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Religion

Prolific writer's goals are lofty, and so are her themes

A disciplined Christian author is churning out a novel about Mary Magdalene, but it's hardly The DaVinci Code II.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published August 21, 2005

SEMINOLE - Angela Hunt has a deadline to meet. Her biblically based novel about Mary Magdalene must be ready by the time the movie on Dan Brown's controversial bestseller The DaVinci Code hits theaters next spring.

On a recent morning from her home office, Hunt talked about her plans to get away for a few days to whip out pages of the new book. Highly disciplined, the 47-year-old author usually begins writing by 10 or 11 a.m. most weekdays, working through to the evening to meet the goal she has set for the day.

As for deadlines, "I don't think I've ever missed one," she said.

It helps that she and her pastor husband have an agreement about evening meals. He brings home dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays and she prepares Hamburger Helper, pancakes or something similarly simple on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"Some things have got to go. It's a tradeoff," she said of the domestic arrangement.

Hunt grew up on Florida's Space Coast, taught high school for a short time and began writing for a living in the 1980s.

"I would pass out my card and say, "Hire me. I'm a writer,' " she said.

She was surprised when people hired her to write everything from business letters to catalog copy. In the late 1980s, she and an artist friend submitted a manuscript and sketches to a national competition. They were awarded first place.

Since then she has written numerous books for children and adults and won the Christy Award from Christian publishers. Her books, which convey a subtle Christian message, also contain suggestions for book club discussions that expand on the religious theme.

"I really see my books as parables," Hunt said. "I'm not out to preach at people. They can enjoy the story for the story's sake."

Her work is "issue oriented," she said. Books for children include one about a little girl who stutters. She also tackles subjects such as adoption, divorce, love, sex and dating. Her If God Is Real is meant to help middle school children defend their faith, said Hunt, who became a Christian at age 6.

Hunt is writing for a growing market.

"We know that the religion category is one of the fastest growing categories in the publishing industry, and it is expected to have continual growth over the next few years," said Vicki Cessna, spokeswoman for Zondervan, publisher of the wildly popular The Purpose Driven Life.

"I think people are hungry for Christian values," Hunt said.

One of her novels, The Note, set in Tampa and about a newspaper reporter, is being made into a movie. Her most recently published work, Unspoken, is about a gorilla that communicates with sign language and the scientist who raised her. An animal lover herself, Hunt keeps a blanket and toy box in her office for her English mastiff, Charley. The writer, who lives in a gated subdivision off Oakhurst Road, has two children, daughter Taryn, 22, and son Tyler, 21. Her husband, the Rev. Gary Hunt, is the middle school youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks. She graduated from Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, and is working on a master's degree in theology.

Her novel about Mary Magdalene does not promise the controversy of Brown's book, which operates on the premise that Jesus was married and had a child with the New Testament figure. Instead, Hunt said her book will be based on the Bible and historical fact. As part of her research, she has read books about the Roman Empire, Jewish thought and the women who followed Jesus.

"Mary probably was older than Jesus. She was probably the same age as Jesus' mother, in her early 40s," she said.

Hunt sees her Mary Magdalene novel as a foil to Brown's book.

"The idea that Jesus got married and had children makes him seem like just an ordinary guy, and while he was fully human, he was also fully God," she said. "And never in Scripture, or nowhere, was it hinted that Jesus was married. The idea that he might have been married might have come from apocryphal works that were written long after the Gospels in our Bible."

Her deadline is Oct. 1.

"I'm on schedule," she said.

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:50:20]