Our Interview with Stacy Hawkins Adams

Please give us a bit of background information. 

I’m one of those authors who has been writing for as long as I can remember. I began penning short stories in first grade and never stopped!  I eventually traded fiction for newspaper articles and spent 13 years as a reporter and spirituality columnist. I left that full-time career in 2006 to write books and freelance for publications such as Crosswalk.com and Gospel Today magazine, among others. I also write a bi-monthly newspaper column for mothers called Life Notes.  

What is your favorite Bible verse?

 One of my favorite verses is Psalm 62: 1 (NKJV) - "Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation."I love this verse, because when the words I want to write won’t come or when other things in my life are askew, it reminds me that if I’ll focus on Him, He will see me through. 

How did you come up with the concept for Watercolored Pearls?

This book had a different working title.   However, when I was about halfway through, my editor asked for an updated synopsis, and as I described for her how the three women characters were struggling with their faith because of personal dilemmas, the thought came to me that from their view in the “trenches,” they couldn’t see how God was using their temporary turmoil to mature them into the pearls   He had destined them to become.   I wanted to convey through their journeys that even when we falter or worry, God is waiting with the answers and the unconditional love we long for. The title is a metaphor for how pearls are shaped inside an oyster after an irritant or parasite enters the oyster.  To protect itself, the oyster forms layer upon layer around that irritant, until it has created a pearl.  I chose to include ‘Watercolored’ in the title to symbolize that just as pearls come in various shades and sizes, people of faith come in all shapes, sizes, colors, temperaments and levels of spiritual maturity.  In the book, Serena, Erika and Tawana were loving friends despite their differing personalities, circumstances and statuses.  Yet God accepted them  - as He accepts us - where they were and nudged them through their difficulties to embrace Him more fully.  

Is any part of Watercolored Pearls factual?

Readers often ask me if my novels are autobiographical, and I have to say that as with the others, this is not.   Much of what I write about is culled from my 13-year career as a social issues and courts reporter and from writing columns about people of faith from all walks of life.  This story is loosely based on women I know personally and professionally, who struggle with, or have struggled with, the issues my characters face.   I must admit, however, that I could relate to  Serena, Erika and Tawana more so in this novel than I did in the two previous books, because on some level, I walked in similar shoes.  Like Serena, I’m a mother who on occasion has felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of the pressure to do it all.   Like Erika, I have wrestled with difficult decisions and prayed earnestly for God to reveal what He would have me to do; and like Tawana, I’ve sometimes questioned whether I’m on the right path.  God always reminded me during these periods that they would last only for a season. They were experiences I had to endure to grow closer to Him and to love myself more fully so that I could love others that way.  Writing this book helped me realize (with thankfulness) how far God has brought me and how much more room I have to grow.  It left me eager to share these characters’ journeys with other Christian women and with women who are questioning their need for God. 

How closely is this Watercolored Pearls based on your life and your practice?

As I said in my earlier response, the novel is loosely based on my experiences and the experiences of numerous women I know who are trying to live in a manner pleasing to God in a materialistic, ever-busy society that often makes it challenging. The story is not autobiographical, but like each of the characters, I have sought to hear from God and have sometimes missed the mark in my earnestness. 

How long did Watercolored Pearls take you to complete?

While I had the story outlined and very loosely drafted up to six months before my deadline, I “framed the skeleton,” so to speak, in a couple of months. 

What is the symbolism for the title Watercolored Pearls?

When readers reflect on the title Watercolored Pearls, I hope they’ll be reminded that there’s no need to compare themselves to fellow Christians who have more visible gifts, who possess more beauty or wealth or who have the seemingly perfect family or career.  I hope they’ll learn to be more accepting of their current status and of God’s creativity, realizing that He made each of us in His own image. 

Do you have a favorite character? Why?

 This is a tough one! If I must choose one, I’d have to say Serena is my favorite in this novel, because although her dilemma isn’t as dramatic as her friends’, she grows the most by the end of the book. She traded insecurity and a penchant for perfection for much better options – surrender and peace.

How much research did Watercolored Pearls take?

I do a significant amount of research with each book I write to insure that it feels authentic to readers.  I hope they’ll enter the characters’ imaginary worlds and want to stay.  That requires weaving in as much factual information as possible while still offering an entertaining read.   For example, I thoroughly researched the formation of pearls and how the facts of that process could be translated to one’s Christian journey.   Although I once covered criminal courts as a reporter, I delved into trial law and researched Virginia criminal punishment mandates, as well as the plausibility of the career paths chosen by several characters. 

Is this part of a series?  If so, what is the name of the series? 

Yes, this is the third and final book in the Spirit and Soul series. The first novel was Speak To My Heart (2004) and the second was Nothing But the Right Thing(2006).  All three books are set in Richmond, Va., the city I have called home for more than a decade. I had intended to write another book with these characters, but when I typed the last sentence of Watercolored Pearls, I knew this was the last leg of the journey for these characters that I’d grown to love. 

What are some of the challenges you face as an author?

My biggest challenge, believe it or not, continues to be finding time to write. When I penned the first novel, I was working full-time at a newspaper, my two children were under age 4 and my husband was attending divinity school on the weekends.   I wound up writing rising several times a week at 4 a.m. to write before heading off to work.   I left the newspaper in February 2006 to write books, speak professionally and freelance for various publications, so you would think my schedule would be less intense.   However, my biggest challenge remains forcing myself to sit down and write another chapter when a freelance assignment tempts me or my kids (now ages 6 and 9) need my care, attention or carpooling skills.    I manage this issue by treating my work as what it is – a full-time job that requires discipline, focus and professionalism.   Deadlines get my adrenaline pumping. 

Are there any other new projects on the horizon?

Yes. I’m working on a new three book series for Revell Books and will submit the first book to my editor at the beginning of the New Year. It is slated for publication in early 2009. I’m enjoying the process of creating new characters who are so different from the women and men in my first series.  

Who was the person who influenced you the most with your writing?

 I can’t honestly name one person. In terms of recognizing early on that God had given me this gift, I’d have to say my mother and my three older sisters, who always told me I was a writer and nurtured me into that role. Fellow writers whose works convinced me that I, too, could write stories with the power to help readers know God as a friend and faithful Father include Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Angela Hunt and Jacquelin Thomas. I have also long admired the work of author-journalist Anna Quindlen and novelist  J. California Cooper. If forced to name one person, it has to be my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Alma Jackson, who unbeknownst to me, mailed a poem I had penned about a friendly policeman to the local police department in my Arkansas hometown. A few weeks later, I received a thank you letter from the police chief and an invitation to visit the headquarters for a tour. That experience served as a revelation - my writing had meaning and could impact people beyond my immediate circle of friends and family. 

What advice would you give to a person trying to become a fiction writer?

First, do more writing than talking, like I did for several years before I got serious!  Try to write consistently at least a few times a week, and consider keeping a journal in which you can jot ideas, plots or storylines as they come to you.  Read as much as you can, both in the genre in which you’d like to be published as well as more broadly, to help improve your writing skills and hone your voice.  Consider taking writing classes and attending professional writers conferences to network with editors and agents.   Most importantly, pray over your writing and trust that if you’re willing to do the work, God will bless your efforts.   My key piece of advice is to persevere.   Keep writing even when you reach a slump, or when you get bogged down in the middle.   Keep writing when the end of the story doesn’t seem to be unfolding as you’d like.   Just get that first draft on paper.   You can always edit or rewrite it to make it “sing.”   Most importantly, pray over your writing and trust that if you’re willing to do the work, God will bless your efforts. 

What message would you like your readers to take away from Watercolored Pearls?

 I’d like readers to understand that no matter where they find themselves in life, when others doubt them or hold them in disdain, or when they doubt or dislike something about themselves, the awesome Creator has enough love and acceptance to cure all. I’d like them to finish Watercolored Pearls feeling good about the characters and about themselves, with the understanding that where they are is possibly where they should be, according to God’s grand design.   We are all on journeys to becoming the pearls He has destined us to be. 

What is your goal or mission as a writer?

My mission is to write novels that feature characters dealing with relevant issues faced by many of their contemporaries. What separates them and often their responses is their connection to their faith. I write to encourage steady Christians, but also to reach others who may be wavering in their faith. I want to keep readers turning pages because in my characters they see themselves or someone they know and love (or possibly struggle to love). I pray that reading my books will help readers laugh, cry and ultimately long to know God better. I not only want them to be entertained, but also changed for the better.