Heart Like Mine
…is a series of contemporary novels about modern women navigating the ups and downs of today’s world. In each book, you will meet a new woman facing a major challenge, and discover how her ourney is similar to a woman fromt he Bible.
While we may only have a few details about these biblical figures, their stories hold real lessons for us right now.
Instead of simplistic religious platitudes or fill-in-the-blank Bible studies, these books dive into the messy side of faith—exploring universal struggles of temptation, power, patience, and grace.
Meet Lyn Hayes
Lyn Hayes has spent her entire life as a plus one. She is her mother’s daughter, her Pastor husband’s wife, her boys’ mother. The only time she feels like her true self is at the monthly meeting of The Literary Ladies of Brookhaven. Their motto is ” What happens in book club stays in book club.” When the sanctuary of the book club is breached, Lyn finds out just how important her friends are. And maybe more importantly, how powerful her enemies are.
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The threads running through my life are technology, teaching, and writing. From teaching software to professionals to helping people preserve their memories through scrapbooking and digital slideshows, I have always found ways to integrate the things I love. My latest venture is no different. While writing the books in the Heart Like Mine series, I am working on a curriculum to teach other writers how to use AI to tell their stories (stay tuned for more information in early 2027.)
On the personal side, my husband Matt and I have been married for almost 37 years.
We are currently navigating an exciting life transition—living in an apartment in Gaithersburg, MD, while we build our dream home in Hertford, North Carolina. We will be splitting our time between the two places for the next few years until Matt is ready to retire. In the meantime, I like to think of it as my writer’s retreat, a place where I can focus on writing stories about women from the Bible and in the lives of women today.
Matt and I have two wonderful children, Sarah and Luke. Sarah and her husband Daniel have blessed us with four amazing grandchildren: five-year-old twins Reed and Logan, three-year-old Hattie, and 18-month-old Shep. And I have to mention my Mo—our sweet Golden Retriever and Newfoundland mix, who is constantly by my side.
Speaking of our new home in North Carolina, the story of how we ended up in Hertford and, in particular, Albemarle Plantation is actually a little crazy.
About 14 years ago, I got an idea for a book. The basic premise and main character came to me pretty easily, and I knew I wanted her to be from a small town in North Carolina. Through my research, I found Hertford. As the story progressed in my head, I decided I wanted her mother to marry a man with some money and move them to a nice community, which led me to Albemarle Plantation.
Matt and I had always known we wanted to retire in North Carolina. We originally started our search in Wilmington, an area we love, but something kept telling me to just look at Albemarle Plantation. I eventually convinced Matt to go check it out, and the moment we drove into the gated community with tree-lined streets and perfectly manicured lawns and a common area, we both fell completely in love.
When we went to Hertford, I was focused on getting Forbidden Fruit written and published. As we were driving, I saw a sign for Edenton. Turns out Edenton is the next town over. Given that Forbidden Fruit is a modern-day retelling of Eve’s story—which began with her being kicked out of the Garden of Eden—building our real-life home right next to a town called “Eden” in the name was just too much of a coincidence. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. In my mind, Lyn and her family moved from Hertford to Edenton.
Our new home will be ready in July, and I am so looking forward to spending the summer in my new sanctuary editing, rewriting, and polishing Forbidden Fruit for publishing in September.
But Forbidden Fruit is just the beginning. I have a bunch of other stories in my head that explore the lives of today’s modern women through the stories of women from the Bible. When it comes down to it, we really aren’t that different from each other. By exploring the messy side of faith together, maybe we can learn a little something from their journeys—and their mistakes. At least I hope so.