Connie is offering one $5 Amazon Gift Card, which is perfect for either purchasing her novella AT THE EDGE OF A DARK FOREST or any other e-book of your choice, to one randomly chosen commenter. The winner will be announced here on Friday, August 15th, between 5-6 PM EST. To be entered in the Giveaway, please leave your contact information within your comment. Thanks!
Blurb for AT THE EDGE OF A DARK FOREST:
Cole
Harrison, an Iraq war veteran, wears his disfigurement like a barrier to those
who might love him, shielding them from the ugliness inside. He agrees to try
and potentially invest in, a prototype prosthetic with the goal of saving a
hopeless man’s dreams.
Carly
Rose contracts to live with Cole and train him to use his new limbs, only to
discover the darkness that wars against the man he could become.
At the Edge of a Dark Forest is a modern-day retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Only it is not her love that will make him whole.
Why I’m My
Characters’ God by Connie Almony
One
of the things that I love about writing is the way God inserts Himself into the
process, revealing something new I needed to know about Him. Yes, I know He is
a big, powerful, wise and merciful God, but writing has allowed me a greater
glimpse of what all that means.
Why?
Because for a little while every day, I AM GOD.
Oh,
don’t gasp and call me crazy because you think I have a God complex. Believe
me, having had a glimpse of what His job entails I know I wouldn’t want it. Too
much responsibility!
What
I mean is that, to the characters of my story, the people I birth, the settings
I paint, the situations I plan, I am their creator. I decide who lives and who
dies, who grows and who remains stuck. I let them fall and create challenges to
stretch them. I am their God.
How
has that changed me?
Years
ago, as a drug-prevention counselor in a narcotics-infested area, I learned how
good people could fall prey to their surroundings. If there is no one around, pointing
a direction of purposefulness and godliness, a young person will often slip
into making destructive choices just because “everyone is doing it.” They don’t
know any different. In fact, though the grant funding my position restricted me
from counseling drug addicts, our center stretched the word “prevention” to
include “preventing from further use” so I wouldn’t be twiddling my thumbs all
day. By the time most of these kids got to high school they were either using
or their parents didn’t spend much time helping them because they were too busy
managing the effects of the “using” child. What some, who have grown up in a
supportive, loving, Christian environment, would call dysfunctional was not
only normal for these kids, but to them a necessary means of survival.
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| Courtesy Google Images |
When
faced with many of the scenarios my clients lived under, I became more
cognizant of the wisdom behind God’s statement, “Judgment is Mine.” I can honestly say, if I’d lived in the
environments these kids lived in on a daily basis, I don’t think I would have
resisted as much as some of them did. How can I judge them when I do not know
the whole story of their lives and have not experienced the same pressures?
You’d
think this would have been enough to own the verse mentioned above. But
something sunk it deeper into my cells than getting to know my clients from the
outside-in. It came with developing my characters
from the inside-out. I know their destiny almost from the moment of their birth.
I know what they are called to do. I know they will hit hard roads, all of
which are of my making, and that
those roads will define who they are. I ache for them when they hurt (I even
cry as I write) and I rejoice in their triumph. I worry when they sin, because
I know how it will impact them down the road. Sometimes, I let them feel the
impact of that sin so they will see what God says is true, and therefore trust His
loving guidance in the future.
Some
of my characters appear to be horrible people … at the beginning. Some are only
broken, seemingly weak. But I know what will move them and strengthen them, and
so I make them move, because without that movement, they will be forever lost.
This
knowledge has given me a new perspective on my relationship with God and His people.
I cannot judge someone for their sin because I do not know how they got there
(their backstory). I also cannot chastise God for the challenges He places
before me, now that I have a better understanding of what He means to do. I
will trust Him, because He has given much, and I suspect that though, as the
Great Author He is, His stories are fraught with turmoil, His specialty is for
Happily Ever After.
Check out Connie's previous appearance on Everyone's Story when she addressed the issue of A Dog With Skin Problems, An Autistic Child, and Heaven Sent Joy
Connie's Ah-hahs To Tweet:
Visit
with author Connie Almony whose novella is receiving a lot of attention. (Tweet This)
Like
Beauty and the Beast stories? How about one with a war-vet, amputee with PTSD?
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Author
Connie Almony: Are you God to your characters? Visit Connie on Everyone’s
Story. (Tweet This)
Author's Bio and Places To Connect:
Connie Almony is trained as a mental
health therapist and likes to mix a little fun with the serious stuff of life.
She was a 2012 semi-finalist in the Genesis Contest for Women’s Fiction and was
awarded an Honorable Mention in the Winter 2012 WOW Flash Fiction Contest. Her newest release, At the Edge of a Dark Forest,
is a modern-day re-telling of Beauty and
the Beast about a war-vet, amputee struggling with PTSD.
You can find Connie on the web, writing
book reviews for Jesus Freak Hideout, and hosting the following
blogs: InfiniteCharacters.com and LivingtheBodyofChrist.Blogspot.com.
You can also meet her on the following
social media outlets:
