RELEASE DATE NOVEMBER 7, 2023 Q & A with Chris Fabry
Author
of Saving Grayson
Good stories always begin with a character in
terrible trouble. What is the trouble for Grayson Hayes?
Photo by Astrid Schaffner on Unsplash Grayson is struggling with dementia. In the first scene, he
is sitting in his closed garage in his boxer shorts holding a nail gun, and he
can’t remember why he’s there. The trouble for Grayson is amplified for his
wife and those who love him, and the story tries to capture the tension of how
to love someone who is slipping away.
Why did you choose to write about memory loss
and Alzheimer’s?
We are all dealing with this in our families and extended
families. But I chose this struggle because the reader is forced to follow
Grayson’s search to solve a murder mystery as well as discover the truth about
his own life. Grayson is trying to uncover the truth and get it down on the
page before he can forget it. I found that a really compelling storyline.
Your main character, Grayson, is an unreliable
narrator. What problems did you encounter in telling a story from the
perspective of someone you can’t trust?
It really gave me freedom to enter his world and observe
what he thinks about himself. And to an extent, Grayson is all of us. We think
certain things that aren’t necessarily true but we’ve chosen to believe
them—good and bad and everything in between. And the truth will set you free if
you let it. So I enjoyed the journey inside Grayson’s mind and the journey of
discovering what was really true. I think the reader will as well.
Some of your stories feature a character
returning to their hometown. Why is that theme so prevalent in your novels?
Photo by Janeson Keeley on Unsplash Where I grew up, the people, the region, the aromas, the
sights—all of this is part of me. So my stories come to life when I begin to
write about what I know the best, and that springs from the rich, loamy West
Virginia soil where I was planted. In this novel, Grayson’s hometown and one
friend he remembers is all he can hang on to. And he is obsessed with finding
his way back there, even though there is danger ahead that he can’t remember.
One huge theme you tackle is suffering and our
desire to avoid it at all costs. Tell us about that.
I have equated the “good life” as one without struggle and
suffering. I pray for ease and comfort, and if things go haywire, I often think
God has abandoned me. But if I look closely at my life, the times of greatest
growth have come in times of greatest struggle and turmoil. Grayson faces this
by trying to manage the pain for his wife—to relieve her suffering before it
gets too great. And the reader understands that by doing this, Grayson is
robbing others of a chance to serve him and love him well. My hope is that the
reader will see their own life through this story and, instead of avoiding
pain, will embrace pain as much as possible to allow God access with his
transforming power.
In your stories, you try not to force faith on
the reader but make it organic. How did you do that in Saving Grayson ?
Photo by Jessica Mangano on Unsplash I’ve been trying hard with my stories not to “tell” as much
as “show.” Grayson had a huge spiritual shift late in his life that has now
been clouded by his disease. The knock against Christian artists is that they
make everything “nice” in the end with everybody coming to faith, which is not
reality. All bows are not tied in our lives. So I painted this picture with
some missing pieces and unresolved tension. God doesn’t take away the pain and
the struggle but walks through it with Grayson and others.
There’s a man in Grayson’s hometown named
Pooch. Why did you name him that, and what’s his significance?
My middle name is Howard. That was the name of my uncle
whose nickname was Pooch. I have been wanting to write about him for a long
time, and I finally found the opportunity to have him be the friend Grayson
will trust, literally, with his life.
Alzheimer’s
affects everyone around Grayson. Tell us about his wife, Charlotte, and how she
struggles.
Lotty,
as Grayson calls her, knows all the things that Grayson has forgotten. So she
is carrying the weight of memory in the relationship and the weight of her own
mistakes. There is something pure about her love and her decision, at one point
in the story, to let Grayson go and find his way. Her story will tear your
heart out. It mirrors the stories of spouses of those with Alzheimer’s I’ve
heard and read.
Grayson and others in the story have made some
big mistakes. You deal with the process of righting wrongs and searching for
forgiveness. Do you think that’s possible?
Photo by Sir. Simo on Unsplash I think it’s not only possible but incredibly redemptive.
The only caveat is that we can’t control whether another person will forgive us
and allow reconciliation. That makes things scary because we have no guarantee
on a human level. But from a spiritual perspective, there’s great freedom and
vitality that comes when you recognize your mistakes, name them, and then reach
out to those you have hurt. I want that in my own life and in the lives of
readers.
How did writing this
story change you?
I actually did a major
rewrite of it after it was finished because it didn’t ring true to me. And in
that season, I was face down on the pavement, so to speak, wondering how to
make it work. And I realized that I was in the same place as many of my characters
who were at the end of their own ability to love or make life work. When you
get to that point, it’s really hard, but it’s also good because you’ve tapped
into a big emotional aspect of the story you’re trying to flesh out.
What email do you hope
you get after someone reads Saving Grayson ?
I’m hoping someone will
see themselves and say, “I realize that I have controlled the pain and struggle
so much that I haven’t allowed others to love me well.” And perhaps someone
will say the same thing about God—that through this story they see how they’ve
kept God at a distance.
Do you have any other writing projects you can
share with us?
I am currently working on the novelization of the next
Kendrick Brothers project, I’m really excited about bringing that story to the
page.
Saving Grayson by Chris
Fabry | ISBN 978-1-64607-056-5 | Softcover: $15.99
224 Pages | November 2023 | FocusontheFamily.com
Permission to
post from Katie Dodillet/Tyndale Publishers
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