CFBA Blog Tour - MaryLu Tyndall and The Falcon and the Sparrow

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Falcon and the Sparrow
(Barbour Publishing - August 1, 2008)
by M. L. Tyndall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

M. L. (MARYLU) TYNDALL grew up on the beaches of South Florida loving the sea and the warm tropics. But despite the beauty around her, she always felt an ache in her soul--a longing for something more.

After college, she married and moved to California where she had two children and settled into a job at a local computer company. Although she had done everything the world expected, she was still miserable. She hated her job and her marriage was falling apart.

Still searching for purpose, adventure and true love, she spent her late twenties and early thirties doing all the things the world told her would make her happy, and after years, her children suffered, her second marriage suffered, and she was still miserable.

One day, she picked up her old Bible, dusted it off, and began to read. Somewhere in the middle, God opened her hardened heart to see that He was real, that He still loved her, and that He had a purpose for her life, if she'd only give her heart to Him completely.

Her current releases in the Legacy of The Kings Pirates series include:The Restitution, The Reliance, and The Redemption

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Mademoiselle Dominique Dawson sets foot on the soil of her beloved homeland, England, she feels neither the happiness nor the excitement she expected upon her return to the place of her birth. Alone for the first time in her life, without family, without friends, without protection, she now faces a far more frightening prospect, for she has come to the country she loves as an enemy-a spy for Napoleon.

Forced to betray England or never see her only brother alive again, Dominique has accepted a position as governess to the son of Admiral Chase Randal, a harsh man, still bitter over the loss of his wife. Will Dominique find the strength she needs through God to follow through with the plan to rescue her brother? Will Chase find comfort for his bitter heart in God's arms and be able to love again?

And what new deceptions will they both find in France when they arrive to carry out their plan?

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. What gave you the inspiration for this story?

The biggest inspiration was my desire to create a heroine that I believe many women can relate to. She's not the normal brave, outgoing, independent woman we see in many novels. Not that I'm against that type of heroine. I adore strong women characters and write about them myself, but I think many more people are on the timid side like I am, than are on the courageous side. So, my ultimate purpose was to show how someone who's typically shy and frightened, someone who doesn't think they can make a difference at all, can do impossible feats with God on their side.

2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?

My life experiences greatly influence my characters. In fact I pull most of my spiritual themes from things I have learned in my walk with God. The heroine in this particular story I modeled after myself. I tend to be on the shy, timid side, fairly insecure and usually nervous. I used to think I was an oddity, that God must have made a mistake, but as I've gotten to know more and more people, I realize many of them are much closer to being this way than to being brave and outgoing! So the heroine of this story, Dominique, was fairly easy to write for me. My own experiences and fears paved the way for her reaction to the world that I threw her into. When I'm writing a character who is not like me, I still inject some of my own qualities in him or her, but rely heavily on experiences and observations I've had with other people. But no matter how well I have mapped out a character's personality in the beginning, they always tend to take on a life of their own and develop qualities that are uniquely theirs as the story progresses.

3. What themes exist in The Falcon and the Sparrow that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the story progressed?

The main theme I hope to portray is that no matter how frightened we are, no matter how hopeless our situation, God is our strength. We may not feel calm, we may not feel courageous. In fact we may be shaking in our boots, but if we trust Him, He will never let us down.

(I can tell you’re a writer, Tiff, because you ask questions only a writer would know!) But, yes, often while I'm writing a book, other themes that I hadn't planned on developing seem to formulate out of the story. In Falcon, two more themes emerged. One, that life doesn't always turn out as we hope or pray for, but that doesn't mean God doesn't love us or has abandoned us, and two, that often times when we think we are horrible witnesses and doing nothing good for God, we are affecting those around us in ways we could never imagine.

4. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?

The hardest part of any book I've written is the first 30,000 words or so. I really struggle getting a story started, introducing all the characters, the conflict, the plot. But something magical happens somewhere around the first third of the book. The characters become real to me and begin to take over the story. The words flow out of me and my writing becomes easier. By far my favorite part to write is the last 10,000 words. I love endings and have no trouble putting together a tense, satisfying ending to my books. At least, I hope you'll think so too!

5. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?

My next release is called The Red Siren, book 1 of the Charles Town Belles series. It will be released in February '09 and is the story of an admiral's daughter who is a pirate by night, and a lady by day. She hopes to accumulate enough wealth to save her and her sisters from unsavory marriages. But her plan is thwarted when she falls in love with the British Navy Captain who is out to catch the villainous woman pirate scouring the seas around Charles Towne!

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Thank you, MaryLu, for being in the spotlight with us.

Readers, leave a comment for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of The Falcon and the Sparrow.

If you wish to comment but don't want to be entered, say so when you post.

Make sure you leave your email address (name [at] domainname [dot] com/net) or that there's a way to contact you. Otherwise, you won't be entered. Wouldn't want you to miss out on winning a book. :)

And if you want to make certain you don't miss anything, check the box that says 'email follow-up comments to:' when you leave a comment and they'll be sent to the email address associated with your blogging account. That way you'll be notified of any comments and will know when I announce the winner.

This week, the contest is open to US/Canada residents only.

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