When I joined the Association of Christian Writers, I became aware of a writer called Liz Carter. The thrilling minutiae of publishing were unknown to me back then and her online book launch was one of the first I ever attended. From the second my screen sprang into life, I was impressed. She had dressed her table with an attractive teal cloth (my favourite colour), accessorised herself in the same shade and was drinking champagne with her friend from an elegant cup and saucer.
“This is my kind of woman!” I thought to myself, making furious mental notes. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Liz a little better and she is a fellow founding member of Resolute Books. I am absolutely delighted to be on the blog tour for her new book, “Valuable” (published by the Good Book Company). I am drinking actual tea from an actual cup and saucer as I write, may I add, but the memory of the champagne lives on.
I caught up with Liz to ask her some questions about “Valuable.”
Ruth: We’re all different, which is why it’s so much fun being a writer. On the whole, how does your average writing week look?
Liz: It varies a lot! Because I am also an editor and book designer, I often find my week taken up with work for clients - which I love. But I try to fit in my own writing where I can - one of my resolutions for this year was to set aside at least a day a week for my own stuff. Due to very poor health this year, this hasn’t happened yet, but hopefully will soon. I’m editing my first fiction book at the moment, which will be out this winter, so that’s taking up a lot of my writing time, as well as my post as poet-in-residence of my town.
How difficult was it writing “Valuable”, what with juggling family and work, dealing with your chronic illness and all the usual doubts that creep into our writerly brains?
“Valuable” has been a really tough book to write, because the past year has been one of the most difficult with my illness, having caught Covid which did further damage to my already very damaged lungs then turned into Long Covid. I’ve struggled with a real loss of confidence this year, so I’ve had to rely on God so much during this time - it certainly hasn’t been done in my own strength. But because the book is about how our value doesn’t come from how useful we are, or how much we can do, it’s been particularly poignant but also powerful to see how the truth of this plays out.
How did God speak to you as you were writing the book?
I’ve often struggled with feelings of poor self-worth, and God has very much assured me of my own value as I’ve written the book, and also of the way he loves me for who I am, not what I do - and that is such a great relief. God is still speaking to me now as the book launches: with the loss of confidence and the inability to get ‘out there’ and have a big platform due to my poor health, he has been showing me that these are not the things that matter, but that it is what is in my heart towards him that matters. I’m learning to let go of the idea that I must perform, that I must be a bigger name to get the book out, and embracing the idea that God will do what God wants to do and that if my words touch one person’s life it will be worth it.
Who would you love to read “Valuable”?
I would love people who feel, for whatever reason, that they are sometimes - or always - not quite enough. Readers who think that they need to do better, to earn God’s love, and that somehow they don’t quite measure up to others. I would love those who are struggling with physical or mental health issues and feel that these hold them back from receiving God’s love to read the words in this book and rediscover God’s wild and passionate love for them that is not based on what they do for him but on who they are as his loved children. People who live with these kinds of things can sometimes feel as though they need to be ‘whole’ in order to be ‘used’ by God, and feel they are letting God down when they are not healed. There can be a whole lot of pain for those who have been told they should have more faith, and that they would be a lot more useful to God if they were better. I want my book to help break through the great boulders of those kinds of words - for readers to know that it is not about being used by God but about God delighting in - and partnering with - them.
Apart from writing, what are your three favourite things?
Ooh good question! It’s an interesting one because I am housebound for a lot of the time, so have to find things to bring joy within those circumstances. I love to read – which obviously goes with the writing, but it needs to be mentioned because it brings me so much joy. I love designing things – I make book covers for clients, and other designs – I really enjoy using my imagination to come up with something that looks beautiful, and I’m a bit of a design software nerd! Finally, I also love to play video games! I’ve been a gamer since I was a child, playing ancient games on my brother’s computer, and I find it incredibly relaxing to power up my Nintendo Switch and get lost in The Legend of Zelda. Somehow it helps me escape from pain and become immersed in creativity and beauty.
Thank you so much, Liz. Where can we buy your book?
You can order a signed copy from my website or find it on Amazon, Eden UK, The Good Book Company, or Christian Book US.
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Liz Carter is a writer and poet from Shropshire, UK. She is the author of Catching Contentment, Treasure in Dark Places and Valuable.
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