Tell us a little bit about your background and family.
Chris - I grew up in a “sort of” Christian home. My mother’s family had always gone to church, my mom (and me because I had to) followed suit. My dad did, became a deacon at one point, but started having sweating and anxiety in those situations and stopped going. My parents were more worldly than following the Lord is some ways. I would say for me I always believed but had a one-sided relationship with God - would run to him when I was in trouble - but finally started “getting it” in my mid twenties?
Rose - I grew up in a culturally Italian, Catholic family, but it was not a Christian home. My husband grew up going to a Baptist church. After we married, we both attended his church. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to God’s truth and I was like a sponge wanting to know everything. I would say I became a Christian in my mid 20’s, also.
How has your environment and upbringing coloured your writing?
Chris - My upbringing colored my writing because I understand what it’s like to know about God, even believe in Him, but not really “get it” for a long time. Life wasn’t always easy, even when it looked like it from the outside, so that’s flavored it also.
Rose - For me, growing up Catholic, even going to a Catholic college, when I realized all the idolatry and false teaching going on in the Catholic Church, it gave me a passion to, as our theme of Proverbs 9:10 Ministries says, “take out the trash of false teaching and replace it with Biblical Truth.” However, it also gave me compassion for those who are under false teaching. While I never compromise on Biblical Truth, I do try to be sensitive that for some hearing it for the first time, some can be hard truths, so I try to be sensitive to that.
Which of your childhood dreams was the first to die?
Chris -The first childhood dream to die was Being a rich businesswoman who traveled everywhere. I’m not rich, I’m not a businesswoman, but I do get to travel occasionally.
Rose - Being a romance novelist! Haha. I actually wrote a romance novel in my early 20’s. Praise the Lord it was never published because it was horrible! I would be mortified if it were out there in the published world somewhere.
How did you start off a career as a writer?
Chris - I had thought about writing a book at some point, made a few attempts at starting, but really started when we started writing Bible studies.
Rose - I have always loved writing. I always pictured myself writing fiction, but God had other plans. Now, there is nothing I love more than studying, teaching, and writing about God’s Word.
Where did you meet your husbands?
Chris - I met my husband, John, after I wrecked my car and needed a ride to work, so I had to sit on his lap to get there for three days because there was no other place to sit in the car.
Rose - While I was away on senior week, the printing company I worked for hired Ed for the summer. I know it sounds crazy, but the minute I met him I knew I was going to marry him.
Which book was the easiest to write and which one was the hardest?
Easiest was No Half Truths Allowed - Understanding the Complete Gospel Message and hardest was our new book, The Final Exodus - Deciphering the Book of Revelation. But we did Deciphering Revelation first as a series on our podcast, and put a lot of research into that. In fact, the reason we wrote the book was because we had studied and wrote for hundreds of hours and had a lot of extra material we couldn’t fit into the poccast.
How long did it take you to finish writing "The Bible Blueprint”?
The Bible Blueprint started out as “the Bible in Six.” It was a six hour conference we had put together and presented a few times where we went through the entire Bible in six hours. It was insane, and probably not very realistic because we had to rush as we got to the Epistles to finish in six hours. A friend said we need to put it in book form, so we did. And we have added a lot more to the book. So it’s tough to say how long it took. The conference took several weeks to put together. The book probably took an additional few months with all the read throughs we did.
On a normal day, how many hours do you typically spend writing? What are you doing during all your other hours?
That’s a tough question. We probably each spend at least 2 - 3 hours a day writing between our books and our podcast episodes. But before we even begin writing, we spend several hours studying, researching commentaries, and sometimes taking seminary classes. So all in all, its basically a full time job - although we would call it a privilege not a job.
What are some things you would do differently if you could go back in time to right before you wrote and published your book?
Another tough question because knowing God is sovereign over it all, everything happened just as it was meant to. But if we could change one thing, it would be to look up the current book punctuation rules before submitting our manuscript to our publisher. We didn’t know the there is now only 1 space after a period, so we put two as we grew up learning. The first edit came back with over 8,500 edits! Our poor editor had to revise every single sentence in the book and we had to approve every revision.
Besides 'writer's block', what are some frustrating things that can happen that can sap an author's creative juices or energy to write? How do you overcome that?
Biggest thing is getting your time hijacked. You sit down and plan to study and write for a few hours, and someone or something needs your attention. Next thing you know, you are sidetracked, your time is gone, and you haven’t written anything. But now, we’ve learned to expect them and try to just roll with it.
Do you think one can ever retire from writing? Would you?
We do not think you can, or should, retire from teaching God’s Word, so as long as God gives us a platform with our books, podcast, teaching at church, and / or speaking at women’s conferences and retreats, we will retire when we die!
What is the "Dimensions of the Faith" program about?
Dimensions of Faith is a fabulous online graduate, seminary program put out by Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. It has changed some since we graduated from it. It still has fabulous courses, but when we enrolled, it was a complete program with tests, discussion boards, and a final for each course. Upon successful completion, we were awarded a certificate. Now, they just offer the courses. But still worth taking! Reformed Theological Seminary and BiblicalTraining.org are also excellent resources to take graduated level seminary classes.
What is one TV show you absolutely cannot miss an episode of?
Neither of us watch much tv, to be honest. But (Chris) I would say I love watching Jeopardy. For me (Rose), the only tv show that I even bother watching is Masked Singer. I like that its just a singing competition - no politics, no liberal agenda.
Which is the next book you are writing? What is it about?
Our next book is "The Final Exodus - Deciphering the Book of Revelation,” due out Sept. 1. We are really excited about it and think it will speak to a lot of people, especially given the conditions and track of the United States and the world right now.
What marketing strategies do you find most helpful? How has AllAuthor helped you so far and would you recommend this platform to other authors?
Having an established ministry, Proverbs 9:10 Ministries, a podcast, “No Trash, Just Truth,” and a decent social media presence has helped in marketing a lot. We try to join similar Christian groups and interact with people - that has helped some. We’ve also done a couple of interviews on our podcast that has expanded our audience. All Author has been awesome! The mock ups and posts they have done for book has been incredible. We love the cover of the month contest. Even if you don’t win (which we haven’t) it still gets your book out to people who may not otherwise see it. We would definitely recommend All Author to other authors. The amount of promotion they give you for the price is very well worth it! We will be signing up again once our next book is released!
