5Q4 > An Adventist Author

At 32, Titus Mueller has had nine books published, selling a total of more than 250,000 copies in his homeland of Germany. Nathan Brown asks some questions about his writing and his faith.

1 How did you get into writing? >I always loved books. When I was a kid and went on vacation, I carried loads of them with me, because I was afraid I might run out of unread books when away from the library. But I never thought about writing. One day—I think I was 17—my brother came home from boarding school and gave me a story he had written. I liked it very much, and thought: This is no different from the stories I read in books. Can it be that normal people write these? The next day, I started writing, poems and short stories first, and then, later, my first novel.

2 Why do you write?> It has to do with what I see. I don’t invent stuff. Most of what I write in my novels, I have observed.

People often think being a writer has to do with creativity. But that’s only a small part of it. It’s more about seeing things, hearing things—being curious about life and people and God.

3 How would you describe your writing to someone like me who cannot understand German and so is unable to read your work? >The largest circulation newspaper in Germany, Bild, wrote about one of my novels: “Full of details, pictures, scents.” Often I get told by readers, they like the small things in my books—like smell and taste and feelings. I write historical novels and, to help my readers get to know the medieval setting, I try to let them feel it. Besides that, I love to write about God. In each of my stories, a character finds out something new about God. I often write about people who had a way of searching for Him that was unusual for their time, and how they solved the problems arising from that.

4 What opportunities has being a published author brought you? >I get to travel a lot and also meet many people. For example, I was invited to a Jewish synagogue to read from one of my novels. And I meet Christians of all denominations, atheists and people who don’t know how to make sense of life. Meeting all these people helps me understand how much God loves us all. I used to think in categories of “Us” and “Them.” “Us” meant being an Adventist, and knowing all about God and life and the right way. “Them” meant being in the world and being unhappy. Now, I know I have to learn, too—about God, life and people. I am still an Adventist but I see myself and others differently. I have learned how little I know. And strangely, it has made me happier. I can search for God now: I don’t have to pretend I know everything about Him already.

5 What is the relationship between your writing and your faith? > My faith belongs so much to my life that I couldn’t possibly blend it out when telling a story.

Why should I invent a world in which God doesn’t exist? Rather, I write about characters that have the same questions I do. While they are searching for answers, I am searching for them, too.

Whoever finds them first, tells the other.

You can find out more about Titus Mueller’s work @ <www.titusmueller.de>.