Janey asked Amy Harmon:

Hi Amy, I'm always interested with the way you combine elements of faith in your books. Especially since majority of your works fall under the new adult variety. How do you balance out faith versus romance in your books? PS: l love love everything you write, you're awesome and amazing...

Amy Harmon Hi Jessica. I honestly don't mean to write faith-centered books or religious books, etc. But my own spirituality is such a central part of who I am that it comes very naturally and organically in certain scenes and in particular aspects of my books. I have never gone into a book wanting to "teach" my readers anything. But in any book, characters have to grow and they have to figure things out, and that process often includes faith-building and faith-testing moments. God has always been a source of comfort for me, so I guess that translates over to me trying to comfort my characters, if that makes any sense. I know any mention of God turns some people off, though I don't know why. I don't care what people believe, so it is surprising to me that they care so much what I believe or what my characters believe. We talk so much in our society about allowing people to be who they are. But that seems to only translate to certain people. If you are a Christian or a Jew, you are expected to not discuss it at all, nor are your characters allowed to ponder questions of God or faith, and if they do, you need to put "warning labels" on your books. I've seriously had people want me to label my work as Christian lit, even though it isn't and no Christian publishers would ever take my stuff, simply because it is too "realistic and gritty" for what most people expect in those genres. Yet those same people will shout about book banning and censoring. It kind of blows my mind. A book that doesn't contain mention of God is not simply for atheists any more than a book that does mention God is only for Christians. This has been an ongoing source of frustration for me, as you can probably see. ;-) Thank you for asking the question.

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