Author Spotlight no.109 – Kimberley Payne

Complementing my daily blog interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the one hundred and ninth, is of non-fiction devotional author and novelist Kimberley Payne.

Kimberley Payne is a former personal trainer and lover of Jesus and squats. She writes to share with others all that she’s learned about fitness and faith. Kimberley works out with other “LifterSisters” – friends who share her interest in lifting weights, love her like a sister, and provide an emotional lift when she’s feeling low.

Her novel, Tooth for Tooth, three devotionals that relate raising a family, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, and everyday experiences to building a relationship with God, as well as a workbook, Fit for Faith, that unites physical health and spiritual health through a 7-week program to lose weight and develop a deeper relationship with God. Kimberley lives in Ontario, Canada where she hikes the trails with her 2 kids and dog, leaving her husband at home to watch over the cats, fish and hamsters. She writes about family, fitness and faith.

And now from the author herself:

I am an over-40, peri-menopausal mother of two teenagers. I am happily married to a man I believe was a direct answer to a desperate prayer. I am a half-cup-full optimist who’s been blessed with a short memory.

Although not naturally blond, nor do I have blue eyes, Dutch blood runs through my veins. I love croquettes, double zout drops and Suske & Wiske. I have fond childhood memories of a close family, with three older brothers who went swimming at the YMCA on Friday nights, played card games like “Pit”, and went camping every summer.

I collect pet fur – not because I like it but rather to try to keep my house somewhat clean—with two cats, two rats, and an aging German Shepherd.

I fell in love with Jesus in 2001 and haven’t looked back. I love to pray and have had the privilege to see many answers to prayers. I read my Bible daily by following a 365-day reading plan, and love to learn about this fascinating book.

Years ago, I began a spiritual and physical health partnership with God. Each morning, I started my day with a prayer. “Dear Lord, I pray that You will remind me every day that You are at work within me and around me.” Or, “Dear God, I pray that You will instill in me a sense of responsibility to care for my body—to both nourish and sustain it.” At the end of the day, I would write in my diary about my new faith and fitness journey. I also spent time reading my Bible and seeking out scriptural truths about God’s character. I started to memorize favourite verses such as, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Then I felt a God-nudge that this type of program would also help others. So I used what I had learned to create a workbook, Fit for Faith – 7 weeks to improved spiritual and physical health.

Although I write in the health & fitness arena, I don’t consider myself an athlete. As a matter of fact, I once thought of myself as more on an anti-athlete. However, I’ve since come around and have settled on recreational athlete. I don’t run but I love to walk around my neighbourhood and hike in the woods. I don’t compete in triathlons but I do enjoy a friendly game of tennis. I’m not a competitive weight lifter but I’m quite fond of strength training in my basement with a girlfriend. You can read about my journey in the anthology A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider – Words to Stimulate the Mind and Delight the Spirit. It was released this year by That’s Life! Communications. My piece is called, A Personal Makeover – Inside and Out.

I’ve struggled with self-image and weight control all my life. I’m a member of Weight Watchers and attended Overeater’s Anonymous until the meetings conflicted with my weekend addiction to garage sales.

I’m an amateur photographer — scratch that, I like to take pictures but don’t know the first thing about cameras. I’ve been around my neighbourhood numerous times taking photos of everything and anything that’ll stay still long enough for me to capture it on film. I hope to gather my favourite pictures into a coffee table book.

On my bucket-list I’ve had “write a book” alongside “learn to drive a motorcycle” and “plant a Christmas tree farm”. I’ve checked off the first one but have yet to fulfill my other two dreams. I also want to visit Israel, bike across Holland with my mom and my daughter, and tandem jump out of an airplane.

Much of my writing comes out of daily living. If I learn something new through a friend, radio program or a walk in the woods I like to share it with others. I picked up a gem of a nugget from Julia Cameron’s, The Artist’s Way. She encouraged me to write Morning Pages – that is to write three pages (long hand) each morning.  I admit I’ve lost the morning routine, but when I do write, I stick to the three pages. The first page I write about my day, things that are front and centre, anything that “pops” into my mind. The second page is usually deeper stuff, under the surface real issues. And the third page is God’s response. My faith has grown in leaps and bounds from this writing routine. I’ve collected and organized many of these devotional writings into three books: Where Life Meets Faith, Where Family Meets Faith and Where Fitness Meets Faith.

As much as I love to write, I find myself hesitant to sit down and actually do it. Some days I’d rather play on Facebook, or read other blogs, or wash the hallway walls.

You can find more about Kimberley and her writing via… her website, fitness blog, devotional blog, Twitter, Facebook. You can buy the book ‘Fit for Faith’ from Amazon.com, Smashwords and Lulu. There’s also a YouTube channel.

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The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with multi-genre author and spotlightee AJ Race – the four hundred and fifty-sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.