FREE OFFER! - read the interview below to see terms.

The Prescience 

By Lorilyn Roberts

Inspirational Young Adult Fantasy

Print: $14.95

EBook: $.99

November, 2017

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About the book:

Seventh Dimension – The Prescience, A Young Adult Fantasy, is the fifth book in the Seventh Dimension Series that combines contemporary, historical, and fantasy elements into a Christian “coming-of-age” story. When bombs fall on Jerusalem, Shale and Daniel rescue an orphan and return to the first century. Amid supernatural tribulation, they hope to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Daniel’s father and the goal of the New World Order. When multiple realities collide, God reveals once again time is an illusion until the appointed times.

Lisa Lickel's review:

This is so far my favorite of the series. Although you do want to know what went before, it’s not necessary in order to immerse yourself in this story’s possibly real near future—the big one, where no one survives. The series takes a contemporary young lady, Shale, on journeys back in time, mostly to the biblical time of Christ where she experiences life in the first century AD. She meets and falls in love with a young man whose family is involved in the time portals responsible for these adventures. Shale and Daniel are on an ever-increasingly amazing rush toward the biblical end times.

Daniel knows he’s one of the special chosen, the 144,000 Jews of the book of Revelation, who will make the final stand against evil. He’s in love and wants to marry Shale. Problem, besides needing to find his father who may or may not be part of the events, is that the chosen are men who have not been with a woman—unmarried, or virgins. He needs to respect his calling, as well as Shale. This leads to a new phase in their relationship as they travel back to biblical times and other traumatic eras to unravel family secrets.

Temptation, more chariot racing, supernatural powers, good guys, bad guys, scary guys, and time dancing all make this thrilling next-to-last edition of The Seventh Dimension series a great inspirational read.

Told through multiple viewpoints, The Seventh Dimension series is geared for Young Adult readers, but anyone will enjoy the books. The Prescience is part of a series.

An interview with Lorilyn Roberts:

Question:  You’re near the end of the Seventh Dimension Series. Share with us some of the challenges and joys of writing a series.

Lorilyn:  The joys far outweigh the challenges. I’ve enjoyed spending the last five years with these characters talking to me in my head. The overarching story compelled me to search for answers to questions that arose as the series progressed. I wanted everything to be as historically accurate as possible. Many afternoons and evenings were spent reading the Bible and Christian nonfiction books, and I’ve watched dozens of YouTube videos about hard-to-understand topics like the Book of Revelation. Young people who read a lot have probably read scores of books about vampires, dragon slayers, and witches. I wanted to raise the bar. I wanted realism in my series, but I also wanted a taste of fantasy because that opens possibilities.

Writing the Seventh Dimension Series has allowed me to explore far more than could be covered in just one book. With only The Howling left to complete the six-book series, I’m looking especially forward to finishing it. I believe the ending will capture the reader’s heart, mind, and imagination. I never thought when I wrote the first book, Seventh Dimension – The Door, that I would end up writing six in the series. God kept showing me insights and great plotlines, so I just kept writing.

Probably the biggest challenge has been keeping track of what the two protagonists knew and when they learned it. Three books have been written from Shale’s POV and three will have been written from Daniel’s POV when the sixth book is finished. So they learned different things at different times and interpreted things differently from each other. So I’ve had to go back and re-read chapters along the way to make sure my memory was accurate. When I do that, I’ll find something that I think could have been written better. So I never quit editing my own work, even after the book is published, and that drives me crazy. I want my writing to be perfect, but there probably has never been a perfect book written except the Bible.

Question: Do you have a favorite scene in The Prescience?

Lorilyn:  I have one scene that’s particularly special to me. It’s a garden scene where Shale and Daniel are waiting in the train. The scene comes from something in my own life. When I was seven, my adoptive father wanted to take me on a train trip to see the fall colors in the North Georgia Mountains, but the train never left the station because of a broken coupler. Through the years, from time to time, I would think about that train trip that we never finished, wistfully longing that someday we would. Then, when I was thirty-seven, Gene was diagnosed with a brain tumor that we knew he wouldn’t survive. Through a series of events God orchestrated, we had the opportunity to make that train trip shortly before he went to heaven.

While the scene in the book has no direct correlation to that, the broken coupler happens in the story, and what Shale learns through waiting is something God has been trying to teach me my whole life. I’m just a slow learner. Because it’s such an unusual scene, I think readers will remember it long after they read the book. At least I hope so.

Question:  You’ve been through a life challenge while working on this story. Has your experience changed your writing style?

Lorilyn:  Absolutely. I wrote the first couple of chapters at the end of December 2016 and was diagnosed with breast cancer the first week in January. I wrote like crazy through January and February to get the first draft completed before my surgery on February 22. All I could think about was if I didn’t survive the surgery, I wanted the story to “live on.” I was still consumed with it after my surgery because I didn’t quite get the first draft completed, and then when I got to ninety thousand words, I realized I couldn’t complete the story in one book. It would have to be stretched into two. So I slowed down and began editing, editing, and editing—and finally relaxed. I began to realize God wasn’t in a hurry for me to complete it. He wanted me to make the most of each day, rest in His arms, so to speak, through my treatment, and give Him the glory for every trial I encountered along the way.

I remember many, many years ago, when I was about ten, I read a book that I’ve never forgotten. I can’t remember the title or the author, but the plotline was about a young girl who was in a hurry to grow up. She got her wish and grew up really, really fast, but she regretted it in the end because she missed out on so many things.

As I’ve gone through this last year, I found I couldn’t rush the treatments. I had to take each day as it came, and make the most of it. If I wasn’t up to writing, I didn’t feel guilty. If I couldn’t blog as much, which I definitely couldn’t, it was okay. So I’ve learned, I think, to be more patient, to take my time, not work as much, get more sleep, and spend more time with friends and family. I love to write, and it draws me near to God when I do, but God wants me to find my joy in Him completely. I can’t do that if I’m in a hurry all the time. That means taking the time and not living under compulsion to accomplish something every single minute of the day. Psalm 46:10 says: “Be still and know that I am God.” God made me slow down, and to be honest, I think it’s made me a better person. I have more defined boundaries.

Instead of captioning seven days a week, I now caption only five and a half. I’m on a daily reading schedule to read through the Bible in a year. I went to see a movie with my prayer group, the first one I’ve been to in at least five years. My daughters and I have gone to three theme parks in the last couple of months. I’m learning how to live again and not work all the time. How does that translate into writing? I think it makes me more productive when I do write. I’m not so tired and not so drained. It’s hard to be creative when you’re working night and day, seven days a week.

Question:  Can you share a hint about what we might expect for the next book in the Seventh Dimension Series?

Lorilyn:  The final book, Seventh Dimension – The Howling, is written from Daniel’s POV and takes place in the future. All the characters that have been introduced in the previous books will make an appearance, including the animals. The fate of all the main players will be revealed, and the reader will be left with much to ponder as he contemplates his own future. I also promise this:  The ending will be glorious!

Question:  What are you reading now?

Lorilyn:  Currently I’m reading Gone Missing from Emma Right’s Dead Dreams Series, and when I finish that, I want to read The Landlord by Cheryl Colwell. I’ve read books by both Indy authors and like their style of writing. If readers have authors they love who write suspense, mystery, or fantasy, I hope they will leave their recommendations in the comments section below. If I see one I decide to pick up on Amazon, I’ll send him or her a free coupon for a Kindle copy of Seventh Dimension - The Prescience as a thank you. 

About the author:

Lorilyn Roberts graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in 1993 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities/Social Sciences. She won an award for "Outstanding Senior Project" upon graduation for her coursework that was done at the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. Ms. Roberts received her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Perelandra College and is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature. Follow her Facebook Fan Page, https://www.facebook.com/LorilynFanPage/, and visit her website, http://www.lorilynroberts.com

The Seventh Dimension series with Lorilyn Roberts' The City

The City by Lorilyn Roberts

Paperback $12.95

ISBN-13: 978-1523887910

Buy on amazon US

About the book:

The Illuminati want Shale’s ancient scrolls and they’ll stop at nothing to find them. Shale and Daniel will stop at nothing to protect them. The battle rages from Jerusalem to Shambhala in search of Daniel’s father. With the apocalypse looming, Shale must choose between mortal love and immortality.

My review:

This fourth entry into the Seventh Dimension series brings the battle against good and evil back to Earth. Although I'm a bit weary of treating public high school science teachers as the bad guy, I trust Roberts's story-telling skills enough to move on from a dramatic opening in class to the reunion of Shale and Daniel as they pick up the search for Daniel's father in contemporary Israel and Asia. Strangely, Shale's biological father is the face of a deeper conspiracy in the hunt for a closely guarded secret behind the physical means to cross the barriers of time--but what this will mean for the rapidly approaching Armageddon and whether mankind can shut out God will become an intergalactic issue, as much as a challenge to our young couple, is anyone’s guess. Or is it a carefully orchestrated event across time? Daniel and Shale not only face the external pressures of a world in transition, but also their own faith in God and each other. Trust has many avenues and faith many faces.

Roberts is a well-rounded story teller and uses her experiences in international travel to add wonderful layers to her credible characters.

About the author:

Lorilyn Roberts is an award-winning Christian author who writes for the young and the young at heart. Lorilyn is a single mother by choice. She adopted her two daughters from Nepal and Vietnam. Read her Amazon best-selling memoir, Children of Dreams, endorsed by New York Times best-selling author Jerry Jenkins, and be inspired. Lorilyn has been a speaker at various events and functions, including women's groups, adoption support groups, and writer workshops. She is the founder of the John 3:16 marketing network.

Special Holiday Book Tour with Lorilyn Roberts and Prize Drawing

For a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card, between December 1 and December 16, 2013, enter the John 3:16 Marketing Network Rafflecopter drawing at: http://bit.ly/Christian_Books

 

 

Five Favorites with Lorilyn Roberts, author of The Donkey and the King, a children's picture book.

 

QUESTION:  Favorite city you have visited?
LORILYN:  Jerusalem. I will never forget approaching the city and seeing a modern street sign that said “Jerusalem.”  Tears welled up in my eyes, but the lack of sleep made my eyes burn so much I had to quit crying. The juxtaposition of a modern sign with an ancient city seemed anachronistic. I couldn’t believe I was there.

QUESTION:  Favorite food?

LORILYN:   Chocolate – in any form except ice cream.

QUESTION:  Favorite authors?

LORILYN:  Randy Alcorn, C.S. Lewis, and Max Lucado

QUESTION:  Favorite book you’ve read in the last three months?

LORILYN:  On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

QUESTION:  Favorite historical person?

LORILYN:  Corrie Ten Boom

~*~*~*~*

 

About the Book:

 

The Kindle version of  The Donkey and the King is all new and updated. The artwork has been rescanned from the original drawings, and the text can be resized for young readers. Click on the artwork on each page, and enlarge the drawing to look for the hidden word “good.” The Donkey and the King will entertain young ones and help them to become lifelong lovers of books and reading, all while teaching them about Jesus and redemption.







Be sure and pick up your Kindle version of The Donkey and the King for 99 cents at http://bit.ly/Donkey_Kindle

 

About the Author:

 

Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in 1991. Her studies included spending two weeks in Israel at the start of the Gulf War and touring England, Australia, New Zealand, and several countries in Europe. She later attended the Institute of Children’s Literature and earned her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Perelandra College.

Lorilyn has two daughters whom she adopted from Nepal and Vietnam as a single mother. She homeschooled both of them, the older one through high school, and believes that the hope of the United States may rest on the conservative values homeschooling families instill in their offspring.

“If we fail to teach our children how to live out their Christian faith practically, we will have lost an opportunity to impact the world for good. It only takes one generation to forget the past. As JRR Tolkien said, ‘There is some good in this world and it’s worth fighting for.’”

To learn more about Lorilyn, you can visit her website  and blog.

You can follow her on twitter and Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 



Book review: Am I Okay, God with Lorilyn Roberts

Best-selling author, Lorilyn Roberts, and her new winner!

 

Am I Okay, God?

Lorilyn Roberts

Kindle: 2.99

 

 

Devotional accompaniment to the Seventh Dimension: The Door

ASIN: B00FTP5G82

 

My review:

I knew Roberts’s The Seventh Dimension: The Door was a terrific story; an allegory that I thoroughly enjoyed, even though it’s targeted to young adult readers. It’s no stretch, then, to see how this lovingly thought-out devotional adds even more depth and meaning to The Door. Each of the twenty-six devotionals deals with an aspect of life we all know, from being bullied, to holding secrets you think no one else shares, to forgiveness and seeing God for who he really is. The individual chapters features a passage from The Door, some long and some just a sentence, which shows how the theme is played out in Roberts’s allegorical world. The author then shares an episode from her life or from another person or book in a brief essay that ties into the theme. Lovingly crafted prayers follow.

The most unique aspect of the devotional is the QR codes (and website links for those of us without smart phones) that take the reader to a YouTube video or song that illustrates the devotional. I appreciated the work that went into preparing this, and learned about a few artists I was unfamiliar with.

Am I Okay, God is a wonderful partner to your faith. Recommended for any junior high and up-aged loved one; younger if more mature. Makes a fantastic godparent/sponsor gift, too!

Book launch and lots of free stuff - no purchase to enter

John 3:16 Marketing Network Christian Book Launches   August 1 through August 16, 2013  (only 99 cents for each book during launch) Drawing for Free Prizes, including a Kindle! See details below.

Celebrate With Us! New Books  by  John 3:16 Marketing Network Authors! http://bit.ly/Christian_Books    Make sure you enter our raffle (link below) (many times) for the drawing on the 17th!  Win a Kindle, a $25 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Starbucks Card.    Meet our talented, showcased John 3:16 authors and learn more about their books.      The authors for August are:   Lorilyn Roberts Emma Right Again, be sure to enter the drawing - the Rafflecopter. You might win a Kindle ($69 value), a $25 Amazon gift card, or a $10 Starbucks card.  Click here to enter the raffle for a free Kindle: http://bit.ly/Christian_Books       Enjoy also checking out the free books available throughout the month! Readers' Favorite Finalist Award Showcased books for August, 2013 Best-Selling Adoption Memoir John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

SIGN UP AND SAVE 25% John 3:16 Author Membership 25% off with this coupon  Code: Constant Contact List $10 off regular membership rate of $40 Offer Expires 8-16-2013.  Go to http://lorilynroberts.com/john_3_16_marketing_network.html for membership information

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lorilyn Roberts talks about shame, abuse, and purity

Lorilyn Roberts shares about purity

 

"I felt a hand reach underneath my blue skirt."

Have you ever been violated? No one has the right to violate you physically ‑‑ not your father, your stepfather, a friend, a boyfriend, a teacher, even a doctor. Your body is the vessel of the Holy Spirit. It is holy. No one has the right to de file you to meet his own needs, whether it be for sex, power, or control.

If someone touches you inappropriately, you should report it. Don't let guilt keep you from doing the right thing. That's called false guilt.

Your body should be kept pure before God. Someday, as a young woman, you will probably get married, unless God has given you the gift of singleness. You will want to give a body to your husband that's pure, that's never been touched or looked upon or used. Not only does that mean sexually, but you should preserve your body and keep it from being harmed by illicit drugs and underaged drinking. You may not know it, but all these things will hurt you in more ways than you realize. 

Along the same lines, don't go to websites you shouldn't go to. Don't look at pornography. All these things will give you a corrupted way of looking at sex and love. No longer with these things be beautiful, but there will be a sense of dirtiness and vulgar. What God created to be something beautiful between a man and a woman becomes perverted to the point of disgust. Guard your heart. If someone does something to you that makes you feel uncomfortable, that is God's way of speaking to you, warning you that a boundary has been crossed that is inappropriate. Don't sit idly by and allowing this kind of abuse to continue. . If you're young, it's against the law and the offender can go to jail. If you're not so young that it's against law, you're old enough to know you've been violated and seek help.

 

 

Shale's way of dealing with this is not the appropriate way to handle it. If you're like Shale and you don't have anyone to turn to, go on the web or look in the newspapers for crisis counseling centers in your area. Contact a church. Don't let yourself continue to be victimized. If you don't do something, it will continue and God has better plans for you than this. Remember, God loves you. Seek out a safe person you can talk to, but sometimes it's up to you to take that first step. Pray and ask God to show you what to do. God will never let you down.

Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

 

 Even if you have been violated, it's not too late to do something about it. With God is healing and redemption. Do something today and take that first step to get help.

 Even if you feel embarrassed by the situation, don't let that keep you from reporting it. God doesn't want you to live in guilt or shame ‑‑ trust in him and get help.

 "I'm fine." I smiled, pretending nothing had happened.

How many times are we offended by someone or something and we pretend that it didn't happen. Does that make the pain go away? Pretending that something bother us is trying to live in denial. It doesn't work. If we live in denial about something, we are limiting our future. How can God use us if we're living in denial? Denial about our past, what's happened to us, minimizing our hurts ‑‑ you can't help someone else if you have never dealt with your own hurts and pains. God is in the business of healing. He specializes in it. Allow him to come into your heart and bring you healing. Find someone you can share your pain with ‑‑ don't live in shame and humiliation. God has better plans for you.

Jesus went through the shame and humiliation of the cross so you wouldn't have to live in shame an humiliation. That was his burden to bear, not yours. Lay this burden at the base of the cross and rejoice that Jesus can carry this burden for you.

First Peter 5:7 says," Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

 

The Next Big Thing: Meow Mayhem, Dana Arcuri, and Lorilyn Roberts

Today my blog is part of something bigger than usual. Last week Dana Arcuri invited me to be part of a blog hop called The Next Big Thing. It is an opportunity for me to bless other authors.
 

The purpose is to help readers discover the next great book or author; i.e., the one they will be compelled to read or the author whose work they simply can’t put down.

Check out Dana's book debut and blog: http://writing4theheart-n-soul.blogspot.com/

ABOUT DANA ARCURI : Dana Arcuri is an ordinary wife, mother, and sister, but a daughter of an extraordinary Heavenly Father. She began her love of reading and writing at the age of eleven. What began as a fun hobby gradually turned into a faith-inspired passion. She writes for the heart-n- soul to provide inspiration, encouragement, and hope.

Dana is a Contributing Author for Inspired Women Succeed, published in May 2011. Having a heart for the hurting, she is the Director of Prayer and Contributing Writer at Write Where It Hurts. You may visit WWIH at http://writewhereithurts.org/. In addition, she is a member of the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs. (http://nacwe.org/)

Currently, she is completing her upcoming book, Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity. Struggling with unfathomable trials, she shares her personal journey with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Fibromyalgia. Despite ongoing adversity, she took one step at a time to successfully overcome each hurdle. Her captivating message is one of hope, healing, and rising above unrelenting hardships.

When Dana is not busy writing, she is enjoying Starbucks, dark chocolate, and being a girly girl.

What is awesome about this blog hop is the exciting adventure to learn about authors from various genres and styles. One may never know the possibilities in our future. His or her work might just be the next big thing, or perhaps mine, too. Whatever the case, we are living out our passion for writing and making a positive difference within our world.


Part of this blog hop involves me answering ten questions about my book.

Next week, please take the opportunity to hop on over to Lorilyn Roberts’s blog at

http://www.lorilynroberts.blogspot.com

1.           What is the working title of your book? Meow Mayhem

 

2.           Where did you get the idea for your book? The basic idea came from stories around my community, with the downturn in the economy, luring new businesses, and a story I heard about tunnels running beneath a business block, used for hiding valuables.

 

3.           What genre does your book fall under?  Cozy mystery

 

4.           Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  Hmmm- not much into this, but I see True as a sort of Ryan Gosling-tortured but mature-type, and Ivy as a fun, slightly kooky but head-on-straight Americanized Helena Bonham-Carter (sorry, Helena).

 

5.           What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A small town mayor invites Ivy Preston and True Thompson to move their businesses to Apple Grove, can their love survive the sudden rise in crime?

 

6.           Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  Meow Mayhem is being published by Whimsical Publications and scheduled for release January 28.

 

7.           How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I usually write pretty quickly, and this draft took place over about six weeks; however I rewrote a couple of times, and it took six years to find a publisher.

 8.          What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? It’s a little like the Cat Who mysteries by Liliian Jackson Braun.

 

9.           Who or what inspired you to write this book?  I was writing a series for the now defunct Heartsong Presents: Mysteries, and wanted to write a longer more developed series. I grew up with cats but can’t have them for pets now due to family allergy issues, so this is my way of keeping cats in my life. I wanted to write stories that had multiple layers and spoke to a wider audience while still being set in the Midwest and was clean and fun entertainment.

 

10.         What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The cats that are the “stars” of this book are Egyptian Maus, the only naturally “spotted” domestic cats and have fun, unique characteristics. In fact, Ivy and True’s cats know their “hearts” and those of their human friends, and help True and Ivy speak their minds as well.

 

Don’t forget, next week, please take the opportunity to hop on over to the blog listed below. 

               http://www.lorilynroberts.blogspot.com

Lorilyn: Because God is our heavenly Father, He can fill the void of earthly fathers. Seventh Dimension - the Door is a peek into the King's power to defeat that darkness and overcome rejection. It's a journey that parallels my own - a story of redemption and hope.
Read more at http://www.lorilynroberts.com/lorilynbio.html#wIQtZsHqtlhGh33G.99

Book Review: YA fantasy allegory from Lorilyn Roberts

At 99 cents, this book makes a great Christmas gift for your tween's Kindle!



 

The Seventh Dimension-The Door

By Lorilyn Roberts

Oct 14, 2012, Amazon Digital

YA Adventure/Fantasy

ASIN: B009R8Q1WC
$.99 E-book

 

A truly epic adventure for readers of all ages: although Lorilyn calls this a YA coming of age story, it's every bit as wondrous for adults. The author has studied the classics, and only subsequent reads will help you find the planted symbolism that makes Seventh Dimension-The Door a clever read.

You'll find a loving nod to Pilgrim's Progress if you follow the little white dog into the woods. Shale Snyder has a dreadful accident as a young girl, and finds it difficult to forgive herself or move forward when the victim refuses to accept her grief or confession. Grief is accompanied by hatred which colors Shale's world.

She is given a second chance, however, in a fantastic land of talking animals (grown from Roberts's first story, The Donkey and the King), an allegory which makes teaching your children about forgiveness, good and evil, a much easier task. Follow Shale and her new friends as she travels on an adventure of a lifetime to find the king while also growing out of her bad habits into a self-assured young woman who learns obedience and gratitude despite willfulness in the face of despair. Finding the father she always wanted, and his new wife and mysterious servants, help Shale unravel the truth of her long-ago accident, and face the consequences with a clean heart.

 

Truth, time travel, self-doubt, sacrifice, forgiveness and even all four loves, are explored in depth in this soon-to-be beloved tale of supernatural grace. Told in third person from Shale's point of view, with humor, dread, sorrow and shame, Roberts's time-honored story-telling will make you feel part of the adventure and eagerly anticipating the next book.

Buy

This post originally appeared on Bookshelf on Tilt


Meet Marcia Lacock, author of newly-released novel A Tumbled Stone
Posted on April 25, 2012

Katherine was thrilled to introduce her readers to Marcia Laycock, winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. As her newest book, A Tumbled Stone is released, she took the opportunity to ask her a few questions.

 

Katherine: Marcia, both of your books examine a major contemporary cultural issue. One side of the issue calls it “A woman’s right to choose.” The other side of the issue calls it “The human right to life.” It is a prickly subject both politically and socially. Why do you want to write about this subject?

Marcia: I believe this subject is close to the heart of God. He is always concerned about those who cannot speak for themselves or defend themselves. An unborn child is the epitome of this demographic. Unfortunately it is a subject that is too often swept under the rug, to use a cliché, and the innocent continue to suffer. I also wanted people to try to understand the stresses and difficulties a person with an unwanted pregnancy feels. I hope that after reading A Tumbled Stone the reader will have more compassion for these women.

Katherine: How did you come to be a writer?

Marcia: I started writing short stories and poems for my dolls. They didn’t complain so I kept it up. Then my aunt gave me a copy of Emily of New Moon for my eleventh birthday. I discovered you could call yourself a writer and determined that someday that’s what I’d be. It took many years but I published my first short story in 1990 and began writing articles for a local paper about that same time. I self published a compilation of my column in 2002 (a second edition was recently released), a second devotional book in 2005 and then my novel, One Smooth Stone won me the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award and was published. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was just released by Word Alive Press.

Katherine: Tell us how you come up with characters. 

Marcia: Characters often grow out of something I hear or see. For instance, the main character in One Smooth Stone developed after a woman asked me a profound question – “Can you imagine what it would be like for someone to discover that his mother had tried to abort him?” I did imagine and the character of Alex Donnelly emerged. He’s very much a composite of many people I knew while living in the Yukon, in Canada’s western Arctic.

Andrea, the main character in A Tumbled Stone, developed slowly as the book unfolded. She too is a composite of many people I’ve known, young women in search of their own identities who struggle to make the right choices in their lives.

Katherine: Where do you write?

Marcia: I share an office in our home with my husband who is a pastor. We’re church planting right now, so we don’t have a church building where my husband would ordinarily go to work each day. It’s been an interesting adjustment and a challenge for us both as we sit back to back at our computers.

Katherine: What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of, writing-related or not?

Marcia: I’m probably most proud and humbled of the fact that my husband and I, in spite of all our flaws somehow managed to raise three wonderful daughters who are a joy to us in many ways. God’s grace is evident in their lives and I’m very thankful for them. There was a time when I believed I would never have children (see my website for the story) so to have three beautiful daughters and now two great sons-in-law continues to amaze me.

Katherine: In your opinion, what is the greatest danger or pitfall in the life of a writer?

Marcia: Believing that it’s your talent that changes lives. I’ve had many people tell me amazing stories about how something I wrote changed them in some way. It’s important to remember that only God can do that. He uses our words to affect His purposes. We’re just being obedient in putting the words on paper. It’s an incredible privilege and blessing to be used in that way.

Katherine: Why did you choose to write this book?

Marcia: To be honest, initially it was because I had to write a sequel! But then as the book and the main character began to take shape in my head I got excited about what I could do with it. I wanted to write a book about a young woman struggling with an unwanted pregnancy and this gave me the opportunity.

Katherine: What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would understand?

Marcia: That writing is a ministry. It’s a hidden ministry that takes hours of sitting in a room alone but the end result can be lives changed for Christ.

Katherine: Tell me a little about A Tumbled Stone.

Marcia: Andrea Calvert had to run away. She couldn’t stay on the farm, shaming her parents. She couldn’t face being pregnant and alone. She would take care of this on her own. As she struggles to make life-changing decisions, Andrea discovers a diary and the wrenching story about her family’s dysfunction.

Katherine: How does this book minister to readers?

Marcia: I hope A Tumbled Stone will prove to be a healing book both to those who may have had an abortion or are considering one, as well as to those who feel passionately about this topic. I hope the readers will come to a deeper understanding of God’s grace and mercy that is extended to all of us.

Katherine: If I met you in an airport where we shared coffee over a table in a crowded food court, what would you want me to remember about you as we hurried to our separate gates to board our flights?

Marcia: I guess I would hope that you would remember me as a gracious person willing to listen and understand.

+ + +
The more I learn about the author of A Tumbled Stone the more I see the way scripture shapes her work. Marci’s favorite scripture is “Let us consider therefore how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds.” (Hebrew 10:24) This verse inspired the name of her blog and much of the direction of her books.

Learn more about Marcia at her website www.vinemarc.com or email her at Marcia@vinemarc.com

View the book trailer for One Smooth Stone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz1VG59-Aiw

                                       
You can purchase Marcia’s books at www.vinemarc.com or go to http://tinyurl.com/7xun8nv where you can also purchase any of her books.

Read other Interviews here:
http://connectwithcarolbrown.blogspot.com/
http://lorilynroberts.blogspot.com/2012/04/tumbled-stone-by-marcia-laycock.html

Free Kindle Book: Moses, Steps to a Life of Faith

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Moses, Steps to a Life of Faith 
by  Bob Saffrin

...traces Moses' life showing how God used an ordinary man and shaped the events of his life to bring him to the place where he could be mightily used to accomplish God's purposes. This book is about how God built faith into a man.

God is a dreamer. One day He had a dream and then He thought to Himself, "Who will I get to fulfill this dream?" And then He made you. He created you to fulfill a dream. You are made for a purpose. 

Moses, Steps to a Life of Faith, is about knowing God's dream for your life and believing Him to accomplish it in you. This could be the most exciting thing that's ever happened to you. To enter into God's plan for your life is to become the person He made you to be and to finally find the fulfillment and joy that you have been seeking your whole life.

MOSES, Steps to a Life of Faith 
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I invite those who read the book to post a review on Amazon.

You can reach me by email at bobsaffrin@gmail.com and on my blog 

~Bob Saffrin

About the Author:
Bob Saffrin lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Barb, his wife of 45 years and their beagle Rocky.  Bob and Barb have two children and four grandchildren. Bob loves the outdoors and has been on many backpacking trips in the rugged Boundary Waters area of Minnesota including winter camping. 
In his 20s, Bob began a fascination with the Bible.  After reading the New Testament several times and convinced that God had died on the cross to save him, Bob asked Jesus into his life and began a wonderful lifelong relationship.  His fascination with the Bible became a love for God and for his word. 

Bob has been teaching and preaching for over 35 years as a Bible teacher and pastor. He has also lead teams to India for short term missions trips for 10 years. Retired from pastoring now, Bob's passion now is to share the insights that God has given him over the years with a broader following using the written word.

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