Groundbreaking Inspirational romance author Tamera Alexander discusses leading through serving, loving for the right reasons and listening to the voice of truth. Read on …

MB: What or who inspired your novel?

TA: The premise for "Rekindled" came to me through the lasting snapshot of a dream. I woke up and couldn't get this mental picture out of my mind. A wounded man was riding through the mountains on horseback, coming home after he'd been gone for a long time. He saw a funeral and rode over for a closer look.

A sparse handful of people were gathered around the freshly dug grave, and he was curious as to what type of life a person would have led that would draw so few well wishers. Once everyone was gone, he walked over to the grave, stooped to read the name on the marker, and found the name was his.

Then the "what if" questions started, and that's how the story for "Rekindled" came about.

MB: What do you like most about your novel?

TA: That it's finished! Seriously, while "having written" is a fantastic feeling, what I like most about "Rekindled" are the lessons I learned while writing it.

I was definitely "swept away" by Larson and Kathryn Jennings's love story and often felt as though I were eavesdropping on very intimate moments of their marriage. I loved getting a glimpse into the heart of man who wants to love his wife like Christ desires for her to be loved. And in turn, for a woman to learn to love and respect her husband for who he is, not for who she wants him to be.

MB: Who is the most heroic person you know?

TA: When I think of a heroic person, I think of those people who put others before themselves regardless of cost. Who live lives of service mirroring Christ's teaching that whoever wants to become a leader, must become a servant first.

MB: Who's your romance hero: dark, brooding bad boy or white knight in shining armor?

TA: Actually, a bit of both! But either bad boy or white knight, above all, the most appealing trait in a romance hero, for me, is the journey he goes through that reveals his true character, that sharpens him and ultimately leads him to a crossroads where he, eventually, chooses the path to becoming more like Christ.

Sometimes it's one step forward, three back. But bearing the likeness of Christ doesn't come easily in this life, nor should it come easily in the lives of the heroes we read and/or write.

MB: Answer the question you wish an interviewer would ask.

TA: By and large, writing is a very solitary occupation. I love to laugh, I love sharing with and being around people. And when you're alone for so long it can become lonely, you feel shut off from the rest of the world (which you are because you've barricaded yourself in your office with an IV-coffee-drip until you've met that daily word count).

Left on your own like that, a person can start questioning their ability to see the task through. In walks insecurity.

There's something about insecurity in a writer's life; it creeps in most unexpectedly and tends to want to set up camp. It's funny because in the past I've heard from talented multi-published authors who are downright certain that the last book they've just turned in will likely be their last.

They think, "My publisher is now going to discover I really can't write and they're going to cancel my contracts." I used to laugh at that, thought it was so funny—before I became published. Now it has a frighteningly familiar haunt to it.

In recent weeks, I've struggled with that "voice" that says I'm inadequate to this task. I just keep returning to the forever truth found in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

So when that voice says, "You … are … not …adequate." I choose to respond aloud, "Yes, you may be right, but His power is made perfect in my weakness. So go back where you came from."

Then I pop in one of my favorite songs, "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns, and get right back to the task of writing. After grabbing an iced latte, of course.