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Interview with Meghann Whistler

This is your fourth novel so far. You’ve included some endearing tropes romance readers love, but what message do you hope your readers take away from this latest release?

Their Unlikely Protector was inspired by Luke 1:37, For with God nothing shall be impossible. That’s really the message I hope readers take away from this book. It was fun to try getting that message across in an enemies-to-lovers story, since the heroine never, ever thought that she’d end up with this particular hero at the beginning of the book. ????


I’m sure it’s not easy getting away from home with three young children underfoot, but what literary pilgrimages (if any) have you taken for book research? What was your favorite and what did you discover or learn?

I haven’t taken any literary pilgrimages since I had my children, but when I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to visit Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and to visit the Globe Theatre in London—a reconstruction of the theater where Shakespeare’s plays were performed back in the 1600s. At the time, I wasn’t doing book research, but it was incredibly inspiring!


As writers, we often must be careful of our word count. Sometimes, that means snipping bits of what we write during the revision process. That being said, what did you edit OUT of this book?

I overshot my word count goal by more than two thousand words on this book, so this is a very relevant question!

The hero of Their Unlikely Protector rescues the heroine and her twin brothers from a fire in the opening scene, and later in the book there’s a reference to a newspaper article about the daring rescue. In the published version of the book, readers get a short, four-paragraph excerpt from that article, but the original version was nineteen paragraphs long!


What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

I’d have to say that investing in attending the 2019 ACFW Conference was the best money I’ve spent as a writer. I hadn’t published anything yet, and I didn’t know anyone in the Christian writing community, but I thought it would be a good place to meet other authors with similar interests, and I was hopeful that I might have some good conversations with editors and agents, too.

I met a lot of wonderful people at that conference, and I learned so much! That’s also where I connected with the agent who sold my first book to Love Inspired. We no longer work together, but I’m very grateful that she took a chance on me back then!


Readers love reviewing books they’ve read, and we authors can’t resist checking those reviews. Some of them can sting a bit, but the good ones find a special place in our hearts. Do you have any feedback from a specific reader that had a significant impact on you? What was it?

I truly appreciate everyone who reviews my books, and I’m extremely grateful for the members of my early reader team. It always touches my heart, however, when someone I’ve never met or interacted with at all takes the time to email me out of the blue to tell me that one of my books spoke to them.

Someone recently wrote, “I just finished reading this wonderful story. I was crying, praying and remembering bits and pieces of my life. Thank you so much for writing this book.”

Those kinds of emails are a beautiful reminder that God is using my words to inspire and encourage others.


You’ve overcome some personal challenges of your own. How has writing full-length fiction allowed you to explore some of those personal experiences and what have you learned as a result?

Fiction is such a cool medium because we get to put ourselves in other people’s shoes—both as readers and as writers.

None of my fiction is autobiographical, but I try really hard to capture the internal depth and richness of some of the things I’ve experienced in real life and use that emotional intensity in my books.

In order to harness those intense feelings in my writing, I’ve had to process and understand the events that caused them to flare up in my life in the first place. So overall, I’d say that writing full-length fiction has made me more empathetic toward both others and myself.


I’m sure your little ones keep you hopping. I also had deadlines with young ones underfoot. What is the greatest struggle you face as a young mother and author, and how have these recent experiences within your family shaped your writing?

I’m fortunate that all my kids are now in school full time, so I have more time to write than I did when I was first starting out back in 2018!

But things definitely happen—one of my kiddos recently broke his wrist and we had to scramble to find summer activities he could do while injured. In those times, my family comes first.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve learned to give myself about twice as much time to write a book as I think I’ll need, and that way I’m able to meet my deadlines without too much stress when family issues come up.


You have a rocket scientist husband and active writing career. What was one defining moment that inspired something significant?

My husband is a literal genius. Incredibly smart, and incredibly dedicated to his dream of advancing humankind’s ability to explore and understand space. When I look back at everything he’s achieved since we met, it’s awe-inspiring!

I’ve always had a dream of becoming a published writer, and when I took a page out of his book and went all-in on my dream, that’s when things started to happen for me!

It sounds cheesy, but believing in yourself really does go a long, long way—especially in the publishing industry, where we’re so apt to run up against roadblocks.


If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

The biggest piece of advice I give to aspiring writers is to read, read, read, and I certainly took my own advice as a child and teenager!

I was always drawn to books that had a romantic thread, but I looked down on books that were classified as romance novels for a long time because I thought they were all about the spicy scenes and lacked character development. If I’d been less prejudiced toward romance novels, I might have discovered the Christian romance genre earlier and found my writerly niche sooner. ????


You enjoy rocking out to Christian rock music, and you write for the inspirational market. How do your faith and spiritual walk play out in your writing?

I love including a faith arc in my books. Seeing my characters grow closer to God as they grow closer to each other is very satisfying, and I do feel that it affirms and strengthens my own faith.


Finish this statement: In the future, I will…

…keep writing the kind of Christian romance novels that I love to read. ????


Anything extra you’d like to add?

I truly loved writing Their Unlikely Protector, and the first scene was inspired by a true story!

In the summer of 2022, Nick Bostic had a job delivering pizza. One night, after an argument with his girlfriend, he left the house to calm down. In the heat of the moment, he forgot to take his phone.

While he was driving around, he saw a house on fire. Unable to call emergency responders, he stopped his car and ran into the home to see if the residents were still inside.

They were.

Or at least, their children were.

The owners—a married couple—had gone out for a date, and their 18-year-old daughter was babysitting her three younger siblings and one of their friends.

He rushed the kids outside, only to discover that their 6-year-old sister was missing. Without skipping a beat, Nick ran back inside.

After searching and searching, he finally found the little girl, but the smoke was too thick for him to find his way back out from the first floor. He ran up the stairs, broke a second-story window and jumped to safety with the girl in his arms.

In a video clip released by the police, the first thing Nick says after handing the child over to the emergency responders is, “Is the baby okay? Please tell me the baby’s okay.”

That, I remember thinking, is a true hero.

And suddenly, the idea for the opening scene of Their Unlikely Protector was born!


Thanks for sharing with us, Meghann!



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"Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having an active imagination and a flair for the dramatic. Today, she has honed those skills to become an award-winning author and speaker who works as a homeschool mom and independent contractor, helping others become their best from the inside out. She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, in Kentucky. They have a daughter and son, and 2 cats. She has sold over 25 books so far, three of which have won annual reader's choice awards. She is represented by Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. (www.tiffanyamberstockton.com)
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