Name, Age, City and State: Ann Tatlock, DOB 12/8/59, Asheville, NC

Job-title: Novelist

Web/blog site URL: www.anntatlock.com

Give us your job description in 25 words or less. I create fictional worlds using words.

Describe a typical workday. I’m a morning person and I do my best work before noon. Typically, I’m at my desk from 9:00 to 12:00 writing. The earlier morning hours, starting at 5:00, are filled with Bible reading, breakfast, getting my daughter ready for school and exercising. The afternoons are devoted to research, class and workshop preparation (I teach at various writers conferences throughout the year), reading for enjoyment, and household chores/errands.

What led you to realize that you wanted to do this type of work? The hand of God. My plan for myself was to become a nurse. I’ve always loved to read and write, but when I was growing up, becoming a writer—especially a writer of fiction--didn’t seem like a practical way of making a living. Nor did it seem a practical way of helping people, and I wanted to be in a helping profession. I went to college enrolled in the nursing program, but by the end of my freshman year I’d dropped out of nursing. To this day, I’m not even sure what happened. It was as though God pulled a curtain back in my mind and said, “Look, I created you to be a writer and that’s what you’re going to do.” It wasn’t so much a matter of choosing what to do, but rather a discovery of who I was. I joined the campus newspaper the following year and was hooked.

Did you have any heroes or mentors in your industry that you admired? I’ve long enjoyed the works of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of Charles Lindbergh, because she writes so beautifully.

What type of education or training was required to land your job? In college, I earned a BA degree in Liberal Arts. That is, I was basically allowed to design my own curriculum that included concentrations in English, theology and writing. Afterwards, I earned an MA in Communications/Print Journalism. That degree helped me land a job as a magazine writer and editor. From there I went on to write novels.

What do you love most about your job? I love the whole creative process of listening to my characters and watching the story unfold in my mind. I also love hearing from my readers and knowing that my words are out there making a difference.

What one part of your job do you wish you could hire someone else to do? Marketing! That is, promoting my own work. Ugh.

What advice would you give to teenagers wanting to get into your field of work? Read. Read good books. Read all the time. The best way to learn to write is to read.

How does your job allow you to use your God-given gifts? Looking back over the years, it’s obvious that God’s plan for my life was so much better than my own. Even if I had passed all the science classes required to become a nurse (I do not have a scientific mind!), I wouldn’t have held up well when faced with the difficult realities of the medical field. I’m far more suited to the quiet life of writing. To my joy, since I wanted to be in a helping profession, I’ve discovered that stories do make a positive difference in people’s lives. When readers tell me that my books have encouraged or inspired them, that’s the greatest thing ever. The Lord is allowing me to use my talent to speak of the hope he offers the world, and everyone needs to be reminded of that hope, even believers.

Do you have any hobbies or off-hours pursuits that teenagers would find of interest? [Afraid not, so we may want to delete this question. Boring old fogey!]