Interview with Robert Elmer, day 2

“The scenes where Hanne found herself in the worst trouble were the hardest for me to write. It was an emotional challenge, and I think readers will recognize those scenes.”

“Books written during the forties, first person accounts… good thing I can read Danish!”

“It’s fiction, but as writers of the genre we’re making the proposition to our readers that “this could have happened.” In order to stay true to that proposition, we need to do our homework, so as not to mislead.”

“About my writing journey… I was a voracious reader when I was little, and always wanted to write things. In the third grade I put together a family newspaper and started writing essays just because. But I was a typical boy, too, and liked being out on my bike just as much as anything else. So I didn’t really start getting serious about writing until I was in intermediate and high school.

“Before I had a chance to write novels I was a news reporter and editor, advertising and PR writer, college administrator and pastor. Today I still write marketing kinds of writing. I have a degree in communications and Bible from Simpson College in San Francisco and an elementary teaching credential.

“I started writing books when my own kids were young, and penned the first draft of my first book in longhand, riding to and from work on the bus. And here I am, 56 books later! Whew!”

“I do a bit of mentoring through the Christian Writers Guild, and have enjoyed leading a lot of writing workshops at Christian schools. I tell students not to give up, and not to choose a life path based on how much money they think they can make. Please! Even if they don’t end up making their primary living as a writer (most won’t) God still wants us to tell our stories to the world, and God still looks for people who will communicate hope through stories and writing. If not us, then who?”