Author: Linda Windsor
Located in: Salisbury, MD
Submitted: October 19, 2007
Tell us a little about yourself. I came like Jonah to Ninevah when I switched to the Christian fiction market after writing sixteen secular historical romances. But when God calls, one must answer. I spent 4 years in the whale's belly, wavering, before I decided to try. As a fairly new Christian, I honestly didn't think I was "holy" enough to write for Him. Then I found out that publishers wanted characters with flaws who, with God's help, work their way through trials in spite of their weaknesses. And, boy, was I qualified to write about flaws!
What was your motivation behind this project? I grew up with a group of women like the four best friends in this series. All were very different, yet friendship and eventually faith made them inseparable. It is friendship and faith that enables us to love one another warts and all. And that love is best exemplified by God's love, by He Who loves us in spite of our flaws.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? This is a romance, but it's important for us to realize that love based on physical attraction alone is not lasting. The love I mention above is everlasting and strengthening in the trials that will come in life. Marriage takes three--man, woman and Christ.
I also deal with parental love in this book and demonstrate that, sometimes what we as parents do out of love is actually interference in the lives of our adult children. And that the adult child must realize that, no matter how mishandled it is, parental love is the motivation, but he/she must establish boundaries in a loving, respectful way.
And as always, forgiveness is at the core of this love.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? My husband passed away just before I started on this project, so it was the most difficult for me to write. A writer must tap emotions that I wasn't ready to set free. I suffered from depression as well, which made coherent thought a challenge at times. But once again, God pulled me through. I had no idea when I sent it off, if it was even publishable, but I had the chance to do rewrites and flesh out the emotion I'd held in check earlier. I still made a couple of mistakes, which I'll cover later.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? I love Max Lucado. The man could re-write the phone book and move me to tears. Randy Alcorn, Karen Kingsbury, Lori Copeland, Liz Curtis Higgs, James Scott Bell, Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins... so many excellent Christian authors out there, I honestly can't name them all.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: Yes. I made two mistakes in Wedding Bell Blues that have offended some of my readers. One of my characters exclaimed "oh my g.d" and another "D.amn, I still love you."
Since this was called to my attention, I contacted my publisher and any future printings of this book will NOT contain these words/phrases. Originally I'd put OMG in there for a secondary character, planning in this character's own book, for her to become convicted that OMG was blasphemy, even though she didn't intend it to be. When on second thought, I deleted that phrase in revisions, I missed one. As for the "d.mn" I go back to my state of mind at the time after Jim's death and the days when it was hard to put two coherent words together. I just wasn't thinking clearly. And of course, God's still working on me as well.
But the buck stops with me. All I can ask for is forgiveness and a second chance.
