Linda Brooks Davis's Blog, page 12
July 3, 2019
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part Three
Welcome, everyone
Miss Adelaide. I loved crawling into this character’s skin and getting to know her in the 1918-1919 time period.
As a historical novelist, I find research to be my favorite part of writing. You see, I lose myself in it. Completely.
But then, ceating the characters comes in a close second to research. I love taking a blank slate in hand and deciding how characters look and behave. What they value and despise. And what personality traits they possess.
In addition, creating the setting is pretty awesome. Ever wonder what it would be like to live in 1918? Or wake up in an Italian villa? How about standing alongside suffragists on a cold January morning in 1919?
So come along with me into The Awakening of Miss Adelaide for a taste of those experiences . . .
The Characters
The Women of Rock Creek series is composed of novels and novellas. These stories focus on each of the audacious females who hail from Needham, Oklahoma in the first two decades of the twentieth century. They begin with Ella McFarland. And extend through Lillian Cathleen Sloat and Adelaide Fitzgerald. Later stories will highlight Ella’s girls–Amaryllis, Blossom, Camellia, Dahlia, Ebony, and Julia Jane Evans. Readers travel with the feisty women from Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Italy, Washington, D.C., and deep South Texas. Subsequently, their adventures pull readers along with them on horseback, in buggies, wagons, automobiles, trams, trains, and even on a transatlantic passenger ship.
And then there are the women’s love interests! What a bevy of beautiful, brawny men. Hey, if you’re going to pick up a piece of chalk and a blank slate, why not create gorgeous hunks?
Add crystal blue eyes, and this is Andrew Evans, Ella’s love.
Lillian Cathleen’s Cade McFarland in the flesh.
Add ten years, and this is Adelaide’s Texas rancher, Brady Duvall.For now, let’s examine the character Adelaide. Who is she? What does she value? And what are her strengths and struggles?
Miss Adelaide Herself
Adelaide Fitzgerald. Retrieved from https://binged.it/2HBl1ge
From the beginning, Myra Loy of Old Hollywood fame was my idea of a perfect Miss Adelaide Fitzgerald. This quintessential historical heroine has it all: beauty, wealth, prestige, talent, and the adoration of audiences from America to Europe. She’s an introvert who finds performing on the opera stage to be exhilarating but exhausting. Consequently, she enjoys getting away from the hullabaloo to her villa in the Maremma hills of Tuscany, Italy.
Opera performances slackened during the Great War, but Miss Adelaide found plenty to keep her busy at the villa. A working ranch, the estate raised prize-winning Maremmana cattle and horses. It provided the perfect setting for the covert activities Adelaide was involved in during the war: transmitting coded messages. Doing so fulfilled Adelaide’s need to contribute to the greater good.
Speaking of which, Miss Adelaide was orphaned as an infant but was left an outrageously wealthy heiress. Also, she is a gifted opera singer and a philanthropist. Her antennae are always searching for someone in need. From along the banks of Rock Creek back home in Oklahoma to the hillsides of Tuscany, big-hearted Adelaide has earned her reputation as Angel of the Opera.
Luciana Martino, Servant and Friend of Miss Adelaide
Luciana MartinoThe quintessential devoted servant, Luciana Martino stands by Miss Adelaide through years of triumphs and tragedies. She’s the sort of woman you want to run to when you hurt. And when you celebrate. Miss Adelaide owes Luci a great debt.
Eleanor Brackenridge, Mentor and Friend to Miss Adelaide
Handbook of Texas Online: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/onlin...Eleanor Brackenridge, a true-life, famous character, once lived and breathed in San Antonio. A giant among famous Texan women, she served on the board of regents of Texas Woman’s University. In addition, she led the Texas suffrage and temperance organizations. And she co-founded the San Antonio Woman’s Club. Miss Brackenridge served as the director of the San Antonio National Bank and the San Antonio Loan and Trust. Also, she was the vice-president of the San Antonio Health Protection Association, which was formed to combat tuberculosis in the city.
A storyline that extends into San Antonio, Texas and involves women HAD to include Eleanor Brackenridge. She was the essence of Texas womanhood.
Wrap-Up & Giveaway
The characters in this fast-paced story are numerous and varied. They endure the ravages of the Great War and Spanish Influenza. They ranch in Tuscany, Italy and South Texas. Spy during the Great War. They march as D.C. suffragists in demonstrations for the vote–and find themselves in prison. Endure unjust commitments to mental institutions. And fight for the underprivileged and mistreated. They allow nothing to stop them. So hang onto your hats!
Meanwhile, I’ll draw a name from among those who join our chat. A winner this and in subsequent weeks will receive a print or digital copy of The Awakening of Miss Adelaide–winner’s choice–on July 17 & 31 and August 14 & 28–so be sure to join the conversations.
The post The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part Three appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
June 19, 2019
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part Two
Welcome, everyone!
My soon-to-be-released novel, The Awakening of Miss Adelaide , required a great deal of research. It reached from the Tuscan hills of Italy, to a 1919 transatlantic passenger ship, to Washington, D.C., and back to Oklahoma.
Digging up Bones
Sometimes research for a novel can feel like digging up bones. In a way, it is.
One such “bone” I clamped my teeth around and refused to let go was an article in a 1913 edition of Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It described a murder committed in the lobby of the Metropolitan Hotel. This violent act occurred in connection with an adulterous affair.
Consequently, heightened emotion, lowered common sense, and the control males exerted over females resulted in one man’s murder and the murderer’s acquittal. In addition, the “offending” woman’s husband dragged her home kicking and screaming and committed her to a mental asylum for “emotional insanity.”
I wondered if the “offending” man had been treated in like manner. Hardly.
How could I NOT include this morass in a novel?
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide
Orphaned as an infant, Oklahoma heiress Miss Adelaide Fitzgerald has enjoyed every advantage. She possesses a unique gift for music and excels on the opera stage in Italy. As a philanthropist, she’s adored from America to Europe.
But Miss Adelaide is about to awaken in a 1918 nightmare.
When the Great War–and the Great Influenza–knock in Italy, Adelaide discovers uninvited, unwelcome guests. They threaten her life and alter her identity and purpose.
Snatched from her quiet life in an Italian villa, Miss Adelaide is thrust into conflicts others created. What battle scars will she sustain? And where will love lead her?
In The Awakening of Miss Adelaide, war and peace, laughter and heartache, love and loss unite. This union ignites a fresh fire that reveals one woman’s hidden needs and potentials.
What will a fresh understanding of herself require of the Angel of the Opera?
I offer The Awakening of Miss Adelaide to the Lord to do with it as He sees fitting. May this story based on the agony other women experienced serve to lighten someone else’s load by highlighting the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ.
I’ll be giving away a print or digital copy (winner’s choice) on each of 5 remaining dates: July 3, 17, & 31; August 14 & 28.
How to Reach Me and My Books
The Women of Rock Creek series
Book 1: The Calling of Ella McFarland
Book 2: The Mending of Lillian Cathleen
Book 3; The Awakening of Miss Adelaide
~ ~ ~
Lord, I pray You will bless the words I’ve written on the pages of this novel in ways I can’t imagine. ~ For Jesus’ sake
The post The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part Two appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
June 16, 2019
Father’s Day Chat
Welcome, everyone
Wilson Freeman Brooks, 1914-1971Father’s Day. Depending on a person’s point of view, Father’s Day conjures varying emotions. Joy. Sorrow. And everything between.
From my perspective, it stirs up the sweetest of memories. Not because I recall a lifetime of sentimental Father’s Days with the family hailing ours as the best of the best (although we knew he was). Nor because I recall a specific card or message penned through tears of gratitude. But because I remember one event involving my father–Wilson Freeman Brooks–not on Father’s Day, but on three days in the spring of 1967, days that will live in my memory forever. Even when my mind is gone, my heart will remember.
Daddy and Father’s Day
Daddy was a farmer in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. As such, he and Mr. Sun worked basically the same hours. He started farming at age 21 by working as a field hand and living in a cottage with no electricity or running water.
In a few years, he had saved enough to build Mother the brick house she always dreamed of. He was at home at the head of the table three meals per day. He drank coffee with my mother, never with the “boys” down at the coffee shop. And he never wasted a breath on profanity or off-color jokes.
He joined one organization–Texas Farm Bureau; served as an officer in four organizations–Farm Bureau, Raymondville School Board, Willacy County School Board, and the Hayhurst Foundation; and was added by God to the rolls of one eternal body–the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Daddy’s Cross
For years, Daddy was a very successful farmer. Everything he did turned to gold—-until it didn’t. And when it didn’t, it didn’t in huge ways.
Many folks referred to him as a modern-day Job. And in ways, he was. He didn’t have his four children taken from him, but he did bury one boy and almost buried another when at age 19 his son ran his small car under a parked 18-wheeler, spending a month in a coma. Daddy’s heart and soul were forever marked by that experience.
On the heels of that accident came a physical malady no one–not even Mayo Clinic–could diagnose. All Daddy and those of us who loved him could do was watch him slowly and ever-so-cruelly melt away. His muscular system from his shoulders to his feet atrophied over the course of 10 years, leaving him at his death in 1971 a wheelchair and braces-bound skeleton. Although he was an impressive man always, it was during those 10 years that Daddy’s greatest influence was seen and felt. He never missed a church service, nor a Bible class which he taught without stopping from age 21 to his death at 57, nor an opportunity to raise a weak hand at his lap or hanging to his side to signal hello or to shake hands.
And on top of everything else, Daddy’s farm business, much like his muscular system, slowly atrophied. For example, when he bought expensive hail insurance, no hail was seen for miles. But when he hadn’t the money for crop insurance, his crops got hailed out. When the sun was shining, the cotton pickers were broken down. But when they were fixed, it rained. For 10 solid years, Daddy’s was the opposite of the Midas touch. Everything he touched turned to dust.
Did Daddy agonize? Yes. Did he complain or ask “Why me?” Never. In fact, when I asked him “Why you?” he said, “All I know is I trust God and believe whatever He’s doing is for my spiritual good.”
How Daddy Fathered
It wasn’t in Daddy’s makeup to force himself or his views on anyone. He thought deeply, prayed unceasingly, and presented well-formulated arguments to anyone who would listen. But he let others make up their own minds. Even his kids.
One example occurred at the beginning of my dating years. A young man “with a history” asked to come calling. My mother’s reaction: Absolutely not! But Daddy’s: “I don’t have all the answers. But I can tell you what I’ve learned by living life over the years, and I can warn you of the possibilities I see. I could forbid you to see this young man, but I know you’re old enough to figure out how to do so behind my back. That’s not what I want. I want you to consider what I have to say and make a wise decision yourself.”
Daddy never had to forbid me to do anything. All I had to do was look at his face . . . into his tender eyes . . . and the decisions came naturally. I respected him beyond any force on Earth.
One Unforgettable Event = An Unforgettable “Father’s Day”
With college aid, I was able to attend Abilene Christian College in Abilene, Texas.
College years were emotional years for me. Living in a dorm, I was exhausted most of the time and slept the better part of the holidays at home. But I found myself in tears fairly often too. Chalk it up to exhaustion, stress, emotional roller-coasters, dating drama–who knows? All I recall is that I was often emotional. I had extremely happy, carefree days but plenty of days of disappointment too.
We had no phones in our dorm rooms. There was one pay phone provided in the hallway for each floor of each wing. Consequently, we girls found ourselves lined up, waiting for someone to get off the phone. I discovered Wednesday evenings right after church was a good time to call Mother and Daddy. This was a time when others were drifting in from their dates to church and club meetings and a perfect time for me to grab that phone booth.
An Important Phone Call That Heralded a Unique Type of Father’s Day
On one Wednesday night, I was struggling with something emotional–the what is obscured by floodwaters under the proverbial bridge. I only remember that I was “blue” as Mother used to say, and talking to Mother and Daddy helped. Our conversation, as I recall, wasn’t a lot different from other similar calls, and we said goodnight and went on to bed like many a Wednesday night.
The next morning I felt some better and went about my day–classes, socializing, cafeteria, and all the rest.
That afternoon I was in my room studying when my “buzzer” went off. (When we had a caller in the lobby, the receptionist “buzzed” our rooms, and we went down to see who it was.)
I pictured a couple of possibilities–both guys I had been dating–and wondered what either of them would want with me in the mid-afternoon. I pushed aside the swinging door into the lobby and looked around for one of the two guys and my eyes came to rest on a graying-haired, painfully thin, far-from-fashionable older man sitting between well-dressed and cologned “jay birds” waiting for their dates.
Looking much as he had three years prior when he delivered me to ACC via U-Haul trailer–travel worn and exhausted, Daddy grinned at me.
What Are You Doing Here?
Daddy. 500 miles from home. In my dorm lobby? “What are you doing here?”
“On the phone last night . . . You sounded like you needed me.”
As Daddy’s illness progressed, his abilities dwindled. He sat in a recliner most of each day and got around outside the house in an electric wheelchair powered by one finger. He had arm braces that helped him manipulate his arms and a body brace that held his torso straight. Driving had long been out of the question.
I hugged him and looked around. “Where’s Mother?”
“At home. I wanted to do this myself . . . alone.”
“But you can’t drive 500 miles. Surely. You can’t lift your arms. You can barely lift your hands from your lap. How in the world . . .?
“I managed, babe.”
The Visit That Became Unforgettable Father’s Days
Daddy remained three full days that morphed into something way better than Father’s Day. They were a father’s day experience that has lasted a lifetime. the most memorable imaginable.
I saw him into a nearby motel and picked him up every morning for a day of “shadowing” his college junior daughter. He couldn’t hold his head up straight, but he did his best. Couldn’t walk at the pace of a college junior, but I learned I could slow down. He ate with me in the cafeteria. Went to church with me. Visited with my girlfriends and a male friend or two. And then he was gone.
December 21, 1968But Daddy left an impression and a memory of several “father’s days” that still live fifty-two years later. I will never forget his sensitivity to the emotions he heard in my voice over the phone that night in 1967. Nor will I forget the aching heart that led him to tell Mother the next morning, “I’m going to see Linda. Alone.” Or the love that drew him onto the highway, creeping along seldom-used roads, avoiding the worst of traffic, eyes fixed ahead, looking for Abilene, Texas and his girl.
I’ll never forget the sight of my deteriorating father sitting among an array of robust young men in my dorm lobby with eyes for me alone. That was some father’s day. The best.
My heart remembers. It always will. Thank you, Daddy. I love you so dearly and thank God you were my father.
~ ~ ~
Books by Linda Brooks Davis
The Mending of Lillian Cathleen
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide
A Rock Creek Christmas Novella Collection
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June 5, 2019
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part One
Welcome, everyone.
Awakening Miss Adelaide is set to release on July 9th. This story begins with my mother’s cedar chest, which bore an unwritten warning: Hands off! Priceless treasures resided in its depths. My parents’ wedding suits. An old tattered quilt. Mother’s felt hat with a jaunty feather at the rolled-up brim. Bible notes. A stained tablecloth. Equally stained ladies’ handkerchiefs. And old, crocheted, scorched pot holders.
My paternal great-grandmother wrote letters and created intricate, painstaking handwork while she was committed to an asylum in Terrell, Texas. They represent the dearest items in the cedar chest.
Joe, Wilson, and Sam Brooks, circa 1917This dear lady was born in Sebastian County, Arkansas in 1870. She married and bore four children. Her eldest, my grandmother, married in Hall County, Texas in 1911. Her grandson, my father, entered the world in 1914.
Incalculable are the times over the years when a family member would comment Great-granny didn’t appear insane at all. I often wondered how it was she resided at a state mental hospital from 1900 until her death in 1948. How could an insane person write coherent letters and create such handwork?
Mysterious Memories
Grandmother Ona Mae BrooksMystery shrouds those answers as surely as Great-grandmother herself. All we know certainly is that her eldest child, my grandmother, assumed the role of “woman of the house” at eleven years of age. She prepared meals and kept the house and tended three younger siblings.
Due to a paucity of records, photos, and other documentation, mystery veils Great-grandmother’s growing-up years. We know only that she and her husband married and lived in Indian Territory and Wise County, Texas from 1888 to 1900.
Family legend developed around her. Stories varied from “She wasn’t crazy. Her husband wanted to get rid of her” to “She was an Indian who chose her last name to avoid White bias against the indigenous people.” The truth hides somewhere amid the deadfall of her tragic life.
Precious Memories
Over forty-eight years of commitment, Great-grandmother wrote a handful of letters to her daughter. I am the keeper of those treasures, along with two items of handwork–a baby dress she sewed by hand in 1914 for her grandson, my father; and a table doily in 1920.
Someone ought to write a book about that was often said around our family reunions. My interest in doing just that developed little by little over the years. The Women of Rock Creek series deals with some of the ways in which women were denied equal rights when they were denied the vote. Such realities presented an ideal platform for illustrating some women’s plight in the hands of unscrupulous men–inequality in education, the courtroom, and even in mental health care.
Therefore, with an abundance of love and respect for Great-grandmother; her daughter, my grandmother; and her grandson, my father, I offer this imaginary story. It contrasts two different women: one with a voice heard around the world and the other with no voice at all.
I offer The Awakening of Miss Adelaide to the Lord to do with it as He pleases. May this story based on the agony experienced by my great-grandmother serve to lighten someone else’s load by highlighting the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ.
The Awakening of Miss Adelaide
Book 3, The Women of Rock CreekOrphaned as an infant, Oklahoma heiress Adelaide Fitzgerald has enjoyed every advantage. She possesses a unique gift for music and has excelled on the opera stage in Italy. As a philanthropist, she’s adored from America to Europe.
But Miss Adelaide is about to awaken in a 1918 nightmare.
When the Great War–and the Great Influenza–knock, Adelaide finds her uninvited guests more than unwelcome. They threaten her life and alter her identity and purpose.
Snatched from her quiet life in an Italian villa, Miss Adelaide is thrust into conflicts others have created. What battle scars will she sustain? And where will love lead her?
In The Awakening of Miss Adelaide, war and peace, laughter and heartache, love and loss come together to ignite a fresh fire that reveals one woman’s hidden needs and potentials.
What will gaining a fresh understanding of herself require of the Angel of the Opera?
How to Reach Me and My Books
The Women of Rock Creek series
Book 1: The Calling of Ella McFarland
Book 2: The Mending of Lillian Cathleen
Book 3; The Awakening of Miss Adelaide
~ ~ ~
Lord, I pray the words I’ve written on the pages of this novel will bless others in ways I can’t imagine. ~ For Jesus’ sake
The post The Awakening of Miss Adelaide: Part One appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
May 29, 2019
Merrillee Whren Let’s Chat!
Welcome, Everyone!
Merrillee Whren joins us this week. I’m super excited to introduce you. Merrillee writes inspirational romances and won the 2003 RWA Golden Heart© Award and the RT Reviewers Choice Award. She wrote for several years for Love Inspired and now is an established and successful independent novelist.
Merrillee is offering an ebook of her latest, A Place to Call Home, to someone who joins our conversation here on the blog.
Now . . . Here’s Merillee . . .
Merrillee Whren Before Authorship
I’ve been an author from the time I learned to read and write. I’ve always loved to tell stories but not necessarily for publication. I grew up in South Dakota, Montana, and Washington State. I graduated from Dakota Bible College and Milligan College.
My husband and met and married in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was an elementary school teacher. 40 years later we enjoy two grown daughters and two granddaughters.
Merrillee Whren’s Writing Journey
When I first started to write with publication in mind, I often thought I wanted to write children’s books, but my heart was in romance. I love a good love story with a happy ending.
I wrote and submitted manuscripts for twenty years before I made my first sale to Steeple Hill Books, which is now known as Harlequin Love Inspired. The Heart’s Homecoming was released in August of 2005. I wrote 13 more books for Love Inspired before I started my indie publishing journey.
Merrillee Whren: What’s Up With You Now?
As I mentioned in the last question, I wrote 14 books for Love Inspired and have received the rights back to 10 of those books. I am republishing them with updates and new covers.
My Kellerville series, published by Love Inspired, has been reissued as the Kellersburg series. That was my original name for the fictional town, but it was changed because of an editorial snafu. The books in the series are Hometown Promise, Hometown Proposal, and Hometown Dad.
I’m in the process of reissuing the Dalton Brothers series. Wade’s story is Four Little Blessings. Matt’s story is Country Blessings. Peter’s story is Homecoming Blessings, which is now up for preorder for 99 cents. Before starting my republishing, I wrote 5 books in my Front Porch Promises series. I intend to publish one more book in that series.
How to Find Merrillee Whren
You can find my books and purchase links on my website on my books page.https://www.merrilleewhren.com/category/books/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MerrilleeWhren.Author/
Twitter: @MerrilleeWhren
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/merrilleewhren/
A Merrillee Whren Giveaway
I will give away an ebook copy of the first book in my Front Porch Promises series, A Place to Call Home.
~ ~ ~
Lord, Your paths for us sometimes take curves, switchbacks, and u-turns. Sometimes we reach dead-ends. How glorious to know we can trust You to get us through mazes and back on the road You’ve laid out for us. Authors often find an apparent end to be an unexpected beginning. We pray You’ll bless Merrillee in her independent publishing endeavors. Please bless each word she writes for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake
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May 22, 2019
Clarice James Let’s Chat! Featured Favorite
Welcome, everyone!
Clarice G. James writes Smart. Fun. Relatable fiction. She makes my hit parade of favorites by producing writing perfection and keeping me smiling, chuckling, and outright laughing out loud at her wit in the midst of serious subject matter. That’s called a gift, folks.
I met Clarice in cyberspace four years ago when Christy Brunke, Clarice, and I were the three winners of the 2014 Jerry B. Jenkins Operation First Novel Contest. We saw our novels appear in print in 2015, and our friendships developed over the cyber waves.
I count Clarice as a big part of my contest prize. Her writing is exemplary, and so is her friendship. My favorite of Clarice’s books (so far) is Manhattan Grace.
A Tidbit of my Take on Manhattan Grace
This 5-Star story captured me from Page 1. Who wouldn’t be mesmerized with an opening involving a fire, a Cape Cod playhouse, and a dream up in smoke? And who wouldn’t be captivated by subject matter like Messianic congregations, mohels, Metropolitan Opera stars, Moldovans, and a jewel thief from Palm Beach?
Clarice’s unique wit, understated and, frankly, plain funny, shines from the beginning–right in the midst of heart-rending subject matter. Right away the reader discovers clues to the author’s humorous take on life in its glory and its foibles. Just wait . . .
Manhattan Grace
When a door opens for Gracie Camden to leave Cape Cod and move to Manhattan as a nanny for a Juilliard drama instructor, she fully expects God to use her acting talent and launch her to stardom. She’s been here been six months. What’s taking him so long?
Seymour Kaufman relocates to New York City from Iowa due to a shortage of mohels (circumcisers) in the tri-state Messianic congregations. Secretly, he hopes to explore a deeper relationship with Metropolitan Opera star and fellow Moldovan, Polina Zelenka. Seymour is conflicted when he meets her less complicated, widowed cousin.
Meanwhile, fresh from Palm Beach, the Chief plans to cap off his short yet lucrative career as an international jewel thief with a multi-million dollar heist during the Met’s gala in Polina’s honor. His usual modus operandi is to work alone—but this time is different.
While Seymour celebrates every closed door by believing God will open a better one, Gracie whines and wonders why God doesn’t bless her plans. Gracie finally learns success is not about making it big in the Big Apple, but about living God’s perfect plan for your life.
If you want an excellent read that touches your heart and your funny bone, Manhattan Grace by Clarice G. James is just the ticket.
Books by Clarice G. James
How to Find Clarice
~ ~ ~
Lord, You are the Great Gift-Giver. We thank You for the unique gifts You’ve given each of us and the rare ones like Clarice’s that we can all enjoy. Please bless each word she writes for You. ~ For Jesus’ sake
The post Clarice James Let’s Chat! Featured Favorite appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
May 8, 2019
Let’s Chat! The Advocate
Welcome, everyone!
I have the pleasure of spotlighting a masterful piece of work by Randy Singer. It fits perfectly on the stage and among the props of our recent Holy Week: The Advocate.
The Advocate
This 2014 novel by Randy Singer centers on Theophilus, a brilliant young assessore (advocate) in A.D. 33 Jerusalem, who witnesses and unwittingly contributes to the trial that changed the history of the world: Jesus’. This young man is one of Rome’s elite. In addition, he studied under Seneca the Younger alongside Caligula, who was to become one of the most notorious of Roman Caesars.
As a fourteen-year-old student, Theophilus found himself at odds with his friend and fellow student, Caligula. He couldn’t have imagined where his life’s path would take him–all the way to the cross of Christ.
The Trial of Jesus
At Jesus’ trial, Theophilus stands behind Pilate and whispers, “Offer to release Barabbas.” Jesus is obviously innocent. Theophilus figures if given the opportunity, the people will choose the release of the gentle man over a blackhearted criminal. Surely.
But the strategy backfires. And Theophilus witnesses an innocent man suffering as a guilty one and dying by crucifixion. The trial alters the world. And the experience never leaves the advocate. It haunts him.
The Trial of Paul
Three decades later, Theophilus has proven himself in the legal ranks of the Roman Empire. He has survived the insane rule of Caligula and has weathered the cruel tyrant’s quest to control the woman he loves. He has endured the mindless violence of the gladiator games and the backstabbing intrigue of the treason trials.
However, it is the trial of a man named Paul that proves to be the apex of this young man’s life and the defining experience for his troubled soul. Remembering the injustice of the first trial, he sets out to prove Paul’s innocence and thereby change the fate of the empire.
But can the advocate stand before the most notorious Caesar of them all–Nero–and mount an effective defense that will keep another innocent man from execution?
My Thoughts
I was deeply moved by this story. No wonder it was a 2015 Christy Award finalist and winner of the 2015 ECPA Christian Book Award. As a lover of historical fiction, I was captivated by Singer’s presentation of the advocate’s training at the feet of Seneca. And by the unique weaving into the story line his friendship with Caligula as a boy.
The scene in which the advocate finds himself an unwitting witness to the trial of Christ and spontaneously offers his idea to Pilate is mesmerizing. His haunting memory of the injustice of Jesus’ trial, and his defense of Paul will remain with me always.
I wholeheartedly recommend this powerful novel. It brings Ben Her to mind. It’s thoroughly researched and masterfully presented. Absorb the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of John prior to reading this novel. Go back to Acts and reacquaint yourself with Paul’s missionary journeys. Reread his prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, and I believe you’ll be as captivated as I was.
Like me, you might experience a goosebump or two. Let me know your reaction. I’d love to chat with you about it.
~ ~ ~
Lord, we pray Your blessings on Randy Singer as he writes for You. And let us not fail to tell others the greatest story ever heard.
~ For Jesus’ sake
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May 1, 2019
Christy Brunke Let’s Chat! Featured Favorite
Welcome, everyone!
Christy Brunke, author of Snow out of Season, is my Featured Favorite this week. I’m delighted to present Christy’s first novel as one of my favorites.
Christy and I “met” in cyberspace in 2015, as we were two of the three winners of the Jerry B. Jenkins Operation First Novel contest. Christy placed 3rd, Clarice James placed 2nd, and my The Calling of Ella McFarland placed 1st.
Sharing this billing resulted in my getting to know Christy as personally as two people can considering you’re floating around in cyberspace. We actually met face to face at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in 2017, and my previous cyber impressions of this author, wife, and mother were confirmed.
Christy is a breath of warm enthusiasm and devotion to the Lord. And author of a keeper of a novel. Period.
My Take on Snow out of Season
Snow out of Season is a book every pastor and youth pastor should have on his/her shelf. Here’s why:
The United States ranked 13th in the world in the number of abortions performed in 2018. That’s better than previous years and definitely better than 1st place, but how wonderful if we were LAST place.
Abortion is an emotional subject that can spark more fire than light. So a book that presents the issue in novel form from the perspectives of two key players of two different generations–and one that does so with the creativity and sensitivity of Snow out of Season deserves to be highlighted.
Teens and adults will enjoy this unforgettable story.
Snow out of Season, a la the Back of the Book
Shannon Henry is just starting to put her life back together after the death of her infant daughter when she discovers she’s pregnant again. Afraid of losing another child, at first she hides the news from her husband Wade. When her doctor presents her with the choice of either raising a child with Down syndrome or terminating the pregnancy, Shannon is torn. Then things strangely start going missing—their wedding picture, a bracelet with charms for their three children, Wade’s clothes on the floor which she’s always complained about. And why is she having nightmares about losing her husband?
Leslie Gardner is a high-school senior in 1979 who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina, but she discovers she is pregnant too. If she has the child, her chances of a dancing career and college are over, but her friend shows her another option. If she secretly has an abortion like her boyfriend wants, her problems will be over and her life can go on as planned.
While Shannon wrestles with her sanity, Leslie struggles with whether or not to tell her parents. Each must make a decision that will alter both the future and the past forever.
Links:
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Lord, we declare You the Creator of all and the originator of life. As such, we lay our babies at Your feet and pray You’ll bring the slaughter to an end. Please bless Christy as a wife, mother, and writer. And multiply tenfold the good from each word she writes for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake
Abortion statistic source: https://binged.it/2GqtD94
The post Christy Brunke Let’s Chat! Featured Favorite appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
April 17, 2019
Francine Rivers: Let’s Chat! The Last Sin Eater
Welcome, everyone!
Francine Rivers ranks near the top of most lovers of Christian fiction’s favorite authors lists. For many, her most memorable books are Redeeming Love or the Mark of the Lion series. I admit those novels vie for top billing on my list too. But The Last Sin Eater surpasses even those masterful works.
The Last Sin Eater
From the author’s website: Set in Appalachia in the 1850s, The Last Sin Eater is the story of a community committed to its myth of a human “sin eater,” who absolves the dead of their sins, and the ten-year-old child who shows them the Truth.
All that matters for young Cadi Forbes is finding the one man who can set her free from the sin that plagues her, the sin that has stolen her mother’s love from her and made her wish she could flee life and its terrible injustice. But Cadi doesn’t know that the “sin eater” is seeking as well.
Before their journeys are over, Cadi and the sin eater must face themselves, each other, and the One who will demand everything from them in exchange for the answers they seek. A captivating tale of suffering, seeking, and redemption.
Why I Choose Sin Eater
The Last Sin Eater ranks at the top of my favorite Francine Rivers works for several reasons. Here are five of them:
The Title
First, the title. When I heard the term “sin eater”, I was hooked. What in the world is a sin eater?
The Setting
Appalachia in the 1850s. While the rest of the world was experiencing “enlightenment” in science, philosophy, and a host of other arenas, the souls living apart in backwoods Appalachia were holding onto a flawed view of sin that affected every area of their lives. Secluded, they needed enlightenment they had never imagined.
The First Line
The last time I saw the sin eater was the night Granny Forbes was taken to her grave. The questions those eighteen words engendered drew me into the story, siren-like. And I’ve not strayed far.
The Theme
Suffering. Seeking. And Redemption. All three hover around a central theme of sin, its consequences, and its solution. When separated from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, human beings revert to humanism. Surely human frailty–sin–is to be dealt with by human beings. Isn’t it?
And mustn’t the one who remedies sin’s plaguing effect be kept apart from others so as not to “reinfect” them? (Leviticus 16:10 – But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.)
No one must open the locked door that keeps the answers safe, certainly not a child. Surely . . .
The Take Away
The effect this story had on me can’t be over emphasized. I was born in a loving, devoted Christian home. So I learned God’s solution for sin early on. But I grew to adulthood with misconceptions galore and lived in a “separate from the world” mindset that crippled my knowledge of the fullness of God’s grace.
I have known a similar internal agony to Cadi’s and the sin eater’s. And I’ve sought answers to similar questions myself. So I came away from this masterpiece with tears and gratitude and a level of peace I hadn’t yet attained.
Give-away
If you’ve read The Last Sin Eater, I’d love to hear your impressions. Please share with us in Comments.
I don’t want anyone to miss out on the brilliance of this story. So join the conversation below, and you might receive The Last Sin Eater in digital format.
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Lord, thank You for showing us what sin is and giving us free will to choose–or reject–it. Thank You for providing the answer to sin. Thank You for the enlightenment that comes from Your Word. It’s a light to our paths and a lamp to our feet. Hallelujah! Please bless every word Francine Rivers writes for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake
The post Francine Rivers: Let’s Chat! The Last Sin Eater appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
April 3, 2019
Jerry B. Jenkins Let’s Chat! Riven
Welcome, everyone!
One of my Featured Favorite novels is Riven by Jerry B. Jenkins.
Jerry B. Jenkins is best know for authoring along with Tim LaHaye the Left Behind collection.
My Soft Spot: Gratitude
I have a soft spot in my heart for Jerry B. Jenkins because of his role as mentor to aspiring authors. How that got traction . . .
My triplet grandchildren were born in 2005, and I was so grateful they arrived alive and thrived, I made a pledge to God to leave them a legacy of faith in writing. At the time, I didn’t know what I would write — or how.
So when an essay contest opened up on a San Antonio Christian talk radio program, I entered. Thinking I wouldn’t win, I told no one. What did I have to lose?
But when I won, I was flabbergasted to say the least, especially when I learned my prize: a trip for two to the Writing for the Soul Conference in Colorado Spring, sponsored by Jerry B. Jenkins.
My husband and I boarded the plan, and I wondered to myself where the journey to writing would ultimately take me. I stood in the Broadmoor ballroom knowing zero about publishing, editors, agents, pitching, one sheets, elevator pitches, synopses, book blurbs–all a foreign language to me.
The Outflow of Gratitude
Fast forward to 1912, and I’m part of a residency of aspiring authors sponsored by Jerry B. Jenkins in Manitour Springs, Colorado. Then along came 2014, and I learn I’d won the Jerry B. Jenkins Operation First Novel Contest, and my novel--The Calling of Ella McFarland–would be published. Imagine my shock and delight in 2016 when it received the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award for Debut Novel.
And it all began with Jerry B. Jenkins. Wow.
Riven
I‘ve read almost everything this prolific, ultra-best-selling author has written, but Riven takes first place in my estimation.
Why?
Everything Jerry writes is superior, so Riven doesn’t stand out for that reason. Every character Jerry creates is well developed, so it doesn’t stand out for that reason either. But its message is unforgettable. Here’s the back-of-the-book blurb:
A young man with a troubled past . . . A failed pastor rejected by those he wants to help . . .
Brady Wayne Darby and Thomas Carey couldn’t be more different. One is a criminal whose worst crime is the one he’s about to commit; the other is a man hoping desperately to make a difference. One diligently serves himself; the other diligently serves God. And yet both are in dire need of grace.
Riven is a gritty, compelling, and gut-wrenching story of heartache and redemption. Riven will remind you that the love of God can transform even the hardest heart. Immerse yourself in the acclaimed story of a man who seems hopelessly lost before he meets the One who can see even the most troubled soul.
In Jerry’s words: “This is the novel I’ve always wanted to write and is unlike anything I’ve ever written. My hope is that it stays with you long after the final page.”
It has, Jerry. It always will. Thank you.
An Offering
I‘ll send you the Kindle version of this wonderful novel to someone who joins our conversation below. So please join us.
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Lord, we thank You for those who have come alongside us through the years to help direct and lift us up according to Your will. Jerry B. Jenkins is a man You’ve used to do just that for countless Christian writers. And he presents the message of Your redeeming love in Riven in a unique and powerful way. Thank You for using him. Please bless each word he writers for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake
The post Jerry B. Jenkins Let’s Chat! Riven appeared first on Linda Brooks Davis.
