I thought could
never happen. And my beloved husband is my best friend, most supportive
encourager, and loves me unconditionally! We are even lay counselors!
Of all the stories/books you have written, which one is your favorite? And what compelled you to write this story?
I love all my books. Of course! And it is hard to choose, but my women’s Bible study series is very special to me because of the way God orchestrated the open door for the publication of those 12 books.
I’d always wanted to write a Bible study book, but felt I wasn’t qualified. I didn’t even finish college, and I’d never served in ministry. How could I know enough to write a Bible study? I did lead a women’s Bible study in my neighborhood, but I used an organization’s studies. I didn’t anticipate ever writing a Bible study.
Then one day I received a rejection letter for a book I’d proposed to a publishing company. But the editor included in the letter that the company was thinking of publishing a women’s Bible study series. They wondered if I would submit several ideas for that—if I was interested. If I was interested? Wow! That was exactly what I’d wanted to do but had been too scared. I quickly wrote out some ideas, they were accepted, and I began writing what ended up being twelve books in my Daughters of the King Bible Study Series. Those books sold really well but after almost twenty years went out of print. Today, I have a new publisher, Elk Lake Publishers, Inc., and I am rewriting and expanding each one. So far four have been published: Choices of the Heart (godly choices), Whispers of My Heart (prayer), At the Heart of Friendship (friendship), and Heart Wisdom (Proverbs). I’m so glad God opened that door and pushed me through it.
When the words aren’t flowing,
what is your favorite comfort food and why?
When I’m feeling stuck in uncertainty
about my writing, I go for carbs: bread, desserts, and, of course, chocolate.
If something isn’t available, I can at least find some pancake mix and have
pancakes with syrup or blackberry jelly. Yum. Of course, with a hot cup with
English Breakfast tea with honey, sugar, and a little half-and-half. Yum Yum. (Kevin, just thanks a lot. Now I’m
going to have to go make some.)
You're welcome. Now, for all the pet lovers out there, answer this question: Do you
have any?
Right
now there’s a nest of doves with two babies on the heater in our patio, and they
are our pets. Of course, we’re not petting them, but it’s been so fun calling
them our babies. Other than that, we had two cats, Oscar and Cody, when our
kids were growing up, but no animals now. My husband, Larry, and I travel too
much, often ministering overseas, so we can be gone a month at a time. Plus, our
kids live at a distance so we would be leaving animals too much of the time. We do love being grandparents to our friends’ dogs. When our
friends are traveling, we welcome our temporarily adopted canine friend into
our home. For quite some time we hosted a lovely blonde lab. What a sweetheart.
She’s gone to dog heaven now so we miss her.
Everybody seems to have a bucket list. Do you? If so, what’s
on it? If not, why not?
One
item on my bucket list is to be in a public place and seeing someone reading
one of my books. I can picture it now: I get their attention and say, “What do
you think about that book? I’ve heard of it.” Then if she likes it, I’ll offer
to autograph it. Of course, she’ll say she loves it, right? I can’t wait to see
her face when she realizes I’m the author.
Another bucket list item is going to Switzerland. I love to
travel, and I’d love to go there. I studied that country all the way back in
junior high, and I’ve never forgotten my desire to see it in person. Anybody
have a chalet in Switzerland they would loan us for a few days?
I was there when I was thirteen. One of those whirlwind tours. Seven countries in fourteen days. I was just old enough not to appreciate it. I'd love to go back.
Do you have a favorite line from a movie or book? If so, what
is it and explain why it is special to you?
I’m so
glad you asked that question. I think mine is rather clever. It’s “Obi-Wan
Kenobi, you are our only hope.” Of course, from Star Wars. I quote that to
myself and others but substitute God: “God, you are our only hope.” Thankfully, CP3O doesn’t
have to be involved for God to hear my plea. And thankfully, God doesn’t
respond, “I haven’t heard that name for a long time.”
Do you have a crazy, interesting, behind-the-scenes story
about the publishing world you’d like to tell your readers without boring them
to death with industry gobbledygook?
I was
having lunch at a restaurant with a pastor’s wife and director of women’s
ministry of a church who were considering me for speaking at their next women’s
retreat. As we chatted, I realized a woman who had walked up to our table was
standing there, and she wasn’t the waitress. All three of us turned to her, and she looked at me and said,
“You’re Kathy Collard Miller aren’t you? I just finished reading your book (and
she named it), and I loved it. Thank you for writing it.” I shook her hand and
thanked her for saying so. She turned and walked away. I looked at the women
across from me and said, “I did not plan that!” They laughed. I really didn’t arrange it, and I did speak at that women’s
retreat. I’ll never forget that lunchtime connection with that reader. I still
don’t know how she knew me. Maybe the photo on the back of the book?
And that's your story, and you're sticking to it, right? Did you tell the lady. "Here's your five dollars"? Just kidding.
Tell us about what project you are currently working on.
Right
now, I’m writing a devotional book potentially entitled “100 Questions God
Asked in the Bible and What They Say About His Nature.” Of course there are
more than 100 of His questions in the Bible, but I’m going to limit it and also include questions Jesus asked—because He’s God!
This idea came to me as I studied the Bible and noticed the
variety of questions God asked. I also noticed the different responses of the
person who was being asked. Seeing those fascinated me because it was obvious
God wanted to draw something out of the heart of the hearer, and He also wanted
to reveal Himself. So each of the devotions will focus on those two aspects.
I’m very excited about the project.
Knowing what you know now about writing, publishing, etc.,
what piece of advice would you give to the person thinking about writing that
novel they have always wanted to pursue since they were young, or the person
who believes they have a non-fiction book in them that would be helpful to
others?
For
someone wanting to write a non-fiction book, consider writing an article or several
articles about your topic. A published article will be read by more readers
than a book. Your impact will be far more. As you write the articles, think of
each one as a chapter for your book. Not only will you have more people reading
your material, you’ll also be able to show book publishers how the articles
made an impact. You might receive letters from readers and that would reveal
the topic’s popularity. Plus you are proving to a potential publisher/editor
that you can follow up on projects.
Good advice! If you had one person you could meet (think outside the Bible here)
and could spend as much time as you wanted with that individual, who would it
be?
Although I don’t write fiction, or at least haven’t yet
(although I have half a novel written), I would like to spend time with
Francine Rivers. I think it would be fascinating to hear how she envisions
biblical historical characters and crafts a fabulous plot and character
development. Maybe talking to her will help me write and finish my novel, which
by the way, is about a cop’s wife whose husband stages his own death so that he
can go into the drug culture. Not for undercover work but because he’s greedy
for money. Of course, there’s a man, a cop friend of her husband, who becomes
the love interest. Together they find out the truth and in the end, she has to
shoot her husband who threatens her life. Wow. Now I’m inspired. I’ll have to
finish it. Or Kevin? Want to take it over?
Hmmm...sounds interesting. If you had one person you could meet (think ONLY Bible characters
here) and could spend as much time as you wanted with that individual, who
would it be besides Jesus?
I want to interview Eve. What in the world, (I guess I
should say what in the garden) was she was thinking? What were the emotions and
thoughts that went through her mind, and how did the temptation begin to look so
wonderfully attractive? Of course we know some things but not everything. And
she could also tell me why she didn’t ask for Adam’s help. I also could hear
descriptions of the Garden and what it was like to walk personally with God. I’m
so glad I have heaven to look forward to, knowing it will be even better than
the Garden.
What’s the craziest thing you have ever done?
Sky dive! I’d always said I’d wanted to do it but most
likely thought I would be spared from it because the opportunity would never
happen. Then my sister-in-law talked about wanting to sky dive, and I spoke up: “Me
too!” So we planned to do it, and my grown son and another friend joined us.
We did it! The most amazing part was the total silence right after
jumping out the plane. (By the way it was a tandem jump). There is absolutely
no noise even though you are falling through the air.
But the weirdest part was watching my son jump out of the plane with
his tandem partner before me and in front of me. Somehow that was freaky. Although I’ll never sky dive again because I became very sick, I’m
glad I did it. But don’t ask me to bungee jump. That’s too scary! LOL
We know “Readers are leaders, and leaders are readers.” Is there a
book you’ve read in the past five years or so that has helped you become a
better you? If so, which one was it, and how did it affect your life?
I read Finding God by Larry Crabb, and it changed my
life. Well, of course, the Lord caused it to change my life. Dr. Crabb’s
insights helped me to identify the underlying causes of my ungodly reactions.
It was ground breaking for me. I had to read it as assigned reading for a seminar I took in
counseling. My husband and I thought we were only attending so that we could
give better advice when we spoke at marriage retreats. Instead, not only did we
learn counseling, we were given “soul care” ourselves. As a result, we were
transformed, and then God sent us people to whom we could counsel. Reading Dr.
Crabb’s book prepared us for this unexpected ministry. We’ve given over 1,500
hours of help to many. It’s been an incredible journey, and it started with
reading Finding God and also being trained by John and Patti Cepin
through their Journey Companions Ministry (www.JourneyCompanionsMinistry.org).
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about
you, or anything we didn’t cover?
I shared earlier how I was an abusive mom and my ministry began
because of God’s healing work. My daughter whom I abused was transformed as
well. She loves God and serves him in her church. She is a wife, mother of two,
and a fiction writer! But what I love most is that we have a fabulous
relationship, and she loves me. I had feared she would never love me and never
love God. But God did the work I can’t do. I’m so grateful.
Kathy, thank you for stopping by and taking the time out of your busy ministry schedule to share with our readers. Dear readers, if you're interested in finding out more about Kathy's writing, you can find her at these web locations:
Instagram: KathyCollardMiller
Until next time, May God bless America, and more importantly, may America bless God.
And don't forget to check out Kevin's writings! The latest installment of the Blake Meyer Thriller series is out! Book 4, When the Clock Strikes Fourteen.
