The presidential election has been a hot topic of conversation for just about everyone these days.  With the uncertainty of our economy coupled with the skyrocketing price of gasoline, it just makes sense that we would want change.  Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat doesn’t really matter.  Vesting your interest in the future of our country by casting your vote is what truly counts.  But in actuality, the real question that needs to be answered will remain in balance long after the last vote has been counted.  Will he or she be able to save our struggling nation?  And if so, exactly how will it be done?
            This month’s Jen’s Jewels answers that very question.  Imagine how different our country would be if our leaders governed by a faith-driven initiative rather than their own personal agendas.  Laura Hayden dares to cross that line in her powerful new release entitled AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  This well-written story follows one woman’s journey to become the first female President of the United States.  And no, this book is not a caricature of Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic nomination. The similarities between the two stop at their gender. 
            As part of this interview, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. has graciously donated five copies of AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL to give away. So, don’t forget to look for the trivia question at the end of this interview. 
            Go ahead and grab something cool to drink and get to know the talented Laura Hayden.           
               
Jen: Your foray into the publishing business is not only from an author’s perspective, but also from the viewpoint of a bookstore owner and a graphic designer. Please tell us how your love of books led to your becoming an author.
Laura: I don’t know a single author who hasn’t been a voracious reader--at least in their past.  I’m still a voracious reader, having started reading at a very early age.  In fact, I have two library cards in my scrapbook that my mother kept.  We loved going to the library every Friday and getting books and it really chapped my hide that my mother and brother had their own library cards, but my books were checked out under my mother’s name.  The librarian told me that I could have my own card when I could write my own name.  So, that next Friday, I marched up to the counter, painfully wrote my name and got that very first library card.  I was four at the time.  That’s the first library card in my scrapbook.  The second card was one used when I turned 10.  By that time, I’d exhausted the library’s large children’s section.  So, I turned to the Adult section and when you checked out Adult books, the staff used an A prefix to identify them.  Every book I checked out on that card was an “A” book.  I never read a book from the children’s section after that.   

 Jen: Like your husband, my brother-in-law is a career military officer, so when I read that you move around the country quite frequently, I could relate. Thus is the life of a military family. How have you turned your transient lifestyle into a proactive move for your career?  
Laura:  Moving around a lot has its pros and cons.  On the good side, the USAF sent us to interesting and sometimes odd places that meant new fodder for plots and characters.  On the down side, it’s hard to build a cohesive writing community around you when you keep leaving the communities.  However, I managed to make friends that I could take with me when we moved-- not as much the imaginary characters in my head, but the real friends and colleagues with whom I’ve maintained a close relationship via the Internet.  I’ve also found local chapters of national writing organizations to be the “instant” community for my writing career.  

Jen: Your award winning novel, A MARGIN IN TIME, brought your name to the forefront and established and perhaps even validated your prowess as a writer. How have you seen yourself grow as a writer from your first novel to the eighth?  
Laura:  I’ve matured as a writer and as a person since I wrote MARGIN.  Then again, I defy anyone to say they’ve not changed in thirteen years.  I still have the same writing style and voice, but I think I’ve expanded my abilities, literally polishing them with constant use.  I’ve also challenged myself to write in a wide variety of genres and I’ve been pleased the range I’ve found so far.  I look forward to plowing new ground by tackling even more different genres.  I read everything.  Why shouldn’t I want to write everything? <g>

Jen: In your latest release, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, you tackle two major topics in one story…politics and religion.  How did you arrive at the premise?
Laura: The big joke about how this story came to be was that one day I was watching television, and I learned...there was a woman running for President!  How can that not spark a lot of What if questions?  But the one thing that my editors and I agreed readily was that this book wasn’t going to be a hatchet job of any real candidate.  For that reason, I brainstormed a candidate who bore no resemblance to Hillary Clinton other than their gender.  As to the role of religion, it was a natural element when looking at the differences between Emily, the candidate and Kate, her campaign manager.  Their ideas of faith are different, perhaps too different and it becomes a big stumbling block.
 

Jen: I must admit that I embraced this novel from the get-go due to its refreshing spin on the world of politics, which quite frankly, we can use right about now. Of course, with Hillary Clinton vying for the oval office, one might think that your Emily Benton shares similar characteristics and/or goals.  Were you concerned that such a comparison might be drawn and if so, what steps did you take to ensure that Emily would have a voice of her own?
Laura:  I used another “What if” premise.  What if my candidate, Emily Benton, came from a famous political family?  What if she had been born, raised and educated with that sole goal in mind?  I patterned Emily’s life more like that of a Kennedy and envisioned her world as a Neo-Camelot.  It helped give Emily’s life a realistic and even familiar feel without mirroring the current political race.  I made other not-so-subtle differences.  Hillary is married--famously so.  Emily is divorced.  Hillary has children.  Emily will never have kids.  There are some perhaps unavoidable similarities (both female, both blonde, both law school grads), but not enough to point a finger out and say, “Aha!” 

Jen: The question that came to mind as I was reading your story was the issue of separation of church and state. Kate Rosen, one of the two main characters, is intent on creating a faith-based initiative office if Emily Benton, the other main character, is elected to the White House.  Please explain what you mean by this term and also, if given the opportunity, how will Kate make this dream become a reality?
Laura:   The Office of Religious Initiative that Kate hopes to start would be an office that goes a step or two beyond its real-life faith-based initiative counterpart.  It would take a more people-centric look at decisions being made in Washington and run them through a review using a more religious-based concept of right or wrong.  It also would build a stronger connection with existing religious based aid-societies so as to bring the maximum amount of aid to the maximum amount of people, regardless of their personal faith.

Jen: Personally, I was impressed with how you were able to create a modern day drama akin to the cutthroat politics as we know it while gently interspersing Christian values without going over the top.  How did you manage to walk that fine line without losing your balance in the process?
Laura:   Not to be flippant, but it wasn’t easy.  I’m not a fan of over-the-top politics nor over-the-top religion and it seems that’s we’re constantly bombarded with strident examples of both.  In the book, we see examples the good and the bad of both concepts--cutthroat politics versus the politician who want to be good, fair and responsive to their constituents. We see real faith in action and people putting their faith in the wrong places.  I think this more realistic attitude will make the books much more applicable to a wider audience.  The series is meant to reflect what happens when real life faith meets a real-life complication.  We’re not perfect.  My characters aren’t perfect.  They will make good decisions and bad ones.  To me, this is the best way to handle both religion and politics, especially when the two intersect.

Jen: How much research was needed to validate the authenticity of your novel?  What was the most fascinating tidbit that you discovered?
Laura:  I walked into this series with a woefully inadequate grasp of the American political process.  For that reason, I had to not only learn about the election process, I had to use the data from prior elections to build a reasonable campaign for Emily.  That included not only following the real 2008 primary/caucus schedule (which continued to change up to the day I turned in the book), but I also had to design a realistic campaign concept, come up with vote totals that would take into account likely votes cast and of course, tally up the delegates so that I could control with reason when she might win her party’s nomination.  The one fact that continued to amaze me was the amounts of money spent on the campaign.  Millions and millions in advertising, travel, materials, headquarters.  It’s astounding how much money is poured into a campaign.  Right now, we’re only at the point of candidates vying for their party nomination.  The money will continue to flow once it’s a battle between the two parties.  

Jen: We so often hear that behind every successful man is a supportive wife.  Why then did you not choose for Emily to have that same advantage since she is embarking on a career that has historically been held by a man?  
Laura:   I’d like to tell myself it’s because I wanted to distance myself from the current political possibilities, but honestly, since I was breaking ground by electing the first female President, I wasn’t quite ready to break additional ground by having to figure out the role and responsibilities of the First Gentleman.  That’s not to say that she might not eventually fall in love and marry someone while in office.  That could be a hint.  It could be a red herring.  Only I know...

Jen: What I liked best about the plot was how you were able to have the reader sympathize with Kate’s plight yet at the same time, come to understand the motive behind Emily’s driving force to become the first woman president. In your mind, who is the stronger character and why?
Laura:   There are various definitions of strength.  Emily appears to be a stronger character because she’s much more focused on a single prize and everything she has done and will do are solely to help her meet that goal better and faster. Emily is the center of her own universe.    Kate is no less focused, but her greater strength is that she knows that God is at the center of her universe, not herself.   Emily is more assertive, more driven.  Kate is more generous and more aware of others.  Both are incredible strong women, but in diametrically opposed ways.  

Jen: Without giving too much away, the bond of trust has been broken between these two strong women and I would expect that their path to reconciliation will be a long, hard road for both of them.  Will their story be continued? And if so, what sneak peak can you share with us? When can we expect to see it on the shelves?
Laura:   The next book in the series is Red, White & Blue and it’ll come out spring 2009.  Reconciliation is hard, but it will eventually occur.  However, Kate will have to remain wary and become a lot less trusting of Emily.  That said, Kate also knows that this is her chance to continue to influence and guide Emily and help her make the right decisions.

  
Jen: As far as your career is concerned, what has surprised you most about the publishing business and why?
Laura:  Since I started in publishing, the whole concept of “What is a book?” has changed as new formats and new delivery systems have been put into place:  eBooks, audio on CD, graphic novels, etc.  And genre lines are blurring and new genres are arising because of that.  I always thought I would write in one genre but these changes will let me cast my net out further and wider. 

Jen: I mentioned briefly that you have your hands in quite a few aspects of the publishing business.   Please tell us about your involvement in Noveltalk.com as well as your bookstore, Author, Author!
Laura:  NovelTalk.com is an online community where readers and authors intersect.  We host contests, chats, send a monthly newsletter for our readers and we prove access to a vast reading audience for our authors.  In addition, we design, host and update websites for over 150 authors including group websites for authors of Harlequin Intrigue and Harlequin SuperRomance novels.  I’m the head of the graphics department at NovelTalk and have designed most of the websites that our company hosts.

At the other end of the publishing spectrum, I own Author, Author! (http://www.author-author.net)   I’ve been an online book dealer since 1999 (and a bricks and mortar book dealer as well) and besides selling on the AA website, I also sell on all of the major online venues--Amazon, Barnes & Noble,  Alibris (which includes Borders and Books-A-Million), Half.com, Biblio and others.  We specialize in genre fictions, both new and old, and also do some great exclusive promotional sales for authors like  Katie MacAllister,  Vicki Lewis Thompson and Sandra Hill, to name a few.

Jen: Please tell us a little bit about your website. Do you have e-mail notification of upcoming releases? Mailing list? Do you participate in author phone chats and if so, how would my readers go about arranging one? Do you participate in a blog? 
Laura:  My website is http://Suspense.net, now in its 12th year online.  (I like technology!)  Yes, I designed it myself <g>.  I run occasional contests and I do maintain a mailing list.  I’d love to participate in any phone chats or blogging opportunities.  Just contact me at Suspense@Suspense.net to arrange any of these or just to say hello!

Jen: It has been such a pleasure being able to chat with you. Once again, I have been enticed out of my comfort zone of romance and have discovered an exciting new genre to share with my readers. I appreciate your offering me this wonderful opportunity.  Best of luck in your career and please stay in touch!
Laura:  Thank you so much of for the opportunity.  As a writer, I’m always more than willing to admit that the romance writing industry “brought me to the party” and I will forever be grateful for that.  As my mother always said, “Always leave with the person who brought you to the dance.”  I may or may not write more romance (who am I kidding?  Of course I will), but I will always be the writer out there saying, “Now listen, let me tell you about romance readers.  They are the most well-read, most loyal readers out there.”  And we all know it’s true!   Thanks.

I hope you have enjoyed my interview with Laura. I highly recommend this book!  You’ll never look at politics the same way again.

Now it’s time for the trivia question! Be one of the first five readers to e-mail at jensjewels@gmail.com with the correct answer to the following question and you will win! Good luck!

What is the name of Laura’s on-line bookstore?

Later this month, I will be bringing to you my interview with Maryann McFadden, the author of THE RICHEST SEASON.  You won’t want to miss it!

Until next time…Jen