Getting to Know Fay Lamb, Author of 'Because of Me'

I am beginning something new on my blog now that it's been up for about a year. Since joining American Christian Fiction Writers last July, I have come in contact with so many talented writers out there in the world! I've had a few chances to be interviewed by a few of them over the last year, and now it's my turn to return the favor. My very first interview is with Fay Lamb, an author I know through participating in the ACFW Scribes email loop (which you will learn more about later in this interview).

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Fay Lamb works as an acquisition/copy-editor 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.

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Fay, what made you want to start writing in the first place?

I can’t remember a conscious decision to write. I was always a storyteller as a kid—in a good way, although, I bet I stretched the truth a time or two just to get out of trouble. Before I could write, I held plays in the backyards of friends around my neighborhood, directing them in little stories that I’d made up. I suppose writing was a natural progression from there.

What makes you want to write the kind of stories you do?

I love twists and turns and a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat worried over the individuals contained within the pages. I like to read them, and I love to write them.

How do you choose your settings for each story?

I love to take real places and give them a little different twist and rename them. For my Serenity Key series, Cedar Key, a small fishing village on Florida’s West Coast, is the model. For my novel, Because of Me and other stories set in Western North Carolina, those are modeled after towns and their surrounding areas:  Waynesville and Highlands, North Carolina. For my contemporary romance series, I decided to look in my immediate area and those stories are set in Orlando, Florida (minus the mention of our famous mouse trap—I mean tourist traps).

What is your current work in progress?

Which one? I have one story I’m polishing up to resubmit to an editor. It’s a contemporary romance entitled, Charisse. I’m also working on a contemporary fiction, Storms in Serenity. This is a modern-day retelling of the sword that God wielded over David’s family after David’s sin with Bathsheba.  Along with those two stories which are complete except for some final editing, I’m preparing to delve into the world of professional surfing with my novel, Resurrection, which is currently in its third draft and heading for a fourth.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Lately, it has been finding the time to put words on paper. My life has been rather hectic of late, but I’m still managing to fit in a little time to write here and there in anticipation of an upcoming extended trip to North Carolina where I’ll put aside much of everything else that I do and concentrate on my latest works in progress.

How did you land your book deal? Do you have an agent?

I do not have an agent. I usually do everything backward. I have not seriously pursued an agent. I’ve submitted a few proposals, and I haven’t found a fit for me. So, instead, I found an editor who “got” me, and I moved forward from there. But I’m still looking.

I know you manage the ACFW Scribes Email Loop—can you tell us more about it?

Scribes is my passion. I love working with writers, and I feel that more than anything in my writing career, critique has pushed me to levels I never would have obtained. 

Scribes is a large critique group of approximately 275 Christian writers. Sounds complicated with just that bit of information, but I promise you, it’s the most organized group of fun people you’ll ever meet. We submit up to two chapter or chapter portions per week of 2,500 words or less. Then we are responsible for critique two chapter or chapter portions for each submittal. Our members love to critique, and many of them critique much more than the requirement.

Scribes is a place where the sting of growing tough skin is lessened by the caring nature of the members. Everyone has the same goal: to help each other reach publication. In my humble opinion, if all you received for your American Christian Fiction Writers’ dues was the critique group, you’re getting a lot for your money. However, we know that ACFW has much to offer: online courses, Fiction Finder, a way to connect with other Christian writers, prayer groups, genre loops, and so much more.

What are you reading right now (besides about a hundred different submissions to Scribes)?

The Other Side of Darkness by Linda Rondeau, and I’m loving the story, its quirky little town, and equally quirky residents.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I love to tat. I was taught by a ninety-year-old dear woman who made it her goal in life to teach this dying art of making lace. Basically it’s a formation of knots made by a shuttle and thread that makes the most beautiful motifs which are then joined together to make a variety of objects, from jackets, to bonnets, to Christmas ornaments. The possibilities are endless. I’ve been asked to bring shuttle and thread to the ACFW Conference this year and teach. We’ll see how that goes.

I also consider myself an amateur photographer of still life. Put people in the pic, and I don’t do too well. But I take a lot of photographs in the mountains. In fact, the photograph of the barn on the cover of Because of Me—that’s one of mine. A special thank you to my publisher for allowing me to use it.

I know every writer's journey is different and I think it's interesting to know little details about that journey. I'll end this interview by asking the one thing I always like to ask any published and unpublished author alike: How many manuscripts have you written?

I have six written manuscripts looking for homes and a number of other stories are in various stages of completion.

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Because of Me

Not your typical Christian fiction.

Michael’s fiancée, Issie Putnam, was brutally attacked and Michael was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he’s home to set things right.

Two people stand in his way: Issie’s son, Cole, and a madman.

Can Michael learn to love the child Issie holds so close to her heart and protect him from the man who took everything from Michael so long ago.

 Available through all fine book retailers, Amazon.com, and Mountainview Publishing, a division of Treble Heart Books.

Purchase the book at Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Because-of-Me-ebook/dp/B00722KIME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327670357&sr=8-1

Or at Treble Heart Books at: www.trebleheartbooks.com/MVLamb.html