Author: Katie Ganshert

I write Christian romance and my debut novel, Wildflowers from Winter, releases in May, 2012 through Waterbrook Press (a division of Random House).

Waiting for the Bubble to Surface (Otherwise Known as Writer’s Block)

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

My husband insists it’s idea block.

I have no idea why he’s so adamantly against calling it writer’s block.

No matter. The possessive noun is unimportant here. The word to focus on is block.

Basically, I’m attempting to write a synopsis for a potential novel, only I can’t get a grip on the story.

The thing is slipperier than a wet penguin.

I find reassurance in the fact that this isn’t the first time I’ve faced this problem. Nor am I the only creative person who’s faced it.

So I wait expectantly and excitedly for that moment when this slippery penguin-of-a-story dries off and stops hopping around long enough for me to grab it by the wings. (Just to be clear, my story has nothing to do with penguins.)

Writing is one of those ticksy endeavors where it’s your best, most exciting friend one minute, your worst enemy the next.

When everything is moving and shaking and jelling and the words are gushing from my fingertips?

Best. Feeling. Ever. Completely euphoric. (Cue Titanic music and picture me with my arms spread wide, shouting, “I’m king of the world!”)

When everything is stagnant and empty and uncooperative and the blank screen is giving me heart palpitations?

Not quite so warm and fuzzy. (An issue I address on my Q&A page.)

Thankfully, the solution is like a water bubble. I know it’s down there, working it’s way up. It’s just a matter of how long it’s going to take break the surface.

Let’s Talk: What do YOU do when you’re stuck? Are there things in life that you love and loathe all at the same time?

Guess what surfaced exactly 45 minutes after writing this post? The bubble! I figured out the climax of the story! This is how I’m feeling inside (oh how I love my alma mater and their choice of 90’s music):

Friday Faves

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

This week’s roundup is a short one! Not because the internet was lacking in awesome blog posts, but because my week was so full (celebrating my son’s 4th birthday, visiting a friend in Madison, brainstorming a new story idea), I didn’t have time to read everything in my Google Reader.

Despite the hectic schedule, these four grabbed me….

Chin-Grabbers for Everyone:

  • In Other Words: Hope and Havingmby Beth Vogt

    I found this short and sweet post super applicable, since the balance is one I’m constantly wrestling with.

  • Haiti, Personal Crisis, and a Manifestomby Jen Hatmaker

    I know. Jen Hatmaker has made the Friday Faves THREE weeks in a row. But I really had to. This one is so incredibly powerful! It reminds me of something I read in my Beth Moore study:

    We can underline our Bibles till our pens run dry without a drop of ink splattering our lives. The self-deception slithers in when we mistake appreciation for application or being touched with being changed…..The Word of God is meant to do more than penetrate. It’s meant to activate. Simply put, the Word was meant to work.

 Chin-Grabbers for Writers:

  • Conscious and Subconscious Actionmby Jessica Nelson

    A new, interesting way to approach characterization. I especially love the concrete examples from the movie, Book of Eli (which I haven’t seen, but would like to).

  • Should All Authors Blogmby Rachelle Gardner

    More thought-provoking thoughts about the ongoing debate on whether or not fiction authors should blog.

Happy Friday! I hope you have a fun-filled, blessed weekend!

If you’re looking for a book to read or you like giving books as Christmas gifts, you can read the first three chapters of Wildflowers from Winter for free. I always like to sample a book before I purchase it!

Adoption Insight from an Adoptee & a Giveaway

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Adoption is near and dear to my heart. It’s a journey my husband and I are walking and will continue to walk for the rest of our lives. Which means I’m always looking for insight. I’ve taken online courses, read books and blogs, and talked with other adoptive mamas. But nothing’s quite as insightful as talking to a person who knows what it’s like to be adopted. Today, I’m pleased to have award-winning author and adoptee, Catherine West, on my blog to answer some questions.

Cathy, what’s the best/hardest thing about being adopted?

Hmm. I guess as an adult I would say knowing now that God had each day of my life ordained for me from the moment I was conceived. As a child, I am not sure there was a ‘best’ thing. Being adopted automatically makes you different. Back when I grew up, in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, being different was not cool. So being adopted was actually a hard thing to process and understand. It was much easier to just pretend I wasn’t.

The hardest thing has been to acknowledge that I was relinquished, and to know that even though my birth mother chose not to keep me, God still loved me and chose my parents for me and chose me for them. Sometimes it’s hard to understand how a person could walk away from their own child, but God speaks to that in Isaiah 49:15 – “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

As a person who was adopted, what’s the one thing you think every adoptive parent should know?

I think they should know that even though that child is ‘theirs’, there is a history. One phrase that really stuck with me when I was searching, and I used it in Hidden in the Heart, is: You existed before you were adopted.

The truth is, the adopted child has a birth mother and a birth father, maybe birth siblings, and certainly an entire genetic history that has nothing to do with their adoptive family. I think there needs to be respect for that. I also think it is natural for the adoptive child to want to know the answers to questions like, “Where did I come from?” “Who do I look like?” “Why didn’t my ‘real’ mother want to keep me?”  Just because you give a child a loving home does not mean you can fill the void left by the act of a mother relinquishing their child. Accept that, and when that child has questions, be as open and honest as you can with them.

As a person who was adopted, what’s the one thing you wish the world at large understood about adoption?

Wow, this one is harder! From everything we see in the media, adoption is portrayed as this fairytale. A couple travels to a foreign land, ‘saves’ their child, and brings him or her back to their homeland, wherever that may be, and everything’s coming up roses.

Okay, I’m simplifying, but honestly? It doesn’t work that way. On the one hand, you have people wanting to do this wonderful thing and it IS wonderful, but it costs a ton of money, takes a huge emotional toll and does not always turn out the way it was planned. On the other hand, you’re talking about an entire generation of children who will most likely never know their family history, and may always struggle with feelings of abandonment, displacement and rejection.

I think the decision to adopt, whether it is done international or domestically, needs to be made with much prayer and wise, professional, counsel.

Your newest novel, Hidden in the Heart, deals with adoption. Tell us a little bit about it.

This book was truly written from the heart. It’s about a young woman, Claire Ferguson, who has lost her mother to cancer and then suffered a miscarriage. Claire is adopted and wonders if she possesses some unknown genetic flaw that caused her to miscarry. This propels her into the search for her birth family. Claire’s journey is very loosely based on my own search and reunion journey. Whilst she goes through many things I did not, all her emotions were written from firsthand experience.

Cathy is giving away a FREE copy of her latest novel to one lucky commenter! So make sure to leave a comment to be entered to win! Winner will be announced this Friday!


Let’s Talk: What do you think is a common misunderstanding about adoption? Do you have any questions for Cathy?

Join me over on Cathy’s blog for a chance to win a copy of my debut novel as I talk about adoption from a soon-to-be adoptive mama’s perspective!

My debut novel, Wildflowers from Winter, may not be about adoption, but it does explore a common theme in adoption – beauty and hope arising from those broken, barren seasons in our lives. If this sounds like a novel you’d like to try, you can read the first three chapters for free here.

If I haven’t already, I’d love to send you a welcome packet! Just click on the sign-up button up top!