Author Interview with Giveaways - Kathi Macias

Today, author extraordinaire, Kathi Macias joins us for a giveaway and chat about her newest books and Christmas series.

 Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored more than 40 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences. She won the 2008 Member of the Year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) and was the 2011 Author of the Year from BooksandAuthors.net. Her novel set in China, Red Ink, was named Golden Scrolls 2011 Novel of the Year and was also a Carol Award Finalist; her October 2012 release, Unexpected Christmas Hero, was named 2012 Book of the Year by BookandAuthors.net. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband.

Welcome Kathi! What made you decide to become a writer?

I’ve never wanted to be anything else. I have had a love affair with words for as long as I can remember and was reading well before I started school. When one of my stories was turned into a play for the entire PTA when I was in second grade, I was hooked! Then in high school I won several awards in their annual writing contest, which solidified my desire to write. I began by writing an about-town column for the local newspaper and doing a little string reporting for them, went on to write articles for newsletters and magazines, and eventually graduated to books after starting work as an editorial assistant at Gospel Light Publishing.

Where did the inspiration for your latest book come from?

The Doctor’s Christmas Quilt is part of my Quilt Series with New Hope Publishers. Each of the three books in the series is a contemporary story told against the backdrop of a quilt that depicts the life of a courageous, faith-filled woman in American history. The woman in this book is Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in our country, who struggled against monumental odds to achieve her dream. She was also strongly pro-life, which plays heavily into this story.

How does your faith and spirituality work in with your writing?'

I am unapologetically a writer of Christian fiction. I simply can’t see things from any other viewpoint, as I’ve been a believer for four decades now, and even before that ascribed to the basic tenets of the Christian faith. However, I like to tackle tough subjects (human trafficking, persecuted Church, homelessness, abortion, etc.) in a way that enables the readers to come up against the opposing viewpoint in these issues and work through those issues for themselves, as my main characters have to do—always with a strong dependence on God.

What are you working on next?

Book three of the Quilt Series, The Singing Quilt, releases in Spring 2014 and tells them background story of the Queen of Gospel, Fanny Crosby. We’re hard at work on pre-release marketing now. I’m also writing my 2014 Christmas novel, A Christmas Gift, which will be set deep in the jungles of Southern Mexico, where the Mayan influence and superstition is rampant and Christians are unwelcome.

Tell us about your Christmas series...

My Christmas Series from Helping Hands Press, The 12 Days of Christmas, has been such a fun project to work on and watch unfold. It consists of twelve short stories, each written by a different author (I did the first one to launch the series) and each one day farther along on the 12-day countdown to Christmas. They are relatively short stories (under 10,000 words), with something being contemporary, some historical, some romantic, some nail-biters…you get the picture. But my story took place twelve days before Christmas, and the final story will take place on Christmas Eve. That’s the thread that ties them all together. It’s been lovely to watch the different style of each author as the individual stories released.

Thanks so much for being here with us today, Kathi! 

Kathi has generously offered two of her books as giveaways! She's offering a digital copy of Rules of Engagement and one copy of The Doctor's Christmas Quilt (Digital or print, winner's choice. Print copies are only available in the US.) To enter for your chance to win these fabulous prizes, leave a comment with your email address by December 21th and we'll announce the winner on December 22.