What’s the difference between how a reader and a writer experience a story?
This is an important question for me as a writer, because if I can understand the reader experience and what they enjoy about my stories, I can keep delivering it!
I thought readers might also be curious about the how writers experience a story, too.
So, I’ve recruited one of my readers to compare notes with me on the Rhythms of Redemption Romances. We’ve come up with a series of questions below and will be answering separately before we compare notes. In the questions, you’ll notice that instead of talking about reading or writing, I’ll be calling it “experiencing,” since even though we came from different angles, we did both experience the stories 😊
Tawni Suchy, my guest today, is a bookstagrammer and a writer in her own right. You can find her on Instagram @AuthorTawniSuchy and @tawnisbookshelf and TikTok at @TawniSuchy and @tawnisbookshelf. Or check out her swoony, faith-filled novels Secrets, Lies, and Deadly Ties and When Forever Comes.
Emily Conrad (EC): Welcome to Inspy Romance, Tawni! Thanks for helping me with this idea!
Tawni Suchy (TS): Thank you for having me!
How would you describe the series to someone who hasn’t read it?
EC: It’s a series of romances set in small-town northern Wisconsin. Each book follows one member of a rock band as he falls in love, but that’s never as easy as it sounds. Finding happily ever after means facing the wounds of the past and digging deep into faith.
TS: A band on a mission of love, faith, and redemption, experiencing God’s grace and showing others how to do the same.
EC: I like her answer better. Let’s go with that 😊
What about the Rhythms of Redemption motivated you to continue with the series?
EC: I fell in love with exploring a story world that offered both a fun escape—hello, rock stars!—and a chance to dig into meaty questions about forgiveness, redemption, and God’s love for us.
TS: At first it was because I loved Adeline and Gannon so much that I wanted to see them some more! But the more I read, the more I enjoyed learning about the other band members and seeing their growth and the blossoming love.
Which character do you identify with the most?
EC: I started out really identifying with Adeline from To Bring You Back as far as her questions about grace and forgiveness. These days, I see a lot of myself in the recovering people-pleaser Lina from To Believe in You (although, sadly, I’m not an heiress…)
TS: Probably Adeline. She struggled so much with grace and forgiving herself which is something I struggle with in life’s day to day.
How long did the series take you?
EC: I started writing it in 2017 and finished in 2021, but I did write a couple of other short novels in there. So let’s say 4 years.
TS: Each book took me between 4 days and a week to read.
What order did you experience the books in?
EC: In order with one exception: I wrote the novella that comes between books one and two after writing book two. A conversation between Gannon and John (the heroes of the first two books) about the Christmas that occurred between their stories got me curious about what exactly happened over the holiday. The novella answers that.
TS: In order from To Bring You Back, An Awestruck Christmas Medley, To Belong Together, To Begin Again, and To Believe in You
What (if anything) about the series took you by surprise?
EC: When I wrote To Bring You Back, the first book in the series, I had no plans to write a redemption story for Matt. Now, his character’s journey, which spans the books, is one of my favorite parts of the series.
TS: One word: Matt
How many times have you read the books?
EC: I don’t know, exactly, but finalizing the story usually involves at least three times through to make sure I’ve smoothed out any inconsistencies, typos, and the like. That’s in addition to writing it and the earlier editing passes.
TS: Just once, but it was just this year and I plan on re-reading them probably next year!
What moment (if any) made you tear up?
EC: I don’t tear up easily, so only one scene got me: a character was writing a eulogy for her father.
TS: Several of Gannon’s lines, some of Erin’s scenes with her dad, and the very end of To Believe in You—bitter sweet tears because the ending was perfect but I didn’t want to let the characters go.
Have you put thought into what the characters’ lives might be like after the end of the series?
EC: Yup. The thing is, I don’t share about it because I imagine the problems they’d likely run into and no one wants to hear about struggles during the happily-ever-after. And it’s not that I want them to suffer! It’s just that life is never perfect, and whatever they face, God is faithful.
TS: Yeah!
Which book in the series is your favorite?
EC: I’ve loved them all for their own reasons, but when I finished it and started hearing feedback, I was pretty sure To Believe in You was something special. I’m grateful the Lord led the series that direction.
TS: Can I say 2? Lol I love To Bring You Back for a completely different reason than To Believe in You but if I HAD to choose, I’d say To Bring You Back by a VERY fine margin.
Which character did you love to hate?
EC: I think I’ll have to go with Lina’s ex in To Believe in You. Want to know something funny? I’ve forgotten his name… Shane! (Had to look it up… #authorfail )
TS: Tim.
What sticks with you from the series?
EC: In the third book, To Begin Again, the characters sing “Amazing Grace,” so when I was coming up with a tag line to go with the book, I eventually landed on “May grace amaze you.” I think that’s an overarching theme of the series, so that sticks with me.
TS: The amount of faith and growth each of the characters experienced. And again, Matt.
Do you hope to reread any of the stories?
EC: I intend to make the whole series audiobooks. I’ve only done To Bring You Back so far, so I hope to reread all the others for that. I’m looking forward to it!
TS: Yes, all of them!
Do the cover models line up with how you imagine the characters?
EC: I love all the covers, but it’s so hard to find pictures of people who match what I envisioned! Still, I think the models for Gannon (the book 1 hero), Erin (the book 2 heroine), and Michaela (the book 3 heroine) are great matches for the characters!
TS: Pretty well, yes.
If you could experience one scene again for the first time, which one would you pick?
EC: There’s a kiss at Key of Hope between Matt and Lina that was a lot of fun to write. Since I can’t experience it again for the first time, I guess I’ll just have to write more kisses for future characters 😉
TS: The opening of To Bring You Back
Come up with three trivia questions for the other person!
Emily’s Trivia Questions:
What does Erin say John smells like?
TS: Cedar, pine, fire
Answer: She got it!
What color is Lina’s dress at the big wedding in book 4?
TS: I want to say purple but I’m not 100% sure 🙈
Answer: Emerald green, but purple would’ve been pretty too!
Tawni’s Trivia Questions:
What was sewn on the side of Gannon’s hat at the beginning of To Bring You Back?
EC: I think on the side of it was the year they graduated… The front was the high school’s mascot.
Answer: Correct! But Emily wasn’t certain she had the right answer until after she looked it up for this post.
What was tattooed on Matt’s fingers?
EC: The words love and hate. And I believe his thumb has a lit match on it, but I’m going to have to look that up to be sure.
Answer: Correct, but again, Emily had to look it up to be sure about the match.
If you could go back and forth with an author, who would you choose? Which series or book would you like to compare notes on?
Emily Conrad writes contemporary Christian romance that explores life’s relevant questions. Though she likes to think some of her characters are pretty great, the ultimate hero of her stories (including the one she’s living) is Jesus. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their energetic coonhound rescue. Learn more about her and her books at emilyconradauthor.com.
Happy Thursday Emily! Thanks for your unique blog. As a retired teacher, mom, grandma, and reader, who has been following this blog for a decade, I would like to give this readers perspective on Question 9 – Have you put thought into what the characters’ lives might be like after the end of the series?
EC: … no one wants to hear about struggles during the happily-ever-after. It’s just that life is never perfect, and whatever they face, God is faithful.
As an older reader (70+ years old), YES, YES – sometimes I would love to read HOW a couple resolves / comes to grips with the struggles DURING the happily-ever-after. Hubby and I have been married 50 years. WE are GOLDEN together, but tease I have been HAPPILY married 25 years and he has been happily married 25.
Being on a handful of ARC teams and through Facebook, I go back and forth with about a dozen authors. My journey on Inspy Romance started with my interaction with Valerie Comer after reading and connecting with her Farm Fresh book. SW Michigan is an agricultural community. I also identified with Elizabeth Maddrey’s Peacock Hill series. Best wishes. Enjoy your weekend.
This is such an interesting idea! I’d never really thought about the different ways writers and readers experience a story before. I also find it funny that there’s things about your own books you forget lol. I remember s few years ago reading an interview with a writer (who to be fair had written a lot of books) – they asked what her favourite of all her books was, she could remember the names of the central couple but not the title!
I would like to interact with any author like this really, it would be so interesting to find out what they make of their books, but if I have to pick one I’d say Elizabeth Maddrey and her Billionaires Next Door series, i would love to know if her opinion of some of the characters is the same as mine.
Hi Renate, Thanks for joining the conversation! You have a good point that it’s too much of a generalization that “no one” wants to hear about the difficulties that happen after the initial story ends! Leaving the characters happily headed into forever is an expectation of the genre and when I considered writing a second book about a pair of characters, I did encounter some push back that at least some people prefer to think those characters are happy now, not facing new problems. But like you say, in real life, the story is definitely only beginning where most romance novels leave off, and it can be encouraging to read about overcoming those later challenges too! By the way, congrats on 50 years of marriage!
Heehee, yeah, we forget things about our stories. If the author mentioned was traditionally published, she may not have come up with the title herself–publishers are notorious for changing the title an author chooses–which could make it easier to forget too.
A lot of authors love to hear from readers and might enjoy a friendly note about their characters from an invested reader! I know I would! :)
I have gone back and forth with a couple of different authors on characters in their books! lol!! At least none of them are mad at me!
I would love to go back and forth with Jessie Gussman and Jody Hedlund
I was just chatting recently with a friend about the difference between an author who reviews books and a reader who has no interest in being an author and is purely a reader who reviews books.
Came about from an author who reviewed a particular book and commented on things only authors would comment on. Readers only have a totally different take on things Hence the answer to your first question. Woops I just went back and saw your reader is also an author. I was about to say its clear she not an author by the answer to the first question but I was wrong.
A reader would answer that way in a much simpler way. We know what we like and don’t like. We know when there is a problem may not know the technical terminology.
I have often asked on FB for a reader question wanting an answer from reader only friends and so many authors will reply which doesn’t give the answers I want or need.
If I could do this sort of interview one person would be Robin Jones Gunn on her Sisterchick books.
I would also love to do this with the authors of the Easter in Gilead series. (would be fun to include the whole series)
I would also love to do this with Penny Zeller for her Love in the Headlines.
There are so many. I am not sure I could narrow it down to just one. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Wow! I *loved* this post! What a fun idea! Now I really need to read this series. :)
For me, I’d choose Liwen Ho, since she’s one of the few authors I’ve read pretty much all of her books. And I’d be up for any series (as long as I could get to reread them first, lol).