Interview: July 31, 2015

Emilie Richards has written over 70 novels, beloved for their complex characterizations and in-depth explorations of social issues --- a result of her training and experience as a family counselor. THE COLOR OF LIGHT is the fourth installment in her Goddesses Anonymous series, and it spotlights another Goddess, Minister Analiese Wagner, whose faith is put to the ultimate test when she takes homeless teenager Shiloh Fowler under her wing. In this interview, Richards talks to Bookreporter.com’s Jamie Layton about the significance of her characters’ names and how they took on a life of their own, to no one’s surprise more than her own. She also discusses how serious the issue of homelessness is, and the strides and setbacks churches experience when dealing with matters of social justice.

Bookreporter.com: In THE COLOR OF LIGHT, Shiloh Fowler is a 14-year-old homeless teenager from Ohio. Life’s downturns have paralyzed her parents, forcing her into a position of leadership within her immediate family as she finds them temporary shelter at the Church of the Covenant in Asheville, North Carolina. The name “Shiloh” has some biblical references. Did you choose her name because of this significance? If so, can you tell us more about that?

Emilie Richards: While I did appreciate the biblical associations, my personal association is more unusual. I grew up hearing stories about "Johnny Shiloh," a Civil War drummer boy who also happened to be my great-great-uncle. My father remembered him well, and I was fascinated by tales of an eight-year-old boy leading adults into battle. In THE COLOR OF LIGHT, Shiloh Fowler is 14, but also a child struggling to lead adults.

BRC: Shiloh’s parents have been on a roll of bad luck --- lost jobs, health crises, homelessness, and now a life of shuffling from place to place just trying to catch a whiff of a break. Do their names --- Belle, who seems to be the antithesis of her name’s meaning, and Man, short for Herman, an impersonal and almost dehumanizing nickname --- have deeper meaning?

ER: I wanted my readers to see Belle as more than a cipher, a real woman under the obesity and depression, one who had been beautiful and filled with hope and love before life closed in around her. In the same way, I saw Man not only as symbolic of any man who might find himself in this situation, but also a strong one who moves forward in the end, despite setbacks, and does what he must.

BRC: Based on your research and real-life odds, if the Fowlers had not found their Good Samaritan in Minister Analiese Wagner, what do you think would’ve happened to them as a family? What would’ve become of them individually? Do you think there are more or less services and tools available for homeless families versus individuals? Does any region of the United States have a higher rate of family homelessness?

ER: Services differ from community to community. In 2014, more than 750 children in the Buncombe County school system (Asheville) were considered to be homeless, a number that had doubled since 2009. Sadly, if a family has a place to sleep --- a relative's couch, an abandoned trailer --- the federal government often doesn't count them as homeless. So I'm not sure we understand or even know how many families are in trouble. The good news is that, with help, families can recover quickly once they are rehoused. The bad news is that programs that can help are short on resources, and most shelters do not accommodate entire families.

In 2013, the greatest risk for child homelessness was in our Southern states, as well as some of our Western ones. But states like New York and California have their share as well.

BRC: How did the Goddesses Anonymous novels come to be set in Asheville? You seem to be on close terms with the city and area (I loved the shout-out to The Admiral!). Do you spend a lot of time in Appalachian North Carolina?

ER: I am a frequent visitor to Asheville because I have a son who lives there, and for decades our family spent at least one week in the area each summer. I love the city. (And yes, I love the restaurants!)

BRC: Kuan Yin is the chosen goddess of the Goddesses Anonymous. This Bodhisattva is also seen as the Virgin Goddess who shows women an alternative life to marriage. Many of the Goddesses Anonymous have found full and satisfying lives without a man on their arm, or have found these lives and then a partner to share that life with, like Georgia. Do you think, even in the enlightened year of 2015, women still see a life without a man as incomplete? Do you think that in order to be truly happy in a marriage, a woman (or a man, for that matter) should be able to be happy alone first?

ER: The stories and traditions around Kuan Yin --- who is even sometimes portrayed as a man --- are so varied. She's also known as the goddess of mercy. In this series, Analiese tells the story that after Kuan Yin’s death she turned around on her way to heaven to come back to earth to stay with us until all suffering ends and she is no longer needed here.

Do women need marriage to be happy? No, but I think that the more mature and self-aware we are, the better partners we become. I do believe both men and women need love, companionship and someone we can trust with our hearts. I think in relationships we help each other "grow our souls," but I don't think that has to happen only in marriage. Still, isn't it lovely when it does?

BRC: Analiese Wagner was ordained in the United Church of Christ, yet the Church of the Covenant, while having ties to several denominations, is clearly not affiliated with any one in particular. In writing THE COLOR OF LIGHT, was making it simply a church --- as opposed to a church of any one particular Protestant branch --- part of your grand design? How did it facilitate the story? In what ways did it make your work easier…or harder?

ER: This was absolutely my design. Novelists often invent towns when the events about to unfold in their story might reflect badly on a real one. In the same way, I gave the Church of the Covenant ties to several denominations because I don't want to point a finger at any one tradition. I am a minister's wife, so I understand the mechanics and underpinnings of churches in general. But I was careful to use language that differentiated Analiese's church from any I have been part of, or specific details of any my readers might know well.

BRC: Analiese and Isaiah Colburn, a Jesuit priest, have loved each other from afar for years. Isaiah is on “discernment,” or a leave of absence from the church, while trying to decide if a celibate life is his true calling. From the pulpit, Analiese serves as the moral compass for her congregation. As they try to figure out where their relationship might fit within their individual callings to God’s work, the relationship evolves emotionally and physically, putting certain vows they’ve made and principles they uphold in jeopardy. Was it hard to “go there”? Do you think this is a more frequent struggle for many priests and clergy than laypeople realize?

ER: I always shake my head when an author says her characters took over, and she was powerless to control them. I no longer shake my head. I felt powerless as this story developed. Nothing went as planned.

I think it's important to note that celibacy is only one of the vows that Isaiah questions. Obedience is the other, and I think that obedience, more than anything, fuels his initial need for discernment. I struggled throughout the novel to explore what it means to take a vow. Is a vow a set of very specific words we repeat? Are we obligated by language or by the spirit beneath? And does a vow that was meaningful at one time in our lives have to be meaningful forever? My characters wrestle with this. Isaiah and Analiese both have to question vows they've made and how they'll move into the future.

As for celibacy? Single ministers of most denominations are bound by their vows. They may not agree to be celibate their entire lives, but as single men and women, they are held to higher standards. And finding a partner outside the congregation who is willing to share a calling at some level --- or the time to find one --- can be difficult. When we look at statistics of divorce rates and levels of satisfaction among married ministers, along with the sheer number of hours ministers are asked to work, I think we begin to understand some of the reasons why celibacy seems appropriate.

BRC: The larger a church’s congregation gets and the bigger their house of worship grows, it seems the less emphasis is placed on actual ministry. There is definitely a faction at the Church of the Covenant more concerned with the new rose window and less with the homeless people at their own doorstep. Do you think mass organized religion has forgotten the ministry aspect of their work as it applies to those outside their walls? They seem to provide much --- education, support, etc. --- to their congregants but little to the prodigal sons and daughters of their own communities. Do you feel there is still a strong element of community outreach by today’s churches? In what areas could they do more?

ER: Churches are made up of ordinary people. Some people struggle to do their best. Others use the community for their own purposes, often unknowingly. Churches are never perfect, but in addition to worship, they are often a good place to learn about ourselves and our neighbors and how to negotiate all our relationships. Having been part of churches of all sizes, I'm not sure I would agree that larger ones place less emphasis on ministry. The smart ones hire additional ministers, some of whom do pastoral work and nothing else. Still, no church runs itself, and staff is often overworked and underpaid. Ministry is a great honor and a great challenge, and tenures are often much too short.

I think many of the most exciting and successful social justice projects are conceived and run by churches of all denominations. Soup kitchens. Homeless shelters. Community organizing. When belief becomes action, fabulous things can and do result.

BRC: Do you have another Goddesses Anonymous novel in the works? Will we get an update on Analiese and Isaiah?

ER: My next novel is a single title that's not in the series. But I do hope to do more Goddesses novels. I'd like to see what Analiese, Isaiah and the rest of the Goddesses are up to myself.