Writers are readers, and Christy Distler is just one more example of an author with a rich history of reading. What inspires this writer of contemporary Christian fiction. Keep reading to find out …
What was the first chapter book you read? What did you like/not like about it?
The first chapter book I remember reading is Carolina’s Courage by Elizabeth Yates. Oh, how I wanted a doll like her Lydia-Lou. I read the book multiple times and ended up writing a book report about it in fourth or fifth grade.
What was the last book you read that you couldn’t put down? Why?
Laura Frantz’s An Uncommon Woman. I’ve loved every book of hers that I’ve read, but this one I especially enjoyed. She truly brings the early American frontier to life.
Where’s the most unusual place you’ve read a book?
When I was growing up, we had an apple tree that had grown in such a way that a child could recline fairly comfortably where the branches split off the trunk. I used to climb up there and read.
If you could be part of any fictional family, which would you pick?
As a child, I wanted to be a part of the Ingalls family. I grew up with all brothers, so the idea of having several sisters really appealed to me.
If you could visit any fictional place, where would you go?
Anywhere coastal. Years ago I read a book (can’t remember the name) that took place on a Caldwell Island off the coast of South Carolina, and the setting was described so well that reading the book was almost like being on vacation. (Now I need to try to remember the name of the book and read it again!)
What book are you most looking forward to reading next?
Lori Benton’s Mountain Laurel. I love all of her books, and I’ve heard great things about this one.
Who’s your favorite author?
It’s probably a toss-up between Laura Frantz and Lori Benton. I love historical fiction, especially eighteenth-century, and they both pen such amazing stories.
As children, Janna Carpenter and Luke Martin lived on opposite sides of Division Highway, and that wasn’t the only division in their lives. While he grew up in the gmay—Lancaster County’s Old Order Mennonite community—she was the daughter of a single mother who left her in the care of Luke’s grandmother. For six years Janna found love with the Martins, until her mother abruptly moved them away.
Now, almost fourteen years later, Janna returns to the area with her daughter. Her hope for a new beginning is lost when they find their home uninhabitable after a storm, then an out-of-gas car leaves them stranded. When two women stop to help, they turn out to be Luke’s aunts, and the Martin family again takes her in.
Janna and Luke, a widower struggling to balance business and family responsibilities, reacquaint as Janna assists his grandmother and cares for his son. Her self-protective independence and his conservative principles put them at odds, but the difficulties they face draw them closer.
When long-lost friendship rekindles into unexpected love, will either be willing to make changes so they can be together?
For as long as she can remember, Christy Distler has dreamed her most vivid dreams with her eyes wide open. Names became people—people who didn’t exist in this time and place but couldn’t have been more real in her heart and mind. So she did the only rational thing: gave them a voice by writing fiction.
Christy’s novels, whether historical or contemporary, delve into betrayal and reconciliation, faith and grace, and always involve the intertwining of cultures. When not writing, she works as an editor for publishing houses and independent authors.
Obsession with words aside, she’s also a wife and the mom of kids and dogs. She considers dark chocolate a food group (level on the pyramid all depends on the day). She loves to laugh. And she’s thankful. When not reading, writing, editing, or involved with family and church activities, she can be found trolling yard sales and thrift stores. She lives in the same Pennsylvania town where she grew up.
Leave A Comment