About Joelle (readers' edition)

For those of you subscribed to my newsletter, you may remember a recent Q&A I sent out, asking you to ask me any questions you had about me. I expected to get around 20 responses or so. Ha. Within the first couple of days, I had over 75, and more coming. So I closed the form after the first week and sorted through the questions to pull out my favorite 30. Everyone who asked questions got at least two of theirs answered (except for those of you who only asked one question). :)

And for those of you with sharp memories, yes, I know I said I was going to post this as my new about page. But it ended up being too long, so I'll just link to this post in my about page and call it a day.

Also! I will warn you that this post is long. XD If you enjoy it, let me know, and I might do another post answering the rest of the questions y'all sent in. ;)

*rubs hands together* Okay. Let's get started.

The Questions

—If you weren't a writer/author, what WOULD you be? Or do you know what you'd be? (Tauriel)—

Great question! I have many alternate careers that I would like to pursue if I were not a writer. XD My top one would probably be a Biblical counselor. I’m very emotionally inclined and love helping people, but my one concern would be that I empathize too much and would end up needing counseling myself. XP Other options I would consider would be acting (yes, I know about the reputation of most actors and how dark that whole world is, but the greater the darkness, the brighter the light, right?) or a mechanic. Which… are two very different things from counseling. Heh. XD

—Which of the fruit of the Spirit is the one you most pray for and value, at this time in your life? (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.) (Tauriel)—

All of them. But unfortunately I am constrained to one. *huffs* Probably… hm. Either peace or faithfulness. Peace because life is crazy and only gets crazier the older you get. Faithfulness because I am one of those who struggle to keep their eyes on Jesus instead of all the world has to offer. This is a fantastic question! Goodness. XD

—City or Country? (Briar)—

0_0 Country, hands down. (Yes, I’m a country girl.) Cities are huge and scary and just so, so sad. Like everyone is walking around not looking at each other, scared of each other, living their lives at a break-neck pace and forgetting to stop and smell the roses once in a while. It makes me want to hug them all and show them the beauty of letting yourself relax in the mountains once in a while.

—Are you a fan of The Hunger Games books? (Briar)—

Ahhh thank you for asking this!

Long story short: no. Not really. The first one was good, but the second one got dark and the third one was even darker. Between the heavy adult matter (which was handled in a way that was not contrary to Scripture, per se, but made no mention of God helping us through dark times and instead focused on the characters relying on man or themselves) and the initial dystopian setting (which has never been my favorite), I was so ready to be done with the story by Mockingjay. And the ending. It was sweet, I suppose, but seemed kinda rushed and didn’t leave me with the satisfied feeling that boosts so many books high enough on my list to be recommended.

The movies are another story. I liked those. *nods*

—Would you rather get buried alive or wake up during surgery????? (Saraina)—

*cackles* Someone asked this question!! So proud of you, Saraina. :P

So I am one of those weirdos who has always wanted a broken bone. (Which I got, but that’s another story for another time.) As such, I’ve also always wanted to have surgery, just to experience what it’s like... until a friend mentioned waking up during surgery and scared that thought straight out of my noggin. However, despite the distaste for waking up in surgery, I am pretty claustrophobic and being buried alive is my worst nightmare. So I would rather wake up during surgery. *nods*

Aaaand you just took three times as long to answer than you needed to, Joelle… *shakes head at self*

—What fictional character do you most relate to? (Saraina)—

ALL OF THEM. Oh. Ok, maybe not all. But lots. Obviously I relate to all of my characters. I’ve actually found that most of my characters are just embodiments of different aspects of my personality, with a few tweaks and quirks of their own. Otherwise, I find myself relating to Eowyn from LOTR a lot. Her quest for glory and thirst for adventure… yeah. I can also relate to Janner from TWFS a bunch. His struggle with selfishness was incredibly eye-opening, as was the battle between his protective streak and selfishness. Yep. Me in a nutshell. *nods*

—What do you look for in good Christian Friends? (Birds)—

You know, I never thought about this until you asked. XD Thank you.

First, someone who puts God before all else - before their dignity, their friends, their family, their ideas and desires and everything. Since I struggle so much with that, it’s helpful to have people who can nudge my eyes in the right direction. Second, someone who is not going to manipulate me or ask me to compromise my values for their personal gain. I tend to be an easily manipulated human to begin with, especially if you give me puppy eyes, but finding out that I let myself be manipulated so someone else could gain without caring if it hurt me is… yeah. I would be angry. Which doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I really struggle to control myself. XD

—Do you sleep with stuffed animals? (Birds)—

*cackles* I love this question.

As a kid, I only ever had stuffed animals to play games with late at night or tell stories with. So by the time I was eleven or twelve, I had met the page and found myself getting rid of all of them.

Until Christmas this year. >:)

My parents got me a stuffed penguin that you can heat up in the microwave, and I fell in love. And he’s infused with lavender! So as of December 25, 2022, yes, I sleep with a stuffed animal named Shakespeare. :P

—What are your hopes and dreams for the future? (Emma)—

Ooh, too many to write down. But mostly one of my biggest dreams is to get an email or letter from a reader that lets me know that all this work, all these prayers, all this heartache over my stories was used by God to bring someone closer to him.

And to have my books turned into an epic movie, but isn’t that every author’s dream? XD

—(And if no one else asks: Why are you a Christian? I would love to read your answer.) (Emma)—

This one took some thought, ngl, but I came to the conclusion that I became a Christian because of a couple reasons:

1. Because I realized that Jesus loves me, which made me love him (1 John 4:19)

2. Because I realized I was a broken, battered human and I wanted that to change

But as to why I’m still a Christian after all these years (I got saved at 9), there are many more reasons.

1. Because Jesus still loves me, so I still love him

2. Because my brokenness has become more and more apparent the longer I stay with him, and I can see how he’s changed me to be a better servant already

3. Because (and this is a selfish reason, honestly) I do not want to face life alone. Jesus promises to always be with us (Matthew 28:20), and with him in your life, you can never lose. (Philippians 1:21-22)

4. Because he wants me. As crazy and humbling and unlikely as it sounds, God - the one who made billions of stars so big our sun can’t even be seen next to them, much less our earth - wants me.

And you know what, reader? He wants you, too. He wants to take all of your twisted brokenness and turn it into something beautiful. He wants to restore you, to make you a new creation, to redeem you and save you. He loves you, and he wants you to love him back. The only question is… will you?

— What is your favorite genre to write in? (A.G.)—

FANTASYYYYY!!! I love the freedom of the genre and the whimsical anything that goes along with it. Plus, swords and boots. ‘Nuff said. XD

(To be fair, though, I haven’t written much in other genres. I’ve dabbled a bit in realistic/contemporary fiction and even some dystopian . But mostly I focus on YA/juvenile fantasy. *nods*)

—Why should Christian readers be forced to read the secular fare, since there are so little faith-writers bold enough to write popular fiction that is not ashamed to be associated with Christ Jesus? What are your thoughts? (Brian)—

Wow, Mr. Brian, you ask deep questions! *considers*

I wish Christians weren’t forced to read secular books, honestly. But I also know the hunger for stories that, especially if you live in a small town with a small library, will eventually run out. But that hunger doesn’t die with the supply of stories. So Christians turn to secular stuff and slowly get more and more pulled into it.

The first solution to this problem is obvious - LET’S WRITE SOME BOOKS!! But books take time - lots of time. So what do we do about it right. Now?

If you’re a hungering reader:

1. Write your own book. This option isn’t for everyone, but if you’re annoyed at the lack of quality Christian books in the market today, maybe you can do something about it. Write the kind of book you would like to see on the shelves. Not only will this fill up that time you would use reading, but it will also give you a vision for what kind of books to look for in the future. Even better, if you make sure it’s high-quality and then publish it, there’s another book on the shelves! *high-fives*

2. Support the authors that are trying. Anyone can do this with internet access. There are so many authors, bloggers, social media influencers, etc. out there who are fighting to bring light to our media. You can support them in more ways than just donating to their patreon or buying their book. Give them a follow! Recommend them to a friend. Read an ARC (advanced reading copy) of their book and give them your feedback. There are so many ways to support the authors out there who are working to bring the books you want to you. They just need a boost. ;) (Also, if you’re reading this, it appears you are already doing that by supporting me. Thank you!! *hugs*)

3. Broaden your horizons. Again, a tip that isn’t for everyone. Some people already have their horizons as broad as they can go. But if you’re like me a few years ago, then you have hundreds of clean books at your fingertips if you’ll just look beyond the stereotypes of the genre and try it. For example, the genre of Christian fantasy has a horde of books that are either low-quality and boring/shoving-messages-down-your-throat-that-don’t-belong-there, or not Christian at all and full of all sorts of nasty stuff. But have you ever tried reading Christian biographies? If you get the right book, biographies can be every bit as fun as fantasy: stories about a woman who decided to rescue kidnapped girls at the risk of everything she worked for. Stories of a blind horse that helped abused kids learn to heal. Stories of a man who sacrificed his very life to help people abandoned by the rest of the world. Not a biography person? Maybe you’ll surprise yourself. This applies to other genres too: lots of historical Christian romance out there (though admittedly I’ve found a lot of it to be quite cringey). Try some contemporary fiction. Mysteries. Dystopian. Sci-fi. Reach farther and you’ll find all sorts of good stuff.

Yeah that was a gihugic answer… heh… Congrats if you read all that! *showers you in milkshakes*

—Why can't there be a Christian Manga novel? (Brian)—

This one took a bit of research. From what I’ve read, I think there can be Christian Manga novels and there is a need for them. Manga is defined as a comic book or graphic novel from Japan - essentially the print version of anime (which I haven’t seen yet). The genres within Manga are defined by their target audiences, and the adult books definitely look dark and dirty. But if you could get a Christian Manga novel published without all of the inappropriate stuff in the adult genre… that would be quite the light in a dark place.

—How long have you been writing? (Annabelle)—

Uh… *does math* 8 or 9 years. But I only started to seriously write about four years ago. *nods*

—What do you like to do besides writing? (Annabelle)—

People!! I am an extroverted writer (it’s actually not an oxymoron XD) so if I need a break from writing, my favorite thing would be to go hang out with friends and do something active, like volleyball or ninja or hiking. I also enjoy just talking to people, be it over email or text or in person. And walking. I love long walks, with myself or otherwise. I play piano and sing a bit as well, which always boosts my mental energy so I can go back and write some more. :P Ooh, and reading! Love reading. *happy sigh*

—What was the first thing you have written? (And could you post it xD?) (A.K.)—

0_0 I’m not sure that should ever see the light of day ever again. XD It was called Jaguar Fun, a 10-page story about a family of jaguars with no real plot or theme. Or proper punctuation. *fp* We don't talk about that story.

—What kind of music do you listen to? (A.K.)—

All sorts, as long as it’s clean! The only thing I don’t listen to is rock. That stuff gives me a headache. XD My favorites are soundtracks (‘specially James Newton Howard’s stuff), Christian acoustic (‘specially Andrew Peterson and Gray Havens), and some Christian pop (Jamie Grace). Someone else asked for some of my favorite songs, so here’s one from each of those.

The Christening by James Newton Howard

Ghost of a King by Gray Havens

Hold Me by Jamie Grace

I was also recently introduced to this album by Sarah Sparks, and am thoroughly in love - especially with Blood for Blood, Eustace Scrubb, and Shasta's Complaint. *nods* Listen to it if you've read Narnia.

—Who is your favorite character from LOTR? (Ava)—

*gasps in horror* DON’T MAKE ME CHOOOOOSE!!!

*huffs* Fiiiiiiiine. I’ve never been able to decide between Sam and Aragorn, though Eomer and Faramir (from the books, not the movies) both come pretty close too. Ooh, and Merry and Pippin are always a hoot. And we can’t help but love Legolas. And Gimli! We love comic relief. XD

—If the whole world was listening to you for 30 seconds, what would you say? (Ava)—

Honestly, I’d probably stutter and then blurt out a bunch of stuff that makes no sense to anyone else. XD But with time to prepare, I would probably do my fumbling best to share the Gospel in thirty seconds. And then probably die of relief once it was over. XD

—What's your middle name? (Pseudonym middle name counts :D) (Lorelei)—

*snickers* Joelle. Not even kidding! Joelle is my real-life middle name, which is why I’m using it as a pseudonym. Plus it’s pretty and I like it. XP

—What's the creepiest thing you've ever done? (Lorelei)—

Uh… I have no idea. XD I don’t do a lot of creepy things. Probably face my nightmares. I’m a lucid dreamer, which essentially means I am aware that I’m dreaming when I’m asleep, and thus have a limited amount of control over my dreams. It also means my dreams are incredibly vivid and run primarily by emotion so strong it feels like its eating you whole. Nightmares for me become nightmares when the terror becomes so strong I lose control. I know what’s going to happen but I can’t stop it, essentially. But another plus of lucid dreaming is that you’re able to wake yourself up from dreams, which I usually end up doing when things take on a nightmarish quality. But there was this series of nightmares with Gollum stalking me and I got sick of it. So I stayed in my dream and fought to retake control. It took a few gos, but eventually I was able to get any dreams with Gollum in them under control and shift them from nightmares to slightly-scary-and-unnerving-but-ok dreams.

Yes, that is seriously the creepiest thing I’ve done. XD

—What is your favorite part of the writing process? (Rebekah)—

I’m kinda a loner in this, but I really enjoy editing. XD I know, it’s crazy. The actual writing part gets frustrating to me and is exhausting in all its pleasure after a while, and plotting is my worst enemy because I know my characters are going to shanghai the plot at their first chance anyway and I’ll have to wrestle them down for the rest of the story. But yeah. Editing is fun ‘cause I’m fixing things and I love fixing things. ^_^

—Who is your most murderous character? Most friendly character? Character you'd trust to save you from falling off a cliff? (Rebekah)—

I love this question. *cackles*

Most murderous… it kinda depends on the circumstances. But in general, that would be Amalek, my villain. He doesn’t kill a lot, but he’s not afraid to. Most friendly is definitely Anah. She’s the embodiment of friendly. XD As for the one I’d trust to save me from falling off a cliff… oof. Gilead would try, but he’s blind so he’d probably miss me and fall as well. XD Anah again, I think… or my MC’s dad, Javan. Myra, my MC, would probably freeze up. And Irad would let me fall if he didn’t like me. XD

—Favorite place you’ve visited? (Mayim)—

Arizonaaaaa!!! The desert there is gorgeous, people. And it’s warm!! I love warm! And the people are nice. And they have cool cactus!

—Favorite age? (Mayim)—

Twelve, hands down. I loved twelve so much that I cried on my birthday ‘cause I didn’t want to leave it. XD

—What kind of dinosaur would you like to ride if possible? (Rose)—

Ooh, this question was hard to answer. I think I’d go with pterodactyl, though. I’ve always wanted to fly, and having a flying dinosaur to ride would make that come true. *nods*

—If you could shapeshift into your characters but only your characters, who would you spend the most time looking like? (Rose)—

Is it weird to say that I would pick Irad? He’s one of my male characters. But imagine how confusing it would be to my family if I woke up, shifted into a boy, and walked out of my bedroom? XD Especially if I got to go meet Irad looking like a doppelganger. >:)

Yes I am this weird

—What is your why as a blogger and a writer? (Micah)—

To glorify God and reach people for him, in a nutshell. I have been given a gift, and I want to use it to show the kind of joy that comes with a relationship with my Savior. I want to inspire others to look up. To have them stare at that one line on a page that seems like it was written just for them. To have them learn that they are loved by the God who made the universe and every bacteria in it. Plus, I’m 90% sure that God is leading me towards being a writer. And telling God “no” never works for very long. XD

—Do you hunt or fish? (Maggie)—

Uh… nope. Heh. I’m waaay too much of a softie for that. I have fished before, especially when I was younger, but now the knowledge that I just took a living thing that feels pain and hooked it through the mouth, then left it bleeding in the water trying to get away until I was ready to go home - and all for fun, not because I need the food - makes me cringe. *shakes head* I’m not opposed to hunting and fishing. I just… can’t do it myself without crying my eyes out. XD

—How old are you? (Maggie)—

Oop, here’s one of those questions I’m going to decline answering exactly for privacy reasons. ;) But I will say that I’m between the ages of 10-30. ;P

---

Author's note: Because I got so many fantastic questions, I decided to forgo my 30-question rule and add a bonus five: five more questions that I just couldn’t pass up because, a) I think you’d enjoy the answers; or b) I would enjoy answering them. :P So buckle up for these bonus questions! They’re awesome. :P

---

—Most embarrassing mistake you have made? (Birds)—

Oh, we could be here for a very long time if I told you all my stories. I’m usually not embarrassed about things I do in the moment, but looking back at them I definitely get embarrassed over myself and my behavior. I think the only time I was embarrassed in the moment was after I climbed a tree in the dark at camp one summer to catch a counselor who was being annoyingly invisible, though my team and I could hear him. I love trees, don’t get me wrong. Climbing is second nature to me. But halfway up I got my hair snagged on something in the dark and, when I couldn’t detangle it, I just snapped the thing off and left it in my hair while I tagged the counselor and climbed out of the tree.

The most embarrassing part isn’t even that there was a whole nest of sticks and pine needles in my hair when we got back into the light to see, or that it took six girls to get it out of my hair and the counselor we caught was laughing his head off the whole time. Honestly, for me, the most embarrassing part was after the counselor had gotten out of the tree and I was coming down. We were running out of time to turn him in for points and coming down out of a tree is a lot slower than going up. My sister, who was on my team, said that she and the other teammate should just take the counselor to the turn-in point and come get me after they were done (they had the flashlight and the ground was rough, so jumping in the dark would not end well). But in a flash of cowardice I said no - I’d be down soon.

We missed the turn-in by about thirty seconds because of that. And that counselor we caught? He was worth 5,000 points - five times as much as the other counselors.

-_-

—Which character of yours would you like to be roommates with? (Rose)—

Ooh, I love this question!! *debates* I’m going to have to go with Anah again. She’s the crazy extrovert who would kinda just take me under her wing and make sure I didn’t kill myself doing something reckless. :P And I think we’d get along spectacularly. Plus the levels of hyperness that would occur would be legendary with both of us feeding off of each other. XD

—What do you consider to be the most embarrassing story you've ever written? (Ava)—

*moans* More questions about embarrassment…

I wrote this one story one morning when I was… IDK, probably 12 or 13. It started out as a David & Goliath retelling in a pirate setting and was going great when it took a darker turn. I think Goliath ended up beating David and eating him. 0_0 I kinda just stared at the words that had come out of my pen and thought, “Holy smokes, that is dark. And wrong. So so wrong.”

Then I scribbled it out and would have burnt the story were it not in a notebook that had a bunch of other important stuff in it.

And that was my first taste of the strange, dark places a writer’s mind can go if they don’t keep a handle on it.

—If you could visit one place before you died, what place would you visit? (Rebekah)—

MIDDLE-EARTH HANDS DOWN!! Unless you mean real life places. If you do, then obviously Hobbiton in New Zealand. 😏

And we’ll end this with a more serious, important question from Saraina:

—What are your favorite passages of Scripture/verses that have really impacted you? (Saraina)—

Oh goodness there are a lot. I have always loved Psalm 139, especially verses 7-10. John 15:13 is my favorite verse in the Bible. But as for impact… I’m going to have to go with Isaiah 41:10. Teenage years are hard, you guys. There’s pain and fear and battles with yourself over the smallest things. There’s uncertainty and what seems to be failure and strained relationships as you try and figure out what in the world is going on.

But God is an anchor in the middle of all of those storms. Here. I’m gonna share the verse with you.

“...fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Here’s the thing he showed me. Life is rough. There are ups and downs emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. But you know what? Through it all, God is shaping you, holding you, with you. And you don’t have to be afraid of yourself or of the change coming or of failure. Adonai, the Lord of the Universe; Shaddai, the Almighty One; Elohim, our three-in-one God; he is with us. He is here. And he is stronger than any of the struggles that you’re facing. Stronger than that dark side of you that you just can’t seem to beat. Stronger than your fears or “failures”. So learn to lean on him, dear reader. He’ll grant you his strength. He’ll help you.

Do not be dismayed. Take courage. Pursue God and all the wonders he has prepared for you.

And you know what else you should do?

Smile while you still have teeth. ;)

-Joelle