By day, Liz Johnson works in marketing. She finds time to write late at night and is a Christy Award finalist and a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Liz makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona where she enjoys theater, exploring local history, and doting on her nieces and nephews. She loves stories of true love with happy endings.
In today’s culture of picture-perfect love, Liz talks about how you can’t truly love someone who always hides behind a camera. Her characters discover that true connection happens face-to-face, something Liz greatly values in her own relationships.
FF: Please provide a brief summary of Sometimes You Stay.
Travel vlogger Cretia Martin’s home is wherever her suitcase lands. But when she bumps into a handsome man on Prince Edward Island and her equipment falls into the harbor, she’s forced to stay awhile at the Red Door Inn. As she gets to know the man and the locals, she wonders if she should risk opening her heart and planting roots.
FF: Sometimes You Stay explores the tension between wanderlust and putting down roots. What inspired you to write about a digital content creator who actively avoids settling down?
As I wrote Cretia’s story, I quickly realized that her desire to travel and to keep moving on had little to do with insatiable wanderlust and much more to do with a fear of settling. Settling in life. Settling for something less than what she wants. Settling for what her mom calls a life. Cretia refuses to put down roots because she’s afraid of being the same kind of woman her mom is—of having a home as cluttered as her mom’s. Fear is often a driving force in stories, but it’s often explored as a fear of doing something scary. I wanted to turn that on its head and explore the fear of being still.
FF: When Cretia Martin literally bumps into Finn Chaffey and loses her equipment in the harbor, it creates a forced-stay situation. What interested you in writing about a character who has all of her modern connections stripped away?
Living a life constantly on the move makes it hard to build lasting friendships. Cretia is always on the go with her phone in her hand and hardly realizes that she’s been missing face-to-face connections. That is, until she meets Finn and his friend Marie Sloan, who runs the Red Door Inn. Being forced out of a routine can encourage us to look up and discover things we enjoy, things that fill our hearts in new ways.
Our culture relies on digital communication so much that we can think we’re getting as much connection through online conversations as we do through in-person ones. But for me, there’s nothing quite like sitting down with a friend, hearing the inflection in their voice, and seeing their eyes light up when they tell me something that’s tickled them. Those personal connections are so important to me.
FF: How does Finn, who is deeply rooted in place and routine, create natural tension with Cretia’s nomadic lifestyle?
At first glance, it seems like Finn and Cretia might be opposites. His family has lived on and worked the same farmland for four generations. Cretia’s only permanent address is in Arizona. Finn uses a flip phone with no internet connection, and his only computer is a hundred years old (in technology years). Cretia has all the latest gadgets and gizmos to make recording and editing videos a breeze. But the more time they spend together, the more they realize how much they have in common—a love for family, a desire to care for animals, and a shared faith. While it seems like their differences might pull them apart, they also discover that their unique skills and interests can help the other be the best version of themselves.
FF: Cretia and Finn have built their careers around very different lifestyles—one mobile, one stationary. How did you research these contrasting professional worlds?
I was inspired to write Finn’s story after visiting Island Hill Farm in PEI and speaking with the owner, Farmer Flory. Her story of starting off with a few goats and expanding to a farm with dozens of animals that welcomes hundreds of visitors a year gave me lots of ideas and information for Finn. Researching Cretia’s livelihood was done a little closer to home. I spent time talking with and studying some social media influencers, watching videos and podcasts about how to earn a living entirely online. In the book, Finn doesn’t understand how Cretia can make enough to survive by just creating digital content. I confess that I wondered the same thing. A lot of his questions were mine too. And I had to dig deep to figure it out.
FF: The story touches on the difference between curated online life and authentic community. What inspired you to explore this theme?
We’ve all seen the Instagram vacations—perfect family pictures on stunning beaches—and wished our lives looked that put together and beautiful. But those perfect snapshots are only that—a moment in time. We don’t post pictures of the kids running around or the parents arguing or the wrinkled clothes or the delayed flights and crying babies. In the writing world, authors often post about their latest contracts or the newest bestseller list they’ve hit. These are exciting, lovely moments. But like the perfect vacation pictures, they can also inspire jealousy and the comparison trap. I’ve personally struggled with these many times throughout my writing career. When we only see the highlight reel of someone else’s life, it’s easy to think our lives pale in comparison.
The thing about authentic community is that we get to see the highlights of our friends’ lives, but we also get to walk with them through hard times. When we share struggles, none of us feel like we’re the only ones without a picture-perfect life. I wanted to show that in Cretia’s story too.
FF: The theme of staying put runs counter to many modern narratives about freedom and success. What drew you to explore this particular tension?
Our culture likes to promise that we can have it all—whatever that “it” is, whatever that dream is. But I’ve always loved the Scriptures that talk about love requiring sacrifice. That sacrifice looks different for each of us, and I wanted to write a book that shows that sacrifice isn’t a bad thing. It can bridge the gap to the one you love. It can mean compromising on the nonessentials in order to show the other person their worth. What better way to demonstrate love than to sacrifice selfish desires for the good of the ones we care about?
FF: What’s unique about writing contemporary romance in a world where technology and social media have changed how people connect and fall in love?
I’m a firm believer that falling in love still requires knowing the other person and letting yourself be fully known by them. It’s easy to put on a digital facade—carefully curated pictures and crafted personalities. But at the end of the day, in order to really fall in love, we have to tear down the facades and allow ourselves to be known. In that sense, social media and dating apps have made it easier for us to hide behind what we want to share instead of showing who we truly are. I loved that in this book Cretia can’t hide behind her edited videos, and the quirky parts of who she is come out (like processing things out loud that maybe should have stayed in her head). But it’s those things that Finn finds so endearing, so easy to love.
FF: As someone who’s written multiple books set on Prince Edward Island, what keeps drawing you back to this location?
PEI is my very favorite place on the planet. On my first visit, I remember feeling that it was a place where broken hearts could find healing, where busy minds could be still long enough to hear God speak. What a perfect place to take broken characters in need of hope.
FF: What do you hope readers take away from this story about the tension between chasing dreams and finding home?
That there doesn’t have to be a tension. That you can have both. Your dreams may change and home may look different than you anticipated, but it’s more than possible to have both. I moved a lot when I was younger, living in both Colorado and Nashville for many years. I was chasing my dreams of working in the book publishing industry. But at some point that dream became less important to me than being near my family. I moved back to Arizona almost ten years ago, and I don’t regret that decision at all. My dreams and priorities just changed.
FF: Your books have sold more than half a million copies. What elements do you think readers most resonate with in your stories?
The thread running through each of my books—from romantic suspense to contemporary romance—is simply that God is with us. I think readers appreciate the reminder that no matter the circumstances, whether in good times or hard trials, God is with them. This truth has always been a comfort and encouragement to me, and I hope my readers will experience it too.
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Sometimes You Stay
Liz Johnson
Publisher: Revell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 20, 2025
Available Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
ISBN-10: 0800744896
ISBN-13: 978-0800744892
Book Summary:
For digital content creator Cretia Martin, home is wherever her carry-on suitcase lands. And it’s constantly landing in new places as she travels the world. She’s never been interested in settling in one spot–after all, houses are just places that collect junk and tie you down. But when she literally bumps into local dog breeder Finn Chaffey on Prince Edward Island and all the tools of her trade end up in the harbor, she can’t exactly leave until she gets things sorted out.
Finn is horrified by the part he played in the accident and offers to help, arranging for Cretia to stay with a friend at the beautiful Red Door Inn. The longer Cretia is forced to remain in one place, the more she discovers what she’s been missing with life on the road–and the more she wants to see Finn and his business succeed. But helping him means staying put, the one thing she always swore she wouldn’t do, and risking the only thing she’s never put on the line–her heart.
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