E.V. Sparrow wrote anthologized stories, including for Guideposts and Bethany House publishers, before a contract with Celebrate Lit. Her readers encounter God’s unexpected presence through her character’s adventures. Her own involved travel in over twenty countries, living on an Israeli kibbutz, and hopping a freight train. California native relocated to North Carolina, she and her husband enjoy family and their grandchildren.

Tell us about your newest book.

It’s an eBook novella with Irish emigrant and tenant farmer, Mick Muldoon as the main character. My inspiration for Mick came from my dad’s family. I used letters, photos, documents, and family stories from my grandfather to guide me. It is highly fictionalized beyond the timeline, setting, and factual experiences.

What inspired you to write Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling: A Novella?

I’d written the manuscript of Book 1, Muldoon’s Misfortunes, of my 3-book contracted series. It’s called Those Resilient Muldoons, because the three books all center on a Muldoon family member.

Book 1 was too long, and an agent who mentored me at a conference said to cut the chapters from my manuscript but to keep that portion for something else. I did and added several chapters. Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling: A Novella, was born, and centers on Mick Muldoon’s ten years in Minnesota.

How would you describe this book to someone in a 30-second blurb?

This post-Civil War novella tells of a resilient Irish emigrant’s resolve to escape his past. Especially someone he blames for the deaths of his wives and children. He drinks to numb his pain and doubts God’s love for him. Will America’s promises of a better life redeem his heart and soul?

What genre do you focus on and why?

After writing several short stories about overseas travel, I changed my focus to historical fiction. It allows me to include settings from my childhood experiences in rural towns. An element of romance from my years of reading. Regencies seeps into my stories and aspects of family relationships. My parents raised me in a small Gold Rush town in the Foothills of California, and anything to do with the 1800s fascinates me. Most of my friends’ families kept livestock like horses, cows, goats, chickens, and others. My mama collected antiques and took me shopping with her. I continue enjoying antique shopping and collecting if I can afford it. My dad was a builder by trade but a huge Western fan. I think their hobbies influenced my genre.

Why do you write?

I love words. As a child, I created and entertained stories in my vivid imagination. Many members of my family are avid readers. My creative imagination worked well in the mural painting business, and now it’s perfect for writing fiction. It’s easy for me to create a story based on a few facts, true experiences, and I’m happy to use Scriptural concepts in my stories. Often, a verse I read speaks to me, and I begin the “What if a person…” scenario.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?

Six days per week, eight to nine hours per day, and much of it is social media. Writing a chapter takes me four to six hours twice per week.

What is the hardest part of being an author?

By far it’s sitting at a computer indoors. I never would have written books in my younger years, because I was far too active with hiking, kayaking, running, camping, riding, volleyball, or anything outdoors. We have a shaded porch in the woods to break the monotony where I work in the Spring and Autumn seasons. That is enjoyable.

What’s the best part of your author’s life?

The ability to write something profound with God’s guidance and my creativity. I hope to reach hopeless people struggling to know if they matter to God and if He loves them. Can He forgive them? The ones in situations where it doesn’t seem like He’s there, and to be a bridge to their deliverance from those thoughts.

What’s one unusual fact about you?

I’ve always loved adventure, and I worked on a kibbutz in Israel for a summer. They only granted 3-month visas then. That was an unusual experience. I arrived there one day after a cease-fire to see a pits from rockets and blasted concrete buildings. They cleaned it all up within a week. There’s more to the story but I don’t have time to tell.

How have you changed or grown as a writer?

My work has improved since 2015. More succinct, more depth of expression, and I’ve worked hard to open my heart’s emotions. That challenged me. I was too guarded. I kind of cringe at my earlier style of expression. Every class I took, each writer’s conference I attended, all the other writers who have critiqued my projects push me to apply what I’ve learned. One thing is true, all writers improve over time, and previous books we wrote as new authors are the building blocks to future books.

What are you working on now?

Besides learning how to market, and designing a new cover to match the series, I’m writing Book 2. I have a researcher digging into questions around my storyline, the era, and bits about Ireland in the 1850s-1860s. There are specific details I need for my main character, Orla Muldoon, once she settles near Lake Superior. She’s a spunky woman, but she has a horrific back story. How will I depict God’s love for her?

Website: https://sparrow.world

Link to book: Amazon URL:

https://www.amazon.com/Muldoons-Minnesota-Darling-V-Sparrow-ebook/dp/B0C51CWT62/

Draft2Digital UBL: https://books2read.com/u/bwN7EO where eBooks are distributed in the USA and worldwide for numerous eBook readers other than Kindle and Apple Books.

Social media links: https://linktr.ee/ev.sparrow Has every link.

Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/475597e34cd3/sparrowworld