A Word from the Author
"It is no longer the sexual which is indecent, it is the sentimental."~Roland Barthes
Why this book; this subject matter?
My romance novels are inspired by many things - from my own personal situations, to stories I hear about from friends, to TV shows, to movies, to conversations I overhear in bars, to dreams I've had, to books I read - as a writer, inspiration is everywhere.
This is my first Christian romance. I was inspired to write it because as a modern woman of a certain age, I believe you look back on your personal/romantic life and wish you'd done some things differently.
Not that you necessarily regret your past, but that you wish you'd recognized certain patterns earlier so that you could have prevented some of the heartache.
As the quote at the top of this section alludes to, I believe many of us think nothing of opening our bodies up to a man, but we cringe at the thought of asking them to open up their hearts to us. We don't want to seem needy or pushy or prudish or out of touch.
As women, I think too many of us stay stuck in patterns in our relationships. We choose the same partners - different men with the same behavior patterns - over and over again. And we wonder why we can't seem to "get it right."
One Sunday after I'd started this book, I saw a sermon by pastor Joel Osteen that talked about the potter's wheel.
"… Jeremiah uses the analogy of the [potter's] wheel as a type that represents the workings of God as He molds and shapes either a person or a nation into the kind of vessel He desires. … the wheel represents the training He gives, and sometimes the discipline necessary in order that He may obtain the results He desires to have. In EZE 1:15 Wheels always represent progress, motion, purpose, accomplishment.~GBible.org
The foundational message of that sermon was that no one comes into your life by accident; that God uses what you may think are difficult people, circumstances and situations to make you a better person.
Every person is there to help teach you a lesson. He went on to say, the great thing about it is, if you don't get the message the first time, you'll keep repeating the same pattern(s) until you learn the lesson you're supposed to from the experience.
The pastor explained that God made you to shine, to be happy, fulfilled and loved. He doesn't want you to be sad, heartbroken and lonely. But if you keep choosing the wrong person (ie, don't get the lesson), then it's because you haven't learned the lesson.
The main character in this novel, Harper, keeps getting off the potter's wheel. She keeps doing things her way - instead of letting God direct her choices in love.
Because of this, she's stuck in a pattern with men and after her latest boyfriend breaks her heart, she's so devastated, she knows that she has to do something different - or she feels she'll wind up alone, sad and broken. Again, the very opposite of what God created you to be.
One thought that kept coming to me before I started writing this book is that as women, we need to take better care of our hearts - the journey to happiness and fulfillment requires it.
Will you recognize yourself in Harper? Do you keep stepping off the potter's wheel? Do you keep repeating mistakes with men in your life that keep leading to heartache? Do you know how to find your way out of it?
Maybe Harper's journey will help - at least that's my hope; the reason Harper's Heart was written.
Note: Contains an intimate scene.
