Q: Let me start by asking you to tell us a little bit about who Amy Wallace is. I'm a wife, homeschool mom of three, writer, speaker, Bible study leader, University of Louisville basketball fan, and avid chocoholic. I love crafting high-action suspense that delves deep into heart issues, but who I really am can be summed up in a few short words: I'm a daughter of the King learning to live and love with laughter. Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break? My writing break came in a similar fashion to the breaking of a bone-with a lot of blood, sweat, and plenty of tears along the way. It all started in 2001 when my hubby and God sort of teamed up and shoved me in the direction of publication. I'd found a series of novels at the library when choosing some fun homeschool reading for Christmas break. I devoured the grown-up stories, gave them to my husband and then, as soon as he'd read them, I told him everything I'd change. After the seventh book he told me to write my own. ;-) I said no way. Until I had a dream that wouldn't go away. It was a dream about an FBI agent with a wounded heart and a mom on a dangerous quest for answers. Then not too long after I told my husband about the dream, he went ahead and scheduled a meeting for me with a secret service agent he knew. After the research, interview and plotting my first story, I was in it for the long haul because I'd found something I could put my whole heart into, something I'd been created to do. So I transferred the story from my brain to the computer and got involved in an awesome writer's group called ACFW. I spent a little over three years learning the heart and craft of writing, all the time working on a number of novels, short stories and proposals. During that time, I received a recommendation for an agent who loved my first book, and we signed a contract. I also submitted a number of short creative fiction stories and saw four of those published in 2004 and 2005. Then, eighteen months after I'd submitted a proposal to my dream publisher, they offered me a three-book contract in December 2005. Now all that sounds sort of nice and easy. But this journey has been anything but. It's more closely resembled a difficult pregnancy than a walk in the park, with plenty of sleepless nights and fears about how everything would turn out. But God returns me to a few basic things: He called me. He promised to equip me. And I rise and fall to Him alone. The other big thing God reminds me of often is that writing is an act of worship. True worship is costly, so says 2 Samuel 24:24. It's my constant prayer that with every step of this writing journey I'll offer up to God a pleasing sacrifice, an offering that has indeed cost me something. Q: Would you tell us about your current book release, Healing Promises? Healing Promises is a high-voltage suspense novel which explores how a life-threatening medical diagnosis and the search for an elusive serial kidnapper affects even the most solid, loving Christian marriage and poses a key life question: Can God be trusted when things don't go the way we prayed? Q: If your readers could take away only one message from Healing Promises, what would that be? My prayer is that as readers become involved in Clint and Sara's journey, they'll experience a deeper sense of the goodness and trustworthiness of God, even when life doesn't go according to plan. I also hope readers will see that at the end of ourselves only one truth remains-God is good. What we do with that fact changes everything. Q: One of the messages that I found in the book is to trust God no matter how things appear on the surface. How do you deal with trust in the face of insurmountable odds? When life spins out of control, I try to fix things like Clint, and like Sara, I tend to look to other people and circumstances to make me feel okay. But I'm learning as Peter did, that the best place in the storm is hand in hand with Jesus. Q: Will there be a sequel to Healing Promises and can you tell us about it? The third book in the Defenders of Hope series is entitled Enduring Justice. This is Michael and Hanna's story and focuses on a painful secret and a racially motivated killer. When circumstances simplify the options to fight or fear, Michael and Hanna learn that the difference between executing vengeance and pursuing justice is their choice to heal. Q: Healing Promises has so much information about cancer treatments and the disease itself. Your writing on the subject seems very credible. Have you had experience in your life in this area and if not, how did you do such a thorough research job? Cancer shoved its way into my mother's life and also the lives of four very dear friends. These people allowed me the privilege of mixing my tears and prayers with theirs as they put one foot in front of the other and held tight to Jesus. Many of them shared their struggles with gut-wrenching honesty and provided in-depth details that breathed life into Clint and Sara's journey. Q: Your chapters inside the mind of the killer in Healing Promises were very disturbing and real. As a mother, how did you motivate yourself to see inside this man? My motivation to write in the killer's POV came from studying kidnapping cases and profiles and longing to share some of their "tricks of the trade" so parents would be a little better able to teach their children how to stay safe. There were scenes where this motivation pulled me through the writing. Q: Where do you find your inspirations for your plots? A large portion of my plot ideas grow from tidbits of research filtered through the characters' personalities. Ideas also come from brainstorming with my amazing critique partners. Plus, as I read, brainstorm and research, I'm flinging myself at Jesus' feet, totally dependent on Him to guide my research trail and enable me to develop characters that resonate with readers. Q: What's God been doing in your life lately? Reminding me in so many ways that this writing journey is only one tool He utilizes to break, grow and use me for His glory. There's life outside my office walls, and the more I open my heart to the real people God brings in my life, the more life I can bring to the characters I write. Q: Would you name three great fiction books you read in 2007 or this year so far, and tell us why you think they were great? My top two favorite books were discovered in 2007: The Restorer and The Restorer's Son by Sharon Hinck. A third great book I read in 2008 was Stealing Adda by Tamara Leigh. These stories captured my heart with their deep characters, intriguing plots and real-life faith struggles portrayed through the characters. With both The Restorer and The Restorer's Son, I cried, laughed, and worshiped as I read. Q: Do you have a scripture verse that expresses your writing message? My writing verse is not the one I'd have picked if given the choice. I'd have chosen a verse about joy and level paths. But God gave me 2 Timothy 1:8-9, "But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy calling-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time." This verse reminds me it's God's plans and purposes that are accomplished, not mine. And it directs me back to the focal point of the gospel-the cross. We are called to a difficult and painful journey for a short while as we walk this earth. But we live by the power of God, and He walks with us every step of the way. Q. As a published author, what do you see as the greatest obstacle to becoming published today? The greatest obstacle to becoming published lies in the heart of a writer. If we allow doubts, fears, pride or lies to fill us, we won't have room for God's plans, and we'll charge ahead and try to force open doors God has left closed for a reason. He longs for us to seek Him, not a contract, as our heart's desire. When He's our focus, then we're in a place to receive the good plans He has for our future. Q: What's one thing about becoming published that was not what you thought it would be? I thought a contract and good sales would validate my call to write. But only God can do that. So what I'm learning is to pour my soul into my work and then trust God with the outcome. Q: Anything else you would like to tell our readers? I'd love to invite them to visit the Heart Chocolate website www.amywallace.com and I'd be honored if they'd join the Dark Chocolate Suspense newsletter community. I enjoy hearing from readers and continuing the conversation started through the pages of a novel. One last thought? In grief and in hope, God is there. Cling to His hand and trust His promises. He is good. Always.