Good morning. Today I am interviewing Christian author Sara Beth Williams.

Sara Beth, thank you for being my guest today.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I live in the Sacramento area, in Northern California, and am married with two girls and three cats. I love being creative in many facets, including playing music, writing, gardening and so on. 

What is your newest book about?

My latest book is an outdoorsy adventure about Jesse, an avid rock climber and trained EMT and firefighter with a bit of a hero complex, who is seriously injured and begins questioning his purpose in life. When he reunites with an old childhood friend, he begins to find some hope and light again and begins to heal both inwardly and outwardly.

Childhood friend Renee has grown up with a growth hormone deficiency disorder and has a hard time with not being taken seriously. She also loves the outdoors and has pursued a degree in education. 

What is the inspiration behind your story?

I think there are several things that inspired this story. I love the outdoors, and I always love writing characters who love the outdoors. But Renee was influenced by several different people I’ve met in my life, and even partially, by myself. While I don’t suffer from growth hormone deficiency, I am quite short. Also I think the deep need to be validated, and taken seriously, is universal, and sometimes women who are very short and look very young can find that extremely difficult.

What was the catalyst for your interest in writing?

I think that I love to both consume, and to tell, really good stories. I have written many copycat stories from around 5th grade and onward, and I’ve always loved deeply thought-provoking and emotional stories. Sometimes the best stories serve to both answer questions, and leave you with more questions. I have loved creating characters that represent facets of everyday people, influenced by people I know, or people I’ve met or experienced life with in some way, shape, or form. 

Do you have a day job?

I am currently a small-time reporter, and so finding time to write fiction is very difficult right now, but I have several projects already written that I am revising and hope to publish this year. 

Are you a plotter or a panster?

I started out as a pantser, but I really do not have time anymore to do that so I have morphed into more of a plotter. I kind of enjoy a hybrid blend of both though, when time actually allows, because I have learned over the last 10 years that pantsing for me takes a lot of time (at least 4-hour blocks of time) but it is the most rewarding and exciting experience. 

For the time being, when I come up with a story idea, I usually create a plot outline in paragraph form. The only time I don’t plot is if I’m starting a completely brand new series, because pantsing for me is a very exploratory method of basically writing as much as I can as fast as I can to explore the merits of the storyline, to see if it’s viable, and to see if more will come forth. If a story truly wants to be told, I’ve found it will build upon itself the longer I sit and write consecutively (that’s why I need at least 2 to 4 hours of uninterrupted writing time).

Who was the first person you allowed to read your completed book?

I can’t exactly remember, but I’m almost certain it was my Mom who first read most of my first manuscript. I’m not entirely certain I gave her the entire manuscript, but either way, she was the first person to read through most of my early writings.

If you didn’t write books, what would you do for a living?

That’s hard to say, as I have a lot of different pursuits I really enjoy. I love music, theater, journalism, and education, and also worked as a children’ s entertainer for several years. Writing is woven into so much of my life, including my day job and writing fiction, but if I wasn’t writing, I’d probably be teaching preschool or kindergarten, or music. 

Do you experience writer’s block? What do you do to get through it?

When I experience writer’s block, which happened a LOT last year, the first thing I do is wait it out. You need to fill your creativity well in order to produce creative writing. – so I do something else fun or energizing, like gardening, walking, playing music. Advice from many people online suggest to find and write to random creative writing prompts, but I find taking time away from writing helps me more. For me, it’s about digesting the work in progress while it’s away from me.

The second thing I do is purposefully schedule or orchestrate blocks of time to write uninterrupted. And I really do need 2 or more hours to get into the groove. It also helps if I’m somewhere extremely quiet. Though I used to be able to write with noise around me, it’s harder now, not sure why. It helps to set a timer or participate in what people call writing sprints. Sometimes an hour and a half will do but anything less and I feel like I’m stopping just when i’m getting started ‘sigh’

The third thing I do is focus on technical aspects of writing, instead of purely relying on just ‘inspiration’ or ‘feelings’ to guide me. There is a time and a place for both – writing with total inspiration is a beautiful exhilarating feeling! But that is not the norm and if you want to finish and succeed in this thing called authoring —- you have to pick apart your work and apply proper tried and true writing techniques and knowledge to your work in progress. To do this, I start by reading/rereading/studying writing books. My go-to absolute favorite is The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman. I also like the Rock your Plot series which is relatively inexpensive and found on Amazon. 

Lastly, I would like to add that every writer approaches writing, editing, revising, and addressing writer’s block differently and it’s okay if only some or none of these things work for you and some things may work at one point in your life, and not work at another point in your writing journey. I have been experiencing a lot of writer’s block lately, as the last year and a half hasn’t been the greatest. Though going into 2026, I have a strangely peaceful and positive outlook on the new year.

You have shared some fascinating insights into your writing methods, Sara Beth.

So tell us, what’s next for you as an author?

I am hoping to publish a box set of the first three books I published and then republished last year – When Hearts Collide, A Worthy Heart, and Anchor My Heart. So if you like box sets, sign up for my newsletter and keep an eye out for that.

I”m also hoping to revise and possibly publish another first in a series, this is a beachy romance that I have been working for several years but it is long and needs a good revising and edit. If you love beachy romances and rock star heroes, subscribe or follow me on socials to find out what my next series is all about.

Where can readers find you online?

Visit my website, sarabethwilliams.com

I am on Instagram, X and Bluesky.

I’m on Facebook but I detest my Facebook business page. More likely you’ll find updates on Instagram, and my personal Facebook account.

It’s Always Been You: A Trinity Lakes Romance – Buy Link – 

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She’d always been the still mountain beneath his changing skies.

He was a fool for thinking he could stay away.

After suffering severe burns, avid outdoorsman Jesse Hernandez faces a long recovery, and the longer it takes, the more he questions his purpose in life. Seeking solace, he returns to the hills above Trinity Lakes to settle his late grandfather’s property, but soon finds himself torn between family pressure to sell and his longing to hold on to the only place that felt like home.

Renee Somers has spent her life fighting to be seen. As a master’s student and after-school program director living with a growth hormone deficiency, she’s used to being underestimated. But she finds rejection stings most when it comes from those she highly respected.

When a sudden blizzard traps Renee and her friends on a lonely mountain road, she never expects her rescuer to be the childhood friend who once promised he’d always look out for her. As they reconnect and unexpected attraction surfaces, both must confront past wounds and buried secrets that threaten to pull them apart.

With family tensions rising and harbored secrets revealed, Jesse must decide whether to cling to the past, or embrace the future God has been preparing all along.

A friends to more, small town, contemporary Christian Romance, part of the Trinity Lakes Romance multi-author series, set in the charming, fictional town of Trinity Lakes, Washington State.