Andrea Miles
Andrea Miles’ novel Trespassers explores the adult life of an abused child, and how those experiences changed her. Photo courtesy of Andrea Miles.
The Bible verse “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” inspired the title of Andrea Miles’s first novel.
It’s a book about forgiveness, revenge and abuse based on Miles’ experiences living in Chicago, where she earned her undergraduate degree in writing from Columbiana College. Coming from a small town, she had never known anyone who grew up in an abusive environment, but the city taught her differently.
“I was taken aback by all the abuse that was on the news,” she said. “There were stories all over about kids being abused.”
The book became her thesis project at the University of Southern California, where she earned her masters degree in professional writing. She transformed the novel from a story of girl being abused to one that explored how the girl survived as an adult, and how those experiences changed her.
“It’s kind of dark,” Miles said.
In fact, the professors on her thesis committee noted how dark the book was, which they found surprising since Miles was always smiling.
Although Miles graduated in 1998, it wasn’t until Oct. 27 of this year that Trespassers was published by She Writes Press, and Miles held her first book signing at The Summit. The Book Highland resident said it only took her about three years to write the book, but after her first couple tries to get it published, she shelved it.
Ever since she was young, she knew she was going to be a writer. Miles remembers wishing she was 30 because she just knew that she was going to have many books published by that age. Then life happened. As the mother of three home-schooled young boys and an active member of Church of the Highlands, Trespassers simply got away from her.
“My husband had been encouraging me a lot,” Miles said. “He’d be like ‘Work on something else,’ and I would be like ‘But what about this one?’ He’s like ‘Well what about that one? If you are going to keep saying that, you’ve got to do something with it.’”
Every time she would start to write something else, she would go back to Trespassers until she realized it was the book that had to be published. She wanted it both for herself, and so she could give her children something to be proud of.
Miles said it is hard enough for her to be in front of people, so fame isn’t what she wants from her book. What she does want is something more meaningful.
“I think if my book can speak to someone and help them on their path to bettering relationships and finding God, than that would be great,” Miles said. “I don’t write Christian fiction, I write books that I hope people will read and sort of get something from God in it.”
She is also passionate about helping abused children who sparked the idea for her novel. A portion of all the proceeds of her book will go to Big Oak Ranch in Birmingham, a home for children needing a chance.
Now that she has published her first novel, Miles said she already has two more in the works. One is about marriage and pursing dreams, which she said is more like her own personality. The other deals with human trafficking and tackles the social justice theme that Miles enjoys.
Trespassers is available for purchase on amazon.com. To learn more about Andrea Miles, visit andreamiles.com.
