INTERVIEW WITH ... SO MANY BOOKS ... SO LITTLE TIME BLOGSPOT:
http://somanybooksblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/julie-lessman-q.html

What inspired you to write A Passion Most Pure?

Well, that would be Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. From the moment I read Gone With the Wind, I was hooked on romance. So much so, that when I was in high school, I actually dressed up as a nun to go to a free showing of GWTW for the local religious and clergy. One of my friends had a sister in the convent, so she loaned us novice habits and off we went! I sat there mesmerized, shoving free popcorn into my mouth as I watched the tug-o-war between Rhett and Scarlett. It was one of the most fun times of my teens . until we ran into the nuns from our high school! Whew, we got into trouble . but it was soooo worth it (at least at the time!).

Anyway, that book inspired me to begin my own novel at the age of twelve, a 150-page, single-spaced manuscript that is actually the basis for my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it!), almost forty years passed before God breathed new life into that early attempt and inspired me to finish my childhood novel of passion-only this time the "passion" would be for Him! ?

Do you have a favorite scene from the book?

Oh, wow, what a hard question! I mean I have TONS of favorite scenes-favorite romantic scenes that race my pulse, favorite spiritual scenes that make me cry, and favorite family scenes that remind me just how blessed I am to have God in my life. But, I know you don't have all day (grin), so I will mention only one of each.

My favorite romantic scene (or one of them) would have to be a scene in the kitchen between the heroine, Faith (a woman who is bent on marrying a man who loves God), and the bad-boy hero, Collin (who has a grudge against God). It's a scene of strong romantic tension where Collin realizes he loves her but can never have her because God stands in the way. He slams a few chairs around and forces her to admit she loves him, which she does, but it doesn't matter. She will not be unequally yoked, and the piercing knowledge of this crushes him. The scene is a riptide of swelling emotions-from humor and teasing to anger, passion and fear, finally ebbing to quiet acceptance when both realize the love they share can never be.

One of my favorite spiritual scenes has to be when Faith's heart of bitterness and anger towards God (resulting from a betrayal in the book) finally breaks, allowing her to see the folly of her way. It comes about when her blind neighbor and spiritual mentor, Mrs. Gerson, teaches her about one of my favorite chapters in the Bible-Deuteronomy 30-where God presents each of us with a choice: life or death, blessing or curse. It pierces Faith to the core, returning her prodigal heart back to the loving arms of the Father.

One of the family scenes I like the best is Christmas Eve in the O'Connor household. Since A Passion Most Pure is really a family saga, family relationships are very important to the plot. Marcy, Faith's mother, is nursing her burnt finger in the kitchen after searing her hand on a hot tray of freshly baked Christmas cookies. Both her kitchen and her five-year-old daughter (who is a real pistol!) are covered head to toe with icing while their dog is woofing down all the cookies that fell on the floor. In the next room, the father, Patrick, supervises the placement of ornaments on the tree from his easy chair while the rest of the family and Collin (who is courting Faith's sister at this point) spar and joke. It's a melancholy moment for Faith amidst the joy of family and Christmas as she attempts to get past her attraction and longing for Collin.

Do we "see" some of you in your characters?

Oh, my, yes! There's a part of my personality in each of the three sisters in the series. You might say that Faith, the sister heroine of A Passion Most Pure, is my spiritual self. Faith has an intimate relationship with God-she talks and prays to Him as naturally as if He is her best friend, but she gets angry with Him too. You might say she (and I) are emotionally engaged with the God of the Universe-we laugh with Him, tear up at His goodness to us, and worship Him with all of our hearts. As a matter of fact, Faith and I are so much alike in the spiritual aspect, that a good friend of mine told me that reading A Passion Most Pure was "like going to lunch with me." I guess that's good . I'm not sure! (grin)

Charity, the sister heroine of Book 2, is my rebellious and "passionate" self, before I came to the Lord. I was a wild child of the seventies, you know, like so many of us. Thank heavens that Jesus got a hold of me (as he does Charity in Book 2)!

Lizzie (or Beth), the sister heroine of Book 3 is my dreamer self. Lizzie is a bookworm bent on fairytale romance, just like I used to be as a little girl, sneaking downstairs to watch romantic movies after my parents went to bed. In her story, Lizzie has to learn (just like I did) that true romance, the kind that really satisfies, comes from following God's precepts, not the world's.

If you were casting actors for a movie of A Passion Most Pure, who would you choose?

Gosh, that's a tough one because I am not up on the latest movie stars, but the best I can do for my heroine, Faith, is Keira Knightly, who played the main role in the latest version of Pride & Prejudice. Except Keira would have to die her hair to auburn! But, otherwise, her sparkle and temper would fit Faith well. As far as Collin is concerned, I am at a total loss. Collin is a handsome womanizer who likes to tease and joke, but is also prone to occasional melancholy, revealing a deeply sentimental and emotional side. That's a hard combination to come up with, although the model they chose for my cover comes as close as anything could-he has a moody, smoldering look about him that conveys both his desire for Faith and his frustration at not being able to have her.

Do you read Christian fiction yourself? If so, who are some favorite authors or books, both Christian and/or secular?

All the time!!! I have a massive Christian fiction library I have compiled since I started writing A Passion Most Pure six years ago. I wanted to see what was in the market, so I began devouring everything I could get my hands on. Some of my favorites are Francine Rivers, of course, particularly Redeeming Love and her Mark of the Lion series-both awesome! I absolutely love Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish trilogy, Fair is the Rose, Thorn in My Heart and Whence Comes a Prince, as well as Kathleen Morgan's Child of the Mist and Daughter of Joy. And Kristin Heitzmann's Diamond of the Rockies series is another favorite. Newer authors that I particularly like are Tamara Alexander, Deeanne Gist, Mary Connealy, Camy Tang and Deb Guisti.

Where is your favorite place to read a book?

Without question, my FAVORITE place to read a book is while sunbathing in the open bow of a speedboat . or in my driveway on a chaise lounge (beggars can't be choosers since we sold our boat!). But since that doesn't work in Missouri nine months out of the year, my second favorite place is in our hearth room with a fire lit and every candle burning (I have tons . must be my Catholic upbringing!). Unfortunately, to read as much as I want to with my limited time, I carry a book everywhere so I can read while I'm waiting in store checkout lines, at doctors' offices or even at a stoplight (especially if there is a train!).

Can you share a little of your own personal faith journey with us?

Sure, but I guarantee you, you wouldn't have liked me back then. I was a twenty-three-year-old hard-nosed agnostic from a devout but dysfunctional Catholic family of thirteen kids. Suffice it to say that I was pretty angry at God. According to the world's standards, I had everything going for me-a hunky boyfriend with a Corvette and a boat, a great job, my own apartment when other friends still lived at home, and I was acing an advanced writing course at Washington U., a prestigious college in St. Louis. But I wasn't happy. I felt like Peggy Lee singing, "Is that all there is?" Then one day, this annoying gal at work approached me. She had a lesser job than me, was divorced with a kid and no boyfriend in sight. I hated her because she came in humming every day, happy as a lark while I was utterly miserable. One day when she and I were alone, I looked up from my typewriter and said, "Just what in the heck (except my language was a bit stronger back then) makes you so happy all the time?" She said, "I've been praying you would ask." Oh, no, a Jesus freak, I thought to myself, but I found myself going to lunch with her, badgering her with questions and accusations. I don't remember now if it was a week or a month, but either way, I met Jesus Christ through the remarkable patience of God-sent angel by the name of Joy-pretty appropriate name, eh?

Can you tell us what's on your desk right now? What can readers look forward to in the years to come?

Well, I had hoped to write a fourth book in the "Daughters of Boston" series since there are four daughters in the O'Connor family, but I haven't sold it yet, so I'm not sure what's going to happen there. But I would definitely like to do more series. I love writing about families in depth, exploring the emotional highs and lows of a large family (I wonder why! ?). I especially enjoy incorporating the love affair between the mother and father of the family because that is so critically important in today's society and so overlooked. You should never stop having a love affair with your spouse-it's the greatest thing a mother and father can give to their children-a tender and passionate love between each other. And it's so much fun for me to incorporate in my books the wonderful lessons I've learned with my own husband, humbling though they may be! Eventually I would like to write a book about my own family, growing up with thirteen kids (10 girls and 3 boys), which would be more of a slice-of-life, bittersweet piece of autobiographical fiction. But family saga/romance is where my heart is, so I am sure I will be coming up with plenty of ideas in the future.

Do you have any parting words?

Well, first I want to thank you, Jennifer, for allowing me this time to connect with your readers. This was a fun interview for me to do, as I hope it will be for you and your readers. In closing, I'd like to share a really cool quote that I found the other day: "A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her." I absolutely LOVE this quote because it is the total essence of what A Passion Most Pure is all about, and I hope and pray this message will resonate with every person who picks up my book. God bless!

INTERVIEW WITH ... MISSY TIPPENS ... LIFE WITH MISSY BLOGSPOT:
http://lifewithmissy.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

 How did you come up with the premise for this story?

Hi Missy, it's so good to be here! Thanks for inviting me to your blog. What a great question-and one I've never been asked before, so it really made me think! My debut novel, A Passion Most Pure (due out January 2008) is the story of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family in pre-WWI Boston where a love triangle occurs between two sisters and the bad-boy hero. As one of 13 children (in a family that included 10 girls!), I guess you can say I experienced my fair share of sibling rivalry. I often butted heads with my sister who was two years older than me. She was . ahem . quite voluptuous and very attractive to boys while I was . well, basically not! :) I was so skinny, in fact, that when I played on a girls' softball team, my older brother commented: "What position do you play? The foul line?"

Needless to say, the idea of competing with my beautiful sister for a boy's affection was deeply rooted in my childhood, which is actually when I started writing this novel, at the age of 12, after reading Gone With the Wind. Suddenly my passion for romance was awakened, and although I only penned 150 pages of a single-spaced manuscript at that time, the story is actually the basis for my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it!), almost forty years passed before God breathed new life into that early attempt and inspired me to finish my childhood novel of passion-only this time the "passion" would be for Him! :)

I know you've joked about being the queen of rejections. Can you tell us a little about that?

Uh, yeah . anyone who attended the 2005 ACFW Conference will remember me as the poor slob who waved her hands wildly in the back of the room when Brandilyn Collins asked who had the most rejections in a year. I won hands-down with 19 (at that time) and went on to garner in excess of 45 (both agent and publisher rejections, including three received AFTER I signed a 3-book contract with Revell Publishing!). Even my agent, Natasha Kern, blanched a bit when she first signed me, realizing after the ink was dry just how many times I'd been rejected. I believe the word she used was "daunting." But apparently not too daunting for her amazing skills as an agent because she landed a contract for me within six months.

Where do you write? Any place special? Any quirks you have while creating?

I write in a tiny computer room that my artist husband and I share. It has a big window that lets in gobs of light and lots of fun distractions like chipmunks and deer (we live in a woodsy area). It's a pretty small room, though, so most of the time, we are back to back, which is kind of nice because I like to lean back and kiss him after I put lip gloss on, which is OFTEN! That would definitely qualify as one of my quirks-lipstick and lip gloss. I wear it everywhere, even to bed (the lip gloss, I mean). Also, I always have a candle lit next to a favorite picture of my husband and me before we were married. How's that for romantic inspiration? :) It sure works for me!

Do you have a day job, too?

You mean the one I shouldn't quit in case I can't write? (grin) Yes, I am a part-time writer for a travel company and am blessed to have the most wonderful job-share partner in the world (love ya, Carol Ann!). We alternate working two to three days a week, which definitely cuts down on my writing time at home. But my boss and the writers I work with are so amazingly encouraging and supportive, that I don't know what I would do without them. Every one of them has read my books and provided invaluable feedback. I will miss them if I ever do well enough to quit . which, of course, is every writer's dream-to be able to write novels fulltime.

What are a couple of your all-time favorite books? (I know what one of them will be!

(Well, number one is no secret-Gone With the Wind. This is the book that launched my romance-writing career at the tender age of 12! :)I think I may be one of the few people around who actually LOVED Scarlett O'Hara . and don't even get me started about Rhett Butler! (grin) Another all-time favorite of mine is To Kill A Mockingbird-incredible storytelling!

Some of my Inspirational favorites are Francine Rivers, of course, particularly Redeeming Love and her Mark of the Lion series-both awesome! I absolutely love Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish trilogy, Fair is the Rose, Thorn in My Heart and Whence Comes a Prince, as well as Kathleen Morgan's Child of the Mist and Daughter of Joy. And Kristin Heitzmann's Diamond of the Rockies series is another favorite. Newer authors that I particularly like are Tamara Alexander, Deeanne Gist, Mary Connealy, Camy Tang and Deb Guisti.

I've heard that your books are more sensual than most inspirational romances. Can you tell us a little about that?

Well, I really shy away from the word "sensual," because this book is NOT about sensuality. It is about real people with real emotions, desires and temptations, doing their best to deal with them according to God's precepts. Yes, "passion" is a driving force in this novel-but I am talking about passion for God as well as romantic passion. Flat out-I just love romance, but ONLY when God's in the center. And trust me, He IS in the center of A Passion Most Pure-big time! First and foremost, it's about the heroine's romance with God, and then secondly, how her romance with God affects her relationship with the hero. And, as a baby boomer who thinks romance does NOT end at the age of 30, I've also incorporated a love story between the heroine's parents, who have an inspiring and deeply tender relationship. Because no way should the kids have all the fun! Go baby boomers! :)

What's been the most exciting thing about your very first book (baby) coming out?

Without question, the most exciting thing has been God's faithfulness in giving me the desires of my heart! Having this book published is just another confirmation that God is as good as His Word. He says in Psalms 37:4, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Delighting in Him-bubbling over with love for Him-is the key. I learned that at the age of 23 when I went from a hardnosed agnostic to turning my life over to Jesus Christ. Back then (and now), I was pretty much a bottom-liner-by that I mean if God's Word said "delight" in Him, I did it with a vengeance, anyway I could-reading His Word, applying it the best I knew how, repenting when I failed, and praying for fervor. And it worked!

I remember this one day I was witnessing to a friend. She bought me lunch and I really wanted a lemonade, but I didn't want to add that to her bill, so I ordered water instead. I got up to refill my water at the soft-drink fountain bar and, of course, the water spigot was on the lemonade tab. I pushed my cup up against the tab with my finger poised on the little white lever that dispensed the water, and a thought came to me that I could have lemonade and no one would know. In that split second, my fervor for God rose up so strongly, that I literally rammed the water spigot until my finger hurt. At that exact moment, a rush of joy flooded through me so forcefully, that it was almost a physical sensation, taking my breath away. This is delighting in Me, came the thought in my head. Now I know this story seems odd, being about a soda fountain and all, but it goes to show that God is creative and meets us right where we are at, and quite frankly, I will never, ever forget it.

Now, thank God the scripture says "delight" in Him to get the desires of your heart and not "obey" because that's a pretty stiff requirement for any human being, and I certainly would have been up a creek. Instead, He has blessed me with the desires of my heart-from a wonderful marriage (quite a feat for a 28-year-old who was the only one not married in a family of 13 kids!) to two amazing children (hard to do as an infertility patient), and now this-a book in which I can unleash my passion for Him along with my passion for romance (a true testimony to God's faithfulness after 45 rejections!). :) Quite simply, God is absolutely the best, and in my opinion, no romance . nor any romance writer's life . is complete without Him.

Julie, thanks so much for being here today!

Missy

INTERVIEW WITH ... SHIRLEY KIGER CONNOLLY:
http://shirleykoinonia.tripod.com/

SKC:   What books or project are you working on now?

 Hi Shirley, so glad to be here! I just finished writing Book 3 in my Daughters of Boston series that launches with Book 1 in January 2008, A Passion Most Pure, so now I am primarily focusing on promotion. Of course, I am also doing edits on Book 2 and DESPERATELY trying to stay calm and focus on my day job as travel writer. Not an easy thing to do for a newbie author with a debut novel coming out in two months! J But, trust me, I am NOT complaining! 

Now that this series is in the publisher's hands, I am looking to propose another 3-book series early next year that will continue the saga of the O'Connor clan from A Passion Most Pure. It was so much fun to write about this passionate and lively Irish-Catholic family in 1920s Boston, that I just have to finish it out! The first series explores the romantic and spiritual passions of the oldest three daughters, as well as a tender and romantic relationship between the mother and father. The second series will tell the story of the other O'Connor siblings, seasoned with the ongoing dilemmas of the beloved characters from the first series. As the twelfth child in a (partly) Irish-Catholic family of thirteen, I thoroughly enjoy exploring the tug-o-war emotions that take place in a large family, both between siblings and spouses.

SKC:   What special something inspired you to come up with your first book, A Passion Most Pure?

That answer is actually twofold. Initially my inspiration was Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, because from the moment I read Gone With the Wind, I was hooked on romance. So much so, that I immediately set out to write (along with thousands of other love-struck young girls, I'm sure), what I hoped would be "the great American novel." Obviously my dreams of grandeur didn't go anywhere (grin), but I did write 150 single-spaced pages of a story that is actually the basis for my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it!), almost forty years passed before God breathed new life into that early attempt and inspired me to finish my childhood novel of passion-only this time the "passion" would be for Him!

SKC:   How long had you been writing before you got your first contract?   

 I signed with my agent (after TONS of rejections from both agents and publishers!) almost four years to the day after I first started writing my novel. Needless to say, she's an incredible agent because she sold me six months later.

SKC:   Describe your writing genre and sub-genre, and why you chose what you chose. 

I like to say my genre is Inspirational Family Saga/Romance. That's a mouthful, isn't it? But really, "Inspirational Romance" doesn't quite cut it for me because I feel it is so much more than just a romance. It is a multi-layered family saga that explores the drama and joy of family, portraying a tender and romantic relationship between the mother and father and lots of charged sibling rivalry, as well as a rollercoaster romance between the hero and heroine.

SKC:   Are you in any Groups that help you in your writing? If so, tell us about them.

 I am a member of both ACFW (http://www.americanchristianfictionwriters.com/) and FHL (http://www.faithhopelove-rwa.org/), two outstanding Christian writers groups that I would be lost without, as well as a member of RWA (http://www.rwanational.org/). Through ACFW, I joined a critique group (ACFW 19), which has provided me with invaluable support and feedback, and I had a top-notch crit partner by the name of Kelly Mortimer, two factors I credit in helping me to become a better writer.

SKC:   As a newer author, what advice do you have for other new authors coming into the field of writing?

 Basically the same advice that published authors gave to me: 1.) Join ACFW, FHL and RWA, both to get connected with other like-minded writers and to learn a lot about your craft. 2.) Take a fiction-writing class or attend a writing seminar or conference. 3.) Join a critique group. 4.) Purchase and study writing books such as Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King or Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas, AND invest in a great thesaurus such as The Synonym Finder by Rodale Press (my writer's bible!!). 5.) Go for an agent first, publisher second. 6.) Then pray your heart out and put it in God's hands.

SKC:  Many authors write for both the ABA and the CBA markets nowadays. What market do you write for, and what are your thoughts about inspirational writers writing Crossover Stories?  

I am writing for the CBA market because my books will always be ingrained with a strong spiritual message. But I have to admit, I have a heart to write "Mainstream Inspirational," which I hope would cross over into the ABA. Now, what do I mean by "Mainstream Inspirational"? Well, according to the American Religious Identification Survey conducted by the Barna Group, "nine out of ten women nationwide consider themselves to be Christian." The majority of these women fall into a category I would define as "Mainstream Christianity" - women who proclaim God, but not always in their sexuality. Many of these women want compelling novels with strong romantic tension and often turn to the secular market to satisfy this need. But recently, Bethany House came out with a line of historicals they refer to as "edgy Inspirational," which is a good term to describe my books - novels of passion about real people with real emotions, desires and temptations, doing their best to deal with them according to God's precepts.

SKC:   Many authors are often asked how they deal with writer's block.  How do you overcome it?

 Gosh, I haven't been writing long enough to encounter too much of that yet, thank God, but I did "hit the wall" on Book 3 of my Daughters of Boston series while I was reading the work of another author who I greatly admire. Unfortunately, the other author's book was so good, that every time I sat down at the computer, I felt like mine didn't measure up. Now I know we are not supposed to compare ourselves to others, but we are human beings after all, and I gotta tell you, I got discouraged and couldn't write for three months.

Now, something I noticed early on in my writing career was that every time I would write a scene that was more about what I wanted than what God wanted, I would get blue. I quickly surmised that this was God's way of correcting me when I was off-base in my writing. So I would simply thank Him and praise Him and ask for His wisdom to rewrite. Well, when I got blue while writing Book 3, I felt like he wanted me to "fast" reading all other books but the Bible and just seek Him in prayer, which I did. After one week, I experienced a spiritual break-through and immediately picked up where I'd left off on Book 3. Now, even though I had considered Book 3 my least favorite of all three books, everyone who has read it so far says it's the best of all three novels, which I totally attribute to God's wisdom and direction!

SKC:   What do you think it takes to write a good book?

 For me, I want a book to move me and draw me closer to God with plots and characters that are so real, so rich and deep, and so finely woven that I never want to leave. Like Francine Rivers did in her Mark of the Lion trilogy or Redeeming Love. That means characters that the reader can relate to-fleshed out with lots of internal conflict and deep-seated feelings that take you inside their heads and deep down into their souls. Add to that a believable plot with lots of external conflict, natural dialogue and a setting that takes you away, and you've got me hooked!

SKC:   How do you schedule your time?

 Uh . not real well!! J I actually work as a part-time travel writer 20-30 hours a week, so my days off are like GOLD! I book NOTHING if I can help it (except lunch with my aunt once a month), and I start the morning off with peach oatmeal, fruit and coffee at my computer, answering e-mails. Then I read my Bible and pray for approximately 1-1/2 hours, followed by necessary domestic evils to keep my marriage intact (i.e. laundry, paperwork, cleaning house, etc.). Most days I don't get to the computer until 10:30 AM at the earliest or 1:00 PM at the latest, but when I do, look out!! I write, write, write till 6:00 PM when I start making dinner. Of course, when I am in the heat of finishing a book, I have been known to write up to 20 pages a day, often staying up into the wee hours of the morning. Not real disciplined, eh?

SKC:   Why do so many authors have a difficult time coming up with their one-line blurbs?

 LOL!! Well, I don't know about other authors, but I'm a chatty woman who struggles to keep my page count UNDER 500 pages, so suffice it to say I have trouble restricting myself to one sentence. And let's face it-writing a one-line premise is EXTREMELY hard to do. I mean you have to have a hook, infuse it with passion and clarity and still manage to tell the story at the same time-and all in one measly sentence. YIKES!! I had to try my hand at it with A Passion Most Pure before I sold it, and it was one of the most difficult things I've ever written. Here it is:

 Rival sisters with strong faith-one in God, the other in herself-turn the head of a heartbreaker who proposes to one and falls in love with the other.

SKC:   What is your process of writing a novel briefly-from conception to revision.

 Okay, we just discussed in the prior question my inability to be "brief," but I'll give it my best shot.

 1.)    I brainstorm an idea and let it ferment until I have a skeletal plot (usually this happens on the treadmill! J).

2.)    I sit down at the computer and write the first scene (somehow easy for me to do)

3.)    After that, each subsequent page is like pulling teeth until I pass 100 pages, then all at once, my fingers fly so fast that my brain has trouble catching up. The plot and characters seem to unfold before my eyes, pulling me into the story.

4.)    I write a scene, edit, write another, edit from the beginning, etc.

5.)    Once finished, I reread/edit tons of times (at least 60 on A Passion Most Pure before it sold, 10 times on Book 2 and five times on Book 3).

6.)    Give it to friends, relatives and crit partners to critique, then revise one last time.

SKC:   After you finish your present project what plans do you have?

 Well, although the Daughters of Boston series is a trilogy, there IS a fourth daughter that I hope to be writing about since she is the "pistol" in the family. In A Passion Most Pure, she starts out as a precocious five-year-old, and the prospect of having her come of age in the Roaring Twenties is such a fun idea for me, that I feel compelled to write it. Whatever I write, however, will definitely be a family-saga series because I love, love, LOVE exploring the emotional highs and lows of a large family (Mmm . wonder why? J). I especially enjoy incorporating a love affair between the mother and father of a family because that is so critically important in today's society and SO overlooked. In my opinion, the greatest thing a mother and father can give to their children is a tender and passionate love between each other. You might say family saga/romance is where my heart is, so I am sure I will be coming up with plenty of ideas in the future.