Interview with Christine Schaub
March 21, 2007
I’m finding that when it comes to historical fiction, I prefer a story based on real-life characters and lesser known events. Christine Schaub, author of the Music of the Heart series, has taken the stories behind “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Amazing Grace” and written a novel on the events that led each man to write the words to the songs. Her stories, seasoned with the right amount of period detail, immerse the reader in another time and place — and in the lives of people who penned songs that still speak to us today.
I must admit to being partial to Finding Anna, book one in the series. “It Is Well” is my favorite hymn and being a Chicagoan who loves the city and its history — well, needless to say, Finding Anna is a book I plan to reread more than once. Please visit Christine’s website at www.christineschaub.typepad.com for more info on her books and her blog.
Finding Anna
She’s lost almost everything.
It has all happened so quickly. First the fire. And now this.
She stands back and scans the faces of the arriving passengers. When she sees his face, she will know if their relationship is over . . . or has only just begun.
***
Forty-seven degrees latitude. Thirty-five degrees longitude. Three miles deep.
This is where it happened. This is where his life was forever changed.
Grief, hope, terror, relief — the emotions are heavy on his mind, his body.
He picks up a pen and a piece of stationery and begins to write . . .
The Longing Season
In the 1740s, British culture allows few options for the son of a merchant ship captain. And in a time of war, a man with John Newton’s experience must serve the king. But Newton, a man who quotes Virgil and curses God with equal fervor, is interested in serving only himself.
Mary Catlett simply cannot believe her childhood friend sailed away on a British warship and vanished in Africa. In desperation, she takes a step that will change her life and call her lost love home. But will he arrive in time?
Newton’s odyssey takes him from the West Africa gold coast to the banks of Newfoundland to the heart of the Atlantic before he finds what he’s spent his entire life longing for: deliverance.
In an account that challenges popular myth, Schaub continues the Music of the Heart series with one of the greatest redemption stories of all time, the story of “Amazing Grace.”
Recently I was able to interview Christine about her novels.
SB: Christine, share with us what sparked the idea for Finding Anna and The Longing Season.
CS: In 1994, a music minister asked me what I knew about the story behind “It Is Well” — could I turn it into a drama? I did some research, then wrote and performed a five-minute monologue that was rather like Paul Harvey’s “Rest of the Story.” A pianist “noodled” movie-soundtrack music behind me, I walked out in period dress and told the tale . . . and the “Hymn Lady” was born!
I told a dozen hymnstories at various venues for years until I got the idea to turn them into made-for-TV movies. In the process of shopping that idea around, I was offered a series deal for historical fiction.
SB: Are you picking your favorite hymns or hymns that have incredible stories behind them?
CS: I’m sorry to report that my favorite hymn, “Pass Me Not,” has no dramatic story behind its writing. And that’s really the requirement — high drama — to expand a story into 50,000+ words with subplots and minor characters and a reason to keep readers turning the pages. Likewise, some of our most famous hymns — “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” — are simply inspired poetry with no tragedy or loss attached to their writing. And then others, like “It Is Well,” “Amazing Grace,” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, ” are ripe for the telling because so much is going on with their writers and their eras.
SB: What was researching these two books like?
CS: Well, I was forced to travel to Chicago, New York City, London, Chatham, Kent (and I hopped over to Paris) to get the details right. Isn’t that just terrible?
Fortunately, all these towns had historical societies, rare-book collections, and knowledgeable librarians that made researching a joy. Many times, the “person” research is already completed through previous biographies/autogbiographies, but the period details of specific towns, specific trends are harder to find.
For instance: What did a typical middle-class Chicago family eat for breakfast in 1872? That detail took me weeks to find.
SB: What do you want readers to take away from these books?
CS: I hope my readers will feel like they’re living in the era I’ve descried and empathizing with the men who suffered enormous tragedy and loss, yet had the presence of mind to pick up pens and write words of hope and comfort we still sing today.
SB: Christine, that was just how I felt reading these books. As a Chicagoan (okay suburbian!), I found myself pulled right into Finding Anna and the Chicago of the 1800s, although I did laugh when Horatio Spafford worried about the worth of his land after the Chicago fire. If he only knew! What was the most interesting thing your research uncovered?
CS: I was most impressed with two things: (1) That so few people died (~300) in such a horrific fire, and (2) that the indomitable American spirit kicked in immediately — much like it did after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Americans have a unique determine to not just recover, but to emerge stronger, optimistic, fearless.
SB: In the epilogue of Finding Anna, you mention that the Spaffords’ church taught that suffering or sorrow was a result of sin. Discovering that adds even more depth to the words of “It Is Well.”
CS: Believe it or not, that mindset of “suffering = sin” still exists in some church denominations today. I think it’s hard for Christians to believe that they must endure suffering and sorrow when they’re checking all the boxes of Christian living. Bible reading? Check! Prayer time? Check! Church attendance? Check! Loving my neighbor? Check! So why am I sad/broke/sick?!
Jesus told us, “In this life, you will have many trials and tribulations . . .” Notice Jesus didn’t preface that statement with “If you choose to sin, expect . . .” He meant what he said to his followers then, and we have to believe it as his followers now.
SB: I don’t think I’d ever heard the story behind “Amazing Grace.” In The Longing Season, John Newton’s life seems to be one of extremes — extreme suffering and then anything he wants. How did that seem to play into his eventual decision to serve God?
CS: Well, he didn’t have anything he wanted. He had material things, but he didn’t have hope, love, peace. Worse, he seemed to be resigned to a life without the intangible things. We never hear of people who are resigned to hope, but dream of hopelessness . . . or resigned to being loved, but long to be unloved . . . or resigned to peace when they really want turmoil. So outwardly, Newton appeared to be successful, but inwardly he was an utter failure . . . and knew it. Cue a horrific storm at sea, and a man begins to embrace real change.
SB: Are there any more books in the series or other projects you’re working on?
CS: It’s still my primary goal to turn these stories into movies. The film climate is ripe for both biopics and faith-based themes, and I’m actively working to get Hollywood’s attention. The better Christian films perform in theatres and on DVD — films like “Facing the Giants” and “One Night with the King” and “Amazing Grace” — the more likely my stories will be picked up.
I’m a rather reluctant novelist — novel writing has never been my dream and my publishing experience has not been good. But I would be inclined to continue the series with the right story and right incentive.
SB: Thanks for the chat, Christine. Is there anything you’d like to add?
CS: I call my writing style fauxography — part biography, part fiction. I find and include as much fact as possible, bu straight “fact” doesn’t always make good storytelling. So I invent subplots and minor characters to help move the story along. The main characters and plot points are as true as I can make them, and I hope the blend of fact and fiction works well enought that readers are not constantly asking, Did that really happen? If I did my job well, they’ll just believe it.
SB: I know I found it believable. Thanks, Christine.
- On Friday — the most key part to an effective routine
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Comments
2 Responses to “Interview with Christine Schaub”
Thanks for doing this interview Sally. I read the Finding Anna book and just loved it.
I’ll definately try her others now too.
Glad to hear it, Julie!