Friday, May 21, 2010

FEATURED AUTHOR: Beverly Taylor


Beverly Taylor was born and reared in the Midwest. She attended Jacksonville Theological Seminary and received her Bachelor of Religious Arts in Christian Psychology. She is the author of the teen novel, Foolish Virgin, and executive director of Chastity House and The ChasteKeepers program for teen girls and young adult female. She resides in metropolitan Atlanta and is a licensed counselor/therapist.



Desires of the Heart

What would you do if you were in jeopardy of losing your man to another woman? Carson and Katharine O’Connor seem on the surface to be perfect people—good looking, successful and God-fearing, but no one could accuse them of being too perfect to be believable.

Katharine spends her life building a home and family until the day Carson leaves her and allows a voluptuous, cunning school counselor, Cindy Lomax, and her disturbed pre-teen daughter, Deanna, to move in with him on a platonic basis—or so he thinks. Katharine must find her way beyond the past and will stop at nothing to rebuild her marriage, to include having breast and buttock implants in order to compete with Cindy’s striking figure in winning her husband back.

When tragedy strikes, Carson realizes it was pure love that guided him to Katharine. Is it too late for Carson to rectify his mistake with her? Will Cindy’s vengeful tactics prevail? Will Deanna’s criminal intention manifest itself? Will Katharine find the strength to forgive, despite the fiery darts that have been thrown at her?

Desires of the Heart is a story of lost and found faith, learning to love yourself, how one man’s selfish decisions affect and endanger those around him, and a stunning glimpse into how man looks on outward appearance but God looks on the heart.

How did you start out your writing career?


I was the editor of my high school’s newspaper.

What did you learn while writing this book?


That the characters take on their own form of reality. That is to say, when I want them to act one way, they carry it in a different direction.

Have you had a "Wow" moment since you have been an author? What made it a "Wow" moment for you?


I believe most authors experience a moment of open-mouthed wonder when (s)he sees the birth of that first manuscript in book format. I was no different.

What did you hope to accomplish with this book?


To enlighten, inspire, entertain and educate readers that changing who you are on the outside does not remove who you are on the inside; in addition, to demonstrate how making selfish decisions can personally affect each member of the household in a detrimental way.

What type of marketing has worked well for you?


Word of mouth; speaking engagements, hopefully Sormag (smile).

If you had the opportunity to talk with three writers, who would you choose and why?


King David because he was a man after God’s own heart even with all his shortcomings. I’d like to sit down and have a talk with him about his beautiful, lyrical psalms. I’d like to ask St. Matthew about his encounters with Jesus and His mother, Mary. John the Revelator saw some fascinating things and I would like greater insight on the things to come. Let me add a fourth one if I may. I’d like to hear it from the apostle Paul’s own verbal words as to why he was so hard on women.

What are three things you wish you’d known before you reached where you are now?


The difficulties/competition in getting published. And everything in between.

If you are a mother, what is your favorite Mother’s Day moment?


When my children were elementary school aged, they prepared and served me breakfast in bed (how precious was that).

If you could visit any place in the world where would you travel to?


Egypt.

What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would understand?


That writing English is difficult and tricky. For instance: (1) The bandage was wound around the wound. (2) The farm was used to produce produce. (3) He could lead if he would get the lead out. (4) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. (5) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. (6) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. (7) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. (8) I did not object to the object. (9) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. (10) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear. Get my drift?

What was the best advice you’d ever gotten about the publishing industry?


That the internet will provide advice and guidance to enable and empower every author considering any form of publishing. The worst? “Go with your gut feeling,” they’d say. Gut feeling never worked for me. Prayer, fasting and faith was my answer.

Can you give us one do and one don’t for those aspiring to be a writer?


Do continue to pump out short stories—for short can grow into long. Don’t throw in the towel because the moment you do—you’re washed up.

What is something readers would be surprised you do?


Watch the NBA playoffs.

Our theme for this month is BOOK READERS. Name your top five favorite books of all time.


The King James Version of the Holy Bible; Beezus and Ramona; Pippi Longstocking (unfortunately, we didn’t have black children’s authors in our school/local library when I was a child); Black History/American History books; and other cultures’ history books.

Can you give us a sneak peek of your next book?


Sweetest Day is a holiday primarily celebrated in the states of Ohio, Illinois and Michigan, and to these Midwesterners, it is more sacred than St. Valentine’s Day itself. This “show some love” holiday is celebrated on the third Saturday in the month of October. My Christian romance novel is titled: The Sweetest Day Ever.

Synopsis: Hero: Clayton Montgomery is a 32 year-old eleventh grade History teacher. He lost his faith in God because of the bad marriage his favorite sister endured, and he doesn’t desire to ever get it back again; that is, until he’s reacquainted with Joanna Edwards. He falls head-over-heels, but he’s afraid because she’s made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want to date a man with children due to the family drama it brings. He recently discovers that he has a lovechild and he’s sure it will tear them apart if she ever finds out.

Heroine: Joanna Edwards is 30 years old. She’s an only child and an architect. She’s always been a strong Christian, but when her loving, trusting father is killed in a boating accident, and now she’s learned that he fathered a child outside his marital vows, she begins to doubt her faith. Before Joanna can move forward, she must overcome her obstacles in order to help Clayton conquer his. Her mother—the least one she expects—helps her to become triumphant over the heartache, pain, betrayal and deceit she encounters.

How can readers get in contact with you? (mail, email, website):


beverly.taylor@hotmail.com; http://www.beverlytaylorbooks.com/.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

LaShaunda you are the angel of good news just like the gospels. You have introduced me to some of the most fantastic authors and most recently last month Ms. Taylor.

I just read and am in the process of writing a review for Desires of the Heart. I must say as I was reading the book I was screaming mad at Carson. But then in his conversations with Cindy I realized she was feeding him these crazy things for her own purposes.

Knowing this didn't make me like him any more or less but it helped me to understand his actions. I truly enjoyed Kat and Natalie's relationship, because Natalie was able to tell Kat the tough stuff friends should be able to say.
I definitely want to read My Sweetest Day.

Ms Taylor the Christ in you certainly clicked with the Christ in me with this story. In 2005 my husband told me after 11 years it was over because he didn't want to cheat on me. He was in fact Carson but instead of a work colleague it was a classmate in his ear. While he was telling her the things about me and our life she was compiling a list for her own motives.
She had no loyalties to me or him. Only her motives mattered. Unfortunately/fortunately for me my story ended differently than Kat's. (But God is still good)

I thank you for this story because I thought I was crazy for begging him to stay. At the time 1 Peter 2;9 gave me solace because we are a peculiar people..(smile)
I loved it my review will post under Urban reviews website.

I enjoyed the interview and pondering your thoughts about Paul I agree why was the brother hard on women? Lastly thanks for reminding this reviewer and reader that like Baskin & Robbins has 32 flavors the English language is VAST.
Thanks and hugs to you LaShaunda
Missy

LaShaunda said...

Missy,

First I want to say thank you for being a reader of SORMAG.

Glad you enjoyed the story and it touched you so.

One of my favorite parts about SORMAG is my chance to introduce new writers.

Anonymous said...

Hi Missy ~

Thank you so much for reading and enjoying my novel, Desires of the Heart. It's a story that stuck with me for a few years, and I was compelled to write it, by the grace of God.

I prayed for guidance as I wrote the story and asked God to let it be a blessing to those who suffered hurt and deception at the hands of a loved one. I also asked our Father to allow the story to create a high level of self-worth to the self-reliant woman through the character Katharine. There was a lot of prayer involved in writing this book to keep it entertaining without mainstreaming (compromising) Christian standards.

Missy, I wish to admonish you to hold on to your faith and stay encouraged. The race is not given to the swift, neither the strong, but to the one that endures til the end.

I look forward to reading your review and I hope you tell others about Desires of the Heart so that it could be a blessing to them too.

Psst . . . And yes, we are a peculiar people (not weird-not strange-just different from the world)

Lots of love
& Keep the Faith,

Your sister, Beverly

P.S. - Don't you just LOVE LaShaunda and SORMAG (she is so cute and loveable). I pray God's blessings upon LaShaunda, her family, vision and mission. My extended prayers are to you and your family members. May love, joy and peace abound.

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