Faith & Writing: Susan McGeown, author of Recipe for Disaster

The Author

Susan McGeown is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, uncle (don’t ask), teacher, author … but, most importantly, a “woman after God’s own heart.” She’s been a teacher, a Children’s minister, a deacon, a vacation Bible school coordinator, a preschool director, and a Bible study leader. Living in Bridgewater, New Jersey, with her husband of over fifteen years and their three children, writing stories is just about the best way she can imagine spending her time. Each of Sue’s stories champions those emotions nearest and dearest to her: faith, joy, hope and love.

Sue writes stories about women in all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and situations. “Average Women” who God uses for extraordinary purposes. “Tired Women” who suddenly find the strength and enthusiasm to accomplish great tasks. “Insecure Women” who are placed in unavoidable situations and become phenomenal successes. “Older Women” who realize the timelessness of God’s plan for their lives. “Powerless Women” who discover a personal strength unrivaled by most. “Depressed Women” who discover joy and laughter was closer than they ever dreamed.

Faith Inspired Books: real women in real situations who discover real solutions. Women like you and Sue.

Sue can be found @ several online outlets: her website FAITH INSPIRED BOOKS, her BLOG, and her MYSPACE page!

The Book

Nothing could be worse than being a bride abandoned on her wedding day, right? Wrong. Try factoring in an unplanned pregnancy that shatters what is left of Karly Martin’s dreams to be a missionary. But Karly is a survivor, stronger and braver than she ever thought possible. Giving up her son for adoption and accepting a missionary position with a Navajo mission school gives her the chance to build on the dreams she thought she had had to abandon. Slowly, she begins to heal. Earl Nezbegay sees to all of his responsibilities: caring for his quadriplegic sister, and her eleven year old daughter, and helping out at the Navajo mission school. Keeping busy enough not to think, keeping numb enough not to feel, and keeping distant enough not to interact. It’s not exactly living, but it’s surviving. Recipe for Disaster brings together two very broken people. Neither is looking for love, but then life isn’t always what we plan or expect, is it?


RECIPE FOR DISASTER received 5 OUT OF 5 rating with CLG - Check out Book Bytes Review:

An unplanned pregnancy derails Karly Martin’s dream of becoming a missionary. Grief over the accident that made his sister a quadriplegic has kept Earl Nezbegay in “existing” mode. When life throws them together, the healing of wounds and restoring of love begins. RECIPE FOR DISASTER represents what I love about Christian fiction – real, flawed characters that through faith and love for God "get it together". Love, faith, and tenderness make this a winner!

Click cover above to purchase RECIPE FOR DISASTER today!

The Question: How does your faith, your spirituality integrate itself into your writing?

God, Me and My Stories by Susan McGeown

I am a writer of inspirational women’s fiction: realistic, believable stories that acknowledge the existence of worldly temptations and despairs, while at the same time using Biblical truths as solutions and encouragement for success. My stories tell of life like it is, offer hope that things can be better; and admonish while they inspire.

People often ask me where I get my ideas. The easy answer is that God gives them to me, of course. But the more complicated answer involves explaining how my life is like a giant fishing net that is perpetually gathering material: from life experiences, friends and acquaintances, and Bible study. Some combination, huh? I have a tee shirt that says, BE CAREFUL OR YOU MAY END UP IN MY NEXT NOVEL. How true!

I love to write stories that involve magnificent transformations, incredible victories, and assurance of happy endings – not because I’m a big fan of fantasies but because I sincerely believe that all things are possible in a life committed to God. Why not have such expectations? My stories are about real life and real situations and how real people react to the complexities of life. I add in faith, sometimes subtly and sometimes in your face, because that’s real life, too. Then, I weave a story around the concept of the choices we all make – good and bad – and how things inevitably work out in the end. Sometimes it’s a Recipe for Disaster and sometimes it indicates A Well Behaved Woman’s Life.

I write realistic fiction, not fantasy.
With God everything is possible.
Matthew 19:26b

My goal each day is to make God smile. No, I haven’t built any wells in remote African villages nor have I donated enough money to build a new hospital wing. While I’m at it I’ll tell you that I hate to cook, am fantastically impatient, and regularly need to examine my priorities because I tend to slip off course … a lot. But I love to teach – both kids and adults - so I do that regularly at my church. I’m organized and committed once I’m on board with something and I serve with a passionate determination to bring success in all I am involved it. I write – a lot. If I don’t write, stories pile up in my head like a backed up drainpipe – which is never a good thing. These are all things that God has given me that others don’t have. I’m not bragging, just stating an obvious fact. (And please note that I haven’t said I’m fantastically good at anyone of these things, I just seem to have some affinity towards them.) As an added plus, these are things that I enjoy doing. God, in His infinite love and generosity, allows me to use my gifts to His glory … and have a good time doing it. How perfect is that?

Through my successes and my failures I am determined to be a woman of faith no matter what anyone says or thinks. (Picture me with my hands on my hips, my chin raised in defiance.) I want it to be my defining feature, the glue that holds all my pieces together. No matter what hat I’m wearing: mother, sister, daughter, author, aunt, teacher, friend, classroom helper, annoyed customer, neighbor, or stranger – I want it to be the first distinctive quality anyone notices. It’s a noble goal but requires constant work.

Our faith is our identity, our life is our resume, and our message is that we are no one else’s but God’s.
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:20-21

Striving to be a woman after God’s own heart puts every aspect of your life into perspective. Your foundation becomes rock solid, your walls of protection become invincible, your lines of communication are assured, and your ceiling is the limitless sky. No one, no thing can hold you back … but yourself.

Can you now see how my spirituality affects my writing? As God is the very essence of who I am, then everything that comes from me should reflect that – especially my stories. I continue to write because God keeps giving me things to write about. I write for the same reason I teach – because I’d like to make a difference in this world. This is the best way I know how … and make God smile in the process.