The Next Big Thing - The Saved Saint

[This post is part of a Blog Chain called "The Next Big Thing" in which authors of new books answer the same set of questions about their project.]
The Saved Saint by Anna Jones Buttimore and Hellen Riebold
Where did you get the idea for your book?

I was asked to write it by a friend who used to be in my ward (and who appears in the book as Jeannie). Her RM son had joined another church and there was a lot of contention and conflict between them as a result. She thought a book about it could help them work through the issues together.
My background is that I was an evangelical Christian and a vehement and active anti-Mormon twenty years ago, until I finally read the Book of Mormon and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’m also a published author, which is why Jeannie asked me to help.
I jumped at the chance to write such an interesting book, but halfway through I realised I didn’t have enough knowledge or experience of the current evangelical Christian experience to write certain parts convincingly from the perspective of Harley, the born-again RM. Luckily I have a good friend who is a Christian (and one of the pastors in her church) and a writer, so she came in with me as co-author.
What's the genre of your book?   

It’s religious fiction, but it’s different in that it spans two religious traditions, and doesn’t favour one or the other.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in the movie?

I know that it can be really helpful to pick actors in order to visualise the characters, but this book wouldn’t work as a movie as too much of the “action” is internal dialogue or feelings. Also, I don’t need to picture the characters because they are based on real-life people I have met.  Sorry!
My elevator pitch: 

A ground-breaking novel, based on a true story, exploring the conflict between evangelical Christianity and Mormonism.
Will your book be represented by a publisher or self-published?

I’m having to self-publish this one even though all five of my previous books were published by traditional publishers. It’s just too contentious for the LDS publishers, Christian publishers don’t want anything which shows the LDS Church in a favourable light, and secular publishers don’t go near religious stuff. So we’re lucky that we have the option to self-publish.
How long did it take you to write the first draft? 

This is the quickest book I’ve ever written (my last two took seven and fifteen years) in that it took about a year between being given the idea and having something worth sending to an editor.
What other books compare to yours in your genre?

None. Seriously, novelising inter-religious dialogue has never been done before as far as I am aware. The only one I can think of is The Shack because that was essentially a religious treatise dressed up as a novel, but this is very different because it is actually a true story.  
Who or what inspired your book?

As I’ve already mentioned, Jeannie and Harley Hesketh themselves. But also my long history as an anti-Mormon, and then in Mormon apologetics.
What else about this book might pique a reader's interest? 

The book very much has a message–several important messages–and we hope it will be successful in creating understanding and dialogue between the traditions, and in reuniting families where religious differences may be causing problems. But we’ve also been careful to make it a good and readable story, a book which, aside from the message of tolerance, is entertaining, moving and enjoyable. A book which can be read by LDS Christians, Evangelical Christians and Non-Christians alike.