More of Interview with Donna Sundblad

Did you run into any problems getting this book published?

When I wrote this book, I didn't think it would be published. I wrote it because I knew it was a story I needed to tell…even if it was just for me. I finished it in 2006, and my publisher at the time was epress-online. They did not accept "religious" stories. Even though I wrote it in a way that avoids being religious, that's still the category in which it falls. I had some interest in it from other publishers, but nothing ever solidified.

In 2010 the acquisitions editor at epress said she didn't consider The Inheritance religious and wanted to go forward with it. To make a long story short, that editor experienced serious health issues and the publishing process slowed to a crawl. I thought it would be out for Christmas of 2010, and instead it was still in the production process. In the spring of 2011 the book finished the editing process and was in set up, and the editor who had accepted the book passed away.

The editor-in-chief took over and thought the book held real promise, but she ended up having health issues, too. She published it on May 31, 2011 as an ebook so it could be entered in the Epic for Authors competition. It hadn't been proofread, and that concerned me.

Proofing finished up a couple of months later, and the editor-in-chief and founder of the company passed away unexpectedly and the publisher closed their doors. The book stood at the threshold of publication and I started to pray about what to do next. Then I received news that it was a finalist in for a 2012 Epic eBook Award! This nomination pushed me to make a choice. I put the book out on Kindle, to stay in the competition. Since the book was edited and ready for publication, I decided to move forward and publish in print, too.


Did you know you were meant to write when you were still a child?
I have always enjoyed making up stories. I was the oldest of seven children, and often made up stories on long car trips to entertain my siblings. In eighth grade I wrote poetry that was published in our year book, and in high school I had a teacher who encouraged me to write. My father wrote, too. I don't remember not having the desire to write. It is part of who I am.


There is an amazing amount of time and effort that goes into writing a book. How do you manage to find the time if you have a full-time job, as well as family and friends that demand your attention?

When I wrote The Inheritance, I was working a full time job. I had put writing on hold while I raised my kids, and life continued to make demands and I never pursued it. When my 50th birthday approached, it was like God said, "What are you waiting for to use the gift I've given you? Waiting until your 70?"

I signed up for some online writing classes at Writer's Village University, and started to set goals to fit writing into my schedule. My first goal was to write for 20 minutes four days a week. Once I started doing that, I found I had more time than I thought. It wasn't unusual for me to wake up at 4:00 in the morning with characters playing on the stage of my mind's eye. I'd get up and write before everyone else woke up. My writing grew and my goals grew to accommodate my dream. I had so many writers asking me how I got done all I did that I started a group called The Finish Line, to help others learn how to set goals and be accountable.