Friday, August 24, 2012

Jordyn Redwood: Thankful For The One Moments She's Graced With

Everyone's Story warmly welcomes debut author Jordyn Redwood. Involved in ACFW, I connected with Jordyn when I sought the answer to a medical dilemma I was having with one of my own characters in a novel. Jordyn, a pediatric ER nurse and a one-time marching band geek, is also the host of Redwood's Medical Edge, a blog devoted to helping authors with medical advice, not only helped me with great insights but also featured me on her blog
--a true honor. This week, I have the pleasure of reciprocating and highlighting an author who surely is on her way to having an exciting writing career. 

Jordyn shares with us a recent incident that has occurred to a close friend. When a near-tragedy happens, it gives new focus to what is meaningful in life. Jordyn has taken this experience and has applied it in some ways I'm sure you will find very close to your heart. Plus, she's offering a Giveaway of her novel PROOF.

Book Giveaway

Jordyn is offering one copy of her debut novel PROOF to one randomly chosen commenter. Please leave your email within the body of the comment for contact purposes only. The winner will be announced on 
Friday, August 31, between 4-5 PM EST.


Here's an Amazon blurb on PROOF:

Dr. Lilly Reeves is a young, accomplished ER physician with her whole life ahead of her. But that life instantly changes when she becomes the fifth victim of a serial rapist. Believing it's the only way to recover her reputation and secure peace for herself, Lilly sets out to find--and punish--her assailant. Sporting a mysterious tattoo and unusually colored eyes, the rapist should be easy to identify. He even leaves what police would consider solid evidence. But when Lilly believes she has found him, DNA testing clears him as a suspect. How can she prove he is guilty, if science says he is not?
                                   

That One Moment by Jordyn Redwood



As both a mom and a pediatric ER nurse, I recently got a call from a friend of mine (who is also both a mother of seven and ER nurse) that crushed me on all levels. As their family was packing up their belongings from a social gathering, her four-year-old wandered off.



I don't know what it is about water—but it draws curious youngsters like true north pulls at the compass’s needle and he fell into the pool when no one else was looking. The second thing I still haven’t discovered as a pediatric nurse, but understand as a mother, is that niggling that hits your gut to go check, go look, in the place that holds the worst-case scenario. My friend’s husband and another man, who was a family practice doctor, went to check the pool.

Of course, my friend first innocently thought that a child may have left something unwanted there until her husband dove in and pulled the lifeless body of her son from the bottom.

I've known Shellie for over a decade. We met as fellow nurses in the pediatric ICU and I know she is a wonderful mother and amazing nurse. And here it came—the culmination of all those years of training and experience coalescing into this one moment. As she put her lips to her son's lifeless purple ones—would he live or die? And if he lived—would he be the boy he was before?

Miraculously, she received back the same boy who took three minutes of CPR to revive.

When we chatted after the incident on the phone, as a mother, my heart broke. As a nurse, I understood the miracle that they had been given. As an author, you would think I would have all these amazing, insightful things to say and what I could muster was a prayer of thanksgiving and these words: "I think that was your one moment." If you’d like, you can read my friend’s account here.

What is that one moment? It’s that particular time in your life when "the universe lines up" and everything magically comes together for a good outcome. Personally, I call this God’s intervention. It's Sully landing that airplane on the Hudson River. If you've never read about his training background prior to that event, it quickly becomes clear that he was the man for the job!

The writing life is hard—there’re no two ways about it. On those days when you're staring at a blank computer screen, the cursor mocking your mind as you struggle to put words onto paper, I think it's fun to think about what "that one moment" in writing might be.

I'd read a post from author James Pence who'd published a book and after that, had struggled with sales. Let's just say he wasn't living the glory of a James Patterson writing career. Not yet been gifted a seventeen million dollar contract and he began to wonder if his whole foray into this writing life had been a big waste of his time.

Then he received a note from a gentleman whose house had burned to the ground. Whose family had been murdered. And when that man cried out to God for an answer, he found one burned page from James’s fiction novel about a man who’d also lost his wife and children and that page was hope for him. You can read James's talk about this amazing account here.

What I've learned is that each of our moments is going to look different. Some authors may grab the attention of the national media and others may only see an e-mail sent by a reader that was deeply touched by their novel. But what we shouldn't discount is the impact of that one moment and what it means for that one person. Both for the author and the reader.

I recently got a letter from a fellow RN that I'd never met who said she'd bought Proof mainly because she saw that it was written by a nurse. She loved the story so much that she felt it could be a bridge for an unbelieving co-worker to have a conversation about the Gospel.

I don't know—maybe that will be my one moment but I may not know until I see her in heaven.


Has something special in your life occurred to spur you to keep going? Come share with Jordyn--she looks forward to hearing from you.

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 debut novel, Proof, garnered a starred review from Library Journal and has 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.

You may also find Jordyn at:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001524971656
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5448455.Jordyn_Redwood
Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/jordynredwood/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/JordynRedwood


Please consider helping Everyone's Story by adding your name on the Guest Book Page: http://elainestock.blogspot.com/p/guest-book.html

31 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Tracey, nice to see you here on Everyone's Story! Isn't Jordyn's piece truly uplifting--she certainly has boosted my hopes, not just for my writing but all the way around.

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    2. Thank you so much, Tracey! And thanks for leaving a comment.

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  2. What an encouraging post! Thanks for sharing, Jordyn and Elaine. Please include me in the drawing. Thanks for your generosity, Jordyn. Blessings!

    reneeasmith61 [at] yahoo [dot] com

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    1. Thanks for the visit, Renee. Glad you enjoyed Jordyn's segment. I'm sure she'll be commenting shortly.

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    2. You are welcome, Renee! Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving a comment. Hope you have a great weekend.

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  3. What a great story. Thankfully my "on moment" is a happy one. The one moment a co-worker spoke five words to me that pushed me back to my computer as a writer. I'll never forget that "You gave up to soon" moment.

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    1. Sharon, I love this story. Glad you shared it with us--so encouraging!

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    2. Hi Sharon!

      I think we need to be sensitive to God's voice through others and what a blessing that was from your co-worker.

      I'll never forget what my aunt said to me once-- "You know you're going to be published someday." I had no reason why I earth she would make such a comment as I hadn't even finished my novel. Years before I found an agent.

      I still remember that moment to this day.

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  4. What a post this has been! Isn't God amazing! I thought for sure I was going to read that her son didn't make it and praying while I read that he did!

    The something special that occurred in my life was breast cancer 13 years ago. I was able to witness to so many people during this time. Two years ago I had to have a biopsy on the opposite breast. No malignancy! I just keep right on going with my eyes fixed on God!

    I would love to win a copy of Proof. This sounds like a real page turner.

    Blessings!
    Judy
    judyjohn2004(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi Judy...

      Wow-- thanks for sharing your story and may God continue to grant you years and years of living cancer free.

      Thanks so much for your comment.

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    2. Hi Judy, nice to see you again ♡ God is certainly working healing mercies in not only you but the people you've helped along the way. Blessings, my friend.

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  5. Elaine,

    Thanks so much for hosting me. It's an honor to be here!

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  6. Wonderful post:) Thanks for sharing Jordyn...what an amazing story:) Would love to win your debut book...it sounds interesting!

    blessings,
    Lorna

    lornafaith at gmail dot com

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    1. Lorna, glad you enjoyed Jordyn's special piece :)

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  7. Jordyn, this was such a beautiful post! The account of the man whose house burned brought tears to my eyes. God always has a plan, doesn't He?

    Your book sounds fabulous!

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    1. A warm hello, Jennifer. Jim Pence's story still amazes me (and man others--his guest appearance on my blog continues to receive tons of hits!). And now we can all be amazed and blessed by Jordyn's segment! Thanks for your visit.

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  8. Thanks Lorna and Jennifer for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the post! And yes, God always does have a plan. It's feeling peaceful in that plan that can be the challenge!

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    1. Jordyn--you're so right on the challenge of feeling peaceful in God's plan. Bottom line is that we must trust Him. I admit that my patience is a bit rusty, but I'm learning! Lately, I've come to realize that it's like show biz: there's so much rehearsal, planning, orchestration, etc. that must be put into a performance... and then you have to have the right audience for a favorable reception... I'm learning daily that God indeed knows what He's doing and when to do it and I'm very grateful.

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    2. Excellent way to look at it, Elaine.

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  9. Great post and insight. It's easy to become discouraged over life's issues that seem big, like getting a book contract or having a bestseller, but it's the moments when God shows His mercy through our lives to others that should encourage us all.

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    1. You're so right, Laura! Thanks for visiting Everyone's Story today.

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  10. Jordyn;
    I suppose my writing version of "that one moment" came days before I began my current writing project - my first novel.

    A gentleman I'd been conversing with on LinkedIn called me from England to encourage me to write. I wasn't writing at the time but had my eye on the upcoming National Novel Writing Month - his God-led international phone call was the nudge I needed. I had completed a 50,000 word draft by the end of November.

    I've spent the rest of this year (on and off) trying to make that "NaNoWriMo" effort into a readable draft worth sharing.

    It was while searching for medical info this evening that I found your blog and then discovered this site. Thanks, Elaine. I love it when "all things work together for good"!


    (Please place my email in for the giveaway of Proof! I'm at collier1960@hotmail.com)

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Collier. Looking forward to helping you on the medical questions!

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    2. Collier, I'm so happy that you visited Everyone's Story and hope you come back. Thanks for letting me know how you found this site as well.

      You just gave me one of those wonderful "Moments" by letting me know how this blog, and my wonderful guest, Jordyn Redwood, has encouraged you. Thanks for making my day!

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  11. I've been following Everyone's Story and Redwood's Medical Edge via email, and I find them both most intersting. Would love to win a copy of Jordyn's book!
    Pat
    pdyer3@cfl.rr.com

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    1. Hi Pat. Welcome back. I am so blessed to have you as a viewer ♡

      Do come back later to see Jordyn's reply back to you :)

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    2. Hi Pat!

      Thanks for following Redwood's. Glad that you are enjoying it. It's been fun getting to know Elaine's followers.

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  12. Another week wraps up on Everyone's Story, a week that marks change and new beginnings: a new season, back to school, different jobs and careers... and based upon the favorable comments Jordyn Redwood has received, and the number of comments, it's a sure thing to say that she's off to much success as an author! Jordyn, thank you so much for being my guest this past week. And thanks too for the lovely giveaway of your debut novel. I'll look forward to hosting you again next year.

    The winner of Jordyn Redwood's novel PROOF is Tracey Lyons. Congratulations, Tracey. A private email from Jordyn and I will go out to you shortly. Enjoy!

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    1. Elaine, thank you so much for hosting me. It's been a true honor being here with you and your readers.

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