Thursday, September 15, 2011

Debut Author Spotlight - Mary Moore


STORIES ORIGINALLY FOR ME ARE NOW FOR HIM!
by Mary Moore

My writing journey began with my reading journey!  I grew up on secular Regency novels, and could never get enough of the genre.  Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, the Bronte sisters; they were all my “go to” when I wanted a good read.  I joined a book club where I received four new Regencies each month and I read them over and over until the next month’s batch arrived!

When I became a Christian in my early twenties, I began looking for Regencies with an inspirational message.  I could find the Westerns by Janette Oke and Amish fiction by Beverly Lewis, all of which I enjoyed, but Regencies seemed few and far between.

When my husband began working the midnight shift at the hospital (over 15 years ago!), I needed to let him sleep during the evenings.  That’s when I started writing my own stories.  They were for no one but me, but when a few friends asked to read them, they encouraged me to try to get them published.  I made a few half-hearted attempts, entered a Regency writing contest, and looked for an agent interested in promoting inspirational stories.  New York apparently was passing on its next best seller!

Ten years later my husband and I relocated to southwestern Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the manuscripts were boxed up and put in the attic in our new home, pretty much forgotten.  It was then that we faced the most difficult time of our lives; I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was a long process and a long recovery, but during that time, I pulled those old manuscripts out and re-wrote them.  I injected them with some of the gems God had showed me and messages that I hoped might touch someone else’s heart; all with a romance set in Regency London.

God pretty much took it from there!  I prayed as I began my search for a Christian agent and He answered my prayers with Jenny Burke.  She has been a Regency fan, and when she got the story she ran with it, we both did; and that unbelievable journey ended with a published Love Inspired Historical.

There are now many wonderful Regency authors in the inspirational market of women’s fiction; I’m blessed to be among them.  My desire is that secular and Christian readers alike would begin a love for the era as well as discovering that God-based fiction doesn’t mean boring and stuffy.

But it is His desire that I am seeking, and wherever this wonderful journey takes me, I give God all of the glory.

THE ARISTOCRAT'S LADY
by Mary Moore

Love Inspired Historical, September 2011
230 pages

Amidst the glitz and glamour of a London Season, Lady Nicole Beaumont sees through the shallow excesses of her time. Convinced that a hidden disability has left her unfit for love, she determines to remain unmarried and live in quiet service to the Lord through the tenants on her father’s estate. But when Nicole unwittingly charms the cynical Lord Devlin on a garden terrace, her heart is awakened to his friendship…and the possibility of love. This story combines romance, inspiration, adversity, period details, and a shocking surprise in a spell-binding reminder that, in love, God's plan is the only one that really matters.

Mary Moore has been an avid student of the Regency era since the 1970’s and is a member of the ACFW’s historic fiction community. She has been writing historical fiction for over fifteen years. Mary had to put her writing on hold while undergoing health issues and breast cancer. She is now even more excited about her writing as she incorporates her struggles throughout her books; dedicated to encouraging others and using her talent for God’s glory. A native of the Washington, DC area, Mary and her husband now live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia with their black lab, Darcy. When not writing, Mary enjoys time with her husband, watching BBC movies, reading and weekend get-a-ways.

4 comments:

  1. Mary, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. What a frightening time that must have been for you! Isn't it amazing, though, what God uses for His purpose?

    I don't read a lot of historical or Regency but I have read a local author, Julie Klassen, who writes Regency. Have you read any of her work?

    I pray God will bless your new journey.

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  2. Thanks to you, Brenda, for allowing me this opportunity! I happen to love Julie Klassen books, one of the many Inspirational Regency writers out there now. Only now, I'm too busy to read them all!

    God does indeed have a plan for our lives and sure am glad He is in control for the rest of my journey.

    Thanks again, Brenda!
    In Him,
    Mary

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  3. Hi Brenda!

    Thank YOU for giving me this opportunity. It's very differnt telling your own story vs telling your book's story!

    I love Julie Klassen, she's just one of the many inspirational Regency authors out there now that are awesome. I know it is why they are starting to really catch on.

    Thanks again, Brenda!
    In Him,
    Mary

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  4. Mary, I've read The Aristocrat's Lady and loved it! What a brilliant twist you used to hook your reader and keep her reading! Thank you for sharing your publication journey. I am grateful that the Lord blessed you with something good during that difficult time. Your written words have certainly blessed me! Hope to read more from you soon.

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