We're excited to introduce Jeffrey Meyer, author of the highly-anticipated historical fiction novel, A Call to China. Jeffrey Meyer joins the IngramElliott team after a career in higher education as a professor of Asian religions at the University of North Carolina. Jeffrey's upcoming novel is the story of the coming of age of two daughters; one without family in rural China, the other in urban America. Set against the background of revolutionary change in 20th-century China and America, the story follows the spiritual journeys of the two sisters through compelling characters, exotic locations, and a rich plot.

​We recently spoke to Jeffrey about his work and about A Call to China.

​IngramElliott (IE): Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer. What inspired you to write your book?
Jeffrey Meyer (JM): I've been fascinated with China for most of my life.  My research and teaching at UNC Charlotte was focused on Asian religions, especially Buddhism and Daoism, and I've lived in China and Taiwan for about three years. My daughter was adopted in China. So it was a love for China and Chinese culture that inspired me to write the novel.

​IE: Tell us a little about your book’s title and what it represents?
JM: "A Call to China" refers to the initial calling which took a missionary family to  China to bring the Gospel to the Chinese people. At the same time it refers to the personal call, felt by Livia, the main character in the novel, to return to China to find her lost sister.

IE: Do you have any advice for other writers?
JM: Join a good, hard-working writers' group.

IE: What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies?
JM: Travel, sketching and landscape gardening.
​IE note - We're using some of Jeffrey's original sketches in the book!

​A Call to China is Jeffrey's first novel. It will be published by IngramElliott in 2017.

Are you up for the challenge? If you want to jump-start that great novel idea that's been jelling in your mind forever, there's an organization that can help! November is National Novel Writing month and NaNoWriMo can help! You can join authors from all over the world to complete an entire novel in 30 days! The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November and the website offers tools to track your progress, get support, and meet other writers online. There's also prizes and a cool map that shows how far your fellow writers have come. Check out the National Novel Writing Month FAQ's for more info and get writing!