I Devour Books: Interview with Misty Gatlin

Hey everyone, today I would like to welcome Misty Gatlin, author of A Princess Broken! ?Misty was kind enough to answer some?interview?questions I had for her and I hope you guys enjoy it!

?Here is a little bit about Misty:

I am a mother of two beautiful children who is married to my high school sweetheart.? I?m a mother, wife,?teacher,?writer?and speaker.? I love doing what God has gifted me to do.My writing and speaking are both transparent and relevant.? My passion is to equip teen and college age girls with the tools to get through day-to-day life by building confidence in who they are in Christ.? I have worked with these age groups for more than 12 years through teaching and youth ministry.

Would you like to tell the readers a little bit about the book for those who have not read it yet? Book synopsis: Sarah defines herself as many things: broken, damaged, addicted, and hopeless. Hurt at an early age by someone dear to her, she retaliates by living a life filled with destruction. Her past has finally caught up with her, and she's ready to call it quits. Her story unfolds when she meets a compassionate stranger who helps her realize past decisions don?t define who she is, and what she thought was the end of her story is only the beginning. A life-changing decision is placed in front of her, and she's forced to face it head on. What will she choose, and where will that path lead her? So, what inspired you to write A Princess Broken? Honestly, I had a dream one Sunday afternoon about writing what I called a ?blog series.?? Every Tuesday and Thursday I would write around 700 words to the story.? The funny thing is I didn?t know where the story was going.? I literally wrote everything the day I posted it.? I discovered I work better under pressure, and the story was bringing new readers in by the hundreds each week.? Then readers came by the thousands each week, and I knew I had something real with it. I felt like I got to be the first person to read this book, and just as I devour any well written novel, I did the same with this one.? The only difference is I had to write it in order to see what was going to happen.? It was an experience I can?t explain. Are any of the events in the novel inspired by real life events? Somehow this is a difficult one to answer.? Yes and no.? I took snippets from my own life plus issues I see my students dealing with every day and sprinkled in whatever was in my imagination.? There?s nothing in the book that?s straight from real events other than a scene with Kate?s dad.? It was my dad?s story verbatim.? I journaled during that incident with him, and I literally re-wrote the events and feelings in this book.? I never intended for it to be a part of any book, but I felt strongly that it should be told, and it somehow seemed to fit well. Have you ever had a real life encounter with a person like Sarah from the novel? I don?t know that I?ve met someone exactly like her, but I teach at an alternative high school and work with youth at church, so I?ve encountered many girls who have similarities to her.? There?s also a little bit of me in both Kate and Sarah.? The book is very emotional. Were there any parts of the novel that you found difficult to write due to the emotions you had to convey to the reader? Oh, absolutely!? At one point near the end of the book I had to stop writing.? I was crying, and I had to process what I had just written.? I attempted to read that particular part out loud to my husband, and I just couldn?t get through it.? Whether it was a connection I felt with my characters or the fact that I mentally and emotionally placed myself in that situation, I don?t know, but it was definitely something I had never had to do before.? It was at that point I realized the power in this book. So what is your writing process like? Ha ha! I don?t know that I have a writing process.? It?s never the same.? I just get something in my head that won?t leave, and I write it down.? From that a story is created.? With A Princess Broken I just saw it play out in my head like a movie, and I wrote what I saw.? There are scenes with great description where I sat quietly and did what I assume actors do with method acting.? In my mind I was Sarah.? I dug deep and tried to feel what she would have felt during certain moments, and some things came to me in a very real way. There?s one scene in particular that almost sends chills through me when I read it, and you can read it in Friday?s tour stop.? I remember the day I wrote it; I even remember what I was wearing that day.? It was the scene where Sarah remembers the first time she cut herself.? It was almost as if I felt her emotion and pain, and I wrote what I felt.? I?ve had girls come to me after reading it telling me their own experiences were almost exactly what I had described.? The thing is I?ve never experienced that, but I somehow found myself writing as if I had lived it. Some think my mind is a bit crazy, and some think I have an imagination made especially for a writer.? Honestly I don?t care who is right.? It has given me some great stories.? There is no set process, however.? I just write when I can, and I can never force it.? If it?s not there, it?s just not there.? I took a week or two off in writing this book because nothing came to me, and I knew something forced would never turn out as good so I just left it alone, and my readers understood. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what type? I?m a music lover, so I can?t listen to it while I?m writing because I sing along with it.? If I?m writing for my blog (nonfiction), I might sometimes listen to worship music very quietly in the background.? If I?m writing fiction, though, I need complete silence around me.? Truly, I go to another place while I?m writing, so I have to be alone and with no distractions.? What advice would you give teens going through tough issues in their daily lives? First, understand you?re not alone.? Whatever situation you?ve found yourself in, you are not hopeless.? One thing I do for my students dealing with similar issues is listen to them and love them regardless of what they?ve been struggling with in life.? I will not judge them for doing the things they do, and I will not treat them as if they were bad people.? I don?t believe any of them are bad.? I believe there are many factors that go into making decisions they make, and they need to know there is hope for them.? They can make a change and have a better life. More than anything my advice would be to find someone to talk to.? Going through these issues alone will lead to more hopelessness, and a person?s self-worth plummets during those hopeless times.? There is always someone somewhere ready, willing, and equipped to help.? My advice is to seek them out, and I always offer myself up to anyone needing help.

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I would like to thank Misty once again for letting me be part of this blog tour, and also thank her so much for taking the time to stop by for the interview! ?And make sure to check out A Princess Broken and Misty on her blog @?http://mistygatlin.com/! ?

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