Author Archives: Janet Sketchley

About Janet Sketchley

Janet Sketchley is an Atlantic Canadian writer whose Redemption’s Edge Christian suspense novels have each been finalists in The Word Awards. She's also the author of the devotional collection, A Year of Tenacity. Janet blogs about faith and books. She loves Jesus and her family, and enjoys reading, worship music, and tea. Fans of Christian suspense are invited to join her writing journey through her monthly newsletter: bit.ly/JanetSketchleyNews.

Review: Ransom in the Rock, by Yvonne Anderson

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Ransom in the Rock, by Yvonne Anderson (Yvonne Anderson, 2014)

Book 2 in the Gateway to Gannah series, Words in the Wind, ended with young Lileela critically injured. Her desperate father, Pik, sent her in the care of his father to his homeworld, Karkar. Ransom in the Rock is the story of Lileela’s return approximately ten years later, very much set in the Karkar ways and attitudes and viewing her native Gannah as barbaric and uncivilized.

Why didn’t her parents bring her home sooner? Why are they dragging her back now? Lileela’s struggles have given her more than the usual teen attitude. As she learns the truth about the delay, and as she rediscovers her love for her family and planet, Lileela still longs to get away.

But will anyone on the planet survive the treacherous Karkar plans?

And what about the group of genetically-engineered Earthers, AWOL from their military service and heading for Gannah?

Readers new to the series could begin with this book and get up to date fairly quickly, but it’s worth reading from the beginning if you have time. The premise behind the story is that while Jesus revealed Himself on Earth, God the Father set His story in the stars for all races to see and learn. The ancient Gannahans believed God’s message and turned from their warlike ways, but by then the Karkar considered them mortal enemies.

Gannah is Eden-like, and the few citizens with Old Gannahan blood have an organ called a meah that allows God to speak directly to their spirits (they know Him as the Yasha, but His Earth name is Jesus). The meah also links them telepathically with others who have the organ. The people live simply and follow a strict, honour-based code reminiscent of the Old Testament laws.

In current North America, we don’t appreciate strong authority figures, submission to husbands or parents, or honour/shame-based discipline. The character of Pik, himself a Karkar but also a follower of the Yasha and married to a Gannahan, gives readers someone we can relate to. Pik lives the Gannahan way, but at times he still isn’t comfortable with aspects of it. He accepts what he doesn’t understand for the sake of those around him who value the lifestyle.

On the outside, Gannahans resemble Earthers. The Karkars look different: tall, stiff-faced, six fingered and “alien.” I find it interesting that it’s the Karkars who echo the worst of humanity, while the Gannahans give a glimpse of what we could be. Lots to make us think in this book, yet nothing feels heavy or preachy.

Favourite lines:

Captain Abdul-Malik’s orders made the stuffy briefing room feel chill. Planted a bitter nut in his belly that sent roots downward and branches upward and filled his whole being with dread. [Kindle location 250]

“Every-one who believes in God thinks He’s on their side.” He stopped tapping. “But it’s not a question of whether He’s on our side. The issue is, are we on His? Do we live in obedience? Do our actions and attitudes honor Him, or make Him ashamed of us?” [Kindle location 1000]

I’ve been enjoying this series and I’m glad there’s another book in the works to complete it. To learn more about author Yvonne Anderson and her writing, visit Y’s Words. You can read the opening chapter to Ransom in the Rock here.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Choosing to Trust God

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In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4, NIV*

Did you ever struggle with this verse? David repeats it twice in this psalm, so we know it’s important.

Maybe it’s my fiction-writer’s imagination. Maybe it’s some of the books I’ve read, or the news footage I’ve seen, but whenever I’ve seen the question “What can mere mortals do to me?” my mind started making a list.

We know that our fellow humans can do some terrible things. How could we not fear the worst-case scenarios? Sometimes God lets these things happen, even to His own.

I couldn’t believe this verse. Doubting left me feeling guilty.

This time through the psalm, God alerted me to the context of the verse. This is David writing, David who has been promised by God that he will be Israel’s next king.

At this point in David’s life, he’s on the run from the present king, Saul. Yes, David is afraid. Saul has a large, well-equipped army, and only wants one thing: David, dead.

But God has promised. Because of that, David can reassure himself. Clearly, Saul isn’t as strong as God, and God’s plans will be fulfilled. In light of that, what can mere mortals do to him?

The context liberates me, prompts me instead of doubting to consider: What has God promised me? Where is He directing me? What obstacles are blocking my path, where I can pray in confidence for God’s intervention in His best timing and in His own way?

Even without physical enemies, the “stuff” in life looms large, and pressures can hunt us like King Saul chased David. In our families, work and volunteer duties, home care, and many other areas—we can pray in confidence that, if we’re in God’s will, His purpose for us will be fulfilled. Now that I can believe, although at times it takes a spiritual battle to do so.

God who keeps His promises and whose purposes will be fulfilled, we praise and thank You for the privilege of being Your children and of living for Your glory. Forgive our doubts and stumbling, and remind us that Your plans for us are good. Help us see where we’ve accepted fear or defeat when You wanted us to take courage in Your strength. Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief.

∞

A good song to sing in prayer when we’re struggling with this is Matt Redman‘s “Never Once.”

Review: Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: from Eden to the Ark, by Steve Vernon

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Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: from Eden to the Ark, by Steve Vernon (Stark Raven Press, 2014)

Author Steve Vernon is a storyteller, and what richer source of tales than the Bible? With biblical literacy ebbing, a fresh delivery of the classic stories may be just what people need to spark an interest.

Uncle Bob is the flannel-shirt-wearing narrator, telling his nephew about the action running through what the youngster thinks of as a dry book. (Bob nabs him escaping from Sunday School.) Uncle Bob promises:

The Bible is full of battles and death-defying escapes and lions and even a dragon or two. There is war and there are heroes and there is more special effects than you could shake a star cruiser at. [Introduction]

I picture Uncle Bob as a cross between Red Green and Bill Cosby’s Noah routine, but a bit more off-the-wall. Bob’s interpretation of the classic Bible stories from creation to Noah plays a bit loosely with the facts, and he throws in plenty of nods to current culture. In his own crusty way, he tries to disprove the folks who claim the Bible is down on women (although he’s perturbed that many Old Testament ladies aren’t named.)

Here’s how the author describes Uncle Bob:

Uncle Bob is just a little teapot of a man with the sort of question mark slump in his shoulders, a breath that smells a little of tobacco and Listerine, and a belly-bulge… [Introduction]

Can’t you see—and smell—him? Steve Vernon has a definite talent for painting 3-D word pictures.

If you don’t like offbeat humour, this is not the book for you. It’s not for children, but teens and adults will find some chuckles and the occasional insight.

Two of my favourites:

Chapter 1: [as God created light] I prefer to think of the light as shining right out of God like it was part of him that he was allowing us to share in.

Chapter 3: Once a body gets to wondering, sooner or later they are bound to wander.

Some readers will find the book irreverent. If that’s you, give it a miss. I’m sure the author—and rustic Uncle Bob—means no offense.

Personally, I chalk those moments up to Uncle Bob’s hyperbole and his figures of speech. What he’s trying to do is personalize God to the nameless nephew in the context of men the boy would know from his community. Much like the Huron Carol casts the Nativity in a North American winter setting with the Great Spirit.

The two spots most likely to cause contention are when Uncle Bob refers to God having a cigarette (stopping to rest after the work of creation) and cussing (Bob’s clumsy attempt to set up a joke). The Bible reveals God as holy and majestic, and we know He wouldn’t literally do either of these things, but I think He’s also big enough that He’d see the intended humour and not see contempt or disrespect. I mention this in detail, though, because different readers have different sensitivities to this sort of thing, and life’s too short to waste reading something that makes a person angry.

The book gave me a few smiles, and that quote I shared about the light blessed my spirit. I hope Uncle Bob can encourage readers to check into the Bible for themselves.

I really enjoyed Steve Vernon’s young adult book, Sinking Deeper Or My Questionable (Possibly Heroic) Decision to Invent a Sea Monster. Most of his fiction is in the horror genre, which is out of my range. For more about the author, visit his blog, Yours in Storytelling.

Steve Vernon’s intent is to produce a string of Uncle Bob books to touch on the remaining highlights of the biblical narrative, and book two, Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: from Babel to Bulrushes, is now available. There’s also Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: Genesis for Kindle, which combines Eden to the Ark and Babel to Bulrushes.

[Kobo review copy from my personal library.]

Lee Brandt from On the Pineapple Express

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Today we meet Lee Brandt, one of the characters from H. L. Wegley‘s suspense novel, On the Pineapple Express.

Janet: Welcome, Lee, and thanks for taking time to join us. I’m writing these questions before reading your story, so forgive me if I blunder over something that should be obvious. This way I can’t accidentally toss out a spoiler. Let’s start with the basics: tell us what you look like, and what you do for a living.

Lee: Here’s a picture of me. Photo of Lee Brandt I’ve never been very good at descriptions. Jenn says my eyes usually have an intense look … except when I’m teasing her. That’s what tells her I’m not serious. But you asked about my work. I recently jumped ship from computer systems development back to Meteorology, my first career. I’m a partner in a weather consulting firm doing specialized weather forecasting for our clients.

Janet: I understand you’re engaged—and that you met your fiancée through a cyber investigation. Could you tell us a bit about that? And is it true she’s brilliant? How easy is that to live with?

Lee: Jennifer? Yeah, she’s brilliant. Has an IQ a few points above Einstein, so you don’t want to challenge her to a game of chess … or to a deadly game of wits. She’s an Internet forensics specialist. If you’re a bad dude collaborating on the net, she can find you, all your partners, and what you’re up to. Our mentor, Howie, uh, Dr. Martin, sent her to help me with a computer security problem and her probing into a cyber espionage plot nearly got us killed. That’s how I got to know her. And, as long as you’re completely honest with Jennifer, believe it or not she’s easy to live, even for someone like me, a man from the dregs of the genius barrel.

Janet: I also hear Jennifer is good with a gun. That’s not something I expect of a computer genius. How about you, Lee? What’s your comfort level with danger?

Lee: When you’re small, young looking, and beautiful, like Jenn, you sometimes attract men you’d rather not have around. One of those types stalked her and he had some really bad intentions. He’s behind bars now and walks with a permanent limp. She hits what she aims at. But danger … when I accept it on my terms, I can live with a little danger. However, when it comes at you unexpectedly, and threatens someone you love, I can get a little crazy if I don’t get on my knees first. Even after I do, I can still get a little crazy. Jenn can vouch for that.

Janet: On the Pineapple Express is the second time you and Jennifer have faced death together. Has it been easy working with such a strong-willed and perhaps impetuous woman?

Lee: Strong-willed. Yeah, that’s Jennifer if she knows she’s right. But she only seems impetuous. By the time my mind catches up to what she’s thinking, she’s already thought it through and made a decision, a carefully weighed decision. We both have strengths such that we complement each other. Together, we make an awesome team. At least I think so.

Janet: Is it true you’re also a man of prayer? How does that play out in your life?

Lee: Prayer, 10 years of it, brought me a soul mate after I had given up on finding anyone. God does things right, doesn’t He? He allowed me to introduce Jennifer to Himself. I’ve been privileged to do that with some other people too. I’m something of a self-taught apologist who enjoys answering questions like, if God exists, how can He be good when He allows so much evil in the world? That’s one agnostics like to throw at me. Or, how can you believe all those myths and legends about Jesus? Sorry. I got a little carried away. But, as you can see, I’m pretty good at apology. J

Janet: Your first story was Hide and Seek, but there’s even more at stake this time: the lives of those girls about to be sold into slavery. If I’ve got this right, Jennifer found out about this operation but the FBI say there’s not enough to go on—so you and she are going to take on a human trafficking ring by yourselves?

Lee: Take on the ring by ourselves. It sounds a little crazy when you word it like that, but taking on heavily armed traffickers wasn’t our intent. Jennifer believed that the holding location was an abandoned mill on the Olympic Peninsula, but the Peninsula is dotted with old mill sites. We did some research to locate sawmills and simply wanted to find a site with some squatters living on it, then sic the Feds on them. But the storm got in the way, isolating us. If the girls were going to be saved, our options for doing so were reduced to only one or two, and they didn’t include FBI support.

Janet: Where do you have to go to rescue them? And is it true there’s a major storm heading that way?

Lee: The old mill sites are strung out along the coastal road, Highway 101, on the outer Olympic Peninsula. A beautiful place when the sun is shining. Using satellite pictures, we found 5 candidate sites that we planned to visit … very cautiously. The Pineapple Express, the heavy rainstorm, presented some problems, mainly flooding. But the greatest danger came from a windstorm forming near the coastline. This storm didn’t move in. It developed in something called explosive cyclogenesis. It’s unusual in the Pacific Northwest and, by the time the computer models picked it up, we had barely 24-hours advance warning about the hurricane-strength winds.

Janet: How likely is it you’ll pull this off?

Lee: Twenty-four hours notice still gave us time to visit all 5 mill sites. The odds were in our favour. But then we encountered several delays, and the clock became a major factor in what had become a deadly game. Jennifer’s certainty about God wanting her to find the girls was the only thing that kept us in a game, a game where our odds of winning had become long.

Janet: What scares you more than anything?

Lee: What scares me to death is that Jennifer might try to sacrifice her life for mine in the hope that I would survive to contact the authorities so they could stop the sale of the girls. If I lost her after waiting 10 years for someone like her to come along … I can’t let my mind go there.

Janet: If you could say one thing to H. L. Wegley, what would it be?

Lee: Good old H. L… Janet, you did know that he and I have similar resumes, right? And the stuff I did in Hide and Seek, much of it he did years ago, but he swore me to secrecy on the details. What would I say to him? Probably this—H. L., I can never thank you enough for bringing me Jennifer. But if you put us in one more predicament like this, I’m going to pray that you get the worst case of writer’s block you’ve ever had—maybe a permanent case.

Janet: I hear you! If you and Jennifer survive this crisis, do you hope life settles down, or are you developing a taste for adventure?

Lee: Taste for adventure? You’ve got to be kidding! I want to marry Jenn and go on a long honeymoon in Maui where nothing bad ever happens. Walk barefoot in the sand on Keawakapu Beach, watching the Moon over Maalaea Bay.

Janet: Describe your idea of a perfect day.

Lee: I can see the perfect day now. Jenn and I pull our snorkelling gear on in the morning sun on Maui’s Ulua Beach and then plunge into 80-degree water, where brilliantly colored tropical fish swarm around us while we swim hand-in-hand above a coral reef in one of the most beautiful settings in all of creation.

Janet: Thanks for chatting, Lee. And I hope you and Jennifer can rescue those girls and save your own lives too—and enjoy a beautiful, safe time in Maalaea Bay, although I have a suspicion it won’t be as calm as you’d like.

===

For more about the author and the Pure Genius series, visit H.L. Wegley’s website.

H. L. Wegley has a related post, “Fear, Courage and Foolishness” at Inner Source, and you can read interviews with Jennifer Akihara at Ralene Burke’s site and Fay Lamb’s site. You can read my review of On the Pineapple Express here.

On the Pineapple Express, by H.L. Wegley

In one of the most beautiful places on earth the ugliest of crimes holds young, innocent lives in its evil grip. An intercepted cell-phone call from a remote area on the Olympic Peninsula tells beautiful, brilliant NSA researcher, Jennifer Akihara, a group of girls will soon be sold into slavery by human traffickers. She enlists her fiancé, Lee Brandt, to help find the holding location and convince the FBI to intervene. With the clock ticking off the last few hours before both the sale of the girls and the arrival of a deadly storm, and with international criminals pursuing them, can Jennifer and Lee save the girls, or will their wedding plans be cancelled … permanently?

Is God Enough?

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“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

1 Samuel 1:8, NLT*

In a culture that measured a woman’s worth by her fertility, Hannah was barren—and her husband’s other wife twisted that knife as often as possible.

This verse always made me want to smack Elkanah. He loved Hannah, but how could he be so clueless? How could he not understand the pain of Hannah’s longing? Not pick up on her rival’s smugness?

Last week’s post made me see this passage differently. If we’re trusting in God’s unfailing love instead of in self-pity, anger, anxiety, whatever—if we can grasp just a bit of God’s love, won’t we say it’s enough?

What if Elkanah and Hannah are a picture of God and us? Don’t we often hold onto other desires—real, deep and painful—instead of being satisfied by all that God is? The irony is, we can’t discover His depths while we’re focused on what we don’t have.

I’m not trying to minimize our longings. Love, employment, children, publication, whatever it is that’s the empty place in our hearts, these things matter. Some longings, like Hannah’s, are God-planted. He’ll fulfil those. Others, equally strong, He won’t. And we won’t know why. Or which are which, until some come to fruition.

The lesson for me is this: we need to trust His unfailing love. We need to let God be enough for us in the now.

God our Provider, our Sustainer and Redeemer, forgive us for letting unmet longings take our hearts away from You. Teach us to trust Your unfailing love, and open our spirits to realize that You are enough. Please fill what’s empty in us and help us trust You with the desires of our hearts.

∞

Let Chris Tomlin remind us of these truths with his song, “Enough“.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins

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Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins (Challow Press, 2014)

Life looks like it’s finally coming together for 30-something Delanie Miller. She’s living in a nice Kentucky town, she has friends and her boyfriend is giving signals that he’s ready to propose. With no family of her own, Delanie has assembled one by inviting a few other loners to share her home.

When a friend is murdered, Delanie has to find the truth—or an innocent man will go to jail. That’s something she absolutely can’t allow. Even if it destroys the life she’s worked so hard to build.

Sidetracked is two stories in one: Delanie’s fight to find her friend’s killer, and the events that shattered her teen years and brought her to this place, alone. Both plot threads find closure at the end.

Delanie and her housemates are engaging and quirky. I took a special liking to Pete, the older man who appoints himself as a surrogate grandfather. He spent his working life as a train engineer and he overflows with interesting anecdotes.

I always enjoy Brandilyn Collins’ suspense novels, with strong characters and fast-paced plots. I’ve read enough of them now to know I can trust this author to deliver a crackling tale that’s realistic but that won’t traumatize me. This one jumped to the top of my reading list when I bought it, and it’s a great read.

Favourite lines:

Some say memory blurs when you’re shocked beyond belief. Not mine. I still remember every detail of that moment. Kindle location 140

Evidence was a fluid word, manufactured in a suspicious cop’s mind, packaged by a skillful attorney in court. Kindle location 478

Sidetracked is award-winning author Brandilyn Collins‘ newest Seatbelt Suspense® novel. Visit the author’s website to learn more about Brandilyn Collins and her other books. For more about Sidetracked, visit the book’s page, where you can read chapter 1.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Guest Post: My Identity is Broken

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My Identity is Broken

By Jessica Everingham

Insignificance. Failure.

Few words chill me like those two. I hate them even more than doing my taxes.

Why?

I’ll tell you, though I know this story won’t put me in the best light.

I’ve always enjoyed that there was something a little different about me. In school, it was simply that I was bright and everything came easily. After school, it was my job as a journalist. Everyone thought that was interesting.

Now I’m a boarding school mistress and aspiring author. The school doesn’t pay very well, but I love the kids and it allows me time to write. Besides, very few people work in boarding schools or write books—and I do both. I like that. I’m also still a volunteer journalist and spent the past weekend working on the media team at the Easterfest music festival. People paid attention to the media lanyard around my neck. It was cool.

But this week I’m having to face a fact: my part-time job and ‘unpaid career’ aren’t making any money. And since I’ve had no luck getting back into paid journalism, I need to go do something boring like flip burgers or answer phones. Anything that pays.

I don’t like the thought of having a boring job. But what I really hate is the possibility that if I never get my novels published, the boring job could be my whole career. I could be a completely normal, nothing-unusual-about-her, regular old person.

[Insert gagging here.]

It’s a sobering thought, but so is the fact that my identity is way more wrapped up in my work than I realized.

I only posted about God and identity a few months ago on my own blog. It was actually the first post I wrote that started attracting views. It kick-started my blogging journey. Yet here I am four months later, realizing that without an ‘interesting’ job my sense of identity is shattered.

I also know, deep down in myself, that my writing career probably isn’t going to move very far forward until I sort this thing out. I can feel God prodding, showing me where I need to change. And I know that if I get the ‘success’ I crave tomorrow, it could easily destroy me.

If I had overnight success, my identity would only become further intertwined with my career. I would become proud. I would also dread the day when my book sales dropped and I moved from the ‘successful’ category to ‘has-been’. That fear would motivate me to put writing ahead of relationships and even God. And on the day when my fear came true, it would sink me into the depths of despair.

That’s not a future I want.

I already know that God wants my identity to be in Him. Why else would He say,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”? (Mk 12:30 NIV, emphasis mine).

He wants all of me. And if I was as focused on God as what that verse says, I wouldn’t be so worried about my own sense of identity.

If that verse isn’t enough, here’s another:

“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 10:39 NIV)

Would I be happy to lose myself, if God asked? Could I walk away from my computer and writing career?

With my current mindset, that would be pretty difficult. Since I don’t like the thought of being dependent on a job for my sense of self-worth, I think it’s time to change.

Which is all well and good, but…how?

Well, Jesus tells us that ‘apart from Me you can do nothing’. (John 15:5 NIV) So Step One is asking God for His continued help. And while I’m at it, I’ll ask Him to keep pointing out these areas where I need to change.

Step Two will be keeping the above verses in my mind. I need to spot those wrong thoughts when they come and use the Sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) to stab, slice and dice them away. It might take a while, but we’ll get there.

It almost seems silly for me to let go of my drive to succeed. After all, ‘success’ is our holy grail. The people we most admire are the ones who have success in their families, businesses, ministries and general life.

But in the long run, I know this is going to be freeing. I’m still going to work hard. But if things don’t pan out, I will know my life is still significant, because it’s been spent in relationship with God. I won’t be weighed down by my fear of failure or my dread of insignificance. I’ll have the courage to just be God’s follower—nothing more, nothing less.

And that is both the most humble position and highest honor in the world.

Photography by Kali Brumpton

Jessica Everingham is a journalist, blogger, boarding school mistress and aspiring author. She is 22 and lives in sunny Queensland, Australia. She loves connecting with people via her blog, Consumed By Him, Facebook, and Twitter (@JessEveringham). Come say hi!

How to Thrive

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But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
Psalm 52:8, NLT*

What’s the context of this psalm? David is warning an enemy that the man will get what’s coming from God for his evil deeds. Not in the sense of retaliation, but cause and effect: Doeg’s crimes will meet justice.

David isn’t bitter about the betrayal—if he were, he wouldn’t be thriving in God’s presence. Instead, David is trusting in God’s unfailing love to care for him.

What would that look like in our lives, if we always trusted in God’s love? And if we trusted in the rest of His character attributes?

Instead of bitterness and blame: peace. Yes, God will judge the offender if that person doesn’t come to Him for forgiveness. But closer to home, God will be enough for us.
Instead of self-pity: security. Jesus loves us. He’ll never abandon us.
Instead of fear or anxiety: assurance. The all-powerful God of the universe has a plan for us. We may not see how He’ll do it, but He will work all things out for good in the end.

If I could live this way—if we could—it would be thriving indeed.

Merciful God whose love is unfailing and extravagant, help us in our limited belief. Increase our faith, increase our desire for Your presence. Teach us to thrive in You and to always trust You.

∞

Let Brian Doerksen‘s song, “Your Faithfulness,” remind us to trust God.

Review: Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie

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Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie (Amazon Digital Services, 2012)

A Canadian Forces wife whose husband is deployed overseas, Stella Brigg’s life wraps around their three-year-old daughter, Alexis.

One clear autumn day, the unthinkable happens. Alexis disappears from the local playground, with no witnesses.

Stella had only turned her back for a minute, but now she’s full of self-reproach—and full of blame for her friend, Joni, who suggested the park play date.

Alexis has no fear of strangers, which helped her kidnapper get away. At age two, a bout with meningitis left the little girl unable to speak or to hear. Alexis is used to strangers from her time in the hospital, and she and her family are still learning to communicate through sign language.

I’m a total wimp about reading about crimes against children, but author R. A. Giggie handles this story so well that I was never afraid to turn the page. It helps that we see Alexis with her captor, a young woman hired to provide a child for a black market adoption.

So many times in the story, the searchers’ paths cross—or just miss—the kidnapper’s as she moves Alexis from one location to another. Alone and desperate, Stella senses God whispering “trust Me.” But how can she trust the one who allowed her daughter to go deaf?

Kind citizens, Christian and non, reach out to Stella, but the only help she wants is to have her daughter home again. Stella’s Plea touches a parent’s worst nightmare, but gently, in a way that tugs the heart but won’t keep you awake all night worrying.

Author R. A. Giggie blogs at reneeanngiggie.com, and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Character interview: Pam Lake

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Pam Lake is the heroine in the newest novel in The Women of Valley View series by Sharon Srock. Pam’s story releases this month.

Janet: Pam, thanks for visiting us today. It sounds like you have a great group of friends in Valley View. You’ve given your support to Callie and Terri in their stories, but how does it feel to be in the spotlight yourself?

Pam: Janet, thanks for having me. Being in the spotlight is not something I would have chosen for myself. It was tough to share the secrets of my past, even with my friends.

Janet: Let’s start with some surface chatter. I know you’re divorced, remarried to a loving man. Do you have children? A job outside the home? Hobbies?

Pam: I have two children with my first husband. Jeremy is the oldest. Then I have a daughter, Megan. They are not quite 14 months apart. I work four days a week in my husband’s law office doing computer research. It’s great to have a three day weekend each week. As far as hobbies go, I’m not a crafty type person, but I do love to cook.

Janet: And tell us a bit about Valley View. Where is it located, and what are some of the things you most appreciate about living there?

Pam: Well, Valley View is the name of our church. We live in Garfield, Oklahoma. Garfield is a small town in the central part of the state. I think the thing I appreciate the most is just the sense of community we have. We care about each other.

Janet: It sounds like you’re facing a life-changing struggle. Are there some wounds in your past that might not be as healed as you think?

Pam: Divorce always leaves wounds behind. I don’t think you can ever be so happy in a second or third marriage that it completely wipes away the baggage of the past. This is only multiplied if you have children with an ex-spouse. You will always have to find a way to deal with the ex for the sake of the children.

Janet: You have good friends who will stand by you. Do you also have a faith to help you through this crisis?

Pam: I thought I did. What I’ve come to realize is that the unforgiveness in my heart was just like a nasty, sticky clog in a drain pipe. I was trying to live a life of faith on the tiny drips of faith that managed to flow past the clog. Once I allowed God to flush the unforgiveness out of my system I discovered what I’d been missing for the last four years.

Janet: Tell us the truth: is it possible your abusive ex has changed? Or is this just more manipulation?

Pam: I think God’s love can change anyone. I wanted to believe that Alan was excluded from that, but he isn’t.

Janet: Do you want him to have changed? If he has, what does that mean for you? And what would it take to convince you?

Pam: You know, I honestly didn’t think it mattered. I have Harrison in my life now. But it didn’t take long for me to start dumping the baggage of the past onto someone who didn’t deserve it. I had to forgive Alan in order to fully love again. I don’t have to be convinced, I just have to leave it in God’s hands.

Janet: Even if Alan hasn’t changed, can you forgive him? Forgiveness doesn’t mean what he did was right, but letting go could help heal some of your pain. Easier said than done, I know!

Pam: Like I said, There comes a time when you just have to give it to God. Alan could never heal the wounds his words inflicted. But God could, and did, once I asked him to take the pain away.

Janet: I really hope things work out for you, Pam, and I’m glad you have a good support network.

===

Pam’s divorce broke her heart. The cruelty of her ex-husband broke her spirit. A bottle of sleeping pills almost took her life. Four years later the scars of Alan Archer’s emotional abuse are beginning to fade under the love of her new husband. When Alan returns to Garfield, Pam must learn that buried secrets and carefully cultivated indifference do not equal forgiveness.

Alan Archer has returned to Garfield with a new wife and a terminal heart condition. His mission? To leave a Christian legacy for his children and to gain Pam’s forgiveness for the sins of his past.

Two hearts hang in the balance waiting for the delicate touch of God’s healing hands.

Purchase links for The Women of Valley View: Pam
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Pelican Book Group

Author Sharon Srock went from science fiction to Christian fiction at slightly less than warp speed. Twenty five years ago, she cut her writer’s teeth on Star Trek fiction. Today, she writes inspirational stories that focus on ordinary women using their faith to accomplish extraordinary things. Sharon lives in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma with her husband and three very large dogs. Her books include: The Women of Valley View: Callie and The Women of Valley View: Terri. The Women of Valley View: Pam released 11 April 2014.

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Free PDF: MEET THE WOMEN OF VALLEY VIEW

Free Novella: FOR MERCIE’S SAKE