An Easter Interview With Author Judith Ingram

I am pleased to offer an inspiring Easter gift to my readers. Judith Ingram, my friend and colleague in the California Writers Club, Mount Diablo Branch, is an award-winning author of inspirational books. Her novels, including the  Moonseed Trilogy, draw on her training as a counselor and her love of story to create realistic characters, who grapple with deep and significant themes. Her non-fiction work, including A Devotional Walk with Forgiveness, weaves together principles of her Christian faith and her experience of growing through the painful and limiting consequences of an abusive childhood.

WLM: How does your Christian faith inform your writing, both fiction and nonfiction?

JI: I believe in the saving grace of Christ and in the truth and goodness of God’s ways. Both my fiction and nonfiction work build on that foundation.

WLM: What led you to write A Devotional Walk with Forgiveness?

JI: I spent nine years in therapy working through child abuse issues. I struggled with the choice to either continue as an emotionally crippled and angry victim or learn how to forgive my parents and move on to a more joyful life. I chose the path of forgiving, and I realized that in my years of suffering God had taught me valuable lessons that I wanted to pass along to others who suffered like me. My book is a day-by-day, step-by-step exploration of what forgiveness is, why it’s important, and how we can begin to practice it.

WLM: What role did your training as a counselor play in writing about forgiveness?

JI: My counselor training gave me an objective framework for examining how we suffer damage from interpersonal wounding and why forgiveness is so important. My master’s thesis, “Forgiveness and the Clinical Treatment of Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse,” gave me a firm foundation for writing the book.

WLM: How hard was it to risk exposing some of your personal life? Why did you take that risk?

JI: That’s a great question. Even though I learned in therapy that children are innocent victims and never deserve the abuse they receive, I carried immense shame and guilt for years over the things that were done to me. I took the risk of speaking about my experience, because being a survivor gave me credibility with other survivors and also helped them to identify with my hope. Every time I share my story, at least one person will come up to me afterward and say something like, “I can’t believe it! What happened to you is exactly what happened to me.” They see God’s work of mercy in my life, and they open themselves to the possibility that they too can forgive.

WLM: Why did you choose the time travel genre, when writing your Moonseed Trilogy?

JI: When the story idea first came to me, I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life. I desperately wanted to escape my troubles, and I imagined what it would be like to wake up in another woman’s life and just be her for a while. Then I thought, what if that woman were from a previous century, and what if she had worse problems than I do? For example, what if I woke up in her body and were immediately accused of murdering her husband? That’s how Moonseed was born!

      

WLM: How do you stay in touch with your fan base: Blogs? Websites? Social media?
JI: My two main venues are my website (www.judithingram.com) and my Facebook author page (www.facebook.com/JudithIngramAuthor). Every week I post a new devotional on forgiveness on my website, reflecting the lessons that God continues to teach me through Scripture and experience with my own personal relationships. These devotionals are free. Anyone can sign up to have them delivered to their inbox. Readers can also follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/judithingram20) and Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/author/show/5356538.Judith_Ingram).

WLM: What does the near future hold? Any books on the horizon? Work-in-progress?
JI: I am currently attending Fuller Theological Seminary, because I feel called by God into ministry that will use my writing and speaking gifts. I also plan to compile my weekly forgiveness devotionals into a book of daily readings, when I have enough written. Fiction writing is fun, and I have two more stories rolling around in my head that I hope to get down on paper soon.

WLM: What advice do you offer aspiring faith-based writers?
JI: Take time alone with God to discern what you are being called to share with the world. How have your natural talents and experiences of suffering and/or blessing uniquely shaped you to deliver a message that only you can deliver? How will your written offering help people to align their lives and hearts with God? Find your niche and then write with confidence because the world needs to hear your voice.

WLM: Anything else you want to add?
JI: Language is powerful. As writers we are stewards of a sacred treasure. May God help us to use our words wisely and well.

WLM: Thank you, Judith, for sharing your personal journey and your expert tips with my many readers and followers