Mindy Starns Clark Interviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Mindy Starns Clark

Mindy Starns Clark is the author of Beauty to Die For, co-written with supermodel Kim Alexis.

Mindy, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

In April of 2011, I was off at our vacation house in the Poconos, writing around the clock to meet a book deadline, when I tripped and fell head first into the outer corner of a divider wall. I hit it hard enough to see stars, but I never lost consciousness, so I didn’t think I needed to go to the hospital.

By the next morning, however, my left eye was dark purple and swollen completely shut, so I drove myself to a nearby urgent care facility—where the doctor proceeded to read me the riot act. “Does the name Natasha Richardson mean anything to you?” she cried, meaning of course the actress who hit her head while skiing and later died.

The doctor couldn’t believe I had been so dumb as to sustain such a serious head injury and not only not seek medical treatment but also stay home all night, alone and unobserved. Suspecting a skull fracture, she sent me straight to the hospital for a CAT scan, but thank goodness there were no broken bones. I did, however, have what’s known as a “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.” Now, a year and a half later, I’m still in the recovery process. I had no idea what I was in for, nor what an impact that injury would have on my entire life.

Sadly, I hit the wall at the left side of my forehead—injuring the left frontal lobe of my brain, which is the word center. Imagine that—a writer damaging her word center!  I never lost the ability to speak, but in the beginning I could barely write at all. I went from being able to pump out 3000-7000 words per day to barely being able to write 30 words per day! Truly, it almost felt like I’d had a stroke.  It was so scary.  Recovery was very slow. It took a whole year just to work up to 1000 words a day. Even though I’ve continued to progress, I’ve had to limit my commitments and scale back on various writing projects. Needless to say, it’s been a huge adjustment.

Beyond the limited word production, the biggest issue I’m struggling with now are the residual headaches from the injury. I went 434 days in a row with a headache before we finally found a neurological medication that made them go away. The problem is that the medication makes me foggy—but when I try to wean off of it, the headaches come back. So I’m kind of stuck in the middle ground of danged if I do and danged if I don’t.

I also still have a dent in my forehead. It isn’t pretty, but I don’t mind it. When you feel so rotten on the inside, it’s kind of validating to have such a visible symbol on the outside.

Thank goodness I have such a sweet husband and two amazing daughters, both grown. They have all been so wonderful throughout this entire experience, caring for me, consoling me, helping me, advising me, encouraging me, etc. In the beginning, they were all even writing for me, each of them taking a scene I had outlined and fleshing it out on my behalf as best they could.

Certainly, I wouldn’t ever want to go through the experience again, but I do have a few fond memories, especially from those early days when we all pulled together and did our best to get through that first draft despite my injury. Once I was finally clear-headed enough to review and polish their work, I have to say that I was pretty darn impressed with what they’d done. Someday we might just become a whole writing family!

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

 

Through the years, I have learned (mostly the hard way) that God really does know what He’s doing, and if I will just relax and trust Him, He will work things out in my life according to His plan, which is always waaaay better than my plan—even when it doesn’t seem like it!

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print?  

All 20 of my books are available in e-book format and have been enabled for audio.

The Amish Midwife

Beauty to Die For is available in large print. Also available in large print are:

The Amish Midwife (co-written with Leslie Gould)

The Amish Nanny (co-written with Leslie Gould)

The Amish Bride (co-written with Leslie Gould)

Whispers of the Bayou

Under the Cajun Moon

Shadows of Lancaster County

Secrets of Harmony Grove

The Trouble with Tulip

Blind Dates Can Be Murder

Elementary, My Dear Watkins

A Penny for Your Thoughts

Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels

A Dime a Dozen

A Quarter for a Kiss

The Buck Stops Here

The books I’ve written that are available on audio include:

Under the Cajun Moon

A Penny for Your Thoughts

Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels

A Dime a Dozen

A Quarter for a Kiss

The Buck Stops Here

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

 I wrote Beauty to Die For with a wonderful co-author, supermodel Kim Alexis, and she was the driving force for our primary message. She’s a lovely lady with a real servant’s heart, and her goal with this story was pretty much summed up in our dedication:

For the mothers who put their kids first,

the volunteers who serve with glad hearts,

and all who give tirelessly and expect nothing in return.

Please remember to take care of yourselves as well,

to be mindful of your health,

and, once in a while,

to indulge in a little pampering.

God bless you for all you do!

I think as Christians we sometimes get so busy meeting other people’s needs that we forget to tend to our own. Our story takes place at a spa, where our heroine is leading a women’s retreat based on the theme, Isn’t it Time Someone Took Care of You for a Change? I think we could all use a little R&R now and then, and this story is a great reminder of that. Sometimes it feels a little selfish, but we can’t be at our best for others if we don’t take time for ourselves once in a while.

And in this day and age, the words, Be still and know that I am God are more important than ever before. How difficult it is for some of us to be still! But we simply have to get away from the noise of our lives if we want to hear the small whispers of God’s leading in our hearts. Of course, you don’t need a spa for that—but it is fun to go to one regardless, even if only through the pages of fiction.

Beauty to Die for

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

Yes. Kim and I made our main character a former supermodel who is nearing the big 5-0. All through the plotting and early writing phases, I was having a hard time getting into the mindset of this character, a beautiful woman who is struggling with getting older.  Having never placed much importance on my own looks, I simply couldn’t relate.

Then I sustained my head injury, and in one fell swoop, in a sense I lost my “brain.” Suddenly, I understood this character all too well. Whether it’s a beautiful woman who fears losing her looks or a smart woman who fears losing her intelligence, I realized that we shared the same exact problem, one of identity and how we define and value ourselves. Even as our character was asking herself, “If I’m not beautiful, then who am I?”, I was having to ask myself, “If I’m not smart, then who am I?” It was humbling, to say the least.

Of course, the answer can only be found at the feet of our Creator. What I ultimately learned is that our value has nothing to do with our looks or our brains or any other quality that we may happen to possess. Our value lies in the simple, overwhelming fact that God loves us. Nothing more, nothing less than that. For God so loved the world. For God so loved me. How dare I presume to assign significance to anything else but that?  Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson I will take from this whole experience. Perhaps that has even made it worth it in the end.

Kim Alexis and Mindy Starns Clark

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

Yay for bibliotherapy!  It’s a concept I strongly believe in and try to employ in all of my fiction, though I’ve never heard that term before.

In Beauty to Die For, we have three characters who grapple with serious personal challenges:

            - one dealing with a fear of abandonment

            - one working through grief and loss

            - one overcoming a childhood spent in poverty with an emotionally unstable mother

In all three situations, their paths are by no means easy, but our characters do find help and healing and growth in the end.

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

Buying Links: Mind Starns Clark on Barnes and Noble
Mindy Starns Clark books on Amazon

Also find Mindy's books on Christian Book Distributors (CBD)

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of any of Mindy’s books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners will only receive the book in ebook format not as a paperback.

Winner this week must be a follower of OTT-WGH.  
Simply put OF after your name if you are a follower, and add your email address unless we know you well (and over time, we hope we do!!!) 
Also answer the following question: When is the last time you went to a spa, if ever? (You might just find us announcing a second giveaway for a little beauty bag!)