Carol Brown–Sassy Pants Makes Amends

It is my pleasure to help Carol Brown launch her new book Sassy Pants Makes Amends. Be sure to go to her landing page for a glimpse of all the free gifts and find out how you can participate.

Carol was raised in a rural farming community in Iowa for the first 16 years of life.  The family moved to Minnesota where she finished high school and then pursued academics.  She met her husband, David, during his internship with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  They married in 1969, and have ministered together in Idaho, Indiana, Ohio, Australia, Germany, Finland, and Canada, David as pastor, counselor, and trainer; Carol as educator, helpmate and intercessor.  They have two daughters and five grandchildren. As educator Carol has taught elementary, then community college, college and university classes.

“I started telling stories when I had enough brothers for an audience!”

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was raised on the farm on which this story takes place. I have four brothers and used storytelling for crowd control and helped all of them with their letters, spelling, numbers and multiplication tables. I always knew I would be a teacher, first in elementary and then after I completed my master’s work as an instructor for a community college, then a four year college and finally as a university instructor for an “Intensive Language Program” where I taught English as a Second Language. I’ve also been a mom, pastor’s wife, foreign student advisor and an administrator.

After being struck with MS in 1995 I struggled with who I had become and wondered if there was a place for me. God graciously assured me that my new position was a promotion. The world is my classroom now! Big step up!

2. Tell us about your current release. This release is Sassy Pants Makes Amends. It is a sequel to Sassy Pants, a story about a little pig who made a real mess of things. My husband insisted that I write a sequel and give her an opportunity to redeem herself. I didn’t have any more story in me. So, I asked the Lord what He thought about hubby’s insistence and within just a few minutes He downloaded the story line! In this story Sassy Pants models how to make a clean apology, ask for forgiveness and then make amends. Amends is a way to fix a friendship when you are the one who broke it. It goes waaaay beyond sorry and gives a person reason to trust you again. It’s simple but not easy.
3.  What is your personal, most effective way to get past writer’s block?

Talk to God about it!

4.  What inspired you to start writing, or did you always want to write? I have always been a storyteller. I didn’t seriously think about writing for publication until about 10 years before the MS. I was working at Elijah House Ministries in the 90’s. One time John Sandford, the founder, wistfully said he hoped several of us would pick up one of his teachings and expand it, go deeper with it. I volunteered to explore burden bearing—but I never had time to write—and then the MS attack gave me lots of time. I wrote two books on burden bearing and told God that it was too hard.  I didn’t want to write any more hard books. I guess that was okay with Him because that is when He gave me the ideas for the Sassy Pants series. It has been a wild ride since then!
5.  What made you take the plunge and finally do it? Writing the burden bearing books was my way of keeping my sanity after the attack when I was well enough to do something but not well enough to do anything. The impetus to begin the Sassy Pants series was my mother’s strokes! As she recovered she had severe short term memory loss. Trips up and down memory lane were her exercise. I heard “pig stories” until I thought I would lose my mind! Instead of pulling out my hair, I pulled out my pen.

6.  Do you have your plotline and character development already laid out before you begin writing a book, or do they develop as you write?

All I had to begin with was the title, but I was very familiar with my characters—they were with me growing up on the farm. The storyline was a different matter! That was amazing. I read the story for the first time as it flowed out across my computer screen! The plot and characters developed as I wrote, or as God dictated. This is God’s story; I just typed it.

7.  What is your preferred method of writing? (computer, pen & paper, etc.)

I think better on a keyboard than with pen and paper. I can type faster than I can write—oh and corrections are so much easier!

8.  What is your inspiration for writing?

…the love of seeing that light bulb go on in someone’s mind. I love it when a child (or adult) understands the lesson. The puzzle pieces fall in place in their minds, the light bulb goes on and I can see it in their faces.

9.  Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? (Book series, maybe?)

The Danny Orlis series, The Sugar Creek Gang, Jack London, James Kjelgaard, Emily Dickens, Jane Austin, C.S. Lewis’ Narnia.

10.  Who do you envision your typical reader to be?

• Children just starting to read chapter books—good readers in 2^nd grade but primarily 3^rd-5^th or 6^th grades
• Home schooled kids (I have written a parent/teacher manual to help) The publisher has generously included a download code in the back of each book for an audio version. Wonderful for remediation in reading fluency, entertainment in the car on road trips or in the “awful hour” when everyone is hungry and grumpy and you are trying to get supper on the table!
• Adults having a hard time wrapping their minds around amends—especially recovery groups doing 12-Step Programs!

11.  Do you write your books for your own enjoyment or more for what you think people would want to read?

My first children’s stories were written for my daughters’ entertainment and as a way of passing on a little family lore—so they are entertaining and there are some facts in there! The rest is a sheer flight of fancy. These first stories have yet to be published because Sassy Pants got her pushy little snout in there and shoved her way to the head of the line! My husband saw the lessons and further applications of the Sassy Pants stories—but then, he is a pastoral counselor and he sees those things! I was writing for my children’s enjoyment, and then for my grandchildren’s enjoyment so I never thought about whether anyone else would want to read it. So blest that they do!

12.  Which of your characters most reflects your personality?  I guess I would be Miss Molly, the barnyard instructor. (insert smile)

13.  What do you do when you hit a roadblock and have NO idea what to write?  (chuckle) I ask God what happens next! He wrote a best seller!

14.  Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when you started this story?

Definitely! I was riding in the car with my husband—we were on our way to Seattle to visit our daughter and family but at this point were simply on the road to Chicago to catch a plane. David had been pestering me to write this sequel; then his colleagues joined the chorus. He was listening to a CD so I tuned out and tuned in to God and asked what He thought about a sequel because I didn’t have one. Boom! He downloaded the titles to the three remaining books in the series AND the story lines. So when we came home I got right busy writing up these stories.

Contacts:  Landing Page:  http://sassypantsmakesamend.com

Blog: http://sassypantsco.blogspot.com

Website: www.fromgodsheart.com