Author Interview: Miranda J. Chivers

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Tell us about yourself.
I am a Canadian Christian author living in beautiful Niagara region. I'm married with a blended family of four children and two grandchildren.
I've always enjoyed books and writing. When I was eleven, I applied to a writing school. They sent me a polite letter telling to return when I was eighteen. This was 1967. There were no writing or publishing opportunities for kids then.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in an agricultural area of southern Manitoba with Mennonite parents and grandparents.
My faith was a huge influence on my life. However, I was very aware of the differences between my family and other non-Mennonite families. As a child, I found the differences both confusing and interesting.
My parents were very mission minded. Missionaries often visited our church and talked about their life in far-away lands. They inspired my love of travel but my grandparents harrowing stories made me afraid to do so. The Christian faith helped me develop the passion to help others.
I was the only girl in a family of boys, so I learned to carve out my own life away from the male-dominated world. Writing gave the freedom to be myself and explore imaginary worlds.

What was your journey to getting published like?
Scary. I held off on writing a book and publishing for fear that people would laugh at me. Introverts like me don't want to be the center of attention.
I took courses and studied both writing and publishing, hoping to be good enough to publish. Eventually, I hired a publishing assistant to help me jump through those hoops.

What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
My first book won the 2018 Readers' Favorites Silver Award. So that was a really good start to my writing career.
I can't say I've had much negative feedback. I welcome all feedback as constructive and try to learn from it.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read a lot. Write simply. Learn to plot. Read dictionaries and grammar books. Practice writing and join a critique group. Learn to welcome negative criticism.


What’s a fun fact about you that your readers might not know?
I live ten minutes from the amazing Niagara Falls and visit it often. I also live in the middle of vineyards. One day, I want to write a mystery series set here.
I'm also studying German.

What’s your guilty pleasure book or genre?
I love memoirs and historical fiction books.

What’s your favorite quote about writing?
{"The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." – Terry Pratchett

When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
Hiking, reading, watching movies, learning languages.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I grew up with Christian series similar to Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys. I also read harrowing missionary stories. How did they affect? I realized early on that I wanted to write books like that. I also wanted to travel the world. Unfortunately, I never had the money or time to do that until recently.

What has inspired you and your writing style? How did you choose the Christian genre?
Writing experts say to write about something you know. Well, I know a lot about the Christian faith and about difficult marriages. (I've had two.) As a PTSD survivor, I also know a lot about trauma and recovery. As a granddaughter of German-Ukrainian Mennonites from the Soviet Ukraine, I know a lot about cultural differences, war trauma, and poverty. I probably became a social worker because of this history. Writing was a big part of my profession, so it only made sense that my first book was non-fiction.

How do you deal with negative reviews?
I mostly ignore them. Unless they are constructive.

How do you connect with your readers?
I write a bi-weekly blog for my fiction group. I'm also available on social media.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I'm currently writing a four book series inspired by my grandparents escape from Soviet Ukraine.

Are there any Easter eggs or hidden messages in your work?
My work encompasses themes of mental health, trauma and recovery and faith. The stories often include snippets from my life. The essence of resilence is probably one of the more obvious threads throughout my books.

How do you approach writing dialogue for your characters?
My NF doesn't have any dialogue.

However, my fiction work does. Dialogue helps to propel a story and develop the plot. It also shows the depth of a character's soul.

If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
I'm a multi-genre author,so there are many sides to me. Please check out all my work on Amazon.

Miranda J. Chivers’s Author Websites and Profiles
Website
Amazon Profile
Goodreads Profile
BookBub Profile

Miranda J. Chivers’s Social Media Links
Facebook Page
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
YouTube Account
Threads

All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.

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FEATURED: Contending with Paul 3 by William Cobble

FEATURED: Contending with Paul 3 by William Cobble

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lydia

Lydia only appears in the Book of Acts. Since the church in Philippi began with her conversion, one would expect to find her in the greetings section of Philippians, but she receives no mention in any of Paul’s letters. She does, however, hold the distinction of being the first known European convert to Christianity. Acts shows her as a businesswoman who was likely financially independent. Clothes colored with the royal purple dye of Thyatira were considered luxury items and her trade had likely brought her to Philippi to sell to the wealthy clientele there. Her home was obviously large enough to accommodate servants, guests, and ultimately a Christian assembly. Since there is no mention of a husband, Lydia was most likely single at the time she met Paul:

“On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.” (Acts 16:13-15)

Lydia, or at least her home, will make one additional appearance in Acts later in the same chapter. Her residence appears to have become the meeting place for a burgeoning Christian congregation in Philippi:

“After leaving the prison (Paul and Silas) went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.” (Acts 16:40)

A Theory
The appearance of devout women meeting beside a stream at a place of prayer on the Sabbath speaks to them being Jewish. This seems confirmed by the description of Lydia as “a worshipper of God.” That it was only women meeting outside on the sabbath could be evidence that there were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to make up the quorum required to establish a proper synagogue, which necessitated ten Jewish males over the age of thirteen. By the author of Acts relating this information, he may be showing an interesting contrast: Lydia, while a Jewish woman, was forbidden from founding a synagogue, but as a Christian she could found a church within her own home.

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