Send to Kindle

I’m pleased to welcome Lucille Zimmerman to the G&F Spotlight today.  Lucille has such a wonderful spirit, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her these past couple of months.  Welcome, Lucille…

We’d love to get to know you a bit better.  Tell us about yourself.

I am a counselor in private practice in Littleton, Colorado. I also teach psychology courses at Colorado Christian University.

Last fall my husband and I celebrate 25 years of marriage by taking a Rick Steves trip through Europe. We have two grown children.

Europe?  Wow.  Cool.  So how did you become a Christian writer?

When I went through graduate school to become a counselor I started writing. Our program at Colorado Christian University was very self reflective so if we learned about family dynamics we had to write about our own family and our own development. It was very stressful and I had a lot of things to grieve. Writing was my outlet.

Interesting.  I’ve always been fascinated by how counseling students use the process to heal hurts from their own pasts.  So if you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

I actually have two pieces of advice: 1. Whatever you write, write for the reader’s benefit not your own. 2. Touch the reader with emotion (humor, joy, sadness, fear, anger). If your writing doesn’t elicit emotion then it won’t be memorable.

Since you like emotional writing, what types of books do you love to read?

I read a lot of non-fiction. Mostly books about trauma, healing, intimacy, and attachment. But when I read fiction I want a book with characters I wonder about long after I’ve read the book. I really enjoy Chris Bohjalian’s books for this reason.  I love memoir as well: Shauna Niequist’s Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines, Paula Butturini’s Keeping the Feast

What wonderful things are you working on now?

I am writing a book about self-care, geared towards Christian women who struggle to put themselves on the list. Women can only love others if they love and care for themselves. It’s time to get over the idea that taking care of yourself is “selfish,” and embrace the rest, peace and joy that God has available to us.

The book offers information, benefits, strategies, and inspiring stories to help them integrate self-care into each day.

This is my first book and does not have a formal title yet. Abingdon Press, March 2013, will publish it.

Boy, that’s a needed book!  Putting ourselves on the list.  What a concept!  So where can our readers go to find you on the ‘net?

I have a blog at http://blog.rumorsofglory.com/ and (this is brand new) writing about self-care for moms at http://heritagebuilders.com/SelfCareforMoms/  I write for my agency’s blog at http://wordservewatercooler.com/

You can find my author page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Lucille.Zimmerman.Author and Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/LucilleZ

Thanks so much for coming and sharing a little over yourself with us today, Lucille.  We are honored to have you!

Go out and have a blessed day!