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
Tell us how much of
yourself you write into your characters.
The truth is that I can’t write main characters if they
haven’t faced issues that I have faced. I might put them into different
circumstances, but it would be a little hard for me to relay the emotions of a
character if I have never been through what I plan to put them through.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
I’ve been called quirky by numerous people. I never
understood why, so I enlisted a good friend to tell me one quirky moment she
remembered. She listed about ten, and, well, I still don’t see why she thinks
I’m the least bit odd. Anyone could announce on a road trip that the next rest
stop on the interstate is a very nice one and accidentally follow a semi-truck
into the weigh station.
But I guess one of my biggest quirks is that I’m a big fan
of a little-known actor. I love his work, and I enthusiastically support him in
everything he does. When I actually ran into the wonderfully talented young
man, though, I was as speechless as an adoring teenager to a rock star. All I
could do is call my best friend and whisper into the phone, “He has the darkest
hair I’ve ever seen” after my actor friend took off his hat and sunglasses and
smiled at me as if all his online contact and my promotion of his work showed
me to be somewhat normal, and he expected to carry on a conversation. It didn’t
happen, and my friends won’t let me live it down.
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
Before I could string letters together to make words, I was
telling stories, but when I was twelve years old, my friend’s mother asked me
to share my writing with her. She was a college professor, and I know the
dribble of a twelve-year-old was probably amusing to her, but she told me that
I would be a writer. I took her at her word, and I never stopped putting pen to
paper.
I was a storyteller
first, before I became an author. Tell us the range of the kinds of books you
enjoy reading.
I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world.
As a co-moderator of the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Scribes’ large
critique group, I’m reading volumes of pre-published fiction by writers of
every genre. When reading published works, though, I tend to gravitate toward
romantic suspense and contemporary romance. I like any story as long as it has
meat for me to chew on.
How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?
I’m a fifteen-minutes-at-a-time kind of gal. I will deny
that I suffer from A.D.D., but it is much easier for me to finish a project
when I have ten of them going on at a time. That’s not hard when you
co-moderate a large critique group of approximately 275 writers, manage
approximately thirty-five small critique groups, enjoy being on the ACFW operating
board, and work as an acquisitions editor for Pelican Ventures (White Rose and
Harbourlights). I set out four different tasks and work on each fifteen minutes
out of each hour. When I finish one, I add a new one to the list. I’m never
bored.
How do you choose
your characters’ names?
I don’t believe I’ve ever made a conscious effort to name a
character. My ideas actually come to me through my characters. Often they show
up on the stage of my mind, announce who they are, and tell me the basic premise
of their story.
That’s not considered quirky is it?
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Netting my husband. There are so few good guys out there,
and when you’re able to find one that puts up with everything about you and
loves you the way you are, that’s a big accomplishment. I know other people
think so, too. I have all kind of dear women telling me how lucky I am to have
him. I’m not sure what that says about their opinion of me, but that’s okay. He’s
mine!
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
A cat. Have you ever notice that they never doubt that they
deserve more than they will ever receive? The two that live in my home have
their own personal maid, butler, cook, and chauffeur, and sometimes they look
at me as if given the chance, I’d be fired without notice.
What is your favorite
food?
Anyone who follows my chatter on Facebook knows that I love
fried pickles, a hot fudge sundae with bananas and whipped cream, and sweet
iced tea from a local restaurant, the Moonlight Drive-In.
I love fried pickles,
too, but I can’t eat them anymore, because of all the sodium. What is the
problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome
it?
Believing in myself. I’m very timid by nature, and it took a
while and a lot of honest critique from people who cared enough about my
writing career to gain that tough skin all writers mention. Once I was able to
take the criticism and determine for myself what was right for my story, I
gained confidence in my abilities. At times, my husband has had more faith in
my talent than I did. He talked me off the quitter’s ledge many times, and the
day I received my contract for Because of Me, I stood in stunned
silence, and my husband cried tears of joy.
Tell us about the
featured book.
Because of Me was birthed when the hero, Michael Hayes, came onto
the stage of my imagination and said, “There’s a young boy, Cole. I’m not his
father, but he’s definitely on this earth because of me. I allowed something
horrible to happen to his mother, but I still love her. I despise the kid,
though. I’ve forgiven another for so much more, and Cole’s only fault is that
his father is the man who took everything from me. How can I learn to love this
child and protect his mother from the man who can again take her from me?”
Michael’s story captivated me, and when it was all said and
done, I realized that Romans 8:28 permeates the pages of this story. All things, both the good and the bad,
are used by God for our good.
Please give
us the first page of the book.
“Michael.” Issie bolted upright in bed,
fighting the blankets and gasping for air. She ran her hand across her mouth
and scanned the darkness enveloping her room.
Her
breath, harsh at first, settled into a normal rhythm. She had nothing to fear.
“Michael,” she choked out his name again then settled back down and curled into
a ball.
She’d
clung to the memory of his handsome face, but with each passing year he slipped
further away. The desperate yearning to see him took her breath away.
One
thing she’d never forget was the way his eyes, the color of dark chocolate, always
followed her lips when she spoke, as if he wanted to kiss them long and deep.
He’d loved her then. She loved him now.
Another
face fought to replace her treasured memory. She shuddered and closed her eyes,
fighting the vision of Tom Jervis on top of her, taking everything she’d saved
for Michael—for their marriage bed. Everything she desired fell out of reach on
that night.
“Mommy?”
the frightened voice sounded from the hallway.
“Cole,
I’m here. What is it?”
With
bare feet, her seven-year-old plopped across the wood floor and over the old
woolen rug to her bed. “Are you okay?”
Issie
turned on her bed stand lamp. A soft light shone from beneath the green glass
top, illuminating his sleepy face and tired soul-filled gray eyes.
“I
had another bad dream.” She scooted over, and he climbed up beside her.
The nightmare
had vanished for such a long time. Why was it resurfacing now? Could you call
them dreams if the events really happened?
“Mommy,
who’s Michael?”
She
stiffened. He’d never asked that question. Had she not cried out for Michael in
the night before? How could she answer? Yet, not responding might alarm him
since he heard her call out the name. “Yeah, baby, I do.”
He
rolled over to face her. “Your bad dreams are about him?”
She
touched her finger to his nose. “No, they aren’t about him, but he’s in them.
Having him there makes it better for me.”
Better
for her, but not for Michael. What had it cost him to watch Jervis do what he’d
done to her?
“How
does he make it better?”
Issie
pushed her boy’s shaggy blond hair from his face. He needed a haircut, but he
wanted it long until the end of the baseball season. His helmet fit better, he
said.
“How
does he make it better?” He repeated, propping himself up on one elbow. “Did he
help you?”
A
vision of Michael branded her memory—the tears in his eyes, the rage in the
flare of his nostrils, and the sorrow in the turn of his lips.
“No,
but he would if he could.” She pressed her chin against the top of Cole’s head
and wrapped her arms around his pint-size body, drawing comfort from his warmth
and concern. Cole was a good boy. No one could tell her differently. “In my dream,
Michael’s having a tough time too, maybe worse than Mommy.”
“Where
does Michael live?” He yawned and turning, he faced away from her, his little
body curving with hers.
“I
don’t know where he is today.” At least that was the truth now. “I haven’t seen
him in over seven years.” Since his release from prison, Issie had no idea
where he’d gone.
“Oh,”
he said. His breathing soon settled into a sweet rhythm of sleep.
“Michael.”
She breathed the name. As she’d done since the day she learned she carried a
boy, she imagined Michael embracing her son and accepting him as his own. The
fantasy, though, was too fantastic for even her to believe.
Wow! I’m hooked. How
can readers find you on the Internet?
My website is www.faylamb.com
and I love making new friends on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/fay.lamb and www.twitter.com/@faylambReaders, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Because of Me
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
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9 comments:
i am thrilled that there are more Cristian authors writing in my favorite genre - suspense, but it is harder to decide which to get. Guess that's a good problem to have, right?
Thanks for the great interview and opportunity to win
mitzi underscore wanham at yahoo dot com
Marianne from Arizona
Thanks for entering me in the drawing. I wanted to keep on reading when I read the first page.
I live in West Texas.
WOW book sounds great! Thank you for entering me.
Lourdes Huntington Long Island
Your book sounds very intriguing. I have a fantastic husband as well. I'm so lucky!! You sound very busy. I like to sleeping so I'm busy with that and my job as an Adult Services Librarian in a public library. It's great because I know how to research and I know a little about a lot. I might not know the info you need but I know where to find it. I'm from Ohio. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.
I can't wait to read this book! It sounds so good!
Lynne from Tennessee
lynne(dot)young(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you for the Interview, I loved it and I don't think your quirky at all (grin).
please add me to your contest as I would love to win this Book, it sounds great.
Blessings to all.
I live in S.Illinois
ingrids62448(at)yahoo(dot)com
What a great idea for a story. I'm intriguied already and the cover fascinates me. I want to pick it up and read the back immediately. I'm as mystified as the little Cole about Michael. Thanks for this giveaway and the chance to win a great read.
New Blessings,
Barb Shelton
barbjan10 at tx dot rr dot com
Whoops....I live in Arlington, TX.
Barb Shelton
barbjan10 at tx dot rr dot com
Enter me.
Sharon Richmond
Blanch, NC.
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