The best thing about the 2015 Spring Author Program is that I get to meet tons of new writers and make lots of new friends! Chris Weigand is someone that I met once before, but she is returning for the Spring Author Program, and I'm so glad that she's here. Chris writes fantasy, featuring castles, feuds and fiery dragons. Her novels, Palace of the Twelve Pillars, Palace of the Three Crosses and Sanctuary of Nine Dragons are adventurous peeks into her imagination. Hi, Chris! You're one of the few Christian Fiction authors I've featured on Writing Belle, and I'm curious - how is writing Christian Fiction different than writing straight-up Fiction? What's the differences and similarities? That is a hard question to answer, because for me the writing and the Christianity are part of who I am. So when I am writing the faith is just part and parcel of what comes out. As for differences and similarities: Similarities there is always a message in the story, a change for the characters, choices that need to be made all the things that make a good story. I think were the difference comes in is instead of coming from a world view the stories come from a faith view. I don’t preach, but there is always a sense of God (or some counterpart) and what is right and wrong and the consequences of the choices the characters make. The characters like any young adult struggle with life, they haven’t reached sainthood. They are just like the young people that are reading the books. I strive to show young people an alternate path for their lives and let them know that the world’s way is not the only way. I’ll get off my soapbox now. I hope I have answered your questions.
How did you start writing? I wrote a lot when I was a kid. In middle school I remember taking a creative writing class and submitting an patriotic essay for a contest. It didn’t win. In high school I wrote for the school newspaper and was part of a group of teens that had a column in a local newspaper. After high school I took an unintentional hiatus from writing. I got married and started a family. After my husband finished his undergrad, I went back to school, but not for writing, and got my Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. I worked in the industry for a few short years until I got pregnant with my fourth child. After she was born and I was no longer working outside the home, I took up writing again.
What inspires you? How many books have you published so far? First and foremost God, second is my family and then life. I have five published books. The Palace of the Twelve Pillars trilogy which includes: Palace of the Twelve Pillars: Book One, Palace of the Three Crosses: Book Two and Sanctuary of Nine Dragons: Book Three. An excerpt from Sanctuary of Nine Dragons entitled Aaron’s Revenge and a Bible study entitled Women of the Bible: A Study.
Where can people connect with you online? Blog: www.weigandchris.com Twitter: @CAWeigand Facebook: www.facebook.com/caweigand Email: [email protected] Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/chris_weigand Amazon: amazon.com/author/christinaweigand
If you could offer advice to aspiring authors, what would it be? Don’t give up. If it is your passion then don’t let anyone tell you you can’t or to stop. Read, Write, Read some more and Write some more. And one that I can’t take credit for but totally applies: Butt In Chair, Hands on Keyboard. (or pen in hand.) (B.I.C.H.O.K)
Thanks for visiting with us today!
Synopsis for Book One:The Peace Summit was in shambles, the prince kidnapped. When the rival king realizes he kidnapped the wrong prince, hostilities escalate. Loyalties to each other and country are tested for the twin princes of Crato, Joachim and Brandan. Joachim, captive of King Waldrom, faces deception and betrayal as he struggles to find his way home. Brandan, at home with a father focused on rescuing Joachim, wrestles with his own demons as he searches for his place in the world and the favor of his father. Torn from the safety and peace of their childhood, they are thrust into a world where bonds of family, brotherhood and roles as heirs to Crato are tested. Through war, spiritual journeys, death and marriage, will they choose the path of good or evil? Who can be trusted, as the world they know slips into a whirlpool of chaos? For more information about the rest of the trilogy, visit Chris's Official Website!
About the Author
Christina Weigand’s
a writer, wife, and mother of three grown children and a middle school
daughter. She is also Nana to three granddaughters. She lives with her husband and
youngest daughter in Pennsylvania after a short sabbatical in the lovely state
of Washington. She has three published YA Christian Fantasy novels; Palace
of the Twelve Pillars: Book One, Palace of the Three Crosses: Book Two and Sanctuary
of Nine Dragons: Book Three. She also has a woman’s Bible study Women of
the Bible: A Study published. Through her writing she strives to share the
Word of God and help people young and old to realize the love and mercy He has
for everyone.
She is currently
working on a series of fantasy books in which her dragons travel through the
history of Christianity to protect and spread the Word of God and His children.
The first draft of three of the books are finished, a fourth one is started
with plans for a few more, although she is not sure which periods. She has also
just started doing freelance writing and development for a new video game.
When she’s not
writing she’s active in her local Church as a lector, Bible Study, and helping
children develop a love for reading and writing. Jesus fills her home with love
as she shares Him through her writing.
