"A Vision of Lucy" from Margaret Brownley & Clash of the Titles

Meet Former Clash of the Titles’ Competitor Margaret Brownley, guest post by Jennifer Slattery

Thrills, mystery, suspense, romance: Margaret Brownley’s penned it all. Nothing wrong with that—except she happened to be writing for the church newsletter. After making the church picnic read like a Grisham novel, her former pastor took me aside and said, "Maybe God's calling you to write fiction." So that’s what she did. She now has nearly 25 novels to her credit, including bestselling and RITA finalist A Lady Like Sarah—not bad for someone who flunked 8th grade English. Just don’t ask her to diagram a sentence.

Margaret competed in Clash of the Titles’ Battle of the Blurbs. Her latest novel, A Vision of Lucy is about a girl who seems to find trouble wherever she goes, but with the help of God and the rugged, reclusive David Wolf, she’ll never face adversity alone.

Lucy Fairbanks dreams of working as a photographer at the Rocky Creek newspaper. If she can earn money making photographs, then maybe her father will see that what she does is worthy, more than just a distraction. And her deepest hope is that he’ll see her as an artist, the way he thought of her deceased mother, whose paintings still hung on their walls.

But trouble follows Lucy on every photo shoot: a mess of petticoats and ribbons, an accidental shooting, even a fire.

When Lucy meets David Wolf—a quiet, rustic man who lives on the outskirts of town—she thinks she can catch the attention of the town with his photograph. She doesn’t count on her feelings stirring whenever she’s near him.

Two things happen next that forever change the course of Lucy’s life: David says the words Lucy has longed to hear since her mother died: that she is a compassionate, creative young woman that God made in His image. And in return Lucy helps David change his perspective on an event that wounded him long ago.

God’s arms are around this unlikely couple as they leave behind long-held assumptions and discover the true freedom of forgiveness.

Margaret, that sounds like a great book! Tell us more about it. Where did you get the story idea?

First let me thank you for letting me visit you today. To answer your question, the idea for my current release A Suitor for Jenny came from a meeting notice in an old newspaper for a group called The Society for the Protection and Preservation of Male Independence. I don’t know if the members managed to remain independent in real life but I certainly had fun making sure they didn’t in

A Vision of Lucy (available for preorder) is the third and final book of my Rocky Creek series. I got the idea from an ad in an old newspaper ad (do you see a pattern here?). Julia Shannon of San Francisco took the family portrait to new heights when she shockingly advertised herself as a daguerreotypist and midwife. Lucy’s not a midwife, but after learning that photographs sometimes reveal things not seen by the naked eyes, she takes camera in hand hoping to uncover family secrets.

You have a wonderfully creative imagination. Where and when do you like to write?

I write in my Monet purple office five days a week. Fortunately, I don’t need much sleep. I think I’m what you call hyper. I’m an early riser so you’ll find me parked in front my computer as early as four a.m., coffee in hand—a whole coffee pot. Afternoons are for answering email, exercising, the business of writing and taking care of the necessary details of life. Weekends are for friends, family and dreaming.

Wow, that’s dedicated. What do you enjoy most about being an author?

I love the idea of creating something from absolutely nothing. I can’t knit a sweater without yarn. Nor can I cook a meal without ingredients. I can’t even grow a garden without soil and water. But I can create a book from nothing more than a wisp of an idea and a blank page. I love that!

I also love creating characters and letting them take me to unexpected places.

How does faith play into your writing?

Faith is an essential part of who we are. One of my frustrations in writing for the secular market was not being allowed to explore a character’s faith (or lack of it). I don’t think it’s possible to fully develop a character without including his or her relationship to God.

Thank you so much for chatting with us! We enjoyed having you on Clash of the Titles, and it’s great to keep up with what you’re doing now. I look forward to reading A Vision of Lucy!

Visit http://www.margaretbrownley.com/ to find out more about Margaret and her writing.