Thursday, February 2, 2012

Today's Feature: Author Fay Lamb — Her Writing Journey and her Debut Novel, Because of Me

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 will be released on February 3, 2012, by Treble Heart Books/Mountainview Publishing.

She 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.

Fay's Writing Journey . . . in Her Own Words:

It has never seriously occurred to me that I wasn’t supposed to write. I have had periods of time where I walked away from writing, but always, in the back of my mind, I knew I was born to put words on paper.

As a child, I would gather the kids in the neighborhood, and we would re-enact stories that I dreamed up. In high school, we were forced to take an aptitude test. Someone with the most English credits in the history of a high school isn’t likely to be told she’s a mathematician. My only options were a writing career or library science. Any occupation that had the word science after it didn’t interest me in the least. So my options were limited. I could be a writer . . . or a writer.

When I became serious about writing, I began with a book filled with vignettes involving several different characters that I’d started as a teenager. When I completed a journal full of these short scenes, I knew I had a town of characters people would love to read about. I just needed a town to put them in. I continued to develop those stories, and one day while on vacation in Cedar Key, Florida, a sleepy little fishing village I found my inspiration for a series of books about the people of a fictional island called Serenity Key.

Through the stories about Serenity Key, I worked to master the craft, not just punctuation and grammar, but style and voice. I joined critique groups and American Christian Fiction Writers—anything that would help me to write books worthy of publication.

A couple of years ago, I met the hero of Because of Me. When Michael Hayes stepped onto the stage of my imagination and told me about his life, he said he knew a young boy named Cole. While Cole was not his son, he was definitely born because of Michael and the mistakes he’d made.

Through my friend and critique partner, Kathy Bain, I met the editor-in-chief of Treble Heart Books. She gave me the go-ahead to send in the full manuscript for Because of Me. Even at Treble Heart a reviewer had mixed emotions. Because of Me isn’t your typical Christian fiction. This story deals with issues, deep issues. Still, it is filled with light and laughter. The editor-in-chief believed in the story as much as I do, and Because of Me is my debut novel.

I have also written another romantic suspense and two contemporary romance novels. Two other romantic suspense novels and one contemporary romance are nearing completion. Another story set in the world of professional surfing is begging to be written. Oh, and the story that began as vignettes when I was but a teenager—it has become a modern-day retelling of the sword the Lord held over David’s head after his sin with Bathsheba.

I’ve learned two very big lessons in my adventure as a writer. First, patience is a necessary trait. So many new writers want to circumvent the system. They want to rush headlong into self-publication without taking the time to study the craft and learn what makes a book publishable. There’s nothing wrong with self-publishing. I have friends who prefer to self-publish their work. Those friends, however, have studied their market, they know their craft, and they have developed great stories.
The second lesson is that God’s timing is always best. Leave your worries in His capable hands and do what He has given you to do. You never know what wonderful doors He will open for you—in His timing, not yours.


Because of Me, the Story . . .

Issie Putnam’s life took a detour the night she was raped at gunpoint in front of her fiancé, Michael Hayes. Instead of marrying Michael, a promising young investigative reporter, he, along with the man who attacked her, and the man who held the gun, 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?

Because of Me is available in both print and e-Book format through Treble Heart Books, http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/mvlamb.html and www.Amazon.com, or pre-order your autographed copy today at www.faylamb.com.