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Katie Powner lives in Montana and loves Jesus, dark chocolate, and red shoes. She is a biological, adoptive, and foster mother who believes in the power of family. She won OCW’s Cascade Award in 2017 and ACFW’s First Impressions Contest in 2016. To find out more about what she’s up to, find her on Facebook and Twitter (@katie_powner), and visit katiepowner.com. For every new subscriber, she will donate $2 to Sacred Portion Children’s Outreach (SPCO), up to the first 500 subscribers. SPCO works with adoptive and foster families and runs Rehoboth Children’s Home in the Philippines.
Visit her at https://www.katiepowner.com/
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Welcome to the blog, Katie! I loved hanging out with you at ACFW last year and I’m so glad we’ve kept in touch! What fun to have you join me here today.
So tell us… When did you first start writing?
I’ve been writing stories since I learned how to write. The earliest project I can remember distinctly is an epic 10-page Mother’s Day poem I wrote when I was about seven. It was long and detailed and painfully terrible, but of course my mom loved it.
Love it! Moms are awesome like that. 🙂
What are you working on right now?
Right now, I’m working on my fourth full-length novel. It fits in the Contemporary Women’s Fiction genre, and it’s about an 18-year-old addict whose baby boy is taken away by the state, and the 40-year-old woman who fosters him. As the young woman fights to get her baby back, the two women form an unlikely friendship, but only one can be the baby’s mother. Who will it be?
Very intriguing! I’m looking forward to reading it. 🙂
Can you tell us about one of your favorite characters you’ve written so far?
In my unpublished novel UNARMED, there is an 11-year-old girl named Janie. She is super spunky and sarcastic and learns a lot of hard lessons throughout the course of her journey across an economically devastated America in 2056 with her father and older sister. She is my favorite character so far.
What’s something you love about your home state?
I love the wide-open spaces of Montana. I feel like I can breathe here.
I hope to visit Montana someday. It’s quite a road trip from Missouri, though. 😉
What’s one of your favorite books?
I have so many, but one that stands out is Summer of Light by Dale Cramer. It changed my life and the course of my writing journey.
What is one of your favorite Scripture verses?
Again, there are many, but I would have to choose Galatians 6:9. “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Love that verse!
Can you share with us a special moment from your writing journey so far?
I have to share two. The first is the first time I entered a writing contest. I promptly forgot all about it, but a couple months later I received a phone call saying I was a semi-finalist. That phone call came right when I was questioning whether to continue writing or not. The second special moment was in September 2017 when I attended my first writer’s conference. I stood in a room full of writers and finally felt that I had found my “people.” I had never had that before.
I love how God sends us just the right encouragement when we desperately need it. Last year’s conference was a highlight for me as well. So happy we crossed paths!
What’s been one of the most challenging aspects of writing?
Persevering despite multiple rejections and dead ends. But I swear every time I want to give up, the song Even If It Breaks Your Heart by the Eli Young Band comes on and by golly I decide to give it one more shot!
Great song!
Name a few authors who inspire you.
Yikes, this list could get long fast. For past authors, definitely C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. For contemporary authors, Dale Cramer, Amy Sorrells, Katie Ganshert, Chris Fabry, Rene Gutteridge…I could go on and on.
Can you share a word of advice to other writers out there on the road to publication?
No two journeys look alike! My path to writing “success,” whatever that will be, is going to be different than yours. Don’t get so caught up watching what God is doing in another author’s life that you miss what He’s doing in yours.
Thanks for joining us today, Katie! Wishing you, your family, and your stories a BLESSED 2018!
Readers, Katie has a question for you…
What kinds of things has God sent your way to encourage you at the moment you were thinking of giving up?
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Thanks for having me on your blog Savanna! I’m looking forward to hearing about the ways God has encouraged other writers.
It’s a joy to have you here, Katie!! 🙂
I enjoyed getting to know Katie a little more! What a great interview! In answer to your question, I’ve felt like giving up more times than I can count. For sure God uses two things to encourage me: 1) When a readers says they love my books and can’t wait for the next one, and 2) Knowing that giving up would please Satan. That’s blunt, but true. I think God has a mission in mind for me (not sure what yet), but I know if I give up, I’ll be giving in to the enemy. I just have that drive in me (from God) that says I need to keep going and He’ll take care of the details.
Thank you for sharing Anne Carol. I understand that drive you mentioned – the one that says “keep going.” I’m glad we’re not responsible for the results of our obedience, we only need to obey!
So glad you could join us, Anne. And I’m soooo glad the Lord has kept you from giving up. You have a voice and story to share. Keep pursuing Him! Blessings to you!
I lost my job in August 2017—GOD had His reasons! 🙂
Yes, He always does!
Isn’t it a comfort to know He is sovereign over all things? His purpose is beautiful and best. Thanks for stopping in, Barb. Have a blessed 2018!
To answer your question, Katie, one thing immediately came to mind. Last spring I was completely overwhelmed with life and distracted with work and a newborn and a million other excuses. I hadn’t written in months, but the story was always there in the back of my mind. God once again, as He’s done many times before, encouraged me to keep writing. I was totally surprised one afternoon when I received the news that I’d received a scholarship to attend the ACFW conference. Five minutes later I got an email saying an article I’d written had been accepted for publication. I burst into tears. God’s timing is amazing. Just when I was about to put writing on a back burner, He pushed me forward. 🙂
I love that, Savanna. What a great story that points to an even greater God. I’m glad He gave you that push when He did! 🙂