Author Interview & Book Review (plus a Giveaway!): Shannon Popkin & Control Girl

Welcome to my stop on the Litfuse blog tour for Control Girl by Shannon Popkin. I have the privilege of chatting with Shannon, as well as reviewing her book and telling you about a great giveaway you can enter!

Shannon Popkin is a wife and mom, a speaker and teacher, and a leader of small group studies. She’s been published by “Family Fun,” “MOMsense,” “Focus on the Family Magazine,” and other outlets. She is a contributing blogger for True Woman.com and has blogged for several years at shannonpopkin.com. “Control Girl” is her first book.

You can find out more about Shannon at shannonpopkin.com, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Shannon’s first book, Control Girl, released in January from Kregel Publications.

Tension, anger, fear, anxiety-it all begins with a heart that craves control.

Little fights with your husband and kids. Unhappiness when things don’t match your version of perfect. When your perspective of how life should go replaces God’s, you doom your quest for security, peace, and joy before it even starts.

Thankfully, there is a better way.

Learn how you too can lay down this burden of trying to control everything and find rest in surrendering to the One who truly is in control.

Hi Shannon! I’m so honored to be chatting with you today! I start all of my guests out with a fast four:

Shannon: Oranges… they make your hands smell good. 🙂

Carrie: They do! Unless you’re allergic like I am. Well… they still make my hands smell good but they also make them break out LOL

Shannon: Summer, because it’s winter now.

Carrie: LOL! It hasn’t actually been winter here in Kentucky yet. If it was, I missed it.

Shannon: Dogs because they have so much personality.

Carrie: My dog Zuzu is quite delighted with your answer!

Shannon: Coffee, it goes better with my yogurt in the morning.

Carrie: I shall take your word for it 🙂

Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Shannon: Being invisible. Because you could go to the store looking really shabby (you’d have to use a self-checkout, I think), and also because you could listen in on conversations (which is probably my inner Control Girl becoming not-so-invisible).

Carrie: Yes… I’d think a self-checkout would be necessary. And … uh… is it a bad thing to admit that I love listening in to random people’s conversations at restaurants, etc?

Who is your favorite book character from childhood?

Shannon: Anne of Green Gables. I dearly loved Anne and still feel nostalgic whenever I think of her.

Carrie: Anne is just the greatest. She had a little bit of an inner Control Girl too 😉

Do you have any strange writing habits/quirks? Any snacks/beverages that are a must when you sit down to write?

Shannon: When I need to get some serious writing done, I treat myself to a bag of Wint-o-Green Lifesavers. I love to have them with coffee. But by the end of the bag, my tongue is sore and my hand muscles do this little twitchy thing—and I’m never sure if it’s from all of the typing or all of the coffee or those Lifesavers. But I only treat myself to them when I’m writing heavily, so I guess we’ll never know.

Carrie: LOL – my guess is “all of the above”

Why ‘Control Girl’? Why is it important to you?

Shannon: Because I don’t want to become a burdensome controlling woman who makes my family secretly cringe; I want to go from Control Girl to Jesus Girl!

Carrie: ohhhhhh but can’t I hang on to my Control Girl a little bit longer?? (I put my best whine into that and everything)

What is something that surprised you the most while researching ‘Control Girl’?

Shannon: The story of Rachel. She was the pretty younger sister and the woman Jacob worked 14 years to have. I thought she lived a charmed life. But when I studied Genesis’ account of her life, I could find nothing but ugliness in every scene. Rachel is proof that you can be pretty and have the adoring love of a man, yet still be a miserable Control Girl.

In addition, look what Rachel missed out on! While she was pacing in front of an empty crib, God was birthing the nation of Israel. She got to be Joseph’s mother. It seems a little ridiculous that she was so worried about living a life of obscurity. Rachel remained detached from God’s bigger, overarching plan. She engrossed herself in the rivalry with her sister and plotting to have babies, and totally missed out on the fact that she got to be part of something truly great. I don’t want to make this same mistake, and I’ll bet you don’t either. We need to look up and consider God’s perspective, not our own smallminded one.

Carrie: Oh wow, that’s so true. Definitely not a mistake I want to make but one that’s so easy to do if I’m not paying attention to what God is doing.

What do you most want readers to take away from Control Girl?

Shannon: I would love for readers to finish Control Girl with a settled peace and fresh perspective on the fact that God is in control, so they don’t have to be. I also hope that they will feel equipped and confident, knowing what steps they need to take on a moment-by-moment basis to go from Control Girl to Jesus Girl.

Shannon, thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Lots of spreading the word on the Control Girl book over the next few months through blogging and radio—which is so fun! I’m also doing lots of speaking this spring, which I love. Let me know if there’s some way I can serve you or your church!

Warmly,

Shannon

 This is one of those books I’m pretty sure was written just for me! I was hooked from the first devotional by these words – “Do I truly believe that God is in control? Or do I secretly think I am?” Ummmm… yeah. Well, I need to mull over that one for a while. Like, maybe write it out and tape it to my laptop… the bathroom mirror… the sun visor in the car. Anyone else?

Control Girl is divided into 9 chapters, each with between 3-5 devotional lessons for you to work through. In these lessons, there are Scriptures to read, really good words of discussion related to those verses, questions to consider, and focal verses for meditation and reflection. The lessons are accessible and well-written, good for someone new to faith as well as “church veterans”.

So far, I’ve gone through the first chapter thoroughly (so good!) and have skimmed through the remaining chapters for the purpose of this review. I can already tell that Hagar’s chapter is going to step on my toes in much-needed ways, and the ‘Control Girl to Jesus Girl’ chapter has some very practical steps for transformation.

Bottom Line: Shannon Popkin’s book Control Girl is exactly what I need. It’s simple to follow but the truths contained on these pages are profound and life-changing.  This would make an ideal resource for small group Bible study as well as personal devotions. I look forward to more books from Shannon in the future!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received via Litfuse Publicity Group. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 4 stars / Excellent book!

Follow along with the Litfuse Blog Tour to see what others are saying!

Learn how to give up control to God and become a Jesus girl! Enter to win a prize pack that will help you give up your Control Girl tendencies.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Control Girl
• A Vera Bradley tote
• A rose gold arrow bracelet
• A set of Moleskine journals

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on February 21. The winner will be announced February 22 on Shannon’s blog.