Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Located in: San Francisco Bay Area
Submitted: December 02, 2009
Tell us a little about yourself. I am a wife to Steve, a corporate guy, and a mom to four kidstwo boys and two girls. Add to that one son-in-law! Im almost at the empty nest stage
my youngest is a senior in high school. And yes, I have mixed feelings about an empty nest! How did it happen so quickly? Gardening and cooking are two of my favorite hobbies
but the top of my list is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. My youngest son talked me into this activity after we returned from living in Hong Kong for four yearshe wanted a dog and my husband is not a dog-guy. So my son found a compromise
a temporary dog with a noble purpose! Our first dog, Arbor, graduated and was partnered with Jon, a college student. Were now on our seventh (!) puppy. Its like eating a potato chip
you just cant stop at one.
What was your motivation behind this project? My relatives on my mother's side are Old Order German Baptist Brethren, also known as Dunkards. (Note to readers: NOT Drunkards. Dunkards!) That's where my interest in Anabaptist traditions began. My grandfather was born into a family of 13 children, started his career as a teacher in a one-room school house in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and ended it as one of the very first publishers of "Christianity Today." We called him "Deardad" even though he was a very stern fellow. Still, Deardad's life inspired me to write this book.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? There are many themes in The Choice--forgiveness, the danger of secrets, and trying to do the right thing. Carrie, Sol, Mattie, Abel...they are a work-in-progress. And each one is trying to find their way to God.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Many of the subplots were real stories that I learned about as I researched "Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World." We have so much to learn from the Amish--there's so much more to them than bonnets and buggies. Not a day goes by that I don't think about the choices they make in the course of their day. Choices like forgiving others easily. And realizing God is sovereign over large and small matters.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? I love to read all kinds of books. Well, I dont like to read darkly themed books which rules out, pretty much, all of Oprahs Picks. My favorite authors are Madeleine LEngle, Phillip Yancey, Anne Lamott, W. Dale Cramer, Lynn Austin, David Kopp, Catherine Marshall. I admire beautiful writing
prose with a touch of poetry, plot twists, surprise endings. Thats how these authors (and other fine writers) have influenced me
Im inspired to aspire to improve my own craft. I hope each book I write is better than the one before it.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: With every book I write, I hope to draw the reader closer to God. I dont ever want to hit anyone on the back of a head with a 2x4 (metaphorically speaking, of course)
but I hope a reader finishes a book wanting to know more about this almighty God of ours.
