As a picturesque mother and wife, forty-one year old Avery Richards seems to have it all. Married to a successful veterinarian named Noah and mother to a spunky daughter named Kara, her life is far from awful but she is stuck. With the recent move of their daughter, who has just flown the coop for college, this story examines the deep and often-tumultuous bond between mother and child and the lengths we are willing to go to, as mothers, to sacrifice our own happiness for the ones we love.
As we watch Avery walk through her ‘new’ way of daily life, without her ambitious and stubborn child around to mother any longer, we are given a very unique opportunity to tip toe in the front row of their lives, from three very separate views. We will see life as it plays out through her mature and motherly eyes, through Kara’s young and sheltered heart, and then through ‘someone else’s eyes’ that has a vested interest in them both.
As Avery’s well-hidden web of lies come crashing down in an unexpected way, her secrets that she’s safeguarded for years will threaten to rip her peaceful world apart, as well as the world of the ones she loves most. As readers, we will watch how ONE single choice can alter everything. Each character will then be forced to examine what the true meaning of love and forgiveness means to them.
Every gamut of emotion will be explored: humor, sadness, love, joy, betrayal, hate, and forgiveness. Bond of Love will leave you pondering the age-old question: How well do YOU actually know the ones you love most?
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Our Interview
-Tell us a little about Bond of Love.
As a picturesque mother and wife, forty-one year old Avery Richards seems to have it all. Married to a successful veterinarian named Noah and mother to a spunky daughter named Kara, her life is far from awful but she is stuck. With the recent move of their daughter, who has just flown the coop for college, this story examines the deep and often-tumultuous bond between mother and child and the lengths we are willing to go to, as mothers, to sacrifice our own happiness for the ones we love.
As we watch Avery walk through her ‘new’ way of daily life, without her ambitious and stubborn child around to mother any longer, we are given a very unique opportunity to tip toe in the front row of their lives, from three very separate views. We will see life as it plays out through her mature and motherly eyes, through Kara’s young and sheltered heart, and then through ‘someone else’s eyes’ that has a vested interest in them both.
As Avery’s well-hidden web of lies come crashing down in an unexpected way, her secrets that she’s safeguarded for years will threaten to rip her peaceful world apart, as well as the world of the ones she loves most. As readers, we will watch how ONE single choice can alter everything. Each character will then be forced to examine what the true meaning of love and forgiveness means to them.
Every gamut of emotion will be explored: humor, sadness, love, joy, betrayal, hate, and forgiveness. Bond of Love will leave you pondering the age-old question: How well do YOU actually know the ones you love most?
-One theme in the book is mother-love. What inspired you to include that?
I think that the bond between a mother and a child is often a very touchy and sensitive one, but one of the most precious that there is. The bond can be beautiful and aggravating at the same time. My relationship with my dad was always easy, he was fun, but my mom was always the one telling me, “NO.” When I turned into a teenager, my mom became my number one challenge. We hit heads. She tried to tell me what was right, what I could and couldn’t do (like a good mother should) and although I DID listen most of the time (secretly), I also tried to push against her a lot. It is one of my biggest regrets and therefore I tell both my mother and father daily how much I love them. I don’t think that I really fully appreciated and understood my mom until I became a wife, and even more so, when I became a mother. I know that at times my girls look at me with the very same disdainful look that I used to look at my mom with, all because I am just trying my best to look out for their best interest. I want to protect them. For example, at this very moment, one of our youngest daughters is mad at me because I won’t let her go somewhere. Therefore, in her mind, she thinks I’m mean and no fun! I’m the fun-squasher apparently. I’ve become my mother.
The relationship between a mother and a child can be challenging at times, but under it all, there is always the element of love. As parents we make choices because we think they are the best ones for our children, but sometimes, even parents can make mistakes. I wanted to show in my book, that although Avery is an excellent mother to Kara, she has made sacrifices and choices too. She hasn’t always just been “a mom” and led the perfect life, like Kara thinks. Our mothers and fathers may try to guide us along the right path, but ultimately…it is up to us to decide right from wrong. I believe that Avery and Kara’s relationship evolves in my book, just like most of ours do. I think that the bond between a mother and a child is one of the strongest there is, if it is nurtured and tended too properly.
-Your previous book was for children. How difficult was it to make the leap to adult fiction?
Actually, my memoir is written for “more mature eyes” not for young children, so it wasn’t hard. I wrote my memoir, Little Girl Lost, for my girls, but I will NOT let them read it until it is age appropriate. Therefore, it’s not really a children’s book. I did NOT write it to be sold. In fact, I had to repeatedly keep explaining this to my publisher who wanted to promote it and release it to the public for over a year! I found it on Amazon at one point and almost flipped my lid! I demanded that they take it off.
I wrote Little Girl Lost to teach my girls “who I am” and “what I have been through” in my life. I also wrote it to heal old wounds and I accomplished that through it. Writing my memoir was extremely exhausting and mentally draining because I was digging deep into my heart and soul, the bread and butter of my life, but writing Bond of Love, my fictional novel was actually fun and exciting. I can’t wait to write another one!
-Did you base any of Bond of Love on your own relationship with your daughters?
Yes and no. My daughters haven’t necessarily gone through the same things that Kara has, but I have to a certain degree. As a daughter of two amazing parents, I can relate to Kara from her perspective easily. My parents were always present, active, loving forces in my life. They provided me with a loving home, good morals, values, and we were always taught to keep God at our core; to guard our bodies and keep them pure. Therefore, some is based on my relationship with MY own mother from when I was a teenager.
On the flip side though, as the mother of four spunky girls, most definitely they influenced my writing because I am surrounded by girl-drama every day of my life. My stepdaughter is grown now and out on her own, but she and I have had some of the same struggles that Kara and Avery faced. We’ve hit heads and not always agreed (she has been in my life since she was 1 ½ years old). I tried my hardest to protect her and guide her in the way my husband and I felt was best, but she fought against us, and most of the blame was set on me. Now that she is older though, it’s changing. Our relationship is stronger and our bond mending. I think she is finally starting to understand that everything I’ve always done has been out of love. Like Kara though, she was not able to fully comprehend this love until something VERY drastic happened in her life. This has been the same for my stepdaughter and me as well.
Our other three girls are still too young to experience some of the same things that Kara did, our oldest of the three is almost sixteen, but I’ve definitely struggled with letting go. I know it’s necessary to their growth, so I do my best not to hover too much, but it’s a challenge. No mother wants her child to hurt; we want to protect them at all costs. This is why the relationship between Kara and Avery is very understandable to me, from both views.
I remember what it was like to be an independent teenager, and I also know full well what it’s like to be a mother of a teenager. Let me just say, both are completely different. Neither is completely fun at all times either. Teens always think that they know best, but mothers actually DO know best! Most mothers anyways.
-As an author, are you a planner or a pantser? Do you plan your books out carefully, or just write as it comes?
I am a little of both. With my memoir, I was a pantser. I wrote as the words came, fast and furious, trying to type as quickly as the thoughts were flying out of my brain. However, with Bond of Love, I mapped every inch of it out on small, color-coded index cards and began that way with a giant cork board and push pens. Each character had their own color of index card and I would move them around accordingly, until I felt my story flowed the way I wanted it too. With this said though, after all the research and methodical planning, as the story took on life through my actual writing, I found myself veering from my original plan. I did not end my story the way I thought I was going to, nor did I keep certain scenes in the book, or stay true to how I had originally intended some of my character’s personalities to be. As I was writing though, I knew I had to change these things, even if it did mess up my pretty, color-coded corkboard.
-I firmly believe that the best writers are avid readers. What book did you read in 2013 that most impacted you?
This is a very tough one to answer because I read so many books, all the time; therefore I have a hard time remembering what I’ve read at a particular time. I will say that in my book club, I’ve read a wide variety of novels. A lot of great ones. My favorite last year though was The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. It was an excellent book! It was one that sticks with you long after you have set it down. I have given it as gifts and think Kathleen Grissom is an excellent storyteller.
-Is there a book coming out in 2014 that you are excited to read?
I would really like to read the sequel to Firefly Lane, my favorite book, by Kristin Hannah, which is called Fly Away, but it came out in April of 2013. I just found out about it though, so that’s what I will be reading to ring in the new year by the fire.
Meet the Author:
This is Amy’s second published work, the first being a memoir written exclusively for her children. As a former second grade teacher, and long time professional photographer, she has been writing and filling journals since she was young enough to hold a pencil and form words. Although writing brings her to a place of solace and joy, her most ambitious and fulfilling job in life thus far has been being a mother. Married for nearly two decades now, she and her husband share four daughters, who fill their lives with amusement, love, and drama daily. It is her lifelong goal to preserve her family’s history through the written word, pictures, and the human touch of love.
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