Debbie Kaufman

Please, join us as we welcome our friend Debbie Kaufman here under the tulip tree.  For those of you who don't know Debbie, here is a bit of background information.

Debbie Kaufman has always found a good book to be a great escape.  Years ago she failed to heed her mother’s advice when told to get her nose out of a book.  Instead, she parlayed her reading addiction into writing award-winning fiction.  Originally a Kentucky girl, Debbie now lives in Georgia with her own romance hero, her husband of over thirty years.  Her first novel is a Love Inspired Historical titled The Doctor’s Mission (Nov. 2011).

Debbie writes:
How do you write a missionary romance without readers ending up with 288 pages of a sermon? That was the question facing me when I wrote The Doctor’s Mission, a November release from Love Inspired Historical books. Because, when it comes to preaching, I prefer my sermons on Sundays at church—not in the books I read for pleasure.

The conclusion I came to was that you still write people. After all, if your hero was an architect, it wouldn’t be necessary to teach readers how to design a house or a convention center. So why does a missionary have to preach on the page?

He doesn’t! It doesn’t mean faith issues are absent completely, but you keep them in the context of the story and the character’s issues. And Pastor William Mayweather and Dr. Mary O’Hara do have their issues…

She squared her shoulders and tilted her chin higher than her five-foot four inches normally allowed her to see. “The Mission Board sent letters. Weren’t you informed of the impending arrival of Mrs. Smith and myself?”

His eyes flashed disbelief and despite his polite tone, she could see the resolve of his answer in the set of his jaw. “I was indeed informed of the arrival of two new mission workers, Miss O’Hara, one a physician. I just did not expect the Board to send women because of the deadly history of the jungle interior. I’m afraid you’ve been sent to the wrong place. I simply cannot take someone so delicate and unsuitable for the dangers to the compound at Nynabo.”

Unsuitable? She wanted to laugh at the irony of being found lacking after having just left a front line mobile field hospital for this man’s dangerous jungle. She took a deep breath to steady her voice. It wouldn’t do to sound shrill and create a negative opinion of herself. She needed this position; was, in fact, desperate for it.

“Obviously, Pastor Mayweather, we are both surprised to find someone whom we did not expect. But I assure you that while your opinion is no different than most other men in society, ones who do not carry Bibles at their ready, it is entirely unwarranted.”

As you can see, inspirationals may not be known for their explicitness, but they don’t have to pull their punches when it comes to conflict. And they don’t need to banter scripture in their dialogue.

Have you ever read an inspirational novel? If not, what’s stopped you from picking one up? If so, did you like it? Why or why not? Hey, go for honest here people! I love hearing about and understanding other people’s viewpoints. Besides, leaving a comment gets you entered into a random drawing for a copy of The Doctor’s Mission!

For more about Debbie and The Doctor’s Mission, check out her website: www.debbiekaufman.com or follow her on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/debbiekaufmanfanpage or Twitter, www.twitter.com/debbie_kaufman