Tosca Lee Interview Part 2 and Two-Book Giveaway!

We continue our interview today with the incomparable Tosca Lee, author of Demon: A Memoir and Havah: the Story of Eve.

Jen: Have any of your beliefs changed or been challenged as you researched your books?

Tosca: Yes. For me that is an intensely personal question, with an intensely personal answer. I won’t go into the details, but it boils down, again, to grace. To a life apart from the religiosity that is us, and to learning to truly embrace the grace that is God. I used to be extremely legalistic. I had a lot of answers. Today I have fewer answers. I know a lot less, and I have many more questions. And God amazes me more and more. It’s almost as though He was waiting for me to let go of my neatly packaged version of Him to reveal His wild self. God is a WILD God. We do ourselves—and Him—a great disservice when we think we’ve got our minds around I Am.

Jen: Please explain why you said the worst writing advice you’ve received is, “Write what you know.” Everyone tells us to write what we know. How can that be wrong?

Tosca: For me, writing what I know would limit me to tales of errand-running and laundry-folding, airplane-sleeping, and life-fretting. That’s what I know. What I don’t know, still, is how big God is. Is how great grace is. How someone goes on after the mistake of a lifetime. Why someone would betray his mentor and friend. What happens when we leave the safe mundane of our lives. Those are the things I write to learn.

Jen: Speaking of advice, we’d like some. What can you tell us that you wish someone had told you when you first began writing?

Tosca: Writing is hard. It is not glamorous. It is as difficult and dirty as blood-letting. You have to be honest. You have to weep and fear and kick. And come back again. It might be best not to write if you can help it. But if you can’t not do it… then write. Breathe your raw breath. Don’t make it perfect—just real.

Jen: Tosca, I so appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. May the Lord richly bless your life as you write for Him, your Audience of ONE.

For a chance to win a newly-released copy of Demon: A Memoir, which includes characters named after me and my husband--no joke!--or Havah: the Story of Eve, please leave a comment for Tosca* and your email address at the end of this post. Please say which book you prefer. If you’d rather buy a copy of Demon or Havah, go to http://www.toscalee.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/

*I want comments on this post that I can forward to Tosca, to put in her “encouragement file” for days when she needs a soul battery charge. That is why I'm requesting this as part of your entry.

You have until Saturday, August 7 at midnight to enter. I will draw a name on Sunday afternoon and post the winners then. Thanks for joining us!

News from Tosca:

 Here's a quick update for your blog readers: Havah is free for a couple weeks as a B&N download and readable on most e-readers here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Havah/Tosca-Lee/e/9781433671777/?itm=1

If any of your readers would like to read my devotion that ran today on Proverbs 31, it is here: http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2010/08/wild-god-extravagant-love.html