Blog Tour-Andy Lee

Most Recent Book:

My most recent book is A Mary Like Me: Flawed yet Called (Leafwood, 2016). It’s a book written to encourage women to step out into their calling whether to a neighbor or a nation. It’s written to help us find camaraderie with the biblical women who we’ve lifted to saintly status. The truth is they needed a Savior as much as we do. Their name, Mary, means bitter, defiant, and rebellious, and Scripture reveals these characteristics, yet one gave birth to the Son of God, another sat at His feet as a disciple, and the third proclaimed the risen Christ. Readers meet the Marys as they have never met them before and discover that they have much more in common with them than they thought. Comparison paralyzes us, but camaraderie inspires, especially connection with our less than perfect hearts. That bond gives us wings to fly.

I have to tell you that three months before A Mary Like Me was released, The Book of Ruth Key Word Bible Study was published by AMG. I had two books published within three months by two different publishers. Miracles do happen.

Why I write what I write:

I am a Bible nerd, and it’s my goal to turn everyone into Bible nerds. At least, that’s what my husband tells me. I love to take my readers into the biblical culture and language to help them discover fresh meaning to stale passages. It’s our humanity that connects us with the biblical characters. When we find that connection, the Bible doesn’t seem so outdated and irrelevant. I also write and teach with a Jewish perspective in mind, and I’m always studying and researching to do that. Salvation did come from the Jews as Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4: 22. We’ve lost so much meaning by not incorporating the Jewish perspective.

My Current project:

I recently submitted a proposal for a devotional called Bite of Bread: Feed Your Soul. Each day provides one verse, a sidebar with a word study that shows the different meanings of Hebrew or Greek key words in that verse. We forget that the Bible wasn’t written in English, and we don’t consider that we often lose meaning when going from one language to another. When you study the Bible digging into the ancient words it breathes. A short devotional gives fresh perspective of the verse and the reader is given a thought for the day . . . something to chew on that will feed his spirit throughout the day.
How is my work different?

That’s a tough question. I’m authentic, but I think more and more writers—especially women authors are becoming more real all the time. All of my writing incorporates one Hebrew or Greek word to bring the scripture to life, but other writers do this too. So, as I pondered this very hard question, I realized that I needed someone else to answer it for me—someone who has read my books. This is what another author has said about my writing, “Andy Lee’s words will affect you, but her heart will stay with you for a long, long time.” ~Eva Marie Everson. So . . . maybe its my heart in my writing?
My writing process:

I pray first asking the Lord to give me the topic. Many times a scene will flash in my mind, and then sometimes, but not always, a first sentence wafts between my ears, and I know how to start. But there are days when I don’t have anything in mind, so I start typing and then go back later to take out the first two paragraphs. I write better if I walk every day and spend some time outside. And I also feel better about my writing and the work day if I get some house chores accomplished too. Finally, I try to give myself enough margin from the deadline that I can set the piece aside and let it breathe, at least overnight, preferably two or three days, before I submit it. This doesn’t happen with my blog posts. I usually write them on the day I post them!

https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Lee/e/B014HHXA3A/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

 Andy Lee is a blogger, speaker, Bible teacher, and author. She’s also a mom to three grown kids, wife to a retired soldier, and a recovering people pleaser. She manages the blog for Florida’s Christian Writers Conference and enjoys teaching at FCWC. This year she will be teaching Hermeneutics for Writers and blogging workshops. Visit Andy at wordsbyandylee.com to experience life inside the Bible and a dose of Daily Grace.