Sarah Arthur
11 min read ⭑
“There’s no answer for suffering. No coherent thesis, arguments, or conclusion. It’s just an inexplicable, cruel thief. Maybe that’s why I’ve made the turn to writing fiction. No more Answer Girl. Just stories. Just characters navigating this wild and baffling life.”
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
I can’t remember when exactly my husband and I first discovered The English Inn in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, near Lansing, where we live. But it’s pure magic. Built by one of the auto barons of the 1920s, the Tudor-style country manor house on the Grand River has been converted into an elegant restaurant and bed-and-breakfast with beautiful antiques, ornate fireplaces, gorgeous wood paneling, and fabulous food.
Given all this, you’d think it’d be out of our price range. Still, the Inn has the best-kept secret in three counties: the cozy Dickens Pub near the kitchens on the bottom floor with affordable pub food like fish-n-chips.
We’ve celebrated many special events there, including anniversaries, birthdays, and book contracts. But my favorite time was when I drove out there one summer afternoon and walked through the shady gardens down to the river. It was quiet and peaceful, the sun sparkling on the water, birds chattering away. I sat on a rock and waited. Within a few minutes, I heard voices, the clunk and splash of paddles. And then, around the riverbend, my husband came in a canoe with our young sons. They pulled up to shore as planned, and we went up to the Inn for lunch. Afterward, they resumed their trip while I enjoyed tea on the veranda.
Since my debut novel, Once a Queen, is set at a country manor house in the West Midlands, U.K., the Inn has often inspired this Midwestern writer. Best of all, there’s a huge painting of a white stag on the landing of the grand staircase—which couldn’t be more pertinent for my story, as readers will discover!
Ricky Kharawala; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also help you find essential spiritual renewal?
When I was a young child, my family lived with my grandparents in northern Michigan while my dad commuted to grad school downstate. One year, my grandpa—a masterful carpenter and woodworker—spent several months secretly building something in his basement woodshop. On Christmas morning, I was told to close my eyes, and when I opened them, there on the coffee table was my very own dollhouse!
After that, every Christmas, I could expect some new installment of beautifully crafted miniature furnishings and accessories—not the clunky, mass-produced stuff, but truly exquisite works of art. Eventually, my younger sister, too, received a dollhouse. In time, more buildings were added to what became a growing village, like a train layout. Kids would ask to come over just to look at it.
Most of my miniatures are in storage now. But recently, I’ve become enchanted with those mini lighted scenes that tuck between volumes on your bookshelves. So I decided to make my own. Using a narrow cardboard box, fairy lights, wallpaper scraps, and some of those original furnishings, I’ve recreated one of the imaginary rooms in my novel’s English manor house: an Edwardian “study” complete with fireplace, chandelier, bookshelves, rocking chair, ornate desk, and a tiny quill pen made from a real feather. When I need to be inspired, I turn on the fairy lights, turn off everything else, and simply breathe.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?
Anxiety is not my friend. It never has been. But after I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer five years ago, my ability to manage it was blown to shreds. Usually, I could talk myself out of illogical fears and worst-case scenarios (e.g., statistically speaking, the odds of my children getting gunned down at school are minuscule—my brain knows this). But after my diagnosis—when the worst-case scenario actually happened—I could no longer rely on the question, “What are the odds?” While, in the past, I would’ve clung to Scriptures about the “peace that passes all understanding,” I now found myself crying out, “My God, my God…”
After consulting with my doctor and therapist—both Christians—it became clear that I needed help. My usual coping skills were no longer working.
So I was prescribed medication. This wasn’t an admission of defeat. This wasn’t flunking at being some kind of spiritual superhero. Rather, it was acknowledging my very human limitations, my permanently altered life, by letting my friends offer the strengths of their professions. It was realizing that I could love the Lord my God with all my mind by welcoming the gifts of medical science to bring stability. I don’t have to bear all this alone.
It’s been a game-changer. Anxiety is still there in the background, but I’m no longer swimming in it, no longer getting dragged under. I was thrown a lifeline by some very wise and loving people, and I’m glad I took it.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, talked about creativity as a holy calling. We write or paint or design things because we can’t help it, because we’re made in the image of the Maker. Often, we don’t even know where an idea for a new work comes from. It just shows up and asks to be created. And we have the marvelous, terrifying opportunity to be like a doula assisting at a birth to be, as Madeleine described, a “servant of the work.”
For me, the work is stories. Ever since I was a little girl, I couldn’t not invent characters. They practically ran up and shook my hand. I drew timelines and maps, architectural layouts and family trees, character sketches and entire scenes. I filled spiral-bound notebooks in longhand until I got my first (yes, first!) computer after college.
I don’t know when “serving the work” became such a challenge—probably when I got my first job and monthly bills. But the creative life was always there in the background, waiting to be served. And the longer I ignored it, the more I felt like I was losing a vital part of myself. Even worse, I felt like I was sinning, failing to do the thing God had made me to do.
Now that writing is my job, you’d think it’d be simple. But no, I still have to show up. I still have to push aside external demands, say “no” to other commitments, and put the creative life first. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but truly the most beautiful and rewarding.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
More than 90% of the time, if I waited for my creative muse to appear before I sat down and wrote, I wouldn’t write. For me, the Holy Spirit shows up in the daily practices that constitute the writing life. Sitting my butt in the chair. Clearing my desk. Turning off notifications. Attending to my characters. Making sense of the plot. Pushing my craft to be more excellent rather than relying on tired tropes or outworn metaphors.
Granted, sometimes the entire outline of a story will fall into place all at once. Or I’ll have a fantastic night’s sleep, an excellent cup of coffee on a sunny morning, and suddenly I’m off to the races, writing like a champ. And at those moments, I have to treat writing like a bountiful harvest that needs attention before it rots or the rains come. But the rest of the time, I’m doing the boring stuff: tilling, planting, weeding, watering, and waiting.
This is all the stuff God does in our lives, too. The sheer ordinary dailiness of the creative process is right there in Genesis: “There was evening, and there was morning. Another day.” It’s not all a volcano of inspiration. But God is in it, and the more I pay attention, the more I can see my work shimmer with the hidden glory of something new being born.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you right now?
Lately, I’ve been practicing the spiritual discipline of not having all the answers.
This is a huge challenge for me. I rocked academia: salutatorian in high school, magna cum laude in college, 4.0 in grad school. Those institutions told me I could change the world. I published 12 nonfiction books in 15 years, each time carrying a thesis and supporting arguments through all 300-ish pages to a (hopefully) transformative conclusion. I’ve spoken around North America, taught the Bible and theology in church settings for nearly 30 years, directed entire youth ministry programs, and answered my young sons’ spiritual questions without breaking a sweat.
But then cancer.
I was like Job in the Bible. There’s no answer for suffering. No coherent thesis, arguments, or conclusion. It’s just an inexplicable, cruel thief.
Maybe that’s why I’ve made the turn to writing fiction. No more Answer Girl. Just stories. Just characters navigating this wild and baffling life. My main character in Once a Queen is a teen girl whose family relationships are fraught and whose grandmother’s brokenness seems to damage everything. My girl wants to fix it. But that’s not how life works. She doesn’t get to resolve anyone else’s story.
That’s what I’m learning right now. How to talk less and just simply be there. Sit with my friends in their suffering. Say, “Oh, honey,” and “That’s hard,” and “I’m here.” Listen. Love. I’m not super good at it yet, but I’m trying.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top-three resources stand out to you? What changed the game and changed your heart?
Three resources have been my go-to for inspiration and soul-searching—and, not incidentally, they’re connected.
First is a free daily prayer app my husband and I have used for years called Pray As You Go. It begins with a featured music selection, followed by a brief intro to the day’s Scripture reading. The passage is read aloud. Through insightful questions and prompts, the listener is invited to practice the art of noticing and wondering about the text. Then the passage is read a second time. Finally, the listener is taken deeper into reflection on what the passage might be saying to them about God, themselves, and the day ahead. All told, it takes about 12 minutes.
This format of engaging with Scripture is known as lectio divina, which is Latin for “holy reading.” It’s an ancient process of listening to a passage more than once, slowing down to contemplate and reflect. Anyone can learn how to incorporate lectio divina into their daily spiritual practices. That’s the second resource that was a total game-changer in my spiritual life.
The third I discovered while listening to the app. One day, the music absolutely stopped me in my tracks. It was moody and atmospheric and without lyrics, almost like a film score for a story that walks right on the edge of heartbreak. For whatever reason, it fit my interior world exactly. I immediately looked up the artist. His name is Tony Anderson. Discovering his work was like walking into a house where everything was designed specifically for me by some unseen patron. So now, whenever I need music to help me stay in the writing flow, it’s almost always his.
We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times—times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.
I’m obsessed with word games. And I don’t mean sitting at the kitchen table solving crossword puzzles by myself. I love playing word games with my two boys, ages 13 and 10.
It began with my parents. They’ve been doing The New York Times mini crossword and Spelling Bee at breakfast together for years. So when we’re visiting them, it’s hard to resist when my dad says, “Okay: A top film this year, six letters, starts with B.” Barbie, of course! The boys now beg to do the games at home—plus, we’ve added Wordle, Connections, Letterboxed, and more.
Every day, my sons expect me to wait to play till they get home from school. (Yes, my middle school boys, who also play soccer and basketball and Minecraft!) And they’re wickedly good at it. Their vocabulary is outrageous. We’ve set goals: the mini crossword in under a minute, Wordle in three guesses or less, Connections with no mistakes, and so on. Celebrating the crazy language we’ve been given is one of the ways that we, together, practice loving the Lord our God with all our minds.
But it’s not the games I’m obsessed with, of course. It’s this fleeting time I have with my children. It’s their warm bodies pressed up against mine, their bright minds like flames lighting up the world. Every moment is a gift. And when I’m old, I hope they’re still playing word games with me across the miles just so I can hear their beautiful voices.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
Writing fiction is my first love, the work of my heart, the call of God upon my life. I’m still in awe that I get to do it every day, that it’s my actual job. Not only did I get to write one book, Once a Queen, but I get to write two sequels! I’m living the life!
But holy moly, it’s terrifying. The first book took me 20 years, my friends. Twenty. And now I have to write the second, Once a Castle, in a matter of months. I’m halfway, but I’ve hit a wall. All my insecurities, all my doubts, all my battles with imposter syndrome—they’re all telling me I can’t do this twice. I’m a one-hit wonder. What was I thinking? I should’ve known that ambition isn’t good for me. Just pack up and find a different job.
And then my newly minted teenager wanders in. He plops down on the futon in my office, observes me not typing, and frowns. And he asks, “When are you going to read us the next chapter? I want to know what happens to Jack. Will Arash ever speak? And who is Zahra, anyway?” He and his brother have come to expect a new installment of Once a Castle before bed every night because this is what we do. To them, I’m no imposter; I’m the resident bard who owes them a story.
So write, I must. Even if these two boys were my only readers in the wide world, it’d be worth it. But as a holy calling? Even better.
When you think about creativity, what comes to mind? A sudden flash of inspiration? A special gift given to only a few? A gorgeous, finished work of art?
Sure, creativity can feel spontaneous and otherworldly. But more often than not, as Sarah described earlier, creativity’s most important ingredient is discipline. Being willing to put in the work instead of waiting for inspiration to strike.
What habits could you implement to foster more creativity in your life?
Sarah Arthur is a fun-loving speaker and the author of a dozen books for teens and adults, including the bestselling Walking with Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ Among other nerdy adventures, she has served as a preliminary fiction judge for Christianity Today’s Book Awards, was a founding board member of the annual C. S. Lewis Festival in northern Michigan, and co-directs the Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreats. She lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband and two tween sons. Once a Queen is her long-awaited debut YA novel, the first in a series.
