When we caught up with Rene Gutteridge she was at a nationally-known coffee shop “sort of out in the middle of the country” not far from her parents’ home.  “With cows and fields and everything?” we asked.  She assured us that the view was great―and so was the decaf nonfat upside down caramel macchiato.

WoF:    My Life As a Doormat is dedicated to “anyone who has ever felt stepped on” – do you consider yourself more of a stepped-upon or a stepper?

Rene:     Definitely more of a “stepped upon” when I was in my 20’s.  When I got in my 30’s, I realized that I was not going to let other people tell me what I was supposed to do with my life. I started looking at life differently and letting God be in control, instead of other people.  It helps tremendously now that I’m over that hump.  Now I can relate with people in a more loving way.  People think that it’s either one or the other ― they either have to be a doormat or the kind of person who steps all over them. But there is a between type of person who can stand up for herself or stand up for her friends without being obnoxious about it.

WoF:     Many people – women, especially – have trouble standing up for themselves.  Why do you think that is?

Rene:     Well, I think we have been taught that we should be peacemakers at all costs―that’s the trick, “at all costs”.  At the cost of truth? Reality? Emotional health? That’s a very high price to pay and at end of it all there’s no peace. It’s sort of a trick―you think you’re making peace but at the end there is no peace.  Certainly not for yourself and probably not for the relationship. Bitterness tends to take root and it’s hard to continue on with the relationship in a healthy manner.

WoF:    It’s not every day we read a book about a playwright.  Why did you choose to give Leah such an unusual profession?

Rene:   I like doing that.  I’m writing a series now called the Occupational Hazard series. Each book focuses on a different occupation. I’ve always found different occupations interesting. I’ve done some playwriting myself and I wanted her to be a writer.  I wanted to bring her alter ego out; I wanted to see what happened when she interacted with this person. I thought the best way to do that was to put her as a character in the play that MY character was working on.

WoF:    And do you interact with your characters the way that Leah does with Jodie?

Rene:   I do, you know. My characters are very real to me. They’re my friends.  I spend a lot of time with them―I can get sick of them, too. I really put Leah through the wringer. She kept saying, “Stop!” and I said, “No, it’s not enough―you need more conflict.”

It was fun to write because I drew from so many different people, including myself. People come up and ask me, “Did you write that about me?” But it’s a common problem that both men and women―but mostly women―deal with. You see it in little boys and girls. Boys beat each other up and five minutes later they’re fine and playing together. Little girls, even at kindergarten age, start holding grudges and dealing with relationships in a manipulative way. I’m hoping to bring in a new generation of women who can stand firm in what they believe and do it in a healthy manner.
 
WoF:     That conflict resolution class in your book is something else – especially the exercises the class had to do!  Where did those come from?

Rene:   I was talking with my agent about this idea at the very beginning of the story concept. We started brainstorming and as I was telling her the story, she said, “When I was in college, my roommate had to go to a conflict resolution class.”  (It had something to do with her major.) Some of the examples are from what she remembered of her roommate’s experience and some I just made up for the class to do.

WoF:    In some ways Leah’s experience parallels that of the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Was that deliberate?

Rene:     Yes. I think that a lot of people have a peacemaker kind of personality―and I’m one of them. We try to do everything so right; we don’t want to make waves, we don’t want to rock the boat. I think we have a hard time identifying with the prodigal. We’re thinking, “OK, but what about the good child?” I wanted to experience that with Leah, to have a deeper understanding of what grace meant.

WoF:    You have a degree in screenwriting and experience as a church drama director.  What made you turn to writing novels?

Rene:   I was really against it for a long time, but God was really directing my path. My intention was to leave Oklahoma and move to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. I ended up being hired right out of college by a church to be their Director of Drama. It was there that my writing was molded, in a way, to be a novelist. I wrote two sketches a week, one for a Friday night evangelical service and one for Sunday services, so I was on a tight deadline every week.  I directed and frequently acted in them. It cultivated my ability to write in an accelerated manner.

In the meantime, my professor in college urged me to try writing novels. I started one and really liked it. I thought, I’ll work on screenplays here and novels there. Then I started working more on novels and I sold one.

WoF:    You have young children at home, right?  How do you manage to get any writing done?

Rene:   I mostly work in the mornings. We’ll get up at 7:00 – 7:30 and my husband takes the morning shift. I work from 7:30 to 9:30-10:00. Then he goes on to work and I take over the kids. I sold my first book by query when I was 26-27 and my son was 3 weeks old, and then I had to write it. It’s all a blur. I did a lot of late-night writing in the wee hours between feedings. I can’t do that anymore―after about 4:00 my brain is just dead. I can do some editing but nothing that requires coming up with something fresh. 

This is a big Fall for me―both of my kids will be in school for the first time this year. I might write, like, three novels in three months with all this time!  I’ve always been writing with small kids at home. It’s a new phase for me, to be able to write with a good unbroken schedule.

WoF:     Where do you begin with a new book?  Is it a character, a story, a setting….?

Rene:   It depends on the book. Some start with the character – Doormat was definitely one of those. My suspense novels start with the plot then I build characters into that. I have to have both pretty well developed before I will even start writing. I know where I’m going and most of time I know the ending. I don’t know exactly how I’ll get to the ending but I do know what the ending will be.  Then I start with Chapter One and just write until the end.

WoF:     What do you like to read? 

Rene:   I wish I had more time to read! I read the Bible, that’s my first priority; a lot of times that’s the only thing I get to read. I’ve been reading [A.W.] Tozer lately―I’m really liking him. Probably the last novel I’ve read that’s published (I read a lot of novels before publication for endorsements) was Last Light by Terri Blackstock. That was really good.

WoF:     What are you working on now? 

Rene:   I’m working on the second book of the Occupational Hazard Series, called Snitch. The first one was called Scoop, about a local television crew. Snitch is about undercover police officers. It’s a comedy series. Snitch has been fairly hard because undercover work is dangerous, but when I talk to the officers they tell me these hilarious stories about predicaments they got themselves into. I try not to be predictable and pull funny things out of life we can all relate to.