Q: Many people reading this are familiar with your books, but may not be all that familiar with you. Please tells us about yourself.
A: I was born in Scotland and have lived there all my life. Glasgow was where I spent my childhood, Aberdeen was where I began married life and Inverness has been home for the last thirty-five years.
I’m married to William who is the managing director of Christian Focus Publications and we have three grown up daughters and eight grand-children.
My interests include a women’s bible study group that meet at my home; it is part of a large community of women’s bible studies across the highlands of Scotland and has been a great encouragement to me over the years. I am a member of the Associated Presbyterian church and am actively involved with the Sunday school in our Inverness congregation. I also serve as a lay-magistrate or Justice of the Peace in the local Inverness court.
On a typical day you will often see me in our sun lounge either reading a book, working at a crossword puzzle or playing the piano.
Q: What inspired you to write your first book?
A: When our daughters were very young (6, 3 and under 1) we were very keen to find books that told the Bible story faithfully and pointed them to the Lord Jesus. The first couple of books were Gideon the Soldier of God and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. This was to become the Bible Time series – and it’s still in print. What started as a hobby has grown over the years and we give God the glory for that.
Q: You recently completed your 150th book. Looking back on all of your published books, is there one specific title that stands out as your favorite?
A: I find it hard to choose a favorite book but perhaps one of the most encouraging books for me has been the smallest – My First Book of Questions and Answers. This is essentially a catechism and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback about it. We’ve heard of its use with families and children, churches and even military bases. This little book has been used in many different countries and cultures.
Q: Your most recent book, 365 Great Bible Stories is your largest writing project to date, what message do you hope to convey to your readers in this book?
A: 365 Great Bible Stories – The Good News of Jesus Christ from Genesis to Revelation has been several years in the making, and I must confess I almost gave up on more than one occassion. The editorial team, however, kept encouraging me to keep going. I think the main reason I wrote it is that I really want to help children and families to read God’s word regularly, and this book I believe will help them achieve that.
The message that I want to convey in this book is simple, yet so profound. The story of the bible is one story. The central character is God and the main theme is his plan of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I would like the reader to see what the Lord Jesus has done for sinners. Each story should point to him.
Q: Are there any upcoming projects you can share with the Christian Focus Booknotes audience?
A: One of the up-coming books is about Bible Conversions. It tells how God changes the lives of several Bible characters e.g. Saul, Lydia, Nicodemus, the thief on the cross amongst others. As well as that the book will point the reader to Christ with the hope that they too will be changed through the power of God.
Below are the books mentioned in the interview:
You can see a full list of Carine's books published by Christian Focus here: LINK.