Author Interview with Anne Blackburne: Faith and Fiction

I recently had the opportunity to interview Anne Blackburne, author of Ruth’s Gingersnap Surprise and Mary’s Calico Hope. This is a three-part interview. Today’s portion, which is my favorite part, is about Anne’s walk with Jesus.

On a personal note, can you please share about the intersection of faith and your craft? What does it mean, to you, to be a Christian author?

Being a Christian author carries a responsibility with it that cannot be ignored. My writing – romance novels – is lighthearted for the most part. Sure, I address tough issues from time to time, but you just KNOW the characters will find their happy ever after, because it’s a romance, and that’s why you read romance, right? 

What are some ways that the Lord speaks to you, personally?

I feel that God’s word — His promise — meshes very well with the promise of happy ever after you expect in any romance. God promises us that “happy ever after” if we spend our lives with Him. If we give ourselves to God and His Son, Jesus, he promises us eternal life in Heaven; what could be more “happy ever after” than that? It may come across as a bit flippant, using “story terminology” such as Happy Ever After to refer to God’s promise to us. But it isn’t meant to be. The promise of Heaven is a very  happy one!

My personal mission in writing these books is to make people happy by letting them hang out with likable characters they’d like to know in real life; and to help them see that through faith, they’ll find their answers. Maybe the answer wasn’t what they were looking for or thought they needed, but it’ll be the right one for them, if they truly listen to what God is saying.

Can you please share a sweet truth, either recent or personally significant, that the Lord has shared with you?

Have you heard the saying, ‘Happiness isn’t having what you want, but wanting what you have’? 

I really live by that. And I think that’s something God has shared with me through my life. I’ve learned to want what I have. (But I also work for what I want).

Can you please share about your experience meeting Jesus for the first time, and/or walking with Him?

Jesus has always walked with me, ever since I can remember as a child, and my mother taught me to pray. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know I could lean on the Lord. He has been there throughout my life, for the joy and the pain. I just KNOW He loves me, and holds me in His gentle palm.