Speak No Evil ~ Mary Hamilton

| | | |

 

51X3G6cHoYL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_Taylor is fifteen and car-crazy. He wants nothing more than to get his license and be seen for who he is, not as his brother. His sister, Marissa, is thirteen and impetuous. She is only trying to have fun, but her fun often leads to trouble for Taylor, who is expected to look out for her. They both have some listening to do at camp Rustic Knoll, but will the message come too late?

Each of the teens in this book is like any teen you might meet in life, the characters are real with real problems and very human. I would recommend this book to anyone in the 12-16 year age range, especially boys who may have an affinity for cars.

 

Mary HamiltonMary L. Hamilton grew up at a Christian youth camp in southern Wisconsin, much like the setting for “Hear No Evil” (Rustic Knoll Bible Camp, Book 1) and “Speak No Evil” (Book 2). She now lives with her family in Texas and is active in her local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).

 

Mary, thank you so much for letting me read your book and joining me for this spotlight!

 

Thanks for the opportunity to be here with you!

 

I enjoyed this book very much and would definitely let my 8 and 10-year old read this. There is a pretty deep message woven in here to look at self, was it difficult to put just enough in there so that they “get it” but not enough to be preachy? (Which I think was successful)

I’m glad it worked! Keeping that balance is hard, but I believe readers are smarter than we often give them credit for. Jesus used stories to illustrate his point and to gain the interest of his listeners. Many times, he didn’t bother to explain but let the people figure it out for themselves. For this story, I had to get fully into Taylor’s character so I knew how much he could take before shutting down. Since he was more resistant to it than someone like Claire or Steven, I tried not to come on too heavy with the preaching.

The kids in your story are very real, I love how they have problems, they antagonize each other, they treat each other like kids do. Are these kids based on some in your life now, or maybe from growing up in a camp setting?

My characters are best described as composites of lots of different kids I’ve known. I can’t really point to anyone and say that he or she was my model for a particular character. But after raising three kids and being involved with their friends and the students in our church’s youth ministry, I have lots of fodder for my characters.

My characters are best described as composites of lots of different kids I’ve known. I can’t really point to anyone and say that he or she was my model for a particular character. But after raising three kids and being involved with their friends and the students in our church’s youth ministry, I have lots of fodder for my characters.

That is music to an author’s ears, to hear that it affected you that way! I do some plotting, usually a couple events in the middle and I definitely need to know the end. Knowing where the story will end lets me enjoy figuring out how to get there. With this book, the climax came to me while I was out jogging early one morning. It was so clear, as if I were watching a movie of it. A couple details were changed in the final version but for the most part I kept it the way I “envisioned” it. Once I knew that, the hardest part was figuring out when and how Taylor would respond to the messages he’d been hearing all week. He resisted all the way!

Growing up at camp, did you ever get to go off to camp on your own? If not, do you think you missed out?

I often participated as a camper, staying in a cabin, eating in the dining hall, going to the sessions, etc. It was a wonderful place to grow up with all the activities and kids to meet, and I’m still friends with some of them all these years later. I never felt like I was missing out on anything.

Thank you again for joining me.

It’s been a pleasure chatting with you.

You can find Mary’s books in paperback or Kindle here:

Amazon

B&N

Connect with Mary:

Website/blog: http://www.maryhamiltonbooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maryhamiltonbooks

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mhamiltonbooks

Twitter:@mhamilton122

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *