Charlene Ann Baumbich is the author of eight novels and seven nonfiction books, a speaker and an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Today's Christian Woman. Glen Ellyn Patch caught up with Baumbich just before she set off for Minnesota, where she will be promoting her latest novel, Divine Appointments, which was released Sept. 21.

Glen Ellyn Patch: How would you describe your writing to someone not familiar with your work?

Charlene Ann Baumbich: Erma Bombeck-esque with a twist. She was a front runner in just telling stories out of everyday life. It's not like she was my model or my mentor, but we both have this passion to help people to be whole, to wake up, to see the person sitting next to them. 

Patch: And your twist?

Baumbich: I think my sense of humor is a little bit quirkier.

Patch: What do you find funny?

Baumbich: Almost anything. The most horrible thing can happen, and then I go to tell somebody how awful this thing was, and before I know it, I'm kind of laughing. Everything can be funny, and everything is fodder for... something.

Patch: Have you ever drawn inspiration from the people or the places in Glen Ellyn?

Baumbich: Glen Ellyn has a strong sense of community. So I suppose that has impregnated me somehow after living here for 41 years. You see some other towns our size that don't seem to have anything holding them together. But Glen Ellyn does have that. 

Patch: When did you first realize that you wanted to be writer?

Baumbich: Not until my mid to late forties. Never in my life would I have thought writing was what I wanted to do. I was pretty abysmal in high school English. 

Then after my mother died, when my boys were younger, I went through sort of a funk, which I went to talk to a counselor about. And the counselor said, "Why don't you try writing your thoughts down?" So I started writing, and it was like someone reached in, deep inside of me, and grabbed ahold of the end of a knotted ball of thoughts, and started pulling them out in a line so I could see what I was thinking. My thoughts became visible to me in a way that helped me process... me. 

Patch: How did you get into journalism?

Baumbich: So, fast forward to when my son started wrestling in high school. Glenbard West is a very big football town, and I just felt like wrestlers didn't get any respect. So I wrote this piece and submitted it to the Glen Ellyn News, just as, like, a letter to the people. It was a fun little thing about me being horrified when I went to the first wrestling meet. What I saw happen to my son in that sport was the point of it. So I sent it, and I got a check back! 

Then I got involved with a writer's workshop. And I was going to Bible study fellowship, and somebody there misunderstood what I'd said about my writing class and thought I'd said I was a journalist looking for work, and brought me a little ad from the paper that said, "The Wheaton Daily Journal is looking for a columnist." So I just went in and applied. I've always had more guts than brains. 

Patch: How did you get from journalism to writing your first book?

Baumbich: I started writing the column in '87, and then there was a quick progression. The short version is, I went from the column to features to magazine writing to features for the Chicago Tribune. Then I received a letter from an acquisitions editor who had seen my work, and said he really liked my humor and style, and asked if I was interested in writing books. My first book came out in '91.

Patch: Which one of your books most exemplifies who you are as a writer?

Baumbich: How To Eat Humble Pie & Not Get Indigestion and Don't Miss Your Life! would probably be a tie. They're both nonfiction, but I feel very exposed in both of those books. Some really personal, hard, embarrassing things are revealed in those books. Because when you get to the bone-truth of something, it will resonate. And when you get to the bone-truth of something hard, it's "Ow! Ow! Ow!" You know what I mean? And in both of those books, I just peeled back.

Patch: Is that the journalist in you rearing her head, do you think?

Baumbich: I don't know. I don't have any training in any of this, so I don't know what it is in me. I am innately curious. I still have "Oh my gosh, that would be a good story" moments. I still think, "That's a story I would like to chase." It's that same exhilaration I get with fiction. You know, it's a story I want to chase.

Patch: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Baumbich: Be brave and have fun. I mean, if you're not having fun, why are you wanting to be a writer? Also, relentless pursuit.

Patch: Is that the secret to your success?

Baumbich: I can only believe there was a plan for me to be doing this, because there's no other explaining where I am.

Patch: Your Christian faith is a big element in all of your work. Do you think, though, that your work has broader appeal?

Baumbich: Oh yeah. Penguin released the Dearest Dorothy books as general fiction, not Christian fiction or religion. And that's the way I like it. When I am described as a Christian writer, I don't think that describes me. My intention as a writer is to tell a really good story. Because of my faith, I understand the faith element that one of my characters might have. But some of them don't believe in faith at all, and I never feel compelled to make my characters get that. My goal is just to tell a good story, and to show what a living faith looks like.

Patch: What is Divine Appointments about, in a nutshell?

Baumbich: It's about a mid-life character who finally comes home to herself. And it's about finding encouragement in tough times.

Patch: And it's the second book in your three-book Snowglobe Connections series?

Baumbich: Yes.

Patch: How are the three books connected?

Baumbich: The thing that connects the books is the snow globes. Each book has a snow globe in it. It's not the same snow globe. It's not the same thing in the snow globe. But each snow globe has this peculiar mark on it, and they're quite old, and they come to the characters via the same flea market vendor. And the whole series has a very strong theme of second chances.

Patch: When will the third book in the series be released?

Baumbich: It's going to be out a year from now, in September 2011.

Patch: Can you tell us a bit about it?

Baumbich: It's about these two women: an injured 38-year-old dancer and a 19-year-old, newly engaged girl who's helping to care for her. The story is about the two of them coming together and finding their way. The 19-year-old girl has defied her parents, she's not going to college, she's in love with the town's bad boy. And the dancer—I don't want to tell you too much because it's going to come as a surprise to the readers. It's going to be a great story. One day.

Patch: What's the main thing that you want readers to get out of your books?

Baumbich: Be awake to opportunities to both extend and receive encouragement.

For more information about Baumbich's books, visit www.charleneannbaumbich.com.