Jonna Hawker Turek
but I write fiction as J.B. Hawker
Rural Northern
California
Good morning, Jonna, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the place for Art and Authors. What have you written?
Along
with inspirational magazine
articles, my weekly Power Walking with Jonna blog, ministry and Sunday school program materials and a devotional guide
for leaders of women’s ministries, I’ve published the following fiction: The Bunny Elder Adventure series which
includes Hollow, Vain Pursuits, Seadrift, and … and
Something Blue; and the First Ladies
Series of The First Ladies Club, A Body in the Belfry, and coming out this summer, A Corpse in the Chapel.
What is your favorite
genre to write?
Not-quite-cozy
Christian Suspense. My books occasionally push the envelope on ‘cozy’ when
necessary for the plot or character development. Some are true mysteries and
others are suspenseful adventures, usually revolving around a church lady or
pastor’s wife. (Write what you know, right?) They aren’t preachy, but usually
include my thoughts on a social or faith issue along the way, from attitudes
toward homosexuality (Hollow), to human trafficking (Seadrift) and abortion (A
Corpse in the Chapel). I’m always gratified when readers comment on the wry
humor or dry wit in my writing and one of my favorite review quotes is
“suspense and excitement with an honesty and genuineness not often seen in
Christian fiction.”
Favorite food.
Grilled Salmon. When I lived in Alaska, friends often shared their
home-smoked salmon. Nothing really compares.
Tea or coffee?
Tea, strong and black with milk. I have the prettiest calico print tea pot
and cups I like to use when I am feeling especially ladylike. (photo attached)
Pizza or ice cream?
Vegetarian pizza, followed by coconut ice cream for dessert
Wine or beer?
A nice white zinfandel, now and then, is lovely, but I never developed a
taste for beer.
Where
would you like to visit?
I’d
love to visit the rural English countryside which only exists in books and my
imagination.
Favorite musical artist. Do you
listen to music when you write? What?
I love Sandy Patty. I listen to traditional Christian
and classical music on my Pandora station while writing.
What makes you laugh?
My three grown sons make me laugh all the time. They share my offbeat sense
of humor and can have me weeping with laughter whenever they choose, especially
when I’m trying to give them serious advice.
Favorite work of art or
sculpture.
Any of the Old Masters’
works. I’m especially fond of paintings by Vermeer. I love the light he
captured. I’ve been blessed to visit Italy a few times and to me the entire
country is a work of art.
You are so right! Italy is an artistic treasure. And I don't think Vermeer gets the attention he deserves. How old were you when
you started writing?
I wrote my first little
book when I was six. It was about a clock. Unfortunately, it is out of print.
Describe your perfect
evening.
Relaxing outdoors on a warm summer evening, a gentle
breeze riffling my hair, not a bug in sight, surrounded by my favorite people,
all of us waiting for the fireworks to start. I’ve always felt the Fourth of
July is the most romantic holiday.
Where do you get your
inspiration?
My years of
experience in rural churches as a pastor’s wife provide enough inspiration for
a dozen books or more. Over the years,
when I shared about my adventures with my family back home, they always said,
“You should write a book!” so I did. My
first published fiction, Hollow, was
the result of an off-hand comment about how easy it would be to hide the body
parts of murder victims within the macabre local Halloween decorations. That
was before I knew I was going to veer more toward the ‘cozy’ genre, so it’s the
darkest of my books.
What do you do when you
get a writer's block?
I go back to the
first section of my manuscript and edit up to my roadblock. That gives me the
momentum to plow right through.
That's good advice. I'll try that today.Who is your favorite
author?
C.S. Lewis
Best book you ever read.
It’s a tie between A Pilgrim’s
Progress by John Bunyan and The
Narrated Bible by F. Legard Smith. Without changing the original, Smith
sets the historical happenings in chronological order, and fills in the
historical gaps, bringing the whole Bible to life. My recent favorite book is Off the Grid by C. J. Box. I love all
his Wyoming tales and he autographed a copy of his latest for me, which I
treasure.
Last book you read.
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers. She was a compatriot of C.S. Lewis, so it is sometimes hard-slogging for
those of us without Oxford degrees, but I always find something to stretch me,
intellectually and spiritually, with every re-reading.
What would you do for a
living if you weren’t a writer?
I worked in School
Business until I retired to write, but I would be a teacher (or a preacher!),
if I were given a do-over.
Who is the one person
who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
Jesus Christ
If you could sit down
and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who
would it be and why?
See above.
What advice would you
give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Don’t
fret over whether you are good enough, just sit down and write. But, then take
classes, and read all the books you can, both in your genre and about your
craft. It is so much easier to get better at writing, once you have produced
something on paper (or computer screen) to revise. Never stop trying to improve
and don’t get side-tracked with promotions and sales. Write for the joy of it.
Description of A Corpse in the
Chapel:
A
teenager’s romantic fantasies lead to tragedy and a heartless killer walks
away.
The young girl’s bones, tucked away for decades
in the deep woods, cry out for justice. A life cut short, a cowardly killer and
a middle-aged flowerchild are stirred together into a tasty stew of wild
mushrooms, herbs, vanity and deceit in award-winning author, J.B. Hawker’s thought-provoking
tale.
Will pastor’s wife, Judy Falls, uncover more than a new vegan recipe
when she goes hunting for natural ingredients to tempt her husband’s taste
buds? Many lives will be changed forever
in the small seaside community of Bannoch, Oregon, as the result of one day’s
misadventure.
