Welcome to Liz Tolsma

A big welcome to our special guest, multi-published author of Christian historical fiction, Liz Tolsma. Liz is passionate about writing, family, and God, which shows in her novels. In this interview, she shares some behind-the-scenes looks at her newest release, When the Sky Burned. And after the interview questions and answers, be sure to also check out her other new release, What I Left for You, and the Christian Historical Fiction Talk Podcast link. Enjoy!

When the Sky Burned

When the Sky Burned is about the fire that destroyed the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, on October 8, 1871. What drew your attention to this particular event that planted a story idea?

While the rest of the world may not know about the Peshtigo Fire, if you were a schoolchild in the fourth grade in Wisconsin, you learned about it. Those fires are one of my greatest fears; the events of that night always fascinated me. So more than twenty years ago, when I was just starting to write and was told to write what I knew, I decided to write about the Peshtigo Fire. Of course, the story has changed quite a bit since that very bad first draft, but the idea behind it is the same.

This was also the day of the Great Chicago Fire and several others in Michigan. Did your research give any indication as to why the Peshtigo fire isn’t as well known even though it had many more deaths than in Chicago?

Peshtigo was a much smaller town than Chicago, and it was tucked away in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Chicago boasted many wealthy and influential people, whereas Peshtigo was a rough lumbering and sawmill town. One of the biggest factors, though, was that the fires had burned through the telegraph lines that ran to that part of the state. It took days for survivors to straggle into Green Bay where they could inform the world and ask for help. By that time, the nation’s and the world’s attention was already on Chicago. In fact, Wisconsin’s governor was in Chicago to lend them aid. Wisconsin’s very young first lady was busy arranging a trainload of clothes, blankets, tents, and medical supplies to send south when word reached her of the disaster in her own state. As soon as everything was ready, she sent the train north, to the point where the tracks had been burned, where everything was offloaded and transported to the burned areas.

Your characters and their stories sound fascinating. How did you come up with their stories?

Because I’m a creative person, I love to write about other creatives. I’ve written about musicians several times, so I wanted to have her do something different. My sister is an artist and teaches art at the university level, so that’s how she came to be an artist, one whose greatest dream is to have her works displayed in Chicago, New York, and Paris. In 1871, there were well-known lumber and railroad barons in Chicago who had business in Northeast Wisconsin, so I created her fiancé to be a railroad baron. I didn’t want him to be wiped out like some of the lumber barons were. And the hero needed to be the polar opposite of her fiancé, so he’s a lowly bookkeeper who bumbles and fumbles, but as you’ll discover, has a heart of gold.

What do you hope your readers will take away from the story?

The theme of the story is what success looks like. Does is consist in how many millions of dollars you accumulate, sometimes through unscrupulous means? Does success mean worldwide fame and acclaim? The characters have to learn that it’s far more than that. Success in God’s kingdom means following him, dying to ourselves, and living daily for him. Only through Jesus’ success in removing our sins at the cross can we be victorious.

Besides writing historical novels, you host the Christian Historical Fiction Talk podcast. How did you get started with that and what are some of the topics you discuss in addition to interviewing authors?

I have a friend who runs a marketing company, and during the quarantine, we were talking about what the future of book marketing looked like. She told me that podcasts were the way to go. I took a class with Thomas Umstattd Jr. to learn more about how to start one, and we got off the ground in July 2020. While I love interviewing authors, some of my most popular shows have been topical. We’ve discussed what makes a novel Christian, how AI is affecting both authors and readers, if WWII fiction is here to stay, among many other things. If you have a topic you’d like me to discuss, let me know!

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Thank you so much, Liz, for this great interview, giving readers a chance to learn more about you and your books.