20 Year-Old Me - Guest Post by, Carmen Schober

Hello Seekerville Readers!

My name is Carmen Schober, and my first novel came out a little less than a year ago with Bethany House, so you might not have heard of me yet. But, even though I am a newbie author, I'm a seasoned Christian fiction reader, thanks to Francine Rivers and Gilbert Morris--my favorites growing up. The genre has expanded so much since then, and it's a joy to be a small part of that growth. 

Thank you sincerely
for the opportunity to share my writing journey with you. Before I dive in, though, let me tell you a couple of other things about me besides the creative click-clacking I do on my keyboard each day.

I’m a wife to Jeff, a mama to Vivian (age 4), Sofia (age 2), and Leo (age 1...yes, we're very busy), and I’m a proud Cuban-American. My grandparents fled Cuba during the rise of Fidel Castro, and they are inspiring examples of American dreamers. Being a writer isn’t nearly as hard as being a factory worker or a seamstress, as my grandparents were, but I like to think I’m following in their footsteps each day as I raise my babies and write my books, even when the task feels too overwhelming. 

Before I wrote After She Falls, I spent seven years at Kansas State University first as a student, then as a graduate student, then as a writing instructor. It was a difficult, faith-testing experience in a militantly secular environment, and I found myself hiding my love for Christian stories until I finally left the university to have my first daughter, Vivian. Life with a newborn baby came with many challenges, but it came with blessings, too, like the opportunity to revisit the books I'd loved so much as a younger woman. 

It was during one of those late-night feeding sessions that

I dove back into a Francine Rivers book and had a wild thought...

"Maybe I could write something like this." 

That was when the seed was planted, but the real inspiration came a little later when I was taking an online screenwriting class just for fun. The professor tasked us with "reimagine" our favorite movie, so I picked Rocky and let my mind run wild with ideas until I ended up with a scrappy female Cuban underdog with a broken dream to put back together. I faced many doubts and discouragements during the writing process, but Vivian supplied me with a new kind of inspiration. When I was tempted to give up, I would think to myself, "What would I want Vivian to do in this situation? Give into her fears and critics or press on?" 

The answer was obvious, so I kept writing, and by the grace of God, about two years later, After She Falls was on bookshelves around the country. 

 

My second book, Pretty Little Pieces, is a whole new cast of characters set in the glitzy world of reality television and home makeovers, but my favorite elements from After She Falls are still there: Scrappy heroines, broody heroes, tricky romantic dynamics, and bold, leap-taking faith. I never water down the "Christian" part in my fiction, but I do make it raw and real for modern women navigating our ever-changing culture. 

I write with everyone in mind but especially 20-year-old me. I know that's oddly specific, but that's the version of me who desperately needed an inspiring but relatable vision of what it meant to be a Christian woman in a confusing, postmodern world. As I was bombarded by pressures and lies and insecurities, I longed for truth, beauty, and romance, and I think stories like After She Falls or Pretty Little Pieces would've given me so much hope. So that's how I know a story is finally complete--when I’m confident that 20-year-old Carmen would love it! 

I hope you love my stories, too! Or your sister, or your daughter, or your friend--whoever might need a book about finding love in all the right places. A book is a gift that keeps on giving, and Pretty Little Pieces comes out just in time for Christmas! And, for a limited time, you can get both of my books from Baker Book House for just $16 plus free shipping! Just put them in your cart and use the code SCHOBER50 at checkout.

Thank you for all you do to keep the love of Christian fiction alive! It's more important than you realize. 

God bless you, 

Carmen Schober

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Carmen Schober (www.carmenschober.com), author of After She Falls and Pretty Little Pieces, is a wife and mother, a proud Cuban-American, and a woman of eclectic interests, ranging from gritty combative sports to feminine design shows. She writes unexpected romance novels for the modern woman, with relatable but inspirational heroines and heroes. When she's not writing fiction, she blogs about Christianity, motherhood, writing, and everything in between. She earned a master's degree in English literature and creative writing from Kansas State, and she currently lives in Manhattan, Kansas.