WOF:    Congratulations on having your book chosen as Women of Faith’s Novel of the Year!  What was your inspiration for Reconstructing Natalie?

LJW:     Well, I am a breast cancer survivor – it’s been 14 years for me now. I speak around the country to women, and I kept meeting younger and younger women with breast cancer. I thought, My goodness, I thought I was young (I was in my 30’s when I was diagnosed) but I kept meeting women in their 20’s with cancer. I wanted to write a book for them, from a single woman’s point of view.

WOF:    You’re a cancer survivor; you’ve said that you’re “grateful” for that experience.  Why is that?

LJW:     I know people go, “What are you, crazy?”  But it’s true. Because when you face cancer or some other dreadful illness it makes you stop and really know that life is short. It’s a wake-up call; it makes you look at life and say, What is it that you really want to do?  For me, it resurrected my dreams of writing. All my life I wanted to be an author. Cancer afforded the opportunity to dust off my dream and go for it. Once you’ve faced cancer, the fear of other things is not so hard. It started a whole new career for me that I love.

WOF:    How much of Natalie’s experience was based on your own?

LJW:     Good question.  The chemo was so much me. I got so, so sick from chemo. Now, I’ve got to be careful to add a disclaimer – most of the time it isn’t that way; my doctor said, “You’re an anomaly.”  I got an extra heavy dose of chemo because I was taking part in a clinical trial, then the nurse forgot to give me anti-nausea medicine afterwards.  The chemo diet is not one I recommend, but I did lose 30 pounds in 30 days. 

Natalie’s experience of losing her hair and getting buzzed – I did the same.

My best friend Lana was visiting me after surgery; it had been 3 days since I’d had a bath – you’re not supposed to bathe for a little while afterwards.  Lana said, “Honey, I love you, but you stink.” She helped me take a bath; she was very discreet about it, but she helped me bathe and shampooed my hair.  And she wasn’t a nurse, she was a teacher.  It was a total act of sacrificial love, so I wove that in and had Merritt do that for Natalie.  It demonstrates Christ’s sacrificial love for us.

WOF:    Reconstructing Natalie is a funny book about a serious subject.  Was it difficult to weave humor into a book about cancer?

LJW:     It really wasn’t for me, for two reasons.  I learned early on that God had given me gift of humor. When I sat down to write, humor just  flowed – that was God, not me. In a previous book, Thanks for the Mammogram, I talked to a focus group of women survivors.  They all agreed that humor is what helps you get through cancer. People who haven’t been through it say, “How can you be funny about it?” I’d rather laugh than cry. It just helps to put people around me at ease. It’s still Laura – I may not have a breast, I may not have any hair, but don’t walk on eggshells.  I didn’t want (and neither did Natalie) to have everyone around me be all doom and gloom. Like the scene where they had the “boob voyage” party. For someone Natalie’s age that would be very appropriate.  That’s what women would do. Almost to a person, every survivor I talk to says humor really helps.

WOF:    One thing Natalie had going for her was her friends.  Cancer (as with any life-threatening illness) can be hard on friendships.  What advice would you give to someone whose friend is battling cancer?

LJW:     First of all, like Natalie, I did have a dear friend who at first stayed away. Her mother had died of cancer and she was terrified. To her, cancer meant death. She thought, My friend is going to die.  We worked through that. She was so fearful . . . if you have any kind of that, know that we don’t want to feel isolated.  Just love us and be there for us.

Second, (this is a huge thing): Don’t say, “Just let me know if I can do anything for you.”  When you’re going chemo, you can’t remember things. It fries your brain.  You can’t remember to say, “Could you do this or that?” Be proactive. Say, “Lookit, I know you need your house cleaned, clothes washed, etc. Which one would you prefer that I do?” Offer to and do practical things – it’s such a huge help. We can’t do things we used to do.

Just be there. I had friends who brought in funny movies and I Love Lucy and things. I had to have a lot of injections and when my husband was at work I was uncomfortable being alone.  Also, don’t expect them to be chatty all time. I’m a talkative person, but you’re so weak that sometimes you don’t have the energy to speak. Just your presence shows love and support. Sometimes a hug and silence is so much support.
           
This seems like it should be obvious, but people don’t always think:  DON’T tell us about somebody you knew who died of cancer. That’s the last thing we want to hear! I know people are just trying to relate, but that’s not the kind of relating we need.

People sent me cards with Scriptures that just ministered to me.  I got so much out of the Psalms, especially. A lot of them were from people that I didn’t necessarily have any contact with on a day-to-day basis, and just getting a card meant so much . . . something that showed they were thinking of me. We’re such and email society, but there’s something wonderful about getting care in the mail.

WOF:    Were you really in the Air Force?  That might just be unique among Christian fiction authors – the female ones, at least!  Tell us about your experience.

LJW:     I joined right out of high school. Basically, I was editor of the school paper, and I thought I’d be a great journalist and change the world. But when you’re right out of high school with no college and no life experience and you go down to the local paper to apply for a job, you get a reality check. I was offered a job as a clerk/typist. I thought, Are you kidding? I’m going to do something great!  

I decided to join the Air Force. I had read about Europe and wanted to travel, but how could I afford that? I thought, I bet if I join the military I can go overseas. And it was a patriotic thing, as well. There used to be, in the 70’s, a commercial right before the station turned off at night. (This was back before cable and dishes and TV stations really did turn off in the wee hours of the morning.) The commercial had a poem called High Flight. It was a lovely poem, and the last line said, “I reached out my hand and touched the face of God.” I didn’t know the Lord then, but it really struck me and thought, I want to do that.  I thought if I joined the Air Force I could fly. Ha! I thought I’d write for the Air Force paper, but those jobs were frozen. They offered me great job as clerk/typist. God has such a sense of humor!  I flew my typewriter across Europe for 5 years. I got to see Europe and get a whole host of experiences I now use in my writing.  And I still fold my underwear into equal thirds.

WOF:    What does writing a novel look like for you?  Do you work on a schedule (so many words/pages a day, so many hours a day…) or just sit down and write like mad until it’s done?

LJW:     It’s a combination of both. I’m what you call a seat-of-the-pants writer.  Some people are very logical; they plan and plot everything with graphs and things. That’s not me.  I’m at my best in the morning, so I grab a cup of tea and by 7:30 I’m writing away. I have a basic idea of the book from the book proposal I did for the publisher. I know roughly what it’s about and where it’s going. Basically I just show up and write away five days a week, sometimes six, sometimes seven . . . the last few weeks before it’s due, whenever.

I’m trying to have better outlines. God created us all individuals; there’s no one right way to write.  My way has me scrambling at end, pulling out my hair . . . so I’m trying to plan more. I love writing fiction. You can plan all you want and think all you want, but when you start writing the characters take over and you go in a completely different direction. My husband would come home from work and I’d say, “Guess what Natalie did today!”  You kind of watch the characters.  It’s a surprise and a joy. It sounds kind of mystical, but it’s just the creative thing – that’s what makes it so much fun.

WOF:    Your appreciation for the silver screen is evident in Natalie as well as your two previous novels.  What’s your absolutely-gotta-watch-it-over-and-over-favorite film?

LJW:     I’ll have to give you the top three: Casablanca (the most noble, sacrificial story ever); Meet Me in St. Louis (it’s beautiful and nostalgic and has Judy Garland singing ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’); and Bringing Up Baby (I love Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.  It’s pure fun.)

WOF:    What’s next for you?

LJW:     I have new book coming out in March, Miss Invisible. She’s a single woman who feels invisible due to her size. She’s not an eight or a ten or even a twelve – she’s a bigger girl. She feels invisible to men because of her size.

I’m also starting a new three-book series but I can’t talk about it yet because I don’t have a contract.

People ask me if I’m ever going to write nonfiction again.  But fiction is so much more fun!