Interview with Author Fay Lamb

This story sounds intriguing and I love the fact that the author, Fay Lamb used her oldest grandson on the cover! So precious!

Marji - Every author has a diverse background, and just like the characters they write about, their own goals, ambitions, dreams and values. So before I ever get to the story itself, the burning question that I have is: what inspired you to become a writer?

Fay - For me, inspiration seems to say that I had a choice. As far as my writing, I don't believe I ever had a choice. I am a miserable human being when I cannot create with words, and from a very early age, I have been a storyteller.

Marji - What is your ultimate goal for writing in general?

Fay - My ultimate goal is to glorify God with what I write. For me, that means ministry--meeting a need, reaching out to hurting people that I could touch in no other way except through the stories I write. Most of the issues my characters face, I have faced, and the lessons my characters learn are lessons that I have been taught through God's loving hand.

Marji - And for some folks who don't read non-fiction, it is the only way to reach them. I love the ministry aspect of that. How does Because of Me satisfy that goal?

Fay - In Because of Me, promising young investigative reporter, Michael Hayes, allows ambition to blind him. He leads his fiancée, Issie Putnam, into a dangerous situation that changes their lives forever. Michael is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, and Issie is left alone to face the consequences of his actions. When Michael returns to protect Issie from the man who attacked her that night so long ago, he finds Issie isn't alone. She has a seven-year-old son. While the boy does not belong to Michael, he is definitely on this earth because of him.


Because of Me is a vivid showing of Romans 8:28, in that all things do work together for good to them that love God. Michael doesn’t expect a blessing to come from Issie’s choice of keeping her son, but he receives one just the same—and in the end, they both realize that had things happened any other way, something precious would be missing from their lives.

Marji - What a deep and moving theme. What inspired this particular story?

Andrew-Lee Potts as Michael Hayes

Fay - The story actually began when Michael Hayes stepped onto the stage of my imagination and told me about the little boy he knew. He told me that Cole wasn't his son, but Cole was born because of him. That gained my attention, and as I wrote the story, I realized it was a love letter to my husband and to my sons. Not only do they love and support the crazy writer in their midst, but they are found within the pages. There’s something irresistible about a man who can love children that he didn’t bring into this world. The hero, Michael Hayes, and my husband have a lot in common. And Cole Putnam has a bit of both our boys woven through him.

Marji - Books are especially meaningful when they hold such a huge piece of our hearts. So while your husband inspired Michael Hayes, what actor might play him if they ever made a movie out of your book. And who would you wish to play Issie?

Fay - Michael Hayes is most definitely an English actor named Andrew-Lee Potts. I always saw Alicia Silverstone as Issie Putnam. Cole Putnam, well, the little boy on the cover--his name is Jacob Johnson, and he just happens to be my adorable oldest grandson.

Alicia Silverstone as Issie Putnam

Marji - I just think that's the sweetest thing. So what line might grab readers and last in their memories?

Fay - I tend to like the humorous lines the best, but my favorite comes from Ted McGillicudy, a crusty old man who looks out for Michael like a father would a son. When he sees Michael after a bit of an absence, Ted tells his wife, Roberta, "Well look a here. If it ain't the pain in my rear already returned. Roberta, where' my hemorrhoid cream?"

Marji - That's hysterical! And it would certainly stay with me. With so many demands on an authors time, how does writing fit into your regular day-in-the-life?

Fay - Well, my regular working day has been stretched to about sixteen hours each day. Writing is only a part of it. I do try to write 2,500 words a day, but I'm not always successful. If I find myself struggling to do that, I will usually work between 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. when my creativity is at its peak.

I really appreciate Fay visiting with us and hope that you are as curious about her book as I am! You can get  Because of Me at this link. From the back cover:

Because of Me:

Issie Putnam’s life took a detour the night she was raped at gunpoint in front of her fiancé, Michael Hayes. Instead of marrying Issie, Michael, a promising young investigative reporter, along with the man who attacked her, and the man who held the gun on Michael, are imprisoned for conspiracy to assassinate the local district attorney—a crime Michael was trying to expose but had no intention of committing. Issie’s name is ruined, she lost her perfectly-planned future, but she gained Cole, her son—born of that rape.

On the eve of her attacker’s parole, Michael, already released from prison, follows through on his plan to return to the small town of Amazing Grace and protect Issie from the madman who promised to seek revenge. There, he meets Issie’s seven-year-old son for the first time.

Can Michael learn to love the child Issie holds so close to her heart? Will Michael be able to protect the woman he loves from the man who will stop at nothing to destroy them all?

About the Author:

Fay Lamb works as an acquisition/copyeditor for Pelican Book Group (White Rose Publishing and Harbourlight Books), offers her services as a freelance editor, and is an author of Christian romance and romantic suspense. Her emotionally charged stories remind the reader that God is always in the details. Because of Me, her debut romantic suspense novel is soon to be released by Treble Heart Books/Mountainview Publishing.

Fay has a passion for working with and encouraging fellow writers. As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), she co-moderates the large Scribes’ Critique Group and manages the smaller Scribes’ critique groups. For her efforts, she was the recipient of the ACFW Members Service Award in 2010.

In 2012, Fay was also elected to serve as secretary on ACFW’s Operating Board.

Fay and her husband, Marc, reside in Titusville, Florida, where multi-generations of their families have lived. The legacy continues with their two married sons and five grandchildren.

Books that are COMING SOON!

I am so excited about some books that are on the horizon and due out in the coming months! I've had the pleasure of "meeting" several of the authors and like them and enjoy their blogs so much that I'm chomping at the bit to read their debut books!

Interview with Dana Pratola

I'm so pleased to be able to interview author, Dana Pratola today. I've met Dana through a group of authors and bloggers called Grace and Faith Author Connection. Her newest book, The Covering, is intriguing!

Marji - What inspired you to become a writer?

Dana - God put the desire to write in me from the start. I can't remember a time BEFORE wanting to write.

Marji - So the Father would have something to do with your ultimate goal for writing in general?
Dana - The goal is always to bring glory to God, not just by not wasting the gift He's given me, but by using it to lead others to Him.

Marji - How does The Covering satisfy that goal?
Dana - The Covering shows a man's quest for God in a real light. He's loaded with anger, bitterness and unforgiveness

Dateline: Nashville ...

News From Nashville & Beyond

(Transcribed from a television interview with "The Music Plays... World Tour" featuring opening solo artist Kalin Lane and headliner Ashton Raines, both accompanied by their wives, Beth Raines and Danae Lane.) 
N&B: First of all, welcome to you all. Thanks for sitting down with us.
Ashton: Thank you for having us.
N&B: Let's start with what it's like to be on a world tour. What cities? What are the crowds like?
Kalin: Well, for me it's been an absolute dream come true. I mean, getting invited to be here with Ashton who, let's face it is the King of Country music right now. Standing on that stage every night, hearing the fans singing my songs, cheering, in all these different countries.... it's truly amazing.
Ashton: I have to agree. I stand down there as Kalin's playing, and

Karen Baney - Interview

I've gotten involved with a group of Christian authors at a Facebook site called Grace and Faith Authors. They're also on Twitter. It's been such a joy to interact with these gals and guys. I've learned about their books and their journeys, and I've tweeted about several of the new releases. 

One of the founders of the group, Karen Baney, is my guest today and her new book, Nickels, comes out next week! As with most of the authors I interview, I'm intrigued about their motivation, to write in general and how their current book came into being.

Marji: What inspired you to become a writer?

Karen: In early 2010, I went through some tough health issues.  Through that process, I re-learned to depend on God.  It was then that I asked Him one simple question:  I know you haven’t called me to be a mom, so what have you called me to do?

Do You Need Protection?

Perhaps you can hire new body guard, Tessa Lancaster. After years of working as a strong arm for her uncle, a leader of the Japanese mafia, she's become an expert in reading people, as well as several forms of martial arts.

Camy Tang has created a great new character for book one of her new series. Tessa is downright scary in the prologue, and though I committed to reading the book, I didn't identify with her at all. That is, until I reached the first page of Chapter One, where she led a game of

A PERFECT Gift!

A new genre for me, the military thriller, opens realms of delight. Ronie Kendig's Firethorn keeps action pouring over each page. The Discarded Heroes series encompasses four books in all. While I'm sure they all share many of the same characters, Firethorn stands alone as its own story.

I admit, I was a little concerned reading book #4 when I hadn't read any of the others. I shouldn't have worried. Ms. Kendig makes sure to cover all of the pertinent information about the characters, giving little bite-sized pieces at just the right times.

Shifting between two main story lines and at least 3 other sub-plots, movements are handled expertly. I never felt confused. Never had to turn back to recheck where I'd been. In fact, the stories weave together flawlessly. The varying points of view give insight to the characters, allowing easy understanding what the different people think, and why they take

News and Update for ROW 80 - Special Words

THE END

Typing never felt so good! Getting into the last third of my novel stuck spurs in me an inch deep. I barely made myself stop when I dozed over my keyboard. 

Sleep is highly overrated!

My intensity made my schedule imperative. There's a lot more to my life than writing in any given day! (Teaching, homeschooling–no, not always the same thing–house decorating, meal planning, not to mention

Book Release - New Suspense Series!

How did I ever miss the buzz on this new book? It has everything I LOVE:

• Inspiration
• Suspense
• Romance
• NASCAR

Could anything be more perfect?

So glad I heard about it NOW! Cause TODAY'S THE DAY!

Interview with Author, Shawn Lamb - The Huguenot's Sword

I've been blessed with connections to a new group of talented authors called the Grace and Faith Author Connection. Together, these folks are helping each other share their books and their dreams. 

Okay, so I don't have a book to share, yet. I love the premise of making a little effort to assist with someone else's dream. So today, I get to welcome Shawn Lamb to Faith-Driven Suspense to tell about herself and her new Christian Historical Fiction, The Huguenot Sword. Okay, just the name alone intrigues the tar out of me and I was dying to know a little more about Shawn and about her book. 

This is This and That is That

After I explained "who is what" in yesterday's post, I was reminded about how Flounder from Disney's The Little Mermaid, (Ariel's best friend) got himself and Ariel in trouble when he tried to explain things. It's where I got my post title.

Today is another ROW80 check-in, and I promised to explain some things that I've been trying. Let me give you a little background.

Back when I was in school, I was easily distracted. My third-grade teacher, WHO I LOVED, called it rabbit chasing. Today, they would likely call it ADD. Just in case you didn't know, it's not a kid's problem. It's something folks will deal with their entire lives.

I still get distracted, going into the kitchen for something and completely forgetting about it because I stopped to get the doggies water and folded a load of laundry, answered the phone and started

Awesome New Book!

I'm having so much fun reading A Bride's Portrait of Dodge City, Kansas by author, Erica Vetsch. My own writing has delayed my reading a little, so I'll have a review by next week, (LOVE the spunky main character!) but for today, I wanted to share all the information that I learned about this historical fiction. I was chomping at the bit to read it!

This summary was taking directly from the author's website. You can find it HERE.

Quench your craving for good fiction with this wonderfully written Old West adventure. Hoping to leave the shadows of her shady yesteryears behind, Adeline Reid is focusing on her photography career. But when her ex-boyfriend’s compatriot in crime shows up in Dodge City her entire past is threatened by exposure. Can Addie keep her secrets while helping to catch a killer? Deputy Miles Carr’s investigation into a shopkeeper’s murder leads him to Addie’s door. Will his attraction to this female photographer keep him from catching the true culprit? Or will Addie lead him off course in more ways than one?

Deputy Miles Carr has his hands full trying to keep the peace in Dodge City and find a local shopkeeper’s killer. When his inquiries lead him to the door of Addie Reid’s photography studio, he finds himself more than a little distracted. Does this beauty hold the clue to the killer’s identity?

(I swear the model on the cover reminds me of Alyssa Milano, the gal that starred as Tony Danza's daughter in the sit-com "Who's the Boss.") And, for as much as I've gotten to read of it, the heroine in the story has some of the same personality traits as Milano's character, like her strength and willingness to take a risk. I look forward to putting more reading time in!


You can purchase a copy of this great book for yourself at this link for Christian Book Distributors. Come back next week for my review!

Weekender - Faith Readers' Daily

 

I'm so pumped about catching up with my ROW80 goals by the end of the week! What a blessing! Dealing with my rabbit trails (that's what they called ADD when I was going to school) I get easily distracted by all sorts of things - music, dogs, people passing by, but most of all the little numbers that bounce up at the top of my 6-8 internet tabs.

Come back Thursday and I'll let you in on the secret of how I worked through my problem! And I'll let you know how my ideas are working! 

For today's update, I've topped 40,000 words. (I know I could just write 40k, but all those zeros look so cool!) I've stepped up my goal a little. I'd like to be done with this novel by the end of this month. I did 40k in 32 days. I only have 25 days left so I'll have to do some hightailed writing, but I think I can make it, or darn close. My current goal is 1,500 per day, so I'm going to boost that to 2,000 and hope I can make it. 

Faith Reader's Weekly

UPDATE!!! I'm so pleased that I'm able to keep up with me word count goals for round 4 of a Round of Words in 80 days (ROW80). My goal is 1500 words ON MY NOVEL each weekday. I've actually been able to do closer to 1700 each day so far and I'm really pleased with what I've written. My new romantic suspense is a little more than 35% complete.

Because I'm not including any other writing in my word count, I haven't been really satisfied with the postings I've done on my blog this week. I don't like putting them off until the last minute. So in an effort to correct that situation, I've worked up some of the meat of my postings ahead of time. I'm even working on some of the ones for the following week. I prefer to stay proactive anytime I can be!

What are your goals for this week beyond those for ROW80?

Weekend-spiration

This week in the online Bible Study that I do (from the website Good Morning Girls), we finished up with 1John chapter 2. One of the sections was from verses 18-19.

Dear children, this is the last hour, and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. this is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

There is so much to unpack with these two verses!

ROW80 Update - What Distracts You?

Right now, I'm listening to my very old beagle bark at a squirrel that hopped  across the treetops about twenty minutes ago. My dog, Marcie, has a great sniffer, even at her age, and all the barking is sure giving her plenty of exercise.

I think I heard the squirrel laughing.

Silly things like this happen everyday. If it isn't this dog, it's the other one, an overgrown puppy, coming in to hoist himself up on my lap and lick my face. Or it's my girls laughing or singing in the den. That sound will charm my socks off.

Last night as I was writing, it was the

Great READING!

Usually I read over the weekends. With last weeks suggestions I had plenty of fodder for my reviews, but the time got past me.

No, that's not entirely true.

I've been grazing on amazing insight from Award Winning Author, Susan May Warren. I LOVE her books! Not a book this time, but pages of chats and invaluable notes from her My Book Therapy sessions. I investigated suspense, sifted through characterizations and settings, and even dallied with a little romance.

With sparkling eyes and dimpled cheeks, I told my

Yummy New Blog Award!

I love blogging. The writing is a challenge. Reading about others and getting a capsule view of their lives is inspiring. I especially love having conversations through comments.

There are times when I look at my schedule and feel hopeless desperation. "What will folks want to read about tomorrow?" But mostly, it provides a free-writing opportunity for me and a fairly safe avenue to practice my craft.

So when my blog gets someone's attention, like for

Writer Tips - What to Do When I Get Dry?

I've got blog ideas coming out the wazoo. I've had such fun investigating baseball, compiling grammar rules, and waxing rhetorical on all sorts of topics.

Trouble is, this time my ROW 80 goal doesn't include my blogs. (I've written 3,171 words on just my blogs in the last two days!) When it comes to my suspense novel, though, I'm sunburned. Entering the fourth chapter, I find I'm bogging down a bit.

Much of the excitement lies ahead and part of the excitement has past. This section has some key clues,

but my writing crawl-speed turned into a camo-crawl and then a full stop. Uninspired, I seriously considered tossing the whole story.

I could do that, but what would I learn? Instead, I think I'd like to flex the muscles of all that I've been learning. I need to get my elements so firmly in my mind that when I get back to the drafting the tension can't help but be on every page because there is so much going on.

I started the initiative last night, brainstorming with my Precious Redhead until almost 1AM. The exercise was enlightening! I realized that my story line isn't messed up, and my two protagonists are strong with deep character arcs.

Then there's my antagonist. He's sort of ... um ... missing. It's one thing for readers to be in the dark about an antagonist in a suspense, but the writer should probably know all about him. And I knew nothing about him.

Aha! I found my problem. Without a strong antagonist chart, I have no conflict with the protags, no goals or expectations for the antag, no story. I guess I just thought he would develop as I wrote, but he didn't. I'm not a seat-of-the-pants writer, duh, so I don't know why I thought it would just happen for me.

But after a day of solid focus on my antag, I not only know who he (generic "he") is, but I know what he does, and why he does it. I know how he gets himself connected and in his spiral into conflict with my main character. Almost without effort, my story has muscle, and plenty of tension.

All that is to say, I haven't added anything to my ROW80 goals since Sunday, but have added a ton of work on my story. I think the words will start to flow much easier now!

Where are you in your current projects? (Writing or Otherwise?)

Christian Fiction Book Opinions

What to do? What to do?

I love doing book reviews. I’ve learned so much this summer about writing and publishing! It has given me a deep respect for the authors who pour their time, energy, and almost their own blood into the books that I’ve read. But right now, I’m in a quandary.

I try to do my reviews on just released books or those about to be released in order to help the authors as much as possible. At this point though, the only books I have in my e-reader are a little older, so I’m in need of some assistance.

Which of the books below have you read and would you recommend it, OR which of these books are you most interested in learning about? I’ve given a little blurb about each of them from their back covers.