Way back in June, I introduced to you Karen Pashley and her debut novel, Precious in His Sight.
Today, we are spotlighting that book.
What if your husband was cheating? What would you do?
Feisty, tenacious, and adorably flawed, Sugar Brennan is fiercely committed to her family, her traditional Christian values, and her spotless reputation in her affluent Southern community. When she discovers her husband Clay has been unfaithful, Sugar is determined to right the wrongs in her life.
Then Clay's former mistress returns to Westfield with devastating news, posing a heart-wrenching dilemma that challenges Sugar to rethink all she's believed about faith, family, and the healing power of forgiveness.
She's been raised in a preacher's home, taught to love her enemies.
She's got the fish sticker on her car and a collection of good works under her belt.
But . . . reach out to the woman who nearly destroyed her marriage? Surely God wouldn't ask her to go that far.
Karen Pashley lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband
and the youngest of their four daughters. Her first novel, “Precious in His
Sight,” won 1st place in the unpublished novels competition at the 2014 Blue
Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference.
Karen is a member of the American
Christian Fiction Writer’s Association, Word Weavers International, and the Women’s
Fiction Writer’s Association. Visit http://www.KarenPashley.com for more
information.
Enjoy this Interview with Karen...
Q: What inspired you to write the book “Precious in His Sight?”
A: I’ve often
struggled with grasping how much God loves me. To think that He cares enough to
walk through every dark nook and cranny of my life, and to know He has a good plan
even when bad things are happening—that’s a mind blowing concept that is hard
to wrap my mind around sometimes. I wanted to write something that would affect
people in a deep way. Something that would spark a desire to trust this loving
God we serve in a radical, freeing way. This story challenged my personal faith. I hope it does so for
others.
Q: Introduce us to your main character, Sugar Brennan.
A: In today’s
image-conscious, social media-focused society, it’s tough to filter out all the
external influences that can drive our motivations and our actions. Sugar
Brennan has been bombarded with messages her whole life about what it means to
be an upstanding southern Christian woman. She’s invested a tremendous amount
of energy into fulfilling that image. I wanted to explore how she might react
when faced with a devastating moral crisis.
Many, many times while writing the early drafts, I would lie
awake at night wondering how I would handle her situation, and how God could
turn something that awful into something beautiful. Sugar inspired me to dig
deeper into my relationship with God. I hope she inspires my readers to do that
as well.
Q: There are several twists and turns in the story. Did you have those
in mind in the beginning, or did they develop as you wrote?
A: The entire
story came to my mind and played out like a movie while I was driving through
the hills of Massachusetts with my family one summer. It started as a “what if”
kind of daydream, just to pass the time. An hour later, when we pulled into a
little country store to fill up on fuel and snacks, I bought a dusty spiral
notebook, returned to the passenger seat, and scribbled descriptions for all of
the characters and settings. By the time we reached our destination, I had
written the entire outline for Precious
in His Sight. After that trip, I
stuck the notebook in a desk drawer and didn’t pull it out for a year. When I
did, the plot and characters begged to be written, and since I had always wanted
to write a novel, and I had some time on my hands, a project was born.
Q: The main character makes some life choices that may shock readers.
Why did you have her make those decisions?
A: As a married woman myself, I wrestled with Sugar’s
choices. The wrestling led me to the conclusion that regardless of the
difficult circumstances I might find myself in, there is always hope. And there
is grace, even when we fight against the pain. It’s often our futile attempts
to avoid pain that wind up causing us even greater calamity. Without pain, we
don’t get to the bottom of ourselves. And unless we get to the bottom of ourselves, we can’t
experience the power and peace that come from complete surrender. I wanted
Sugar to run, and wrestle, and squirm, and ache to find that “peace that passes
all understanding.” I wanted her to experience the freedom of letting go.
Q: The story presents the ethics of risking the life of a pregnant woman
for her unborn child. How did you decide how to portray that dilemma?
A: I didn’t set
out to write a pro-life story. In fact, while developing the characters, I
struggled with their predicament for some time. I researched their scenario and
learned that cancer during pregnancy strikes more often than we realize, and
that some doctors still advise women to abort their babies, even with today’s
medical advances. In certain cases, continuing the pregnancy poses
life-threatening risks to the mother. I had to ask myself, as a person of
faith, what would I do? The answer seemed simple enough.
But while writing Christine’s character, and thinking about
her back story, the question became, what would a woman with no religious
allegiance or personal faith do in this situation? At the time, I didn’t honestly
know how Christine would handle her plight. As I got into her head more, I felt
like the choices she made were a natural progression of her journey.
Q: What do you hope readers will learn from the main character's
plight?
A: I hope readers are inspired by Sugar’s tenacity, her deep
love of family, and her determination. But more than that, I hope readers
connect with her frailties, and her yearning to be real and open and authentic.
I hope that Sugar’s journey encourages readers to seek God and cling to Him in
the dark times of life, and to trust Him when circumstances don’t work out the
way they hope. I hope readers learn that they have the choice and the power to
be become women of joy, and strength, and serenity, no matter what life throws
at them.
Q: Sugar Brennan is a strong female character. You seem like a strong
woman too. Is Sugar modeled after you?
A: Ha! Sugar is a
feisty go-getter, that’s for sure, and I think we have a lot in common. But as
I wrote Precious in His Sight, I
found myself identifying with all of the characters. I think there’s a little
bit of me in each one of them. And their struggles motivated me to search my own
heart. Like Sugar, I’ve made decisions based on what others might think of me.
At times, I’ve tried to out-think God, running from His will in a panic before
relinquishing control and finding solitude in His open arms.
Like Clay, I’ve experienced the humiliation of sin, and the
haunting regrets that follow a fall, and I’ve felt the forgiving hand of my
Savior take mine and say, “Come on, let’s walk out of this darkness together.”
Like Christine, I’ve been confused about God’s love for me,
and at times have wondered if I measured up—wondered why He would care about me
when I was so undeserving.
Like Daniel, I’ve been skeptical—wary of the church and the
hypocrisy that sometimes exists within her walls. But I’ve come to love the
church, not the buildings, or the denominations, but the people who exemplify
the body of Christ in a variety of flavors and forms, and who are just doing
their best to navigate the path to eternity. And like Miranda, I’ve put certain
people on a pedestal only to be terribly let down when they don’t meet my lofty
expectations. Because of that, I’ve learned to see people’s mistakes as
opportunities for them to grow, and I can now look with anticipation toward
what God can do, rather than with disdain at what they did.
The wonderful thing I’ve discovered along the way is that
God’s love for me underscores all of my shortcomings, all of my fears, and my
failures. His grace is gift enough, yet I often fight against that gift, straining
and striving to satisfy my insatiable need to put my own stamp of approval on
myself.
Understanding His grace, arising in hope, and resting in His
steadfast love are the keys to a life that celebrates this undeniable fact—that
I am precious in God’s sight—we all are.
Q: What are you involved in besides writing?
A: My husband and
I have four daughters, one granddaughter, and another grandchild on the way, so
we invest quite a bit of time creating opportunities for our busy family to be
together. We take the whole brood skiing in the winter and to the lake in the summer,
and we enjoy holidays and special events throughout the year. I’ve always been
a big cook, and I love entertaining and getting people together, so a few years
ago I combined my two loves into a monthly event called “Girls Dine In.” Each
month I create a themed menu, write the recipes, put together table décor and music
to go with the theme, and host an all-out cooking frenzy in my kitchen. The
women love learning new techniques and inventive ways of serving and presenting
a dinner party. And they have a chance to do something just for fun that doesn’t
involve the kids or the job or anything. I also like taking walks in the woods,
binge-watching Netflix, and painting furniture.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’m working on
a new novel about five former college roommates who reunite twenty-five years
later. It’s kind of a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for middle-aged women,
set on the Gulf Coast beaches of Florida. The characters are quirky and funny,
yet deeply troubled and carrying heavy burdens. I’m falling in love with them
as a write, and can’t wait to share their story.
Precious in His Sight can be purchased at Amazon and other online retailers as well as your
local bookstore. I've read this novel and it is definitely worth your time,
energy and money! You can read my review here.
Until next time, take care and God Bless.
PamT
