Fiction Friday | Getting to know Chrissy Garwood

Welcome to Fiction Friday as we get to know Chrissy Garwood

Chrissy Garwood is our guest today for another getting to know you interview. Thanks Chrissy for visiting with us today. Chrissy also has her debut book out.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia. Where I have spent more than half my life in small rural communities. Finally settling in Sorell, a satellite suburb of Hobart, our state capital in 2009. I married young: my husband and I have been married for 41 years. We have two adult sons who live independently in Hobart. I became involved in Christian Ministry in 1974, and presently work part-time as a School Chaplain at Dunalley Primary and Sorell Primary.

2. When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

Yes and no. I was an undiscerning reader from an early age, an awkward child who would sit and read the cereal packet with as much determination as a book. I loved words, captured by the idea that there were printed messages everywhere. All I had to do was decipher them. Looking back, I can see that I loved fiction most of all, fairy tales and fantasy stories. Especially those where the characters turned a corner and entered a new world, with plenty of strange discoveries to keep me guessing. I remember the storyline but not the title of a favourite George MacDonald story I found in an anthology.

3. Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and to write?

I still read widely across genres, with a preference for fiction. Enjoying happy-ever-after endings and stories where the impossible happens. I like to be surprised and to have puzzles to solve. My own writing follows a similar theme.

4. Did you have any favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

When I first went to a city High School, I didn’t know that you could borrow the books in the library! I would pick a shelf and read my way along it, putting back the books at the end of the break and praying they were still there next time. Then someone explained the borrowing process. After that, I looked for authors who had more than one book on the shelf and then borrowed them all. I remember discovering Daphne du Maurier and C.S. Lewis this way.

5. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

When I was ten, I transferred to a tiny school and my new teacher read my stories aloud. Her encouragement led me to write prolifically. Regrettably, I lost my self-confidence, piece by piece after four years at a city high school. Then I had a fifteen year silence, triggered by a student teacher’s suggestion that I had copied my original story. I wrote three unpublished novels when I was in my early thirties, in the months prior to my youngest son being diagnosed on the autism spectrum. This brief creative interlude was then followed by another two decades where I was too busy to allow myself to dream.

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

I became an author the long way around. Being distracted by a series of community and family emergencies, and clicked on an enrol button for a university degree. Four years of assignment deadlines and research dragged me through the emotional storm and reset my schedule. One of my tutors suggested I had a book in me, but I discounted that idea.

When I gained my Fine Arts and Visual Culture degree I was adrift again. It was summer and I was supposed to be on holidays. As an empty nester, the hours dragged on. I thought I understood God’s instructions – He gave me permission to type up a little story that was distracting me, and then He kept making suggestions to improve it. Four months later, I was still working on the same story, but it had grown to 120,000 words. I had also joined half a dozen Facebook writers’ groups, and connected with Belinda Pollard from Small Blue Dog Publishing. Belinda gave me some great advice, and here I am with one book published and more on the way.

7. If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

I would like to facilitate an open house: half artist retreat, half library, a place where people from the wider community can drop in for conversation, social connection and creative play.

8. Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

Paint, collect all kinds of crazy things and weave large-scale creations in the open air with recycled knitting yarn. (There are pictures on my webpage). I gain a lot of satisfaction from watching children grow and learn. Love playing board games and am willing to deliberately lose if that’s what it takes to keep the children interested.

9. Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

I love walking on the beach, but don’t do that very often. The rhythm of the waves speaks to my soul.

10. If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

I would like to bring together Naomi, one of my reader team, because our friendship has strengthened while we talked about my book; W.R. Gingell, a Tasmanian author who I met face to face and she patiently answered my hundred questions, and continues to reply to my occasional message; and Belinda Pollard, my publishing coach. There have been a few times when I almost quit before publication, and a small word of encouragement from one or the other of these lovely ladies kept me going.

Finally can you tell us about your latest release. Where can we buy the book and where can we find you on the web?

My first novel White Rose of Promise was released in May 2019. It best fits the Romantic Suspense genre.

My main protagonist has a strong Christian worldview but is unable to forgive herself for her past failings and present insecurities. Ria is not looking for romance and would have run if she had known what was coming when she met Sebastian Romano. He is proud and self-sufficient, detests weakness and has hardened his heart because of his difficult past, and has no expectation that God will ever show him favour. When this non-Christian man challenges her faith, they are both propelled on an unexpected adventure.

My book is available both as an eBook or a paperback. Information about how to obtain a copy can be found on my webpage: https://chrissygarwood.com/
I have an author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/chrissygarwoodauthor