INTERVIEW | Christy Barritt

Christy, describe yourself for our visitors.

Right now, my life mostly revolves around my five-month-old son, Eli Samuel. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. When I’m not taking care of him, I enjoy singing and playing the guitar. I was the worship leader at my church for several years. I was also in an independent Christian band for awhile. Just for fun, my friend and I watched the video of our CD release party over Thanksgiving. It brought back so many good memories! It was a fun chapter of my life. I also love spending time chatting over coffee with friends, taking crazy road trips that involve flipping a coin to determine where we’ll go next and playing with my dogs, Duchess and Benji.

How do you find time to connect with God?

This one has always been a hard one, but especially since Eli was born. One thing I do that always brings me close to God is praising him through song. Like I mentioned earlier, I play the guitar and sing. My favorite thing to go somewhere private where no one can hear me and just sing praise choruses to my Father in Heaven. Nothing recharges me or makes me feel closer to my Creator than that.

I also feeling strongly that connecting with God is something we can wherever we are. The book, Practicing the Presence of God, had a huge impact on me. It’s about talking to God wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. If I’m doing dishes, I can chat with God. As I’m singing my baby to sleep, I sing praises to God. Being with God isn’t just something that happens when you sit down with your Bible and twenty minutes of free time. I’m constantly reminding myself of that.
Tell us about your journey to publication.

I’ve always enjoyed writing. I started back in high school. By the time I graduated college, I’d written four books, none of which will ever see the light of day. I did, however, get a request for a full manuscript back in college, which was pretty exciting. My first career was working for a Christian publishing house as assistant editor. I put aside my writing for awhile to focus on my job there.

When my father became ill, I moved back home to help take care of him. That gave me the push I needed to start writing again. Putting my thoughts on paper also helped me emotionally as I watched my father deteriorate from Alzheimer’s and cancer.

I began freelancing for various magazines and newspapers. I had two books published with really small publishers. Then an editor sent me a proposal for a non-fiction book. That was a huge dream come true. That book became Changed: True Stories of Finding God in Christian Music, which was released last year. Then I got a contract for Hazardous Duty a couple of months later. I’m currently working on the second book in that series. It’s been six years since I started really pursing writing full-time.

Tell us about your current book?

My current book is Hazardous Duty. It’s about a crime scene cleaner who solves crimes. The heroine was on her way to completing a degree in forensics when a family situation forced her to drop out of college. In order to stay close to her love of forensics, she became a crime scene cleaner. The heroine, Gabby St. Claire, gets herself into a lot of fixes. She’s sassy, loves flip flops and snarky T-shirts, and she’s searching for a hope that’s real. She likes to test theories out on Petri dishes. There’s no science lab where she can prove God to be true, yet she has trouble stepping out on faith. Gabby’s on a spiritual journey and won’t accept any easy answers.

How did you come up with ideas for your current release?

I was writing for a publication for which I had to job shadow people in different careers. I saw on the list of “future careers to be covered” the job title “Crime Scene Cleaner.” As soon as I realized that was an actual career, the plot for a mystery novel began forming in my head. Gabby St. Claire was born shortly after. She hasn’t left me alone since.

List your most recent books.

I had a non-fiction title published last year called Changed: True Stories of Finding God in Christian Music. I also had a couple of novels (The Waiting and The Trouble with Perfect) published with very small publishers that had very little distribution. I have another non-fiction book coming out in 2007 (Changed 2) and I’m working on the second book in the Squeaky Clean series, The Grim Sweeper.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on various projects. One of my favorites is one called The Couch Potato’s Wife. It’s a cozy mystery that takes place in the town of Boring, Indiana. I also have another book being considered at a publishing house. I’d consider it the book of my heart. It’s called The Good Girl. Aside from writing books, I write a weekly feature for my local newspaper called Thumbs Up, which salutes someone doing something positive in the community. I also write for various other publications and speak to writers groups.

Where can visitors find you online?

Numerous places, so here goes:
• www.christybarritt.com
• www.willwrite4food.com
• www.faithchicks.com
• www.myspace.com/christybarritt

Thanks so much for the interview! God bless you!

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