Hey All! Please join me in welcoming Fay Lamb to my blog. She's here to share a little about herself with us and her book (along with several other authors), A Dozen Apologies. (digital copy to give away)
Congratulations goes to
LINDA
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a native
fifth-generation Floridian. I was born and raised in the town in which I still
reside, but I escape as often as I can to the mountains of Western North
Carolina.
I’m active
in the Central Florida chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. In fact,
I was their first president. I’ve just been elected secretary.
I am an
acquisition editor with a well-known Christian publisher, and I write Christian
romance and romantic suspense, and dabble a little in non-fiction books about
the craft of writing. My current releases are Stalking Willow and Better
than Revenge, the first two novels in my romantic suspense series, Amazing
Grace, and Charisse, the first novel
in the Ties that Bind contemporary romance series. The second book in the
series, Libby, will release soon. My
non-fiction title is: The Art of
Characterization: How to Use the Elements of Storytelling to Connect Readers to
an Unforgettable Cast.
Oh, and I
can’t forget my favorite collaborations: three Write Integrity Press novellas: The Christmas Tree Treasure Hunt, A Ruby Christmas, and our soon to be released, A Dozen Apologies.
Why do you write the kind of books
you do?
I have to
admit that early in my career, when I was studying the craft, you could not have
gotten me to admit that I wrote romance for the sake of romance. Not me. I
wrote women’s fiction with a little romance, suspense with a little romance,
maybe even a comedy with a little romance, but never just romance.
Then it
occurred to me that whether we’re willing to admit it or not, romance draws us
in. Even in the most conflict-ridden war-torn adventure, the promise of romance
makes the story all that much sweeter. When I finally realized that, I decided I
would write romance with suspense, romance with a bit of comedy, and well,
romance with romance.
I write
Christian romantic suspense and romance because I believe that God has given me
the talent and the desire to write. If He has gifted me, then I need to use
that gift for Him. Sometimes the message is for someone seeking to know Him.
Other times, the story is written because I’ve faced some issues, and I know
that if I faced them, others have, too. My desire is to show readers the love
of Christ through the trials of my characters, who may or may not be living
life the way they should. I also want to spread the word that God is always in
the details. I love to infuse a little humor into my stories, no matter the
genre, because God’s sense of humor is a favorite of His attributes for me,
second only to His love.
Besides writing, what are some of
your favorite hobbies?
I love to
tat. In case you’re like I was when I visited a quilting show and saw this
sweet ninety-four year old woman sharing this lost art, tatting is a form of
lace made with double knots and picots (a fancy word for a loop left in the
design). I have never been able to crochet or to knit, but the dear older woman
I mentioned above invested a lot of her time and effort in making sure that I didn’t
give up until I’d learn this art so that I could pass it along. So far, I’ve
kept it to myself, but I am willing to teach.
I also
collect salt and pepper shakers. I’m somewhere around five hundred pairs now,
and would you believe I still pour my salt from a Morton’s box, and my pepper
is out of a McCormick tin? I wouldn’t have even noticed except my mother-in-law
points it out every time we invite her to dinner.
Have you always wanted to be a
writer?
Always and
forever. Cliché, I know, but it is the truth. I can’t imagine a time in my life
when storytelling wasn’t a part of it. I’m very thankful that an overactive
imagination always had a place to shine, whether it was with impromptu plays
for the neighborhood kids or writing page after page of stories during my
teenage years. I have the bad handwriting to prove it.
What advice
would you give to a beginning writer?
If you’ve
seen me answer this question before, you’ll know that I change it quite often.
So much good advice for beginning writers has been offered by other writers. I
believe I most often tell new writers not to give up. Let me tweak that advice
a little bit. Sometimes the writing life can get overwhelming. An author isn’t
finding success (and we all define success differently) fast enough, or maybe
they’ve been successful, but life is moving too fast for a writer to catch up.
An author (published or unpublished) may feel that their calling has changed.
Then my advice is to step off the merry-go-round. The truth is, most writers
are born to write. It’s something they must do. If, after a writer steps off
the merry-go-round, he or she doesn’t feel the urge to get back on, maybe the
Lord has other plans, and other wonderful adventures planned for the moment.
What book are you currently working
on?
Oh, boy. I’m
currently working on several projects. My characters in my upcoming third novel
in The Amazing Grace series, entitled Everybody’s
Broken, have finally come out of the shadows and we are into the heart of
their story now. At the same time, I’m working on my next title in The Ties that
Bind series, Hope, and I’m editing
the first book in my Serenity Key series.
That title is Storms in Serenity.
Please tell us a little about your
book.
A Dozen Apologies isn’t my book alone. Eleven
wonderful authors heeded the call. Together we brought to life our hapless
heroine, Mara Adkins, a promising fashion designer, who has fallen off
the ladder of success, and can’t seem to get up.
In college, Mara and her sorority sisters played an ugly
game, and Mara was usually the winner. She’d date men she considered geeks, win
their confidence, and then she’d dump them publicly. When Mara begins work for
a prestigious clothing designer in New York, she gets her comeuppance. Her
boyfriend steals her designs and wins a coveted position. He fires her, and she
returns in shame to her home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where life for
others has changed for the better.
Mara’s parents, always seemingly one step from a divorce,
have rediscovered their love for each other, but more importantly they have
placed Christ in the center of that love. The changes Mara sees in their lives
cause her to seek Christ. Mara’s heart is pierced by her actions toward the
twelve men she’d wronged in college, and she sets out to apologize to each of
them. A girl with that many amends to make, though, needs money for travel, and
Mara finds more ways to lose a job that she ever thought possible.
Mara stumbles, bumbles, and humbles her way toward
employment and toward possible reconciliation with the twelve men she
humiliated to find that God truly does look upon the heart, and that He has
chosen the heart of one of the men for her to have and to hold.
Starting
February 5, our readers will have a chance to decide the ending for the book by
voting for their favorite hero. The winning hero is the one who will win Mara’s
heart.
Then on
February 14th—Valentine’s Day, the book will be offered live on
Kindle, and readers will learn the identity of the hero who stole Mara’s heart.
How can
readers find you on the Internet?
I’m all over
the place, and I love to meet new friends. Here are some links:
Thanks, Fay, for being a guest on my blog.
Drawing will be held March, 8
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