Stephanie Morrill

Writing Wednesday, A Book Giveaway

16 December 2009

For today’s Writing Wednesday, I’m featuring my gal pal Roseanna M. White. Her biblical fiction novel, A Stray Drop of Blood, re-released in paperback this month, and is an awesome read. You can read an official blurb here on Roseanna’s site, but in short the book is about a 15-year-old slave girl, Abigail, who serves in a half-Hebrew, half-Roman household during the time of Jesus.

Roseanna has graciously agreed to give away a copy, so when you’re done reading the interview, leave a comment to be entered. As always, it doesn’t have to be an intelligent comment, just a comment.

What similarities do you see in Abbie’s life and the life of the modern day 15-year-old?

Well, humanity (and hormones, ha ha) haven’t changed, so the sexual temptation, the confusion about what you want versus what you know is right and wrong, and even feeling torn between the different facets of life will be very relatable to teens today. Though Abigail was a slave so had to obey her masters, they’re in many ways equivalent to parent-figures. She loved them, she wanted to please them and make them proud, but she discovered through the pages of the book that living for them, by their faith, wasn’t enough.

The idea for this book sparked when you were a teenager. Tell us about that.

Believe it or not, this book started when I was 15. I’d been falling for this guy named David, but I hadn’t admitted it because my best friend had a crush on him. The thing is, David didn’t like my friend, he liked me. And on Good Friday of my sophomore year of high school, I decided to give a relationship with him a chance.

Needless to say, this did not make Best Friend happy. She screamed a few profanities at me over the phone and left me feeling like I was the worst friend in the history of the world. I could see her point–but at the same time, what I felt for David wasn’t just a crush. Had he been interested in her instead of me, I would have sucked it up because I wanted him to be happy.

We didn’t have school that day, so I sat down in front of my parents’ picture window, looked out over the mountains, and let the bittersweet feelings of new love and the possible loss of my oldest friend wash over me. After a while, I picked up my Bible and began to read about that first Friday that for some reason we call Good (which made no sense to me).

As I read, my feelings seemed so small compared to what Jesus went through. My possible loss was nothing compared to his sacrifice. My new love was nothing compared to his overwhelming compassion for the world. Never before had the story struck me so forcefully.

Being me, my mind started turning it into a story. What if, I wondered, I were there in the crowd when Jesus was tried? What if I’d gone with hatred and bitterness in my heart, aimed at . . . Barabbas? What would I have felt when the criminal were released and Jesus put to death in his place?

What would I have done when I heard Him forgive his tormentors, when there I was out for revenge?

You had the idea, and then what?

I moved over to my computer and typed up a 6 page short story called A Stray Drop of Blood. It was a story of a woman who went out that morning expecting one thing and was struck by a force of God she’d never seen coming. It was about an angry soul washed clean when a drop of the Savior’s blood landed on her.

I knew that day it would be a book. I also knew I wasn’t ready to write it yet, so I put it in a special place in the back of my mind until I got to college. Where, I might add, I married David. My best friend and I made up, but I’d be lying if I said things were the same as they had been. We were still friends through high school, she was in my wedding, but we’ve largely lost touch since then. I miss her, but I can’t regret making a decision for the man I’ve been married to for almost nine years. I can’t imagine life without him.

What messages in Stray Drop do you think will come across to a teen audience?

Oh my. I think one of the biggies is that actions have consequences that will change your life. Sex plays a huge part in the story (though it’s not explicit), and Abigail’s life if forever altered by her relationship with Jason. I really hope that the battle between belief and desire comes through. Plus, there’s the fact that Abigail eventually comes to the place where she takes responsibility for her own decisions and realizes that resting on her mistress’s faith isn’t enough.

What’s a piece of advice you have for teens who want to be writers?

Go for it! Have fun with it, and don’t give up. I finished my first novel at 13, my second at 16, and I just kept on going from there. Sure, I had a lot to learn and those first books are terrible, but they helped shape me. And the ideas were there–the craft just needed sharpened. So learn about modern writing rules, take yourself and your dreams seriously. If possible, find a mentor to help guide you.

Favorite book in high school?

Just one?? I loved the classics – A Tale of Two Cities, Crime and Punishment – I was a huge Lori Wick fan (particularly the Kensington Chronicles), I’d started reading and adoring Nora Roberts, and David got me hooked on Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game still ranks as one of the best books ever in my mind.

Best/worst/or most embarrassing high school moment?

Oh dear. Well, see, I was a goody-goody. David . . . wasn’t. He wasn’t bad, mind you, just had a real problem with the over-the-top authoritarian we had for a principal at the time. When he got yelled at for having his cell phone inside the school (he was one of the few kids with one at the time), he reluctantly left it in his Jeep. One morning when we met in the parking lot before school, he said he had to call his mom to tell her something, so I climbed into his Jeep for a minute while he did–it was winter, so this made perfect sense. Lo and behold, a tap on the window–it’s the parking lot Nazi, who tells us to get our rears inside NOW and writes us up for a suspension.

We both refused to sign that and called our parents to tell them about how outrageous this was–I mean, hello, we were trying to obey the rules! But the principal (grrrr) kept saying, “I can’t budge. This is the vice principal’s domain. We have to do what he says.” So we went to the VP and told him what the principal said and watched a light go on in his eyes. VP and P didn’t exactly get along, and I think this was one of the first time he’d been handed authority on a silver platter.

The wonderful VP gave us half an hour after-school detention. I was sooooo embarrassed to walk into that room–I mean, this was me. Valedictorian elect, head of the Christian Club–in detention for loitering in the parking lot with her boyfriend.

As it happens, it was a nice quiet time to read The Scarlet Letter. There are worse ways to spend a chunk of afternoon.

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