The Mosaic Collection – Interview with Brenda Anderson

Posted by abakersp in Spotlights / 1 Comment

Welcome to the Blog Blitz for The Mosaic Collection, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! Everyday, for the next several days, I’ll be interviewing each author in the collection. So be sure to come back and see what they have to say!!

For His glory…
The Mosaic Collection is an international community of women authors who use faith-based fiction to touch hearts with the good news that Christ’s finished work on the cross has made us one family, and to nurture affection for the people God has placed within our circles of influence, so that the grace and glory of God may become visible and personal to everyone we meet.

…and our good
We are sisters, a beautiful mosaic united by the love of God through the blood of Christ. We have experienced the redemptive, restorative power of God’s grace in our marriages and families, and we believe our God is able to heal, restore and redeem our brokenness. His love fills us with the courage to persevere, and to offer others a Christ-like compassion that is full of His wisdom and grace.

Visit the Mosaic Collection Website to stay posted on each new release & follow the collection blog for meaningful posts from the authors!

Brenda S. Anderson writes gritty and authentic, life-affirming fiction. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, and is Past-President of the ACFW Minnesota chapter, MN-NICE, the 2016 ACFW Chapter of the Year. When not reading or writing, she enjoys music, theater, roller coasters, and baseball (Go Twins!), and she loves watching movies with her family. She resides in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area with her husband of 31 years, their three children, and one sassy cat.

CONNECT WITH BRENDA: Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

Cornerstone message from the collection: 

Listen…

Everyone has their own life story that brings them to where they are in life and molds their beliefs and opinions. The problem is, we live in a reactionary world where we don’t stop and listen to what others are saying, and too often we’re not willing to really hear the other person’s side of the story. Rather, we react to their statement or opinion by pointing fingers, and we’re quick to not only say, “You’re wrong” but we often resort to name calling. We don’t stop and listen to this person whom God loves.


In each of my books, God has placed heroes/heroines on my heart that I would normally struggle with and want to tell them, “You’re wrong!”: a pro-choice woman, an arrogant businessman, a bully, mugger, collection agent, to name a few. With each character, God has told me, “I love them. I want you to see the heart that I see.” And that’s what I’ve tried to convey in my books. Open up our ears and our eyes to see who God sees, hears, and loves.

Welcome Brenda! So happy to have you here today. Let’s get right to the questions. What’s in your current TBR pile?

Like every other self-respecting reader, my TBR pile is overflowing! Next in my pile are books I have yet to read by my fellow Mosaic authors. Also, there are new releases by new-to-me authors:

  • You Belong to Me by Tari Faris
  • The String by Caleb Breakey
  • Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker
  • Living Lies by Natalie Walters
  • We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels.

And that’s just the tippy-top of my tower-high TBR pile!

What a great list! Living Lies is a wonderful book!! And I know all about having a tower-high TBR pile!! Tell us about your writing routine.

I do a lot of pre-writing before even sitting down at the computer. Once a concept comes to me, I work out various angles in my head, do some–or a lot of–research. This conceptual stage can take months, or even years, depending upon how long the story’s been fermenting. As for getting that story down on paper, I typically begin my day taking care of the business side of writing. That can take an hour or two. Then I’ll spend three to four hours writing, then getting up and walking around as I work out sentences or conflicts or hooks in my head, writing some more, snacking, writing, etc. Typically, I write three days per week. The goal is always to write more, but family obligations often call me away.

Thank you for sharing that with us. I always like to see how authors put their stories to paper.

If you could have dinner with any character, who would you pick? What would you eat? What would you talk about?

Meeting one of my characters is a dream of mine! Oh, I know, it’s not a logical or realistic dream, but my characters become so real to me, they must exist in the real world, right?!

I would love to have dinner with Richard and Sheila Brooks whom I introduced in my debut novel, Chain of Mercy. (They’ve appeared in several other books since then.) We’d probably eat at a nice steak place–Richard is a former farm boy and loves a good cut of meat. Actually, he’d settle for a hamburger joint, as would I. Whereas Sheila would say she has more refined taste. We’d talk about sports for sure as both love supporting local professional sports teams. I’d have to catch up on their family and extended family that reaches well beyond blood relations. The couple loves being involved in the community, so we’d talk about what new projects they’re involved in. And that’s just for starters! I’m afraid we’d be talking all night!

That sounds like such a fun night!! What’s your favorite dessert?

Anything with chocolate! Actually, I LOVE Applebees Butter-Pecan Blondie. The blondie is baked with nuts and topped with ice cream, glazed pecans, and maple-flavored cream cheese sauce. And it’s served on a sizzling-hot plate. Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking of it!

That sounds amazing. I just might have to go find an Applebees now! If you weren’t an author right now, what would you be doing?

I’d probably work in an office somewhere. I love organizing and math, so anything involving those skills would be a joy for me.

My daughter is a fellow organizer. Myself, well I have to be in the mood lol.

What’s your favorite bible verse?

That seems to change as life goes on, but right now a favorite is Isaiah 43:19a: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” I love the hope in that verse, especially when reading the entire chapter that talks about going through trials.

I love this! What are you working on next?

I’m still working on my first Mosaic Collection novel, A Beautiful Mess, about a woman who ends up raising her ex-husband’s daughter. It’s about her journey from bitterness to forgiveness, as God takes the broken shards of her life and pieces them together to make something beautiful.

Once that’s written, I’ll be working on a short story for The Mosaic Collection Christmas anthology, plus three novellas for The Potter’s House Books series as we do a second round for the series. All books due within the next year!

You are very busy!! I appreciate you taking a moment to talk with me today. Can’t wait to read your stories 🙂

Giveaway_MosaicBlitz_JRnew

(1) winner will receive a $50 Amazon eGift Card & an ebook prize pack*!

Winner will receive an ebook of:

  • Where She Belongs
  • Pieces of Granite
  • Lifelines
  • Christmas on a Mission
  • Vigilant
  • Other Side of the River
  • The Third Grace
  • Carolina Grace
  • The Benefit Package (a devotional)
  • Dance of Grace
  • When Love Calls

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight July 10, 2019 and last through 11:59 PM EST on July 24, 2019. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Open internationally, but international winner will receive a gift card only *(may be substituted for a Book Depository gift card if winner cannot accept from US Amazon)

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

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See tour landing page for a complete list of authors & book release dates.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

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