 Have you ever wished you could sit down with a successful author and ask the secrets to their success? We did! In this interview, Sarah Sundin talks about creating characters that feel alive, her writing rituals . . . and more! Sarah Sundin is a bestselling author of World War II novels, including Midnight on the Scottish Shore and Embers in the London Sky. Her novel Until Leaves Fall in Paris received the 2022 Christy Award, and The Sky Above Us received the 2020 Carol Award. A mother of three adult children, Sarah lives in Southern California, where she and her husband traipse the trails with their rescue dogs. Sarah teaches Sunday school and enjoys speaking for church, community, and writers’ groups. She serves as co-director for the West Coast Christian Writers Conference. Keep reading to discover Sarah's insider keys!    What rituals or tools help you stay productive without burning out? What helps me the most is being stubbornly intentional about including nonwriting elements in my life. My morning walk is non-negotiable—it clears my mind and combats the health dangers of a sedentary career. My quiet time with the Lord is essential. And I make sure I spend time with family and friends—from playing with my grandchildren to small group to a monthly lunch with the ladies on my cul-de-sac to teaching Sunday school. I need these times away from my work and protect them. What's your secret to creating characters that feel alive and unforgettable? Do you start with backstory, flaws, or something else? Characters are my favorite part of writing and are the heart of story. I’m an extreme outliner, meaning I plan out most of my story before I start my rough draft. Characters are the first thing I explore in my outlining. I go in with a vague sense of what the hero and heroine are like, but now I dig deep. I have a lengthy questionnaire that goes from the outside in—appearance, health, family, backstory, education, employment, talents, habits, values, and personality. Then I ask about their goals—and what interferes with those goals—all of which arise from what I discovered earlier. I always find exciting and surprising insights during this process. How do you balance writing with the business side—marketing, social media, or day jobs—and still protect your creative energy? First, I’m a full-time writer with an empty nest. My routines were far different when I was a part-time pharmacist carting kids from school to soccer to ballet! I believe it’s vital for a writer to find the time of day when they are most creative and block it off for writing if possible. Since I am not a morning person, I protect my afternoons for writing, which includes outlining and editing. In the mornings, I run errands, go to Bible study, and do my marketing and social media. Sometimes the business side of life leaks into the afternoon, but I avoid it whenever I can.  Need an expert critique of your query letter, synopsis, novel/manuscript, or nonfiction book proposal? We have you covered. Check out our critique options and many success stories who found literary agents after working with us. After years in the industry, what keeps you excited about fiction writing? The same thing that made me give up pharmacy for writing in the first place—the stories! The characters whose stories need to be told! Dialogue playing in my head! History that begs to be shared. I absolutely love fiction writing. Every writer faces self-doubt. What’s a moment in your career when you questioned your work the most, and how did you overcome? Ten years passed between when I first started writing and when my first novel was published. In the middle lay five solid years of rejection. At the end of those five years—although I didn’t know it was near the end, of course—I entered a contest and received such negative feedback that I truly wondered if I was wasting my time. I’d already submitted that same piece to a writers conference for an editor to review. I overcame by praying and reviewing all the reasons I knew God wanted me to write and all that he’d done in my life because I’d been obedient to the call to write. My family and writing friends helped give me perspective as well. Ironically, that very submission went to an editor at Revell Books and resulted in my first contract. I’m so thankful I didn’t give up. What’s the hardest storytelling lesson you’ve learned—perhaps a technique or perspective you initially resisted—and how did embracing it elevate your fiction? Understanding story structure. At one of the first writers conferences I attended, Lauraine Snelling taught about the hero’s journey and recommended Christopher Vogler’s classic The Writer’s Journey. I read it over and over. I applied it in retrospect to the novels I’d already written and saw their biggest flaws and strengths. Since then, I’ve incorporated story structure into my outlining process. When crafting a novel, how do you decide which themes or messages to weave in without making the story feel preachy or heavy-handed? Although I usually start my rough draft having a sense of theme, it often shifts as I write. Theme comes organically from the characters’ emotional story arc, what they need to learn in order to overcome. As I get to know the characters more in the rough draft, the theme becomes clearer and I find Bible verses or stories that reinforce that theme. Since my primary spiritual gift is teaching, I keep reminding myself I’m writing a novel, not a Bible study, and I actively work to make it subtle and natural. My critique partners and editors help with this too. Looking back, what’s one choice you made early in your career—about your writing, publishing, or mindset—that you credit for your longevity as an author? Developing a community of writers. This wasn’t a decision I made but one I fell into by attending conferences. I quickly learned that writing friends were essential, ones ahead of me on the path, ones walking beside me, and ones following behind. This profession is odd, draining, and discouraging, and most of us don’t have real-life friends who understand. They either dismiss it as strange or overly romanticize it—“My friend the famous author!” But writing friends get us. They understand our fears and frustrations and joys in ways no one else can, and they provide the encouragement and truth-telling we need. If you could leave one word of advice for future writers, what would it be? Attend writers conferences. Disclaimer—I co-direct a writers conference. But I do so because I believe so strongly in them. Conferences provide great teaching, connections to industry professionals, and most importantly—that community we need.  This post was complied by Brandy Vallance, a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency, an award-winning author, and a Story Consultant for Writing Day Workshops. Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her novel, THE COVERED DEEP, has been featured in USA Today & Writer’s Digest. WITHIN THE VEIL has been called “passionate and riveting” and Publisher’s Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.” Brandy loves helping writers break the chains of fear and self-doubt. You can find out more at brandyvallance.com.  Attend a Writers Conference in 2026:
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