Katie Powner: Let’s Chat
Welcome, Katie Powner & Readers
Katie Powner is an award-winning author who lives in Montana, where cows still outnumber people. She is a two-time OCW Cascade Award and ACFW First Impressions Award winner, as well as a two-time ACFW Genesis Award finalist. Katie loves candy, Jesus, and red shoes (not necessarily in that order) and is a mom to the third power: biological, adoptive, and foster. The Sowing Season is her first book.
Join the chat below for Katie’s giveaway: a copy of The Sowing Season.
Katie Powner: In Her Own Words
I grew up on a dairy farm in Western Washington, climbing trees and stacks of hay bales. Swimming in the river. Listening to the lowing of cows through my open bedroom window every summer. Picking blackberries and selling corn by the roadside.
It sounds like an idyllic childhood maybe, and it was in some ways. But there were also a lot of hardships. The work on a dairy farm never stops—not for birthdays or holidays or weekends—and the challenges of running a family farm in particular are numerous. There were many strained relationships between members of our stoic, Dutch family, as well as many illnesses and injuries.
When I was eleven, my grandma’s house, which was next door to ours on the farm, burned down with her inside. A couple years later, a two-person plane crashed into our field in a ball of flames, instantly killing both passengers. Then, an elderly man wandered from his home and drowned in our river. By the time I was sixteen and my father was dying of cancer, I was really beginning to wonder where God was in all of this.
Katie Powner: Making Sense of the World
I’d always been a writer, but I think that’s when I started using writing as a way to process life. A way to learn and grow and understand the world around me. After my father passed away, I filled notebook after notebook with poems and snippets and song lyrics, searching for peace. For truth.
I moved away from the farm when I turned eighteen, but I carried it with me as I went to college and got married and moved to Montana. Every time I thought of writing a book, the farm was there in my mind. They say, “Write what you know,” and what did I know better than the farm? But I was afraid to write about it. Afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Then, as happens with many family farms these days, our family farm was sold. The question became not “What do I know better than the farm?” but “What does life after the farm look like?” What does it look like to let go of the only life you’ve ever known?
Katie Powner: a story of letting go
It was through these questions that The Sowing Season was born. It’s a story of letting go and also of forgiveness. When I started writing it, I felt a strange sense of freedom. I didn’t know if it would ever be published—I’d already had four previous books rejected—so I really felt like I was writing it for myself. Would anyone ever be interested in a story about a retired dairy farmer? I didn’t care because I needed to tell the story.
I finished The Sowing Season in record time, faster than any of my previous books. When my agent started submitting it to publishers, I had very low expectations. There aren’t a lot of books like mine out there in Christian fiction right now. It has an older, male protagonist. A dog and a rooster. No romance. But I had told the story God put in my heart and was content with that.
Within weeks, I had a contract offer. I was dumbfounded. It felt like not only had God honored my efforts, but He was also encouraging me to keep making sense of the world through words and stories. After all, that’s what Jesus did, right? He told stories. Not only that, but He is the Living Word.
Katie Powner: Final Thoughts
What a blessing this process has been. I hope I will have the opportunity to share many more stories with the world.
What childhood events shaped the path of your life? How has God used words and stories in your life to teach you? Comment below for a chance to win a copy of The Sowing Season.
The Sowing Season by Katie Powner
Can an unlikely friendship give them the courage to start again?
Forced to sell the dairy farm he’s worked his entire life to make successful, Gerrit Laninga, now sixty-three, doesn’t know what to do with himself. He sacrificed everything for his cows–his time, his health, his family–with nothing to show for it but bitterness, regret, and two grown children who want nothing to do with him.
Fifteen-year-old Rae Walters is stricken with panic every time she climbs behind the wheel. But any failure, including not passing her driver’s test, jeopardizes The Plan–the detailed blueprint for high school and beyond that has her following in her lawyer father’s footsteps. Though she’s always been committed to The Plan, now that the pressure to succeed is building, doubts about whether she has what it takes haunt her. What was supposed to unite her family in purpose could end up tearing it apart.
When their paths cross just as they each need a friend the most, Gerrit’s and Rae’s lives begin to change in unexpected ways. Can they discover together what really matters in life and learn it’s never too late for a second chance?
Katie Powner LINKS
Website: www.katiepowner.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/authorkatiepowner
IG: https://www.instagram.com/authorkatiepowner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katie_powner
Baker Publishing Group: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-sowing-season/404780
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Dear Lord, please bless each word Katie writes for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake
Congratulations on your first book. Can’t wait to read it.
Hi, Elma. Thank you for joining the chat session and bringing encouragement with you. 🙂 I hope you’ll come back.
Thank you so much, Elma! I hope you enjoy it!
Sounds like a lovely place to grow up! Congrats on the new book!
Welcome, Darlene. Thank you for visiting with us. You’ve encouraged Katie and me both. I hope you’ll return. You’re ever so welcome.
It really was! Thank you so much, Darlene!
Thank you for sharing your story. I spent time in the summer in the country in West Virginia while growing up. I feel learning about my heritage and hard work involved in farming taught me the lesson of hard work and determination.
Greetings, Debra. I so appreciate your thoughts about life on a farm. I was a farmer’s daughter and wouldn’t take anything for it—even the hard lessons and testing. Our Lord referred to farming in several contexts to teach lessons. Thank you for visiting Let’s Chat so faithfully.
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a summer, I’m so glad you had that opportunity! Thank you for stopping by!
Congratulations on your novel. I’m excited to read it. It sounds like a wonderful and inspiring read.
Thank you so much, Nancy! I appreciate your comment!
Welcome, Nancy. Katie’s book will, indeed, inspire you! Please come back. Better yet, sign up for the blog and meet another author every-other Wednesday.
I am really looking forward to reading this. I understand about the stoic Dutch family LOL! When I was 8, my dad was seeking to pastor a different church. It was between one in Delaware and one in Wisconsin. I voted for Delaware. We ended up in Wisconsin. I think back often to how that one decision changed my life. If we went to Delaware, I would have never met my husband, never had my children (well, I guess God could still have brought them to me because they are all adopted), but my life would look so different. I’m thankful every day that my dad didn’t listen to me!
I had the stoic Dutch family, and we also attended a stoic Dutch Reformed Church…so I was surrounded! Isn’t it interesting to think of the different paths our lives could have taken? So thankful God is in control and can see the big picture. I’m so glad you stopped by, Liz, and I hope you enjoy the story!
Hi, Liz. Great to see you with us. I appreciate your thoughts. I look back over 74 years and see what my darkened eyes couldn’t see then. I thank God leading me in darkness. I hope you’ll return to Let’s Chat.
Congratulations on your first published book, Katie!!! 🥂 It sounds like a truly wonderful read! I’ve always had a really enjoyable time talking with elders, just impromptu strangers even; I can see how a young girl and an older gentleman could bond, especially at a time when they both felt a little lost. Your premise of them discovering each other as well as a second chance for themselves sounds very interesting indeed. Keeping my 🤞🏻 because I would love to win this read!! 😁😍📗🥰😁
Welcome, Venetia! What a beautiful name! It’s great to have you in our chat circle. I hope you’ll return (Better yet, sign up at http://www.lindabrooksdavis.com
Thank you, Venetia! I enjoy talking with elders, as well. The first thing I did when I got my driver’s license was volunteer at the nursing home, writing letters for the residents. Thanks for joining us!
My parents divorced when I was young and they were on again and off again a lot. I don’t think God spoke to me until I was older and in a good marriage myself. We just celebrated 31 years together.
Hi, Perrianne. So good to see you in the circle. The Bible says the Lord hates divorce, and no wonder. Almost without exception, the fruit it produces is bitter. My poor children endured it, so I can attest to its foul fruit. Thankfully, we can depend on the Divine Tree Tender to bring sweet from the bitter. Congratulations on 31 years of happy marriage. God bless.
This looks like a very interesting book that I would enjoy reading! Some childhood events that shaped my life were growing up with a handicapped sibling and also people speaking encouraging words to me. I think these things have taught me to be a more compassionate and understanding person to other people.
Welcome, Judy! Thank you for visiting with us. I know you’ve encouraged Katie. Please drop by again.
I grew up with two cousins who were blind and I think you’re right, it teaches us compassion and understanding. I hope I can pass those same qualities on to my children. Thank you for commenting, Judy!
This book sounds beautiful!
My father died when us girls were 11, 12, 15 and 21. My parents were not prepared financially or with estate documents. My Mom made it through….on a grocery cashier salary with 3 kids still at home. This drastically changed our childhood and how I thought about having children……the I was widowed young also……church youth group saved my childhood! Jesus take the wheel!
Hi, Donna. You’re our honored guest. Your story inspires us. Thank you. I hope you’ll come back.
Us kids were 12, 14, 16, and 18 when my father died. I really relate to what you’re saying, Donna! Such a hard road, but so thankful for God’s steadfast faithfulness!
I love stories with older protagonists! People can’t be 32 forever. 🙂 Since I enjoyed your brief sample on Linda’s blog, I’m sure I’ll enjoy your book. Congratulations!
Hi, Clarice. You’re so right about the protagonist. Katie does a wonderful job of communicating from the older generation’s perspective, as well as the younger. As a fellow farmer’s daughter, I can see, smell, and hear the farm. She’s a wonderful new author.
That means so much to me for you to say that, Linda, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear you say that, Clarice! I love older protagonists, too. I’m so happy you enjoyed the sample. Thank you!
Hi, you are a new author to me, and your book sounds intriguing ! I love your book cover andI will definitely be adding your book to my TBR list. Thank you so much for sharing about this book and introducing us to this awesome author Linda.
Howdy, Alicia. You’re such an encouraging follower. Thank you. Katie is a wonderful new author.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Alicia! I love the cover, too, especially now when it matches everything AUTUMN! Thank you for commenting!