12 Great Questions for Author Caryn Rivadeneira

Happy Monday! I’m pumped to start a conversation about mothering this week! I’ve got some fun guest posts and Caryn Rivadeneira’s going to start us off. Caryn has become very special to me. We met almost two years ago at a conference where I heard her speak about ministry, mothering and identity. She probably heard me sniffling in the back of the room (as I cried my way through the conference) and passed me her book. She’s been a great encouragement as a writer and mom doing ministry and work life, and so I wanted to get her on the 12 Questions Interview circuit!  Here’s Caryn with her answers:

1. What sparked your ideas for Mama’s Got A Fake ID, your first book?
Pretty much my own identity crisis as a mom. I had written a blog post about feeling like I’d lost myself in motherhood and was talking to my boss at the time about how much more I could’ve written. She said, “You should write a book about that. Seriously.” And so I thought, okay. Miracles of miracles, it actually worked out.

But the book itself really turned out to be an exploration for me of what God thinks about motherhood, about us as individuals and of what we’re here on earth to do.

2. Speaking of mothering, if you could have your children remember one thing you taught them, what would it be?
Probably that God made them special and gave them each gifts and talents that make them wonderful. To not be ashamed of those and to live them out.

3. What’s an average day look like for you? how much time do you spend working/writing vs. being a “stay at home” mom?
Goodness. I have no “average” day. I’m not one of those writers who wakes up early, brews coffee, and goes out back to the converted barn and writes for 3 hours. Pretty much I write when I can. I try to write something every day. But if I don’t have anybody to help with the kids, I just have to cram it in when I can. I hope (and pray) that when all the kids are in school, I can have a little bit more normal a schedule.

4. So writer/editor/mama, what are you working on right now?Among other things, I’m working on my second book. It’s due in a few weeks so I’m pretty swamped. The working title is “Grumble Hallelujah” and it’s about loving your life even when it’s not turning out as it was supposed to….. It’s due out from Tyndale House in September 2011.

5. What’s the condition of the inside of your car? your closet?
My car? Well. So glad you asked right now. Right now it’s perfect. Clean, empty and freshly vacuumed. In a couple hours, it’ll be packed with camping stuff. In a week, it’ll be a health hazard. Which is much closer to how it usually is.

While my house is generally a mess (too many toys!!!) my closets aren’t THAT bad. Considering. Nothing will fall on you when you open them, at least. You may need to dig around the bottom for a pair of shoes.

6. What’s the first thing you do in the morning? The last thing you do at night?
Here’s where I supposed to say, “Pray! Ask God how I can bless someone!” Right? Ummmm….well, sadly, the first thing I do is check email. Ditto for the last thing before bed. Or read. I’m usually reading in bed, but then I hear my phone buzz and I gotta see who’s emailing me…. It seems nuts, but honestly, it’s just part of how I get things done.

7. What are you reading right now?
In the middle of Unsqueezed by Margot Starbuck (so great!) and I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. So far, so good, but it’s a long, long book.

8. What’s one thing you’d like to be, one thing you’d like to do, one thing you’d like to see?
To be: Except for what I already am, I suppose I’d like to be a farmer. Or at least, live on a farm. With horses. Does that mean I really want to be a rancher? Or, actually, I’d like to be sort of a gentlewoman farmer who writes and ride horses. Maybe that means I want to be a writer who makes a lot more money than I do now. How’s that?

To do: Write a novel. Take one of those kayaking vacations. Re-learn to sew. Take a carpentry class. Start tap-dancing again.

To see: Wow. Lots of stuff. Lots of stuff I’ve never seen (like Koalas in Australia; the Fjords in Norway) and lots that I’ve already seen but would want to see again (like the archipelago between Sweden and Finland and just about everywhere in Ephraim, Wisconsin). There are also a lot of cool, creepy houses I’d love to see the insides of. I’m very nosey.

9. What did you want to be when you grew up? A writer most of the time. A magazine editor some of the time. And I wanted to work in a store—to get to work a cash register. As a testament of God’s goodness, I’ve done all these things.

10. What do you think is the most challenging aspect of this stage of mothering you are in? What’s the most fulfilling? (and tell me the ages of your kiddies for context)
My oldest son is 8, my daughter is 6, and my youngest son is 3.

The most challenging? The noise. The fighting. The constant motion. The constant “nearness” of my kids. (Can you tell it’s summer?) I’m an introvert and all these things wear me down in a hurry.

The most fulfilling? The fun we have. When they aren’t being loud or clingy or fighting, my kids are hilarious and fun. I love sitting on the porch watching them play. They’re all really creative too, so I love seeing them create stuff and “process” life through their drawings or stuff they write.
11. What’s one thing you’d like to carry into your family from your own upbringing? What’s one thing you’d like to leave behind?

What I’d like to carry with me: My parents were very loving. Very affectionate. I always felt loved and cared for. I never doubted that they thought I was wonderful (even when I acted horrible!). They encouraged me in everything I did and let me back away from things I hated.

What I’d like to leave behind: My parents were very image oriented. It was very important that we all looked perfect when we left the house. I have some scars about that that I might write about someday (ha!). I’m not like that at all. Or, I should say, I like to look nice, but I don’t press that on my kids. In fact, you should SEE what my kids are wearing right now. I’ve definitely left this behind! That said, my daughter is obsessed with clothes and shoes and hair. She makes my parents proud.

12. Finish this sentence…If people knew _______________ about me, they might not think of me the same way. (positive or negative!!)
That I mostly vote Republican! Officially, I’m a Libertarian, but I rarely have Libertarian candidates to vote for. Most of my friends are liberal Democrats and are usually stunned (appalled even!) when they discover that I—a crazy, ranting Feminist who tears up at “We Shall Overcome”—have such a disdain for big government.

But what’s cool is that I’ve discovered is that most of my friends (Conservative and Liberal, alike) share the same goals and take the calls of Scripture about caring for the poor, seeking justice, loving mercy, etc. very seriously. We just believe different routes will get us there. And that’s good.

People get nervous about me being super Calvinist too. I still don’t know why.

Thanks Caryn! To find out more about Caryn, check her out at www.carynrivadeneira.com, www.themommyrevolution.com, or her work as Editor of Gifted for Leadership, www.giftedforleadership.com.

Wanna win Caryn’s book “Mama’s Got a Fake ID?” All you need to do is answer one of these 12 questions for yourself in the comments section. I’ll pick someone at random as our lucky winner on Friday!