Faith, Half-Naked Men, and a Contest!

Hi! Amanda Forester here, settling in and getting comfortable. Thanks so much for inviting me to join you today. It is truly an honor to be here and chat about my first release. But wait…there’s more! I’ll be offering a giveaway of my first novel AND sponsoring a first line contest with a three-chapter critique from literary agent Barbara Poelle as the grand prize! Keep reading for more details!!
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I am thrilled to say that my dream of publishing a book recently came true with the release of my first novel, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD. This Scottish adventure romance is my first manuscript… and one I was utterly convinced would never be published.
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You may be looking at the half-naked hunk on the cover of my book and wondering if perhaps I got lost. Did I really mean to come to Seekerville today? If you scroll down this fantastic blog you’ll see other heartwarming covers of sweet kids and Amish ladies. My cover stands out like a… well, like a half-naked dude in a group of kids and Amish gals. So what am I doing here? Pull up a chair, sister, and let me tell you all about it.
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I wrote this novel before I had any idea what I was doing (not that I know much more now). I didn’t know the unwritten “rules” of writing romance. I didn’t even understand the difference between inspirational and secular romance. Drenched in the glorious optimism of ignorance, I just sat down and wrote the story that was in my mind and on my heart.
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Set in 14th century Scotland, my heroine, Aila, expects to become a nun and prepares for life in the convent. After her brother’s death leaves her a substantial heiress, she finds herself wed to a Highland laird instead. Yet many desire to claim her fortune as their own and she is swept up in a world of treachery and intrigue.
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Throughout the story, Aila turns to the scriptures for guidance and she is often given a particular verse which helps her to discern her way. She uses prayer to guide her and encourage her in difficult times. I wrote this because it just flowed naturally as part of the character and it made sense to me. I think when people face difficult times in life they do turn to their faith for support and pray to God for guidance. I do. Why not my characters?
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My hero, MacLaren, is a battle-hardened knight whose faith has been challenged by betrayal. He believes he is following God’s will, but when he is deceived by his former fiancé and his cousin dies as a result, he struggles to understand why God would let this happen. He comes to the marriage with Aila distrusting of women and even of God. As the story progresses, he grows to trust Aila and he is able to move from a place of questioning to a place of faith.
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You may be wondering what all this talk about God and faith is doing in a book with a half-naked hunk on the cover. Well, me too! I figured that all this talk of faith would probably disqualify me for publication with a mainstream publisher. Since I had no idea what I was doing, my characters also swore, drank whiskey (they’re medieval Scots after all) and even got to… umm “know” each other, to use a Biblical phrase (but within marriage and very sweetly I hasten to add!). Essentially I wrote some odd hybrid book that I figured had zippo chance of ever getting published.
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Well, like many other times in life, I was wrong. I pitched the book to Sourcebooks at a conference and was asked for a full manuscript. A few months later I got THE CALL. They wanted to publish it. I was floored. Did they perhaps not see all the talk about God? Had it escaped their notice that I had quoted scripture with some regularity? Yes, they did notice. My editor had concerns about it. The scripture verses I quoted were in Latin (since there was no English translation of the Bible in the early 14th century). My editor felt it was too obscure and asked if I could put the English translation into the book. Uh… yeah – I can do that. So I ended up putting an author’s note at the back with the English NIV translation of twelve Bible verses.
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Does this mean hot men and scripture go together? My husband assures me that yes, yes they do…
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So where are the lines between inspirational and secular romance novels? Perhaps they are not as clear cut as I previously thought. Obviously my editor was not in the least put off by my characters struggling with their faith in the story. I find this to be an exciting development. When I was in seminary I took several integration classes that combined the study of psychology and theology. The basic premise was that people’s struggles in life cannot be compartmentalized into “spiritual” issues and “psychological” issues. We are all combined into one big mess (just like my novel!). As a writer, if I try to avoid any discussion of faith, I may miss some core issues and conflicts that are important for understanding the character or the situation.
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My novel may be seen as an extension of my interest in integration. My characters struggle with questions of faith, fall in love, make bad decisions, pray for guidance, make better decisions, fight against evil bad guys, learn to trust each other, and do a little smooching. Kind of like an average day in my house (except my evil bad guys generally take the form of smelly laundry or a bowl of something that fell down behind the couch and now is quite evil).
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I have found unexpected freedom in writing mainstream novels with a publisher who is not afraid of a little dose of inspiration on the side. I really enjoy being about to explore all the components of my characters, without feeling that I cannot write about *that* because it does not fit into the genre.
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Whatever I’ve done it appears to be working because I sold the next two novels in my Highlanders series. THE HIGHLANDER’S HEART should be out Spring of 2011 and my third (yet to be officially named but you can bet it has a Highlander in it) will hopefully be out later that same year.
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So what do you think about the difference between “inspirational” and “secular” novels. Do you think we are ready for crossover novels that contain a combination of aspects from different genres? [Ack – I can’t get the “Best of Both Worlds” Hannah Montana theme song out of my head!] Do you know other novels that contain a good mix of different genres? Please share – I’d love to read them!
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Comment on this blog to be eligible to win a copy of my book, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD (U.S. and Canadian residents only).
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Thanks so much for letting me join you today! Please visit me at http://www.amandaforester.com/ or come find me on facebook.
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First Line Contest – Win a Three-Chapter Critique from Barbara Poelle!!!!
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Writers take note! Want to win a critique from a NY literary agent? This contest is for you! The winner will receive a three-chapter critique of their manuscript from my super fabulous literary agent Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency!
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The toughest sentence I ever write for a novel is the first one. So much is riding on that one poor line! Here is my first line from THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD, “If they caught him, he would hang.”
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What is your first line? Entering the contest is easy peasy (someone help me). Simply comment on this blog with the following information:
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1. First line of your manuscript.
2. Genre of book (for example historical romance)
3. Your name.
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Grand prize is a three-chapter critique from New York literary agent Barbara Poelle! This is a great opportunity to get some wonderful feedback from an agent who really knows how to improve a manuscript!
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Good luck!

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Amanda Forester holds a PhD in psychology and worked for many years in academia before discovering that writing historical romance novels was way more fun. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two energetic children, and one lazy dog. Her first novel, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD was published March of 2010, and her second, THE HIGHLANDER’S HEART will be released spring of 2011. You can visit her at http://www.amandaforester.com/.