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| Wm. Paul Young (photo: Cypress Jones) |
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Canadian-born Wm. Paul Young resides in the Pacific Northwest and is the author of four books. His forthcoming novel, Return to the Shack: A Journey into Redemption (Apiary/Hachette, October 6, 2026), is a sequel to his groundbreaking debut, The Shack, published almost 20 years ago. Following his protagonist, Mackenzie Allen Phillips (Mack), through marital struggles and a confrontation with the serial killer who murdered his daughter Missy, Return to the Shack is ultimately a celebration of the common humanity that miraculously binds seemingly disconnected individuals to one another.
What was the inspiration behind Return to the Shack?
I was asked over the years to write a sequel, and I would always decline and say it's not possible. I thought of The Shack as a standalone novel and did not give it any further thought. About nine years ago, I heard from a friend who, going through a rough patch, had decided to focus his attention on helping others. When you are stuck inside your stuff it's good advice to think about other people instead. My friend went to the death row unit at the state penitentiary in Nashville to minister to the men there, and it changed his life. One of the men had read The Shack, and my friend asked me to sign a copy of the book for the inmate. I told him I would, but only on the condition that I could deliver it myself.
I became good friends with several inmates on death row. They are some of the freest people I know. One of them refers to prison as a gated community with good security! My friends on death row supported me when my father died, we have an incredible relationship. A few years ago I started thinking of the serial killer in The Shack. What if he ended up on death row, in the same unit as my friends? What if my protagonist had to actually face his daughter's killer? It's one thing to forgive the idea of a person, it's another to actually confront the person.
Do you recommend readers become familiar with the story behind The Shack before reading your new novel?
You don't have to, it's not essential, but I always think it's good to read the first book in a series or watch the movie version. It gives you context. I wrote Return purposely in such a way that someone who hasn't read The Shack can still pick it up. Return is a very different book.
Could you describe for readers the difference between the books?
If The Shack is a solo, Return to the Shack is a choir. It is more involved, with a wider range of characters. Those individuals, like Mack's wife, Nan, who played a small role in The Shack, have blossomed into major characters in Return. In this sequel, I am interested in understanding in what ways Mackenzie's life-altering experience with a higher power in The Shack impacts his world. What is the fallout of that spiritual experience a decade later? How does that event work itself into the character's world?
Mack, your protagonist, befriends three men on death row at the state penitentiary in Nashville. Naturally they all have strong views on the death penalty. Do you share those views?
The discussion of the death penalty is incidental to the storyline. It wasn't my intention to write a secret agenda to attack the death penalty. But when you look at the facts, there is a 10% error rate in convictions. I am not comfortable with that. Clearly there should be improved rights for victims, but in the nine years since I've become friends with death row inmates, four of them have been proven innocent. One person who they attempted to execute recently, they couldn't find a vein and after several attempts they had to give up and now he's been granted a one-year moratorium.
Constantly amazed at his life, Mack's motto is "who would have thought." Does that motto resonate with you?
God can give us all sorts of names and identities. My history includes parental abuse, sexual abuse, trauma, and tragedy. I buried it for many years and did a lot of harm to all kinds of relationships, especially to my wife and children. I consider the fact that I didn't take my own life a huge accomplishment. Instead, I spent 11 years on a difficult journey towards change and transformation. Part of my redemption was my wife catching me in an affair. I wrote The Shack as a Christmas present for my children. Against the odds it became a phenomenon in the world and has done so much healing to so many.
A joke, riddle, or enigma, that's how I see my life. God is a redeeming genius; he lives in us all.
You refer to yourself as a "blue-collar" writer. Could you elaborate?
I am a street theologian who never took a writing class in his life. In that sense I consider myself an accidental author. I don't write books for a particular agenda or outcome but for my children and those out there who are lost and don't have a voice. For the first two years after publishing The Shack, I struggled with imposter syndrome.
When I write, I don't have a plan. The writing takes on a life of its own. My writing is simple and accessible to blue-collar people like myself. I think my books connect with people because I don't have an agenda, I am not trying to convert people. I simply write human stories.
Christians have lost the ability to communicate without an agenda. My atheist friends give The Shack to their Christian friends and insist they read it.
Are there any unfinished stories you hope to write?
My memoir, my own story, is sitting on a shelf and one day it may rise to the surface. The timing needs to be right. My parents' deaths opened up space for a memoir. My relationship with my father in the last few years of his life transformed and became something wondrous. I finally forgave him enough to let go of any expectations that he would change. I let him be a human being, someone whose story matters instead of someone who is constantly disappointing me. Learning to live without expectations changed everything. When my father turned 80, I realized I had locked him into a photo album of all the things he had done wrong.
I think I got my creativity from my father. He could blend different fairy tales into a story. He was secretly working on western novels when he was younger.
In life when you let go of expectations, everything becomes a gift. I believe that expectations are disappointments waiting to happen. --Shahina Piyarali