Ann Tatlock is the author of eight novels, the most recent of which is Promises to Keep, the story of an eleven-year-old girl named Roz who leaves home with her mother and siblings and moves to Mills River, Illinois to escape from an abusive situation. There, Roz meets Tillie Monroe, a firecracker of a woman intent on dying in the home she and her husband built, and Mara Nightingale, who soon becomes Roz’s best friend. Roz’s father follows his family to Mills River, revealing himself only to Roz, and promises her that he is going to change and reunite their family. But should Roz trust him?
Ann answered a few questions about her writing and life…
How did you get started writing for a living? What are the upsides and downsides to writing?
My plan for myself was to become a nurse, but God had a different plan. During my freshman year of college, he called me to a life of writing. I had always loved to read and write, and yet was still surprised to be called in that direction. It didn’t seem nearly so secure as a job in medicine! (And, indeed, it isn’t!) When I joined the college newspaper, I discovered how much I loved writing people’s stories. I pursued a master’s degree in journalism and afterward was hired by Billy Graham’s Decision magazine as a staff writer and assistant editor.
In my mid-20s, though, I went through a series of losses, including the death of my mother, and I realized I needed a new way to express my grief. That’s when I turned to writing fiction. After a little more than five years with Decision, I left to pursue novel-writing full-time.
The upside to novel writing is that I love everything about it—from doing the research, to writing and rewriting, to seeing the book in print, to hearing from my readers and knowing they’ve been blessed by the story.
The only downside is that it’s not a financially secure as a full-time job, but God provides.
Tillie Monroe, one of the main characters in Promises to Keep, is a tenacious and rather eccentric woman. Was there anyone who inspired Tillie’s character or did you pull her entirely from your own imagination?
Eccentric is exactly the word I use myself to describe Tillie! Sorry to say, I’ve never known anyone quite like her, though it would certainly be fun to have a Tillie in my life. But Tillie as she appears in the story is pulled completely from my imagination.
How did the story of Promises to Keep first start to shape itself in your mind? What first gave you the basic ideas for the plot and how did those ideas develop over time?
Tillie first introduced herself to me while I was working for Decision. More than twenty years would pass before I knew what to do with her! I tried to put her in a different novel early on and it didn’t work. She said it wasn’t the right time (yes, my characters talk to me). All these years later, she showed up again and said, “Okay, now’s the time.” I saw her sitting on the porch of a house she once owned, reading the morning paper. Since she no longer owned the place, I asked her what she was doing on the porch of someone else’s house, and the story took off from there.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
My primary jobs are those of taking care of my 13-year-old daughter and my 86-year-old Dad, who lives with us. Just being a wife, mother, caretaker/daughter and owner of three Mexican Chihuahuas takes up a lot of my time! But I try every weekday to set aside the hours of 9 a.m. to 12 noon for writing. In the afternoons, I’ll do research for my story when that need arises (though I do the bulk of the research before I start to write.) Generally afternoons are set aside for domestic duties and––much more fun––pleasure reading!
What types of books do you like to read during your down time? What are some books you’ve enjoyed lately?
I read fiction and non-fiction, theology and history, biographies and autobiographies. Some of the books I’ve enjoyed recently:
- Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
- Rhapsody in Red by Donn Taylor
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life by Susan Hertog
- In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, by Neil White
What is the main thing you want readers to take away from Promises to Keep?
My main message: Not everything that looks good is good. Not everything we think we want in this life is God’s best for us. Some dreams only weigh us down; it’s when we let go of those dreams that we begin to soar.
What are you working on now? Will we be seeing anything new from you next year?
I’m almost ready to send the draft of my next novel to my editor. The book will be out next year, but I can’t tell you the title because it hasn’t been decided on yet! However, I can tell you it’s about an Iraqi war vet who returns home permanently injured, though the story really belongs to and is told from the point of view of the woman who loves him. Keep checking my website and I’ll have the book on there as soon as it’s available.
To learn more about Ann Tatlock and her books visit AnnTatlock.com. You can also read my review of Promises to Keep and purchase a copy here.
