Laura Hundley asked Vicki Olsen:

Where did the book A Sparrow Falls originate from? Is there any similarities to your life inside the book?

Vicki Olsen Laura, forgive me for the delay in responding to your question. Somehow I failed to see it until now.
To answer your second question first—there are few similarities to my own life other than I would be a contemporary of Sarah. I drew on my own recollections of life in the 50s and 60's to set the scene. I was not raised on a farm, and although I was born in a small town in Arkansas, I was not raised there. The atmosphere of the town, the school, and the periphery characters were created from a composite of the town in southern Arkansas where my grandparents lived and the small town in Idaho where I attended school. The experiences however are entirely from my imagination. I had an ideal childhood with nearly perfect parents and a good relationship with my brothers. Some aspects of Kenny are drawn from my own brothers, but they are both still alive and well. I was able to get some insight into the incestual abuse from a friend I had as an adult. I used her accounts to explore Sarah's emotional responses as well as her relationship with her parents. I did experience emotional and physical abuse in my marriage and used that to draw Sarah's journey into low self-esteem and the powers of forgiveness in one's personal growth.
The book came about from a joint effort with a writer friend of mine. He created the town of Tolerance for his first book. I had helped him edit the book and became interested in a minor character from that book. I suggested he write a book based on her because I thought her backstory would be interesting. He was working on another book at the time and suggested I write the book instead. I changed her name but kept the name of the town (with his written permission.) During the writing process, Sarah told me her story. There is little or none of the original character left in A Sparrow Falls. My friend had since passed away. His original book is no longer available and he never finished the second one.
Thank you for your question. I hope you will read the sequel when it is published. It is a continuation of Sarah's story set on a 70s Jesus Freak commune in the Ozark Mountains.

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