Monday, June 16, 2014

Amber on Bitterness, Healing, and more

HA: Amber, welcome back to Homeschool Authors.
Amber: Thank you so much Sarah! It's an honor to be back. I have had a wonderful time getting to know some of the folks here. :)

HA: What inspired Healer's Touch?
Amber: I had originally written The Healer's Touch as a short story. It was inspired by my own struggle with bitterness and how similar it is to the disease of leprosy. Leprosy is a very strange disease. It attacks your body from within and causes the victims to lose their sense of feeling. They can hurt themselves, but never even know it. Eventually, leprosy will disfigure a person's body, their hands, arms, face. Bitterness is very similar. It eats at you from within, it hardens your heart so that you lose your sense of feeling, it harms you, but you usually don't know it. It has been medically proven that bitterness causes health problems and can even affect your facial features and appearance. I have heard it said that bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. That's so true. Bitterness turns a beautiful person ugly, much like leprosy. I later expanded the story and it's become a series. The next book should be coming out this summer.

HA: What is the most encouraging review you have received so far on this book?
Amber: This is a review from a reader on Amazon.com. 
The Healer's Touch"I loved this book from the acknowledgments to the last words. I have read a LOT of books in my time but it is rare for a book to touch me in this way. I loved how she acknowledged God first and foremost, how she chose the perfect names for the characters and how she draws you into a biblical world of a time gone by. Most Christian fiction I have read in the past feels like they are trying to shove what they believe down your throat and its usually lacking in a good plot but one of the reasons I truly loved this work is because it speaks with beautiful simplicity about our own human nature and struggles and about a true healer who can and still does grant perfect peace. A fast read ( which I can appreciate, being a mom of a 2 year old and 3 month old ) with a lot to offer. 5 stars. Bravo!"

HA: When you are not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
Amber: I love to tickle my little siblings, play the piano and sing, attend church meetings, read, and chat with friends.

HA: What do you plan to read this summer?
Amber: I'm involved in a series on the Declaration of Independence, and I'm looking forward to reading all of those stories. I'm also going to be reading the Jane Austen Encounter by Donna F. Crow.

HA: What are some of your favorite books of all time?
Amber: I love The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers, To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston, It's (not that) Complicated by A&E Botkin and many more...

HA: Can you give us a sneak peek into your work-in-progress?
Amber: The Messiah's Sign is the sequel to The Healer's Touch and comes from her husbands perspective. 
Ever since his baby sister's tragic death, Tyrus has been over protective. Just when he thinks he has everything under control, his world is turned upside down when his wife contracts the most feared curse of all: leprosy. Believing she has been unfaithful and will not repent, Tyrus banishes her to the leper colony. Ridiculed for his decision, and suffering financially, he struggles to protect his son amidst chaos. But when Malon begins following the teacher from Nazareth, what remains of his business and reputation is at stake. Can he save his son from the beguiling lies of a false Messiah before he loses everything he has left?

For my fans that have been waiting on the edge of their seats for the release of Volume 2, I am going to be releasing in June a short story entitled The Saga Begins. 
Catch a glimpse of Tyrus as a sixteen year old boy as his family flees from Rome to Capernaum where he meets Aaliyah and her family.

HA: What should readers expect when they read Healer's Touch? 
Amber: A combination of fiction and historical scripture takes you on a journey of inspiration you will never forget. Experience the Holy Land of Jesus time with Aaliyah, a leper banished by her husband. As you walk with Aaliyah, you will discover the only true source of healing, peace and joy.

HA: Do you have any final thoughts?
Amber: Thanks so much for having me! I'll be around to chat, and I would love to hear from the readers! Have you ever struggled with bitterness? What are you planning to read this summer?



1 comment:

  1. Thanks so much for having me on the blog today, Sarah! I count it an honor to be here.

    Amber Schamel
    Bringing HIStory to Life
    www.AmberSchamel.com

    ReplyDelete