A View from Erin Healy's Window!

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to introduce Erin Healy to my readers!! This very talented lady just released a novel with Ted Dekker entitled Kiss, and it is a phenomenal story! The blend of the two talents is truly exciting, and Erin recognizes this opportunity as one God placed before her.

Erin will soon be releasing some of her own titles in addition to another duet performance with Dekker later this year! As editor, writer, wife and mother, Erin wears many hats, so please give her a warm welcome to my Window! I know you will enjoy getting to know her just as much as I did!

How did you and Ted first become acquainted?

Ted and I met years ago at a CBA convention when I was acquiring fiction for WaterBrook Press, but we didn’t start working together until after I became a freelancer and Thomas Nelson hired me to work on his novel Blink. We were connected by a colleague, Traci DePree, who edited Ted’s earlier works and, incidentally, was the fabulous freelancer who worked on Kiss and our next novel, Burn. (And I had the privilege of editing Traci’s Lake Emily series years ago, so I guess you could say we’ve got a little love triangle going on. But I digress.)

Ted Dekker’s name conjures up fantastic stories and amazing adventures! You have been part of his work as an editor for years…what was it like writing together?

The process was a blast. Hard work, but very satisfying. We’ve worked together long enough now to know each other’s likes, dislikes, and tendencies when it comes to storytelling. We’ve done a lot of give-and-take over the years and managed to establish trust in each other. Writing with Ted is like speeding down the freeway at a hundred twenty in a Porche Boxter with the top down. Just try to keep up with this man’s energy and ideas! Brainstorming with him leaves me with a wide-eyed, windblown look. I need him to bottle his gifts so I can drink them.

Who was inspired with the initial storyline and how did you come to write as a team?

I came up with a concept for a story about a woman who can relieve people of their most painful memories, a mercy “angel” whose good intentions go all wrong. It was rooted in questions I’d been asking myself about how far a compassionate person could—or should—go in trying to relieve someone’s suffering. Maybe this story will find its footing one day in a sequel about Shauna. Who knows? Ted loved the idea of memory stealing and transplanted that device into a story concept that had bigger political and relational stakes, and Kiss grew from there.

I understand there will be a second collaboration, can you tell us a little bit about that?

I’m really excited about Burn, which is already off our desks and in the capable hands of our editors. Burn ups the ante. It’s an intense, brain-bending story about a woman forced into making a critical, life-changing decision … and what might have happened if she’d made a different decision. It’s a novel about the dramatic stakes involved in dying to self, and what life on the other side of that action looks like, for better and worse.

Will you continue to edit Ted’s other work, or are you in the process of transitioning from editor to writer yourself?

Yes, Ted and I continue will to work as an author/editor team even while we wear co-author hats. I have reduced my editorial workload considerably since I began writing more, but I don’t see myself quitting that entirely. I love to edit. Ideally, writing more will make me a better editor, and vice-versa.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your writing goals and dreams for the coming year?

I’m blessed, and that sums it up. I’ve been editing for seventeen years and have enjoyed nearly every day of it. I’m busy at home with a full editorial workload as well as a ten-year-old and a five-month-old. My husband, Tim, is my hero and helper and most amazing supporter. Without him, I couldn’t do any of this. This will be a busy year of writing for me. My first two solo novels are both due this calendar year, and Ted and I hope to embark on novel number three as well.

Any closing words of encouragement you’d like to share. What exciting things is God doing in your life right now?

If this whole process of launching a career as a novelist isn’t exciting, I don’t know what is. I couldn’t have engineered the opportunities that God has placed in front of me; it’s all His doing. Somehow he directs me even when I’m stumbling around, blind and helpless! When you feel this way, I’d encourage you to commit yourself to excellence in whatever situation you find yourself in. Whatever you do, do it for the pleasure of God, even if it seems mundane or pointless. I believe God honors hearts that are content to please Him.