Episode 183 - Author Chat with Kim Vogel Sawyer

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Kim Sawyer returns to the podcast this week to talk about her new book, The Songbird of Hope Hill. We discuss how she creates such fascinating characters, what led her to writ this book, and her love of renovating old houses. Be sure to listen to the end for a huge announcement from Kim!!! Patrons will hear about her most treasured antique find.

The Songbird of Hope Hill by Kim Sawyer

A young woman sings of God’s love—even if she doesn’t believe He can forgive her—in this heartwarming novel inspired by historical events, from the bestselling author of A Tapestry of Grace.

“An unforgettable story of God’s grace and redemption.”—Kathleen Y’Barbo, author of The Black Midnight

Driven by survival to a life at a house of ill repute, Birdie Clarkson now longs only for escape. So when Reverend Isaiah Overly and his son, Ephraim, appear and offer a better life, she jumps at the chance. Ignoring the furious raging of the madam, Birdie climbs into the back of the preacher’s wagon. 
 
The men take her to Hope Hill, the haven the reverend and his wife, Ophelia, founded so women like Birdie can be taught skills to help them rise above their pasts. Soon a resistant Birdie finds herself singing in the choir Ephraim leads at revival meetings, even though she’s certain she’s the last person who should be representing God. 
 
Reverend Overly teaches that no one is irredeemable, but even as Ephraim is falling in love with her, Birdie remains convinced that she’s past saving. After all she’s been through, can she ever believe that God’s redemption wipes every soul clean? And can Ephraim convince her that God loves her more than she can grasp—and that he does, too?

Get your copy of The Songbird of Hope Hill by Kim Sawyer.

Kim Vogel Sawyer grew up in Kansas. All over Kansas. Her dad, an educator by vocation and a house fixer-upper by design, had itchy feet. Consequently, Kim attended seven different schools in five cities before graduating from high school. 

Although Kim dreamed of being a writer from her earliest memories—even recalls telling her kindergarten teacher that people would check out her book in libraries someday!—she chose to become an elementary school teacher. She used her degree first in an in-home daycare/preschool, then as a home visitor with Head Start, and finally in a fifth grade classroom. Kim loved the kids, but health challenges (a variety of auto-immune disorders) made it difficult to keep up the pace of full-time teaching.

In 2001, she dropped to part-time status and began using the morning hours at home to write. The characters and stories that had lived in the back of her brain for years found their way from her fingertips onto a computer screen. She made a promise: to never write anything that would embarrass her mother or to write anything she would be embarrassed for her daughters or former students to read.

When Kim isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling with her retired military hubby, quilting, antique-shopping, and spoiling her quiverful of granddarlings who are the joys of her life. She likes them even more than chocolate, and that’s saying something.

Visit Kim Sawyer's website.