Interview with Maressa Mortimer - by Liz Carter

One of the things I love and value most about ACW is the support and encouragement we can give to one another as Christian writers. It is a beautiful thing to see one another thriving in our work and to cheer each other on. Today I am delighted to be chatting to Maressa Mortimer today about all things writing and especially her brand new book, Walled City.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m Maressa, I’m Dutch, but married to an English pastor. We live in the Cotswolds with our four children who we adopted seven years ago. I homeschool my kids, so writing is my hobby, which I get to do by myself. I started writing in the evening a couple of years ago, finding it a great release.

Your new book, Walled City, looks fascinating to me as a YA dystopia fan. What gave you the idea for the book? Entice us with a little of the blurb for it. 
I enjoy telling stories to answer ‘what if’ questions. I’m no good with abstract, so abstract theological books are not really my thing, I want to know what faith, or lack thereof, looks like on a Monday morning. Walled City started with the question, “What if you were the only Christian around, in a hostile environment. How would you present the gospel?”

It was listening to a speaker at a Pastor’s wives conference, where she shared how many youngsters drift away from church once at uni. They simply assimilate, blending in with their environment, taking over their way of speaking as well as worldview.

At the same time, I listened to some podcasts about world building, and as I was extremely new to writing, this sounded so exciting. So I decided to build a world, or rather, a City-State, called Elabi. I decided that Elabi wanted a perfect society, so they banned all belief and emotion, reasoning that most problems exist because of people’s emotional reactions. In comes the main character, Gax, who has to sneak in undercover to try and reach the people with the Gospel. The question was, Will he make it, will he assimilate, will he succeed? Or will he be sent to their punishment area and most likely die?

What books have you written so far, and do you have ideas for your next book? 
Walled City is my second published book. My first one is called Sapphire Beach and is the story of a young woman who has just left a violent marriage behind. She is working as a holiday rep in Crete, trying to come to terms with it all. This was really based on people’s assumptions that faith in God will get rid of troubling thoughts, and secondly, leaving a traumatic situation behind will set you free. I think often as Christians we can have a simplified view of life and faith, and as an adoptive mum, I get some odd comments from people!

At the moment I’m back in Elabi, writing the sequel to Walled City. I’m so glad to be back, haha, and this book gives me a lot of pleasure as it deals with the power of the Word of God, and what can be more amazing than watching that in action?

Once it’s with my editor, I want to revisit my very first manuscript ever, about a Dutch girl getting an English inheritance.

Do you find that you bring your own life experiences into your books - how does that play out in your writing? 

 In a way I do bring my own experiences, or rather my own questions, I suppose. Sapphire Beach deals with domestic violence and the fact that trauma can have long-lasting effects. It was based on seeing my friend suffer from a violent marriage. It made me look into it more, and it helped to write through it all, as it answered my questions as well. Walled City is more about evangelism. Living in a rather affluent part of the country, we find people can be very hardened to the Gospel. Visitors often say, “Just live a Christian life, and people will be so attracted and interested, you’ll fill the church.” This isn’t true, of course, and I think as Christians we can have unrealistic ideas and expectations.

We’re not meant to live a solitary life away from other Christians, and Gax realises this once he finds himself truly alone.

Can you give us one or two tips on novel writing or publishing - for many it seems an impossible task, but you've done a great job, so we would love to hear your thoughts!
My main tip for people wanting to write is to enjoy it. Don’t worry about rules and regulations, that will come at the end when editing. It’s about telling the story living in you, and being blessed by it yourself. When it comes to sharing it and publishing your story, I was very fortunate that my editor was also my friend. It meant that she knew what I wanted to say, and she loves the messages in my books, which is a great help. It’s no good having an unsympathetic editor who doesn’t agree with you, or who doesn’t understand you. Also, my editor is very kind and tactful, making all the red lines through my sentences less painful! The editor for Sapphire Beach was similar, in that he tried to get into the main character’s head, asking me lots and lots of question to try to understand where I was coming from.

How does your Christian faith feed into your writing? 
I write what I love to read, which is Christian fiction. I love suspense, don’t like gooey romance, and love to see faith in action, helping me to understand God’s love for us, and knowing that we’re saved play out in everyday life. I know people might struggle with overtly Christian books, but it’s what I love writing. I love wrestling along with my characters, and like Martha in Sapphire Beach, it’s easy to misunderstand the Bible, just because we want a text to mean something. She is determined to prove her trust in God but puts herself in danger. As Christians, we can excuse our behaviour by forming the Bible into our way of life, rather than the other way round.

And finally, what are you reading now, or planning to read over Christmas?
I have a huge TBR pile waiting for me. A lot of the books on my list are from ACW members or recommended by them. It’s so wonderful to read books written by friends, it gives it such an extra dimension! And I have a few crime ones, written by Dee Henderson, one of my favourite writers. I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays, and the end of my first draft, so I will have time to read without feeling guilty!

I hope you enjoyed Maressa's answers as much as I did! You can buy Walled City here on Eden or here on Amazon. You can also order them on Maressa's website here, which you should check out!

Liz Carter is an author and poet who writes about the painful times of life and how we can find peace when it hurts. Her latest book, Treasure in Dark Places, is a collection of short stories and poetry for those who sometimes find life a struggle. Her first book, Catching Contentment, explores finding peace in the pain.