Sara Blackard is a US based writer of contemporary romance and romantic suspense, and I recently had the privilege of being on her ARC team for Wild About Emmy. More about that later! But first, let’s find out a bit more about Sara.
Sara, welcome! You’ve published several series of books, so can you share a little bit of your journey with writing? Is it something you’ve always done?
I’m one of those authors with the cliché answer, “I’ve always loved writing.” In fact, I recently found a journal filled with short stories and poems from middle school. I’d always played around with writing, but didn’t get serious until I was preparing to teach the Acts story of Phillip and the Ethiopian for Kids Bible Club and God “downloaded” the idea for my book Vestige of Hope into my brain. Then the other three books showed up, and I couldn’t not write them. That kind of propelled me to where I am now.
You write from a Christian perspective—what does that look like in your books?
At first, I wrote Christian romance with an obvious Christian message. But something that started bothering me the more that I was on social media with the purpose of research and promoting my books was how the books that are discussed often and repeatedly are almost always super spicy. It makes me really sad to see how dark romance has gotten. I also realized that, for the most part, the only people who read Christian fiction are, well, Christians. Don’t get me wrong. I love that we have books that are Christ-centered, and some of my absolute favorite authors write Christian fiction.
I felt God telling me that I needed to shift. I wanted to show that romance can be swoony without the spice. I also wanted to show men that were strong without being domineering, protective, and honoring. I put my characters in positions where it’d be easy to turn the spice up and open those bedroom doors, but my characters choose not to because of their morals. My books still sizzle and pull all kinds of emotional heart strings, but they never cross the line. My hope is that people will read my books and want more of the experience found there. That when they read through my other books and get to my more Christian-centric ones, they have that lightbulb moment of, “Oh. Now that makes sense.”
Now tell us about the Wild Hearts of Alaska series—what is it all about?
The Wild Hearts of Alaska is an interconnected series of standalone adventure romantic comedies. The series is about cousins and friends and the wild adventures they get wrapped into. I love my romantic suspense books, but I also love romantic comedies. So I figured why not mash the two together! Plus, I wanted to show what it’s actually like to live here in Alaska. 
Have you always lived in Alaska? What makes this particularly special as a setting?
We’ve lived in Alaska for fourteen years. The amazing thing about Alaska is the vast diversity here. We have temperate rainforests in Seward where a lot of the series is set, muskeg-filled tundras, arctic deserts, mountains that jut into space, and everything in between. Alaska is the epitome of adventure, and that’s not even including the animals. I want to give readers the experience of true Alaska.
I loved the outdoorsy focus of Wild About Emmy. Do you think there is a growing spotlight on women participating in climbing and extreme sports?
I think that women have always participated. I read stories all the time of women in Alaskan history being right next to the men when it comes to extreme sports like climbing and dog mushing. I mean, Barbara Washburn climbed Denali with her husband back in 1947 before there was all the equipment and safety knowledge for climbing. In 1970, the first all-female team called the Denali Damsels climbed the summit and managed to self-rescue one of the members who became unconscious from the altitude. It’s one of the things that I love about Alaska so much. I think a lot of Alaskan women unconsciously live by Barbara Washburn’s philosophy of any woman can do the things men do if we have “the desire to be uncomfortable.” I’m just glad that women are now gaining the recognition that men do.
Which authors inspire you? Do you have a favourite book you return to?
I love the way that Jodi Basye writes. She has such a way of dragging you into a scene. I’m always amazed at how I feel like I’m right there with the characters. I also really enjoy Emma St. Clair’s books. I know, every time I sit down with her characters I’m going to either laugh out loud, get misty-eyed, and often in the same scene. When I first started really writing, Karen Witemeyer and Mary Connealy really inspired me. I wanted to be able to write books that kept readers on the edge of their seat while also making them laugh like their books do to me.
What are you excited for this year?
I’m really excited to be finally able to work on the next Alaskan Rebel book, A Rebel’s Shot. I’ve been dealing with health issues that kept me from writing, so it’s really good to be back behind the computer.
You can follow Sara on Instagram @sara.blackard. The Wild Hearts of Alaska series is out now!
Sophie Toovey 