Happy 4th of July! Our celebration of our Independence. Are we stewards of freedom?
So what does this have to do with July’s Author 2 Author Interviews? It does in a way that is pretty cool.
Our featured author is Roseanna M. White a bestselling, Christy Award–winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes.
When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling–she just graduated her last child this year–editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books . . . to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
Roseanna’s newest release, The Collector of Burned Books is already on my shortlist for best books of 2025.
In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two professors–one from Berlin and one from Paris–form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris. Together, Christian and Corinne fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.
I have to say that some of my favorite scenes in the book are when Corinne leads her university class in a discussion of opposing opinions–while a team of Nazis watch. Powerful. Fascinating! Roseanna and I discuss this during our YouTube interview.
Shall we get to know Roseanna even more?
What did you read as a child? What did you read to your children?
The first books that made me love reading were the Chronicles of Narnia, so I loved reading those to my kids during our homeschool years. Until I reread them as an adult, I didn’t fully appreciate how much they’d shaped me, especially The Last Battle. I couldn’t have told you much about the story, but the theology! Lewis’s view of heaven, of Christ, of what it means to truly pursue God, even when we don’t have all our facts straight…those informed so much of my own faith.
What is something God taught you while you wrote The Collector of Burned Books?
One of the lessons I’ve been pondering ever since I wrote this story is the impact of books I hate. I read a lot of classics, fiction and nonfiction, in college, and I didn’t honestly like a lot of them. I mean, Marx, Nietzsche, Hegel, the other modern philosophers we read and debated…I’ve never had to urge to pick them up again.
And yet as I look back, I realize that I was shaped as much by them as by books I love. Because it’s by reading things I don’t agree with that I 
really come to understand why I believe the things I do.
More, it’s one of the best ways to understand people who aren’t like me. Until we fully understand an idea, fully wrestle with it, engage with it, rejecting it is usually no more than an emotional reaction, not something that will ever convince a true believer that they’re wrong.
Writing a book all about book banning and even burnings helped me realize anew that we don’t preserve the freedom of thought, the freedom of the press, just because we want to protect our ideals. We do it because we need to be exposed to ideas that are “other.” It’s the only way we grow.
What is one of your favorite quotes from The Collector of Burned Books and why do you love it?
There’s a place where the heroine defends herself by smacking a Nazi soldier in the nose with a book, and it happens to be one banned by the Party, the complete works of a friend of hers. I took great joy in writing, “Now that was poetic justice.” And may have cackled in glee as I wrote that scene…
A friend once asked me, “What are you passionate about? So passionate that you cry out and pound your fist on the table?” What is your pound-on-the-table passion?
This will come as a surprise to no one at this point, but…story. I believe that stories change the world. I believe that words have so much power God used them to create the universe, and that Christ took on the name too. And I believe that when we use our words to write or speak, we are co-creating with our Creator, and while ours don’t have the same potency, they are not weak. They are not useless. And, they are not empty. Or at least…they shouldn’t be.
My goal is to live up to the prophet Samuel’s example. Scripture tells us that none of his words fell to the ground. I love that. So as a writer and also as a publisher, my passion is bringing words, stories, to the world…knowing that they’ll leave it changed.
Wow! Thank you, Roseanna. You’ve given me a lot of brain candy I’ll be chewing on for a long time.
How about a FANTASTIC giveaway from Roseanna?
July’s A2A Giveaway!
Yes! Thanks to Roseanna and Tyndale Publishing, this month’s giveaway ONE WINNER will receive the softcover copy of her latest release, The Collector of Burned Books.
There’s one winner and it could be you! How? Well, by entering! Not just once, but up to SIX times– (see the YouTube interview)!* Leave a comment below and share this blog and if you haven’t already, please subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this blog and receive a free gift from me — and an extra entry.
NOTE: WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING THIS INCREDIBLE GIVEAWAY?*
Check out my YouTubeA2A interview with Roseanna. Because, in the video interview Roseanna answer different fun questions–and we have some great discussions!
By Liking and Commenting on the video episode, you will have one more entry.* Sharing the video, another entry.* Subscribe, and you have TWO entries for a chance to win.*
The Deadline is July 10th!
Watch our interview–
That means, my friends, if you comment and subscribe -– or are already a subscriber -– to my blog, then watch the video and LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT on the VIDEO, then Subscribe to my YouTube Channel, your name will be entered SIX TIMES–SEVEN!*
Next month: Award-winning and bestselling author, Cheryl Grey Bostrom.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Roseanna! Until August, God bless and KEEP READING! And Happy 4th of July!
*So sorry, entries from the contiguous US only.
