Interview with Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Jennifer Hudson Taylor is the author of Highland Blessings and her new release, Highland Sanctuary through Abingdon Press.

I met Jennifer Hudson Taylor through ACFW and she is a member of Colonial American Christian Writers and a contributor to Colonial Quills, our group blog. We are also both members of HisWriters, those who have either published or planned works with European settings. And Jennifer is our Hartline publicist advisor!

Jennifer Hudson Taylor http://jenniferswriting.blogspot.com/ welcome to Overcoming Through Time.

Would you share either the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help, or the most tragic situation or circumstance one of your character’s has had to get past?

There are a number of difficult things that seemed to cause other difficult things in my life. Some, I’m still trying to overcome. The worst feeling was the fear of losing my baby when she was born. Each time she stopped breathing and needed CPR, my husband was the hero, while I mentally fell apart. She never had a seizure while my husband wasn’t with us. God knew it was more than I could bear—and she had many.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39) Something seems to be happening in my life all the time, either it is finances, health concerns, conflicts with people or death to loved ones and all things they are going through. This verse is a constant comfort to me.

Disability friendliness: These book are available as e-books with audio capability.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

While each book contains a different message, I hope all of them inspire people to hunger for a stronger understanding and relationship with God, grasping the fact that He is waiting to love them unconditionally no matter what they’ve done.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

Yes, it was heart-wrenching to learn how people with disabilities or mild special needs were treated in 15^th century. They were ridiculed, mocked, taken advantage of, beaten, and cast out of society.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation? (This latest book is bibliotherapy in and of itself!)

Yes, I tell everyone that writing is therapeutic, and Highland Sanctuary is complete evidence of it. The story came to me back when Celina was a toddler, but I didn’t feel qualified or ready to write it then. Understanding and accepting special needs and disabilities is one of my therapeutic topics.

While we’ve come a long way since the 15^th century, we still have a long way to go. For instance, people assume that just because my friend’s boy looks 9 that he should behave at that age level, not realizing he’s actually only 5. We judge and criticize too quickly.

Here’s another example, my daughter still struggles with some things. She knows her locker combination and can open the lock, but if she feels rushed between classes, kids are all around her making a lot of noise and shoving each other to get to their lockers, she can’t get it open.

One day after the bell rang, about 15 kids were still out in the hall. I don’t know about the other kids, but my daughter was still out there because she couldn’t get her locker open. The teacher threatened to give all of them detention. My daughter kept saying, “but I’m a good girl!” Her main concern was that her teacher wouldn’t think she’s irresponsible. Of course, she didn’t speak up to defend herself. That is another challenge.

Things like this may end up in my stories.

Thank you Jennifer Hudson Taylor for agreeing to answer these questions. Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Jennifer Hudson Taylor is an award winning author of historical Christian fiction set in Europe and the Carolinas and a speaker on topics of faith, writing and publishing. Her work has appeared in national publications, such as Guideposts, Heritage Quest Magazine, Romantic Times Book Reviews, and The Military Trader. She serves as the in-house Publicist at Hartline Literary Agency and co-owns Upon the Rock Publishing, an e-publishing/publicist company. Jennifer graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in Journalism. When she isn't writing, she enjoys spending time with family, long walks, traveling, touring historical sites, hanging out at bookstores with coffee shops, genealogy, and reading.

Jennifer's fiction is represented by Literary Agent, Terry Burns with Hartline Literary Agency.

Giveaway: We are giving away a copy of Jennifer's new release "Highland Sanctuary" this week. Leave a comment and your email address on any of the posts through this Saturday during Jennifer Hudson Taylor Week!