BLOGWORDS – Thursday 28 August 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 28 August 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY – CHRISTINA SUZANN NELSON

CHAT THURSDAY – CHRISTINA SUZANN NELSON

Please give a warm feathered welcome to author and friend, Christina Nelson.

rem: Hullo Christina, and welcome. Tell us three random things about yourself.

CHRISTINA: I don’t eat meat (health choice), I love goats, and I don’t like wearing shoes.

rem: Well, goats are adorable. What is your favorite quotation and why?

CHRISTINA: My youngest daughters and I have been talking a lot about this quote from Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I want this to have an impact on their lives and on mine, being conscious of how we leave the people in our lives and striving to love them in a way that uplifts them.

rem: I love that quote! So powerful, and so true. When reading, what makes or breaks a story for you? Your fiction pet peeve?

CHRISTINA: This is silly, but I really don’t like it when a character says, “By the way, I’m…” It doesn’t read true to me. rem: not silly at all

I don’t read books with a lot of swearing or explicit scenes.

I’m looking for stories with exceptional character development. Those are the ones that stick with me.

rem: Dialogue and authentic characters are a make it or break it for me, too. What are you reading right now?

CHRISTINA: I’m just about to start Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Northwest, and an upcoming novel by Katie Powner called Bird on a Wire. I’m fortunate to have an advanced copy to read for endorsement. Spoiler alert! I will be strongly recommending this book!

rem: You have me hooked. Tell us a little about your writing journey.

CHRISTINA: I’ve always loved stories, but I didn’t grow up knowing I would be a writer. I spent many years wanting to advocate for children from abusive families. When my grandmother passed away, I had a huge hole in my life, so I wrote a book. There’s more to that story, but I don’t think you’re looking for a five-page answer. 😊 It turns out, I love writing. I can’t imagine retiring. It’s part of who I am, a way to express myself.

rem: I didn’t always know I wanted to be a writer, either, but I’ve always had stories in my head. And now I can’t imagine doing anything else, either. What genre(s) do you write and why?

CHRISTINA: General fiction, mystery, and crime. General fiction allows me to dig into the big questions I have about life, relationships, and healing. It’s my passion. I write mystery because it’s fun. Crime has a similar reason, but I write this genre under the pen name, C.S. Nelson. These stories are purely entertainment. They give me a chance to refill my cup before going deep again.

rem: I’ve read some of your books and I can say your passions shows through. Tell us a little about your latest book? What is your current project?

CHRISTINA: Echoes from a Missing Generation released earlier this month. It’s a combination of general and mystery, much like my prior book, What Happens Next.

In Echoes, we seek to uncover what happened to Bristol Danes in 1970. He disappeared on the way to the draft office.

Blurb:

Echoes from a Missing Generation is a gripping split-time novel that bridges the secrets of the Vietnam era with the search for truth in the present day.

In 1970, newlywed Bristol Danes vanishes on the very day he’s called to the draft office. His young wife, Clara, is left behind in the small Oregon town of Oscar’s Creek with nothing but questions and the whispers of a community eager to speculate. As the years pass, silence and rumors become her constant companions.

Now, fifty years later, Kenzie Danes—Bristol’s granddaughter—is determined to uncover what really happened to the grandfather she never knew. Kenzie digs into her family’s hidden past. With the help of Frank, a seasoned investigator tied to the town, she unearths a web of long-buried secrets. But the truth may prove more dangerous than the silence that’s shrouded her family for decades.

A story of love, sacrifice, and resilience, Echoes from a Missing Generation reminds us that some family secrets refuse to stay buried.

rem: You have my attention! What is YOUR favorite part about the book or why do you love this book? Why should we read it?

CHRISTINA: There are so many things I loved about creating this story and the small town in which it takes place. Both time periods—1970 and current day—take place in Oscar’s Creek, Oregon.

I knew after reading Susie Finkbeiner’s novel, All Manner of Things, that I would someday write a story that took place in the Vietnam Era. This is that story. It forced me to ask questions about what I would do in the midst of that turmoil and gave me a deeper understanding of my father’s choice to enlist.

rem: I love the personal connection for you. What is one take-away from your book(s) that you hope readers identify with?

CHRISTINA: I hope readers are left with compassion for the characters that goes beyond the story and into their lives. Fiction gives us an amazing opportunity to step into the shoes of another person and experience life through their lens.

rem: And you’ve achieved that. I know I’ve felt deep compassion for the characters in your stories that I’ve read. One more and then we’ll close. Do you have a life Scripture?

CHRISTINA: Okay, this is an unusual one, but I find it is the scripture I most often go back to.

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. – 2 Samuel 24:24

I believe in working hard and doing so for the Lord. It’s important to me to remember that a great sacrifice was given for me, and in return—not because it’s required—I want to offer what I can.

rem: I do love that Scripture, and, as you said, all that it means. Anything you’d like to add?

CHRISTINA: Thank you for having me on your blog! I really appreciate the opportunity to share with your audience about my newest book and my life.

rem: Thank you, Christina, so much for chatting with us on my blog today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christina Suzann Nelson in an inspirational speaker and the award-winning author. Her first novel, If We Make It Home, was honored as one of Library Journal’s top five inspirational novels of 2017.

In 2017, Christina was named the OCW Cascade’s Writer of Promise and received a Cascade award for her novel, Swimming in the Deep End.

Her stories have been published in the Cup of Comfort for a Better World, Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families, as well as other publications.

Christina is over the top about her passions, including the stories created somewhere in the twists and turns of her less-than-focused brain. When she’s not writing, Christina serves on the board of the non-profit, Every Child Linn-Benton, where she has the opportunity to influence the lives of families and children in the foster care system.

On a typical day, she chases escaped farm animals, reads, hikes with her dog, and enjoys her husband and six kids.

Author of:

Echoes from a Missing Generation

What Happens Next - 2024 Carol Award Winner

Shaped by the Waves

The Way It Should Be - 2021 Christy Award Winner