Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071714CBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495164894&sr=8-1&keywords=molly+shaffer
Welcome to my very first Cornered Author blog post. I have the distinct pleasure of cornering the talented Molly Shaffer and talking a little bit about her new book THE PURPOSE OF ME.
Me: Thank you for joining me today can you tell me a little about THE PURPOSE OF ME?
Molly: The book begins in a thrift store, where seventeen-year-old Rigby Thomas discovers a diary among the copies of forgotten books. She pays a quarter for some other girl's secrets and is quickly sucked into the writer's life of bitter regrets and anguish.
Rigby identifies with Me, the author of the diary, because her world is also marred by abuse and hopelessness. Through reading Me's story, Rigby sees that she is not alone, but the diary is more than your average teenage girl's journal. There are secrets so devastating within its pages that life as Rigby once knew it will never be the same again. She must choose: be consumed by the fire of change or rise from its ashes.
Me: I love your title, what inspired it? Molly: Honestly, God did. This past year has been about letting go of the pain and bitterness that weighed me down. I desperately wanted to know my purpose in life. Why did He give me the talent to write? Why had I faced the giants of my past? What did this all mean? This book became my answer...my purpose. Me: How long did it take you to complete the novel? Molly: Less than two months, which is crazy. It was like I finally allowed the floodgates to open, and the words poured from my heart. There was no holding back. I wrote the truth. Me: What was your writing process like for this book? How does that compare to your usual process? Molly: I always pray a lot before I write and ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit. I ask for His words, His story, and not my own. This time, I gave God complete control and allowed him to go into all of my dark places...the places where I was hiding. He pulled me out of the darkness and into the light. He dusted me off and held me. I was always afraid to be vulnerable, and I lived behind lies, but I wrote despite my vulnerabilities...I wrote because of them. Through this breaking process, I felt a stirring inside of me. What I imagine it must feel like for a seed to burst open and new life to emerge from the good soil. God had been working on me for a decade, and after this novel was finished, there was a weightlessness and a sense of completion. Me: Your cover is stunning, where did you draw the inspiration for it? Molly: I didn't really. My cover designer, Emily Poulin, read some of my book and came up with the design. I did send her some screen shots of covers I liked from my Pinterest account, but this cover is her masterpiece. God has gifted this woman with attention to detail, patience, hard work, and kindness. I suffer from depression, anxiety, and OCD. Emily answered every question (and I had loads) and guided me through my fears. She listened to my suggestions, regardless of how asinine, and envisioned the mess that was swirling in my head. When I saw the proof, I audibly gasped in the car. My husband actually thought something was wrong with me. I pointed to the cover and tears filled my eyes. Somehow Emily made sense of it all. It was as though God had planted the cover inside of her head. He is in every step of this process. This is His book. His masterpiece. And it is well with my soul! If anyone is interested in using Emily Poulin as a graphic designer, here is her information. empoulin13@gmail.com https://www.instagram.com/emilieepoulin/ Thank you again Molly for letting me corner you.