I introduced Anna Jensen, author of several Christian and devotional books, to Amanda Douglas, the heroine of Returning to Amanda, and the prequel, Who is the Real Amanda?
I asked her to interview Amanda (aka Mandy) as perhaps she will tell Anna information I don’t know! (After all, I’m only the author.) Some of the backstory to the prequel is visible here.
Anna Jensen (AJ): Thrilled to meet you, Amanda. Having read your stories, I’m keen to get to know you on a more personal level.
Amanda Douglas (AD): Glad to meet you, Anna, although I’m a bit nervous about how I’ll answer your questions. I’m not used to people asking me about my personal life.
AJ: Let’s start simply.
AJ: How about telling me what attracted you to Owen in the first place?
AD: Oh, that’s easy. He had gorgeous dark brown eyes and obviously liked me. He also seemed to be a friend of God. Although I was not a Christian in those days, I recognized the need to know God better, and Owen seemed to have that knowledge.
AJ: Tell me about a day in the life of Amanda or should I say Mandy?
AD: Oh, also pretty easy. In a word –boring!
I crawl out of bed and get the kids moving, not so easy. I run downstairs and make breakfast for them, a meal which none of them enjoy. The only one who likes breakfast is Owen — but he’s determined the children must have a healthy meal before going to school.
Owen usually takes them to school, and I clean the house, go shopping for groceries, come back and prepare our evening meal, which again Owen insists has to be nutritious. I make lunch for the kids too, but they rarely eat what I prepare.
The rest of the day is spent tidying up after them, and making sure they do their homework.
AJ: How is having twins different to have just the one baby?
AD: Very different. Holly, our first-born, was a pleasure to care for. That is until she became a teenager and thought she had arrived at adulthood and earned the right to rule the home.
The twins on the other hand keep me on my toes all the time. They’re happy-go-lucky children and everyone loves them, especially their trait of finishing each other’s sentences. That fascinates outsiders and drives Owen scatty. I’m so used to it I don’t even notice it.
What’s different you ask? Whatever mischief they get up to, there are two of them to carry it through. “Double trouble” is a good expression to use when it comes to twins.
AJ: What do you like best about yourself?
AD: That’s a hard question. Right now, I’m not sure there’s anything I like. I so want a happy, organized home, but it’s neither happy nor organized.
Owen wants me to fit the mold of pastor’s wife, but I don’t. I want to be free to pursue my oil painting, which I used to be really good at, but that’s not in the job description of a pastor’s wife. ‘Nuff said.
AJ: That must be hard. What do you least like? Why do you say you don’t fit the mold of pastor’s wife?
AD: I don’t play a music instrument. I don’t bake unless I absolutely have to, and my sandwiches are like doorstops. Despite several courses on how to arrange flowers, they always end up looking as if I threw them into the vase from a distance.
I don’t easily make friends as people always seem to want to change me. So although I was a happy person in the past, now I try to avoid most of the congregation. Owen wants me to befriend other pastor’s wives, but why? I have nothing in common with them — except we’re all married to pastors!
AJ: This sounds very stressful. Please tell me three things you do as a stress release.
AD: Stress release? That sounds like a foreign idea. I try to read fiction when I get the chance, but I can only do that when there’s no one around. Otherwise, I just tend to window shop and look at things I’d like to buy if I had the funds.
AJ: What about holidays? What’s your ideal vacation?
AD: I can’t answer that. We’ve never been on holiday. The nearest I’ve had to a holiday is a ministers’ and wives’ retreat which was certainly not ideal!
AJ: Oh goodness, Mandy, this concerns me. Our time is up but at least tell me who you confide in. What friends do you have?
AD: Only one. Carey is our youth leader and she’s very sweet and encouraging. She’s quite a bit younger than me and isn’t married, so there’s not that much in common.
She thinks I’m not strict enough with the kids, and I guess she’s probably right. But otherwise, it’s good having her over for a cuppa or meeting her in a coffee shop when I have the funds.
AJ: Well, thank you Mandy. You’ve certainly given me a lot to think and pray about. Perhaps I’ll try and chat to Shirley and see if together we can come up with some better solutions for you.
Shirley: Thank you so much Anna. I can see one very unhappy lady here. I can see what drove her to take the action we read of in Returning to Amanda! I’d love to invite you and all my readers to an African Adventure — a cover reveal and welcome back party in our African Book Safari site. This Friday and Saturday.
Don’t forget to sign up for the page so you can enter into all the fun and games, and take a look at the beautiful new covers which will be displayed, including Who is the Real Amanda?
