“Why I Wrote An Anchor on Her Heart” Guest Post by Patricia Lee
When my son graduated from college with a degree in biology, coupled with the required extra units for a marine science certification, my heart swelled with pride. After he was hired by a Seattle-based company as an observer biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service and headed to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska to work among fishermen aboard Bering Sea fishing boats, I spent a lot of time on my knees. Upon return from his great adventure, he told me of the safety drills, the rescues of men on boats that caught fire, and the sinking of a vessel with the captain aboard. Listening to him, I knew I had the setting for a story.
My son further described the men who worked these vessels—some to make money to advance their educations, others who live for the sea, and still others who have come to escape circumstances with which they are unable to cope at home. Having reared an autistic daughter with my husband, I understood such behavior, having met many single parents in support groups whose spouses left them to rear a child alone. From that idea, McKenna Nichols and Rudy Taylor were born.
I paired the circumstances—a struggling mother with a disabled child and a husband caught in a life he never envisioned—and wrote An Anchor On Her Heart. In it McKenna Nichols wonders if her childhood sweetheart Dane will ever return and be the husband and father she and her daughter need. Rudy Taylor meets the mother and child and wishes to offer his experience to help them, but he struggles with the overriding thought that he is single and must be careful of his actions around the attractive, young married woman.
For both characters, taming their natural instincts and remaining true to their convictions about love, life, and faith, will take extra resolve. McKenna is determined to remain faithful to Dane. She’s prepared to endure the loneliness, the long hours rearing a disabled child, and the niggling feeling at the back of her head that this marriage in which she finds herself has somehow gone astray. Rudy believes marriage vows are sacred and would never wittingly interfere in someone’s relationship. To see McKenna struggling ignites the white knight within him and he sets out to help her by searching for her husband. What happens will tear at the hearts of readers, for in a situation like this, someone is bound to get hurt. Whose heart will be the most vulnerable? Which of the characters will be forced to walk away?
Patricia Lee is a published author, having written since she first learned what words could do at the age of six. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon. Articles to her credit have appeared in Moody Monthly, Power for Living, Expecting and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse as well as in two anthologies— Cup of Comfort Bible Promises and In the Company of Angels. She is part of a team of bloggers who submit short devotionals for FaithHappenings.com.
Patricia is a member of the Oregon Christian Writers and of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband have two adult children and live in the Pacific Northwest with two sleepy cats.
Melissa Henderson
Edward Arrington