Interview with Fay Lamb and giveaway!

Why do you write the kind of books you do?

As far as writing goes, I like stories with twists, plots layered in to give a reader a surprise here and there. It keeps the writing exciting for me.

But I write because I want to glorify God, to provide stories that offer hope and light for individuals who don’t know God or who have walked away from Him. My hope is that someone reading one of my stories will say, “It’s never too late to live my life according to God’s plan for me.”

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
The day I eloped with my husband and my sons to Kingsland, Georgia, and we began our wonderful journey of marriage together.

How has being published changed your life?
Oh, my goodness. I’m busier than I have ever been. My husband and I both work at home. He has an office on one side of the house and mine is on the other. We usually get started working right after breakfast around 8:00 a.m., and except for catching a meal mid-day, we barely see each other.

What are you reading right now?
I’m reading Medical Error by Dr. Richard Mabry, and I’m enjoying it very much.

What is your current work in progress?
Well, I’m actually going back to the drawing board on a contemporary romance called Charisse. A wonderful editor provided me some very good advice for the story, and I’m working my way through it so that I can get it into her hands again.

What would be your dream vacation?
Actually, my husband and I are talking about renewing our dream vacations and spending some quality time on one of our favorite island towns, Cedar Key. It’s a sleepy little fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico. We rent a condo on the Gulf and hang out by the pool reading or we walk into town or ride our bicycles out to the small airport. It’s just a place where we connect.

How do you choose your settings for each book?
My settings have to be somewhere of interest to me. Most of my locations are fictitious but they are all based upon real places whether it’s a small island town in the Gulf of Mexico or the mountains of Western North Carolina.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who
would it be and why?
The fellows behind the screenplays Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous. I love what they do. I love the fact that their movies touch so many lives, and well, I might have a story or two for them.

What three things about you would surprise readers?
Let’s see:
1. I’ve learned you really can grow out of shyness. I used to tell folks I’m shy—and I was, but I can’t honestly say that now. I’m pretty social, whether online or in person. That’s a God-thing and an answer to prayer.
2. I collect salt and pepper shakers. I have 500+ pairs throughout my house. At one point, after handing my dear mother-in-law a Morton salt box one night at dinner, she declared, “Let me get this right. All of these salt and pepper shakers in this house, and not one of them as salt in it?”
3. I love to pick on my husband. It’s my favorite pastime. Of course, anyone who follows my antics on Facebook knows that I live to torment him. He’s such a good sport about it, and one of the many reasons I love him so much.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
Tatting. I love to create tatted lace. It was with great difficulty and the determination of a lovely-ninety-year-old woman that I learned this dying art. It’s very relaxing to me, something I can do when I just can’t think or write another word.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it
Time. I find myself pulled in a hundred different directions—wonderful directions, opportunities I wouldn’t miss for the world, but I sometimes forget that the opportunities have come to me because of my writing.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?
Don’t give up. Don’t let anyone take your dream away. However, don’t harden your heart to honest criticism of your work. Nine times out of ten, the person offering the advice wants only the best for you. Take the time to look at it objectively, and take what you can use, but always move forward. Never move backward.

Tell us about the 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.


What do you want readers to take away from the book?
That God is always in the details of our lives. No matter how far we walk from Him, no matter the mess we make, God is able, and He can create beauty out of the ugliest happenings in our life.

What one question would you like us to ask your readers?

Michael Hayes, the hero of Because of Me, holds Job 13:15 as his life verse: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him, but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” What does this verse say to you?

Tell us about the giveaway you’re offering.

The giveaway is for either an autographed print copy of Because of Me or an e-Book edition of the book, winner’s choice.



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 Michael, a promising young investigative reporter, Michael, 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?
Purchase the book at: http://www.amazon.com/Because-of-Me-ebook/dp/B00722KIME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327670357&sr=8-1

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.