Fiction Scribe

Hello and welcome to Fiction Scribe, Ms. Pinkston.

Let’s start with getting to know you a little better. List five things you feel define you as a person.

Naps
Movies
Books
Spending insane amounts of time on the computer
Loving my family

It sounds like you and I have a lot in common.

Where did the inspiration for Season of Sacrifice come from?

My main characters are my great-great-grandparents, and I’ve heard stories about them my entire life. Their experiences were incredible and they’re considered celebrities of early Utah history. When I came across the family history books that had been written about them, I knew I wanted to write their story but in a more personal way.

Season of Sacrifice touches on the subject of Mormonism. Were you worried (in writing and in publishing) about prejudice against the book for that fact alone?

Writing about Mormonism wasn’t an issue. I write for and in the Mormon/LDS market all the time. The concern came in the fact that my great-great-grandfather was a polygamist, and with the FLDS Church being so prevalent in the news right now, I was anxious that people understand the difference between the LDS Church, to which I belong, and the FLDS Church, which is an entirely different organization and has nothing to do with my church at all.

Unfortunately, those in the media have been trying to lump the two churches together and some of the backwash from the FLDS Church has been splashing on us, but they are two separate and distinctly different churches and while we feel compassion for those families who have been displaced, we don’t share the same ideologies. Anyone who practices modern-day polygamy in our church is promptly ex-communicated.

Benjamin Perkins, one of the main characters, is also your ancestor. What brought you to writing about his life? Was the task of breathing life into a man who had lived in comparison to a character of your creation daunting?

(I already answered some of this above)

You know, it was daunting and yet not. I wanted to write his character in such a way that it would honor him without making him seem too good to be true, and it was a challenge to represent him in a way that felt true to life. I never met him, so it was all guesswork and intuition. At the same time, because I had his life story and journal, it was fairly easy to construct him. It definitely was different from writing a character that was completely invented by me. I don’t have to worry about offending anyone with a misrepresentation when I invent the character myself.

What are your dreams for your writing? Where do you see yourself in five years both as a writer and as a person?

As a writer, I plan to have at least four more books completed. I’m not at my happiest unless I’ve got a project going. As a person, I’d like to be a little less insecure and a lot skinnier.

HAHA. I would like to be a lot skinnier and less insecure as well.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you have been given/learned in your life as a writer?

To take criticim. You’ve got to be willing to let others read what you’ve written, and then you’ve to to carefully analyze what they tell you.

Sometimes they’ll tell you something that just doesn’t fit with what you’re doing, but most of the time, their comments will have merit and you need to listen. I would not have accomplished anything without the help of the people who read for me. They save me from scads of silly mistakes.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

Just that it’s been a pleasure to meet them!

Thank you very much for coming by this blog. I wish you great successes with Season of Sacrifice.

Thank you for hosting me. I appreciate it.