Greetings from Marti Pieper in Seneca, South Carolina, where the hummingbirds are buzzing outside my window and the “toddler birds” from other varieties are busy learning to navigate my feeders! Today, I’m welcoming a longtime friend and award-winning author to the CAN blog. You’ll enjoy meeting the delightful Cindy Sproles and hearing about her work.
Welcome, Cindy! Please tell us about your book What Momma Left Behind.
When influenza swept the mountains killing more adults than children, hundreds of little ones were left homeless. Worrie Dresser faces her own losses but finds redemption in taking in the homeless children and making them her own.
Sounds intriguing, and I love her name! What inspired you to write this book?
I worked for a non-medical in-home care service for twenty years. We placed caregivers in the homes of the elderly. I found such joy in getting to know these elderly folks. Their values and beliefs are so different than the world today, and there is such gold in their stories. Families need to recognize that blessing found in their elderly family members and cherish it while they can. I wanted folks to see the hardships the elderly face and the wealth of information, experience, and joy they are.
Amen! What was your greatest challenge in writing this book?
Though the book is not about my own mother, she will be ninety-six years young this year. We are blessed that she is in great health and still manages on her own in assisted living. But knowing that at ninety-six, we are looking at the end of her days makes me sad. She is a light and a joy, and I love my mother dearly. The thoughts of losing her break my heart—so I grab each day with her that I can. Writing Minerva’s life just drove home that we all face our immortality.
We surely do, and having an elderly parent really brings that truth home. Cindy, what themes do you return to again and again in your writing?
I love to show a world who doesn’t believe in Christ that Christians are imperfect too—what sets us aside is our faith. So I return over and over to forgiveness and how it is for the giver, not necessarily the recipient and redemption. There is the opportunity for redemption in all our sin. So these are the things I continue to return to in my writing.
That’s powerful. Why do you write your genre, Appalachian Historical?
First, it’s pronounced APPA- LACH -IAN. Not Appa- lay-shun. Schools don’t teach the heritage of the Appalachian people anymore. The culture in the mountains is the soul of this country. I write this genre for two reasons 1) I want others to remember the culture of the people of the mountains 2) I’m a mountain gal. The voice is there!
Now that I live at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I’m learning more about that all the time! What ministries are you involved in, and why?
I am the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries. The ministry is 18 years old, and I share it with my ministry partner, Eddie Jones. The goal was to ask God to allow us the opportunity to give new writers their first writing credit and to spread His Word via devotions. God has blessed that, and our site has now helped over 1,000 writers gain their first writing credits, get contracts with publishers, and find guidance into refining their calling to write.
And it’s such a vital ministry! Do you have a “day job” or a previous career? Does it influence what or how you write?
I AM PROUDLY RETIRED. My day job was as an office manager with Comfort Keepers, which I loved. Prior to that, I worked as a vet surgery tech for eighteen years. Yes, the interaction with people is always great fodder for the writer.
And I know that it is even now influencing your work! Please tell us about your next project.
Releasing in June of 2023 is This is Where It Ends (Revell). This is the story of an elderly lady living alone in the mountains of Kentucky. As her husband dies in her arms, he makes her promise to keep a secret. Minerva Jane Jenkins knows a promise is your word, and that is something to be guarded and valued. But how long do you keep a promise when the person you made it to is gone? And do you continue to keep a promise—even it is detrimental to you?
I’m already hooked! Thank you, Cindy, for taking time to share your life and your words with us today.
To learn more about Cindy Sproles, visit Cindy’s website and Cindy’s blog.
For His glory,
Marti Pieper
