About Me

Author Bio

Saraina Whitney is a passionate Christian writer who has a weakness for poignant stories with hints of true hope. She lives in the windy Illinois countryside with her family of fourteen. Known as the quietest of them all (except when she’s singing), she loves observing people and sharing inside jokes about movies with her siblings. She often spends her free time editing what she just wrote, rereading her favorite scenes from books, learning about Myers-Briggs personality types, or playing piano pieces from epic soundtracks. Her short story To Be Loved in the Tell Me You Love Me anthology is her first publication. Connect with her at sarainawhitney.wordpress.com.

My Goal As A Writer

Words have fascinated me since I learned to read. The sound, the meaning, the sight of them strung together onto a page, the power they hold, the way they can give me chills. In fact, I’ve always wanted to be an author. Stories, poems, songs, letters – written words are an outlet to express feelings and make art that is its own reward.

A few years ago I realized that the goal in my journey as a writer is to spread hope. To write books that remind readers – remind you – that hope is never dead. To pen stories that point to the Author of Light, who Himself spoke the world into existence with words. There have been times where I absolutely needed hope to make it through the days, and the stories and songs that spoke of truth gave me the light I needed.

Generally, I’m drawn to writing immersive and introspective Christian fiction, with a bold faith content, sweet romance, and healing themes which kindle hope and awaken a boundless love for God. My stories give you worlds to escape in that I trust will leave you with a changed heart, reminding you that love and redemption are found in Christ, even for the soul that wanders.

I do have to warn you, I’ve given up trying to tame the stories. They do get dark sometimes. Startling. Even I have cringed while writing them. But I believe someone out there – maybe YOU – will need them.

And the thing is…they’re really not my stories. A few times I’ve finished a scene and thought, Wow, that is so powerful. But you know what? Every time, it’s the Holy Spirit working through me. God, not me. I can do no other than write the words the Lord lays on my heart. Follow where His hand guides me, even when I squirm against it. With all the prayer and tears and heartache that goes into these books, I believe they are set apart for His service.

Yes, characters make giant mistakes. They break. They sin. They fail.

But I pray and believe that God is honored through their journeys of redemption and hope.

My Dedication

God, I dedicate each story I write to You. I give up every word, every hope, every plan to You. May my hands move at the impulse of Your love; may they be filled with messages from You. May I let go of the control I want over my books; make then Yours, not mine. May You guide me to write stories that convict and heal, that tear down lies and build a wild faith in You, that fight off this present darkness in Jesus’ name, that point to the glorious hope found in You. May my fingers be a instrument You own. May You fill me with the Holy Spirit and breathe life into my imperfect words. May I ever write despite my fear. May You be glorified through every single one of my stories. May You do with each what You will.

Follow Yours Truly

Interviews

Guest Posts

How to Write when you HATE your story on Allyson Jamison’s blog!
Write from Your Experiences on Writer’s Vision!

Random Facts!

I love reading any good book that’s original, immersive, and inspires my imagination. Some books I always fall back to are The Green Ember series, The Wingfeather Saga, the Anne of Green Gables series, The Lord of the Rings, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
I love analyzing singing performances and movies 😉 But not in a rude way lol. (And I like belting in our garage.) Speaking of singing, my younger brother has a YouTube channel where he makes covers and releases originals! Check him out here! 😜
I LOVE learning anything MBTI and personality type related. (I’m an INFP and a 4. 😉 ) I’m just fascinated in general by psychology and the study of people’s behavior and the way they think. (And yes, sorry, I do realize I’m saying that in a detached way, like I’m not a human, hahaha.) Because of that, I’d call myself a people person over an animal person, even though I’m an introvert.
I first thought I was an INTP cause I adore learning about logical fallacies. It’s so interesting!!!
My thumbs can bend back very far without any pain. (It’s called distal hyperextensibility and I literally just looked that up to see if it was an actual thing with an actual name.)
Some of my favorite soundtracks EVER are LOTR, Narnia, Pride and Prejudice (2005), and Emma (2009). Top favorite composers are Howard Shore and Harry Gregson-Williams.
I’ve been a mostly self-taught pianist half my life, and enjoy practicing Pride and Prejudice music and composing pieces for my older brother’s films (follow him here!) in spare moments.
I tend to talk too fast – and I hate when people walk slow. Unless it’s just a leisurely, aimless sort of stroll. If we’re going somewhere (like walking from the car to the store) it’s painful to take such slow steps! Like, why? Why walk slow?
It’s so weird, but I do love eating butter plain. *sees everyone cringe* On a more normal note, my one weaknesses are potatoes, strawberries and grapes and oranges, hamburgers, Mexican rice & beans… mm, I’ll stop before I get hungry.
Honestly, I don’t get why it’s rude to hum at the table. (Cause I always have some song running in my mind and I often find myself humming while I eat.)
When I was about six, I wanted to be a mail lady (like, a mail deliverer/carrier) because I wanted to be able to cheer people up and encourage them when they opened the door to get their mail. 😀 And that root desire never really went away, and it basically just carried over to the author dream; I want to encourage peope and kindle hope through my stories. (And btw, I still wanted to be an author even as I also wanted to be a mail lady haha!)
I like narrating my life like a story, as I go about everyday life (in past tense, and third-person POV).