Kathi Macias
Kim Ford 

Author Interview

Kim Ford Interviews Our Featured Cover Author
-Chris Fabry


Chris Fabry

Chris Fabry writes heartfelt stories that are deeply rooted in the human condition. His stories make readers aware of their need for God, while placing his characters square in the midst of some very difficult circumstances, circumstances that readers can relate to! He is now an award-winning author, and his future is bright with promise. His desire to show God’s love to his readers is the fuel of that promise!


It is indeed an honor to do a second interview with you! The last time we talked about your work, Dogwood was new on the shelves and you were working on Junebug. Now you have two Christy Awards and are working on a project that you deem “… perhaps my best, and I am praying [the characters] will make readers squirm and laugh and cry and want to run into the arms of God.”


Now that statement is exciting to your fans! Tell us what has happened in your life since Almost Heaven won a Christy and the ECPA fiction award.


I was overjoyed that Billy Allman’s story was so well-received. I wondered if everyone would give up on it because his life as I told it was filled with valleys and few mountains. But God has used it and I’m grateful. Personally, our family is still in Tucson, Arizona, recovering from our bout with toxic mold.


What is it like to have your stories named award winners? Does that affect your writing in any way?


There is a danger to believe the press releases. I’m no different winning an award than if I wasn’t recognized. And in some way there’s more pressure to “perform” and win again. But if I stay true to who God calls me to be, what He calls me to write, I can’t go wrong. I may not win another award, but that’s okay if I follow and obey Him.


Your latest release is A Marriage Carol, a Christmas book project with best-selling nonfiction author Gary Chapman.


Gary, my wife, and I work on a radio program called Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. I used a couple of scenarios we’ve talked about on the program and tried to write an imaginative story that would capture Christmas and a marriage on the rocks.


Why was it important to wrap this story around the holiday season?


Actually, Away with the Manger was my first Christmas book, but that was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Christmas is a romantic, nostalgic time. Capturing the warmth and love of this season, and juxtaposing that with the cold heart of a dead marriage was our task.


A Marriage Carol has several symbols in the story, such as snowflakes, a red door, and a very special door knocker; why were these important to the characters and the story?


That imagery is important. For example, the snow falling represent the daily choices we make to move toward or away from each other. And those choices pile up. The door knocker was Moody Publishers’ idea, and it was a good one!


What message do you hope people will receive from A Marriage Carol?


Hope. Hope for your marriage. Hope for your relationships that feel dead. It’s easier to walk away. It’s harder to stay but more rewarding. The best chance you have for a happy marriage is with the person you last said “I do” to.


You have over sixty published works to your credit, nine children who call you Dad, and you host a popular national radio show live every day. How does writing get done with your busy schedule? What does your writing day look like?


God changed me from a night writer to a morning writer years ago when I did a morning show in Chicago. When I began writing full time, I kept my morning radio schedule. In recent years I’ve gotten up a little later—but in the past few months I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to check our son who has Type 1 diabetes. Sometimes that’s 4 AM, sometimes it’s 3 AM, and I stay up and start my day then and hit the story. I journal and read Scripture, then dive into whatever story is spinning in my head.


Does your large family provide fodder for the grist mill of your imagination?


Always. My wife is a major character in the novel I’m working on now. I used a couple of my daughters in my next project to be published in February, Not in the Heart. My father died in August and that will probably work its way into a future project. Life is the best place for stories to grow.


You have said that the inspiration for Junebug was a seed planted as you observed an RV pulling into the Walmart parking lot. Where did you draw inspiration for A Marriage Carol? Why is this project is so special?


It was a Facebook message from a friend I went to school with at Moody Bible Institute. My wife and I were good friends with her and her husband. She told me the sad story of the breakup of her marriage, what her husband was doing now, how he had turned from God. I’ve had several of those types of conversations where people have said, “We’re not in love anymore.” So I used the form of the Dickens tale to see if I could jolt some couples. This story is a defibrillator to the heart of every marriage.


A Marriage CarolHow long does it take you to bring a story from your imagination to the finished page? What is your favorite part of that process? Your least favorite?


Every story is different. My bigger novels take about six months. Dogwood took several years. I’ve found you have to be patient with the story and let it flow and not try to force it into a certain amount of time, but at the same time you have to hit deadlines. My favorite part of the process is when I learn something new about a character that I didn’t expect. Some little thing that makes them come alive. Least favorite is having to stop and do whatever else I need to do.


You also have a great love for live radio. Does the radio show enhance your writing?


I had the choice a few years ago to keep writing children’s books or do a daily radio show. A good friend told me to do the radio because I would be more connected with real life that way and be exposed to more stories and ideas than if I just wrote books in a closed room. She was right. Almost Heaven came directly from a conversation on the radio, and I’ve had several ideas I may pursue because of sparks from the radio show.


You had to say farewell to your earthly father in August of this year. What influence did he have on your writing? How has his passing affected your viewpoint of family?


I spoke at the funeral and talked about my brothers. One is in the military and the other a chemist. My dad worked at a chemical plant and wanted to serve in the military but couldn’t because of a physical problem. So my dad could understand those two boys, their life pursuits, and then I came along writing poems, songs, stories, taking pictures of our family dog dressed in costumes—I must have seemed from another planet. But even though he didn’t understand me, he encouraged me. He always believed in me, even if it was more of a quiet belief.


Prior to losing your father, you had to move from your home, leaving the contents behind, and undergo treatment for mold exposure. How has that impacted your life? Your writing?


Pain gives you the opportunity to go deeper in life. Loss and sorrow can make you either bitter or better. Can’t recall who said that, but it’s true. And suffering, the Scriptures say, can produce perseverance and character and hope. But you have to allow it to do that. We’re part of the process. So I’ve tried to use this struggle we’ve had to inform my writing and get to a different level than I might have gone without it. As far as life goes, we’re starting over. We don’t own a house. We haven’t replaced our pets yet. Well, we have a bird. The kids are just now able to go back to a school. We’ve traveled a few miles on this road and there are many more to go.


Share with your readers what exciting things God is doing in your life now.


I’m excited by God’s faithfulness and how no matter what happens, He’s working out His plan. I wouldn’t have chosen the path He’s given us. Probably many of your readers feel the same way. But the best path is the one He’s on. I’m excited to wake up each morning and do something I love, something I feel I was made to do, and share that with the people I love most in the world. What a gift!


Since your latest book is a Christmas novel, can you tell us about one of your favorite Christmas traditions?


I get up early Christmas morning and make breakfast for everyone. We have a new diet so I can’t make the same stuff we used to eat, but it’s one of the highlights of the day.



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Kim Ford has been a resident of Alabama for more than ten years. Originally from Georgia, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Brenau Women’s College. She has spent the past 9 years in sales and marketing and has been an avid reader of Christian Fiction for more than 20 years. A mother of two teen sons and married to a technical writer and Army veteran, Kim’s life is full and blessed. She and her husband also volunteer as teachers for a resident rehab program for women with life-controlling issues. She uses her fiction to encourage the ladies she teaches. She blogs at: Window To My World