Michelle Stimpson
Author, Speaker, Educator
Those of you who’ve read anything I’ve
written pretty much know I don’t mind sharing my testimony. Today is no different! A little over ten years ago, I was getting
into the groove of my brand new
relationship with God. However, I was still reading books that were not conducive
to Christian living. I felt a tugging in my spirit to stop reading those kinds of
books. So, I did. I stopped cold turkey.
Being that I was an avid reader, I didn’t know what to read and was really at a
loss but I made up in my mind that I was not going back. For about eighteen months, I didn’t read anything,
not one book. On my 30th
birthday, I was blessed with my first Christian novel. That one book opened the
door for me to discover some truly godly, passionate and gifted authors. Today, I am honored to interview one of my
favorite authors, Mrs. Michelle Stimpson. I hope you are thoroughly blessed by
our chat. Enjoy!
Tamara
Davis: Please take a few sentences
to introduce yourself to my blog readers. I could ask the standard
introduction questions, but being that I really like your sense of humor, I’ll
let you introduce yourself in the way you wish.
Michelle Stimpson: This one is hard, Tamara. I could say “Hey y’all!” but would that be too
country?
TD: Name
one fun thing your readers probably don’t know about you.
MS: I used to be
Chuck. E. Cheese. It was a fun job!
TD: Prior
to becoming an author, what was your career?
MS: I was a
full-time educator. I was a classroom teacher and then an educational
consultant.
TD: How
did you know writing was something you wanted to do full time?
MS: You know, I
said I wanted to be a full-time writer and I am as far as what happens in
my day-to-day life, but writing is incredibly isolating. I need to get out
more, which is why I never stopped consulting. If I didn’t do things outside of
the house, I would never comb my hair.
TD: What
do you enjoy most about being an author?
MS: The
flexibility in my schedule. I’m really not into doing the same thing every day
for weeks and months on end. When I’m writing, I’m “all in” but the breaks
between are nice!
TD: Is
there anything you like the least about being an author?
MS: This isn’t
really something I don’t like, but the thing about being an author is that once
people find out you write books, about half of them will go into this long
speech about how they’ve been meaning to write a book for the past 15 years,
too, and then they want to go to lunch and pick my brain. Again, I’m not
bothered by it, but it’s always interesting the things that people have been
mulling over for years. I’m like: Write it already!
TD: Over
the last year or so, I have reacquainted myself with your work. I’ve noticed
one purely delightful quality that consistently shows up in your work—good,
godly men! You don’t male bash or put them in a negative light. Why is it
important for you to portray men the way you do?
MS: I think there’s enough male-bashing,
preacher-bashing, church-bashing stuff out there already. I love my brothers in
Christ, my African-American brothers, and my brothers in the human race,
period. As a writer, I am a member of “the media” - I can’t be fussing about how
“the media” portrays people and then turn around and perpetuate the problem.
TD: I’ve
also noticed that “Titus 2” women show up and always offer wise counsel
according to the Word of God. Again, why is it important to you to have
such characters in your books?
MS: Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I
write to spread the gospel and encourage believers. In my own life, I’ve
received so much wisdom from hanging around with women who are older than me.
There’s something beautiful about the older women teaching the younger women
how to live godly, which is precisely why we’ve been ordered to mentor one
another, from one generation to the next.
TD: Do
any of your family’s personality traits show up in characters in your
books? (You don’t have to name any of the family members—we want to
protect the innocent and the guilty J)
MS: My
grandmother is definitely a type of Mama B. When I was growing up, I looked at
my grandmother as “Grand” for real. Now that I’m an adult and she and I talk on
an adult level, I love how she shares her imperfections with me and shows me what
God is teaching her daily. Even at the age of 86, she will still admit to
having said or done the wrong thing and then show me what she’s reading in the
Word that changed her understanding. Aside from her, there are other women at
my church and in my writing group who will speak encouragement and offer gentle
correction.
TD: How
important and beneficial is prayer in your writing process?
MS: You would
think that by now I would know not to even start a project without a specific
Word, but there are times when I get off track and write myself into a corner
(so to speak) and get completely stuck. Then I have to just stop and pray and
not write another word until I know what needs to happen next. It’s
frustrating, but I do think the Lord is so jealous for our hearts, He sets us
up to come to Him and find our victory there.
TD: In your book Uncommon Sense,
you addressed applying worldly principles to Christian lifestyles and why they
don’t work. What inspired you to write this book?
MS: I attend conferences, workshops, and business
events and hear all kinds of philosophies being touted as “research-based” and
“proven”. In fact, they may be true for the world, but they don’t apply in the
life of a believer. For example, the widely accepted “Law of Reciprocity” says that
if you want to influence people, you have to appeal to their “What’s in it for
me?” side. Once you figure out what makes people tick, you use that information
to get what you want. It probably does work in terms of regular old business,
but this is not how we’re called to operate in the Kingdom. I want believers to
beware of adopting ungodly thinking and cling to the law of love, which guides
what we do.
TD: I love witnessing the heart changes
played out in your stories. Do you agree that before one can truly grow in
Christ, a heart change is necessary?
MS: Yes, life in Christ is not about letting him
change us so much as it is about surrendering and realizing that the old us is
dead and the life we live now is in Him (Col. 3:3, Gal. 2:20).
TD: How
many books have you written to date? Do you now publish primarily
e-books?
MS: This is
kinda tricky. I think I’ve written 27 books and about 50 short stories. Yes,
I’ve moved over into the e-book and self-publishing realm for the most part.
TD: I know all of your books are your “babies”
but which one is your favorite?
MS: Hmmm…I
think of my books in terms of their main character, so I’m gonna have to say
that the Mama B books are my favorite at the moment.
TD: Even
though I am not a wife yet, I thoroughly enjoyed three lessons I listened to
from The Wife Academy. What are some myths that women have about
marriage? What are some realities that women should KNOW about
marriage?
MS: Myth #1: My
husband is supposed to make me happy. If you haven’t already found your joy in
Him, you won’t find your joy in him. One of the things I absolutely do not do
in my books is make the answer to a woman’s problem a man. Yes, she can fall in
love and yes, he can contribute to her growth, but I never want a woman to read
my book and say, “If only I could find a man like so-and-so, my life would be
great.” Again, as a member of the media, I’m not trying to contribute to an
unrealistic fantasy. I want people to have godly expectations and grow in love
over time, through trials, and by faith.
TD: One
of my favorite quotes from Mama B’s A Time to Dance is spoken
by Mama B when she’s talking to Twyla about her husband and the kind of prayers
she’d been praying. She said “But it sound like you been prayin’ against him
more than for him. Have you prayed for Derrick’s destiny? His
soul? For Christ to be glorified in his life?” That quote resonated so strongly
in my spirit. Do you think a lot of wives do that, pray against their
husbands instead of for their husbands?
MS: Wow - I wrote that? I forgot about that line!
LOL! Yes, I think we pray against and “at” them if they are present. So many of
us think praying is about asking God to do what we want anyway that it’s not
just a wives’ thing, it’s a lack of understanding and/or surrender.
TD: The Lord has manifested a stellar
writing career for you. Is there anything else that we can stand in faith with
you for?
MS: Thanks for asking. I think that, in the
future, I may venture a bit more into film (screenplay writing). I’m thinking 5
years or so. Right now, I’m content with writing books and consulting.
TD: Thank
you so much for your time Michelle. Please be sure to include your website or
any social media link for readers to access your author information.
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