Book Giveaway Opportunity:
Synopsis of POISON: Five years ago, Keelyn Blake's armed, mentally ill stepfather took her family hostage in their house in rural Colorado. She and her half-sister Raven made it out alive, but others did not. Authorities blamed the father's frequent hallucinations about a being named Lucent, but in the end, even the best of the FBI's hostage negotiators failed to overcome the man's delusions and end the standoff peacefully.
Now, Lucent is back, and he's no
hallucination. In fact, he is a very real person with dangerous motives. He has
kidnapped Raven's daughter, and--Keelyn worries--maybe has hurt Raven as well.
Though she is estranged from her sister, Keelyn feels the immediate need to
find Raven and save what family she has left. But when others who were involved
in that fateful day start dying, some by mysterious circumstances, Keelyn
wonders if she can emerge unscathed a second time.
The Letter by Jordyn Redwood
Sometimes, I don’t think we as “Christian” authors give credit to how extraordinary our calling is. I’m speaking specifically to those writers who feel it is God’s will for them to write. We write because we feel burdened to do so. Not burdened like a chain around our necks but restless that if we don’t write then we are not fulfilling what we are here to do.
Sometimes that calling in light of our
circumstances is hard to manage.
Long hours at the keyboard. Perhaps long
hours banging your head against the wall when the words don’t seem to be
flowing as they should. Managing two careers and likely a family. Wondering how
long you can keep up the pace of working two jobs (yes, writing is very much a
job) when one’s maybe not paying you as much as you thought it would. Yes, I
haven’t gotten a James Patterson paycheck. Wondering when, if ever, we’ll hit
it “big”. Wondering what “big” is?
I think, too, there is added pressure if
we consider ourselves Christian authors. Now, there’s a whole other level of
worrying/thinking. Is this what God wants me to write? Why did God take me down
this path if I can’t survive on this income? Am I writing when God wants me to
do something different? Am I still working my “real” (and paying) job when all
God wants me to do is write?
And so we look for God’s little lampposts along the path. Something—anything to affirm that this is the right, chosen path. That our typed words on a white screen would make a difference to someone, somewhere in a Godly way. That someone’s faith would be affirmed—strengthened. That maybe our words would give sense to what Jesus did on the cross in a way that someone could then believe in that sacrificial offering for their own lives.
Now, after being on this journey for a
couple of years—this is what I know for now. Sometimes these lampposts along
the path are not what we think they will be. Maybe my affirmation is not in
selling a gazillion copies of my book or hitting the bestseller lists.
But in a letter.
One of the smartest things I did as an
author was leave an e-mail address in my published books and ask readers to
e-mail when they finish with their thoughts. Some authors don’t do this for
fear of spamming, privacy, etc. You can list your own reasons.
So far, I haven’t received any
creeping/concerning e-mails. I have gotten over fifty letters from readers
which is nice when you’re also getting one star reviews (particularly on
Christmas Day—yes, that did happen!)
I’ve only sobbed over one letter—thus
far.
It was written by a woman who had just
finished Proof—my
debut medical thriller. Proof, at its
heart, is about Lilly Reeves, an ER doctor without faith and her journey to
coming to know Christ through a trial by fire series of events.
In the novel, a physician friend tells Lilly the story of Lazarus. How Jesus waited three days to respond to his good friends cries for help. At first, this seems unusually cruel. But in the end, when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus does a miracle he’s never performed before and gives a prelude to his own forthcoming sacrificial offering.
The letter that brought me to tears was
from a woman who was in the midst of her son being diagnosed with cancer. He’d
just been through the surgery to retrieve lymph nodes and the surgeon was
fairly certain of a lymphoma diagnosis—they were just waiting for the final
biopsy results. She specifically mentions this passage of the book and what it
meant to her at that moment – “. . .we are praying for healing for our son, but
completely trust him to God's plan, whatever that is . . .”
So humbling.
Remember, God communicated his presence
to us in two ways. Through his creation and through his words.
Typed words on a page.
Consider this and the smaller lampposts
along your path when you’re wondering exactly why you’re on this crazy writing
journey. Maybe it’s not for a James Patterson type paycheck.
But simply for a letter like this . . .
and the impact your words will have for one person.
Would this be enough for you to keep
going if God has placed the call to write on your heart?
Jordyn's Ah-hahs to Tweet:
Author Bio:
Jordyn Redwood is
a pediatric ER nurse by day, suspense novelist by night. She hosts Redwood’s
Medical Edge, a blog devoted to helping contemporary and historical
authors write medically accurate fiction. Her first two novels, Proof and Poison, garnered starred reviews
from Library Journal and have been endorsed by
the likes of Dr. Richard Mabry, Lynette Eason, and Mike Dellosso to name a few.
You can connect with Jordyn via her website at www.jordynredwood.net.
Additionally, you can read more about
POISON at:
Amazon Link Poison:
http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Bloodline-Trilogy-Jordyn-Redwood/dp/0825442125/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358291778&sr=1-1&keywords=poison+by+jordyn+redwood
Link to the first five chapters of
Poison: http://www.jordynredwood.net/resources/
“…I don’t think we as ‘Christian’ authors give
credit to how extraordinary our calling is.” (Click To Tweet)
“…God communicated his presence to us in two
ways. Through his creation and through his words.” (Click To Tweet)
What will sustain you “if God has placed the call
to write on your heart?” (Click To
Tweet)
