Premature baby care & inter-racial marriage are subjects of new novel by June Foster

Book Blurb

Neonatal specialist Dr. Michael Clark is passionate about saving the lives of premature babies. But the pediatrics department at El Camino General can't provide the care many of his preemies require. Now he wants to build a specialty hospital where he can better care for his young patients.

Tammy Crawford is an accomplished geriatrics RN who wants nothing to do with her sister Joella's religious beliefs. She's independent and doesn't need anyone, including God in pursuing a new job as a nurse practitioner.

When she falls in love with the intriguing Michael Clark, she must reconsider her resolve to devote herself completely to her career and not be distracted by a romantic relationship. Now the obstacles are insurmountable. She's in love with a man from another culture and a different race.

Michael acknowledges his growing affection for the beautiful nurse yet can't ignore his brother's deep racial prejudices.

Can two people who are as different as night and day find a life together?


Ada Brownell's Interview with June Foster about the book

Ada, such good questions. Thanks for asking.

1. Have you ever worked as a preemie nurse, or did you have to do research?

I taught in the public schools for 34 years and don't know much about nursing at all. There are two wonderful ladies at my church who are both pediatric RN's. They were so gracious to help me understand what happens in a NICU. I really wanted to visit a hospital and might get that opportunity one day. God has always blessed me with consultants and willing people who provide the information I need on each book. My husband's nephew is in pharmaceutical school and has advised me on several occasions.

2. How did you bring reality to the interracial aspect of your book?

One of my critique partners is African American and she was a big help, allowing me to understand Michael's family and racial conflict from black person's point of view. I had opportunity to speak with a young black professor at the University of Alabama about how he'd feel about marrying a white woman. Both my critique partner and the young man said that race was not so much the issue as other factors such as socio-economic status and spiritual beliefs. My message in What God Knew is that we are not divided by the color of our skin as much as our values and worldview. Another interesting factor was that the riots in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MA were happening as I wrote the book—which gave me a wealth of ideas for the novel.

3. Does your book go into the reason Tammy is so against belief in God, and how she came to overcome her unbelief?

Yes. Tammy is a free spirit and rebels when someone tries to tell her what to do. From her perspective, she's had "religion" pushed on her all her life. Both Joella, her older sister, and her parents were Christians. (As a side note, Joella is the heroine in For All Eternity, book one in the Almond Tree series.) Not until Tammy fully understands that she is a sinner and is hungry for the Lord, can she accept that pride has always stood between her and God.

4. Do the two fall in love in the nursery?

Not quite, but Tammy is first attracted to the handsome neonatal doctor when she sees him from a distance caring for one of his little patients. She notes how his large hands gently turn a preemie on his side to look into his ears with an otoscope, and how he carefully moves his stethoscope around on the baby's chest. His professionalism and compassionate concern for each infant speak to her.

5. Does the reader experience some of the heartache that comes with caring for these little ones, whose lives are in jeopardy?

Oh, yes. Several times, Dr. Clark loses a baby and must forcibly maintain a professional persona instead of giving into his sorrow that a baby died. I checked with my pediatric RN's, and they both confirmed that indeed, this is one of the hardest parts of working in the field of medicine—to feel the frustration and sense of failure when he or she can do no more and one of their patients die. Since Michael Clark is a Christian, he has the assurance that the baby will be with the Lord.

6. What do you hope readers take away from the book?

Two things. Abortion is an atrocity and is murder. Racial tension is not solved by government programs but by trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

June Foster Bio:

An award-winning author, June Foster is also a retired teacher with a BA in Education and a MA in counseling. In 2013, June's book Give Us This Day was a finalist in EPIC's eBook awards and in 2014 a finalist in the National Readers Choice Awards for best first book. Ryan's Father won The Clash of the Titles book of the month for January 2014 and was one of three finalists in the published contemporary fiction category of the 2014 Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Writing Contest and Awards. Deliver Us was a finalist in COTT's 2014 Laurel Awards. June has written four novels for Desert Breeze Publishing. The Bellewood Series, Give Us This Day, As We Forgive, and Deliver Us, and Hometown Fourth of July. Ryan's Father is available from WhiteFire Publishing. Red and the Wolf, a modern day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Books One, Two, and Three in the Almond Tree Series, For All Eternity, Echoes From the Past, and What God Knew are all available from Amazon.com as well as Misty Hollow. June enjoys writing stories about characters who overcome the circumstances in their lives by the power of God and His Word. June uses her training in counseling and her Christian beliefs in creating characters who find freedom to live godly lives. Find June online at http://junefoster.com, @vjifoster for Twitter, and http://facebook.com/AuthorJuneFoster.

Buy Link for Book:

http://tinyurl.com/pdd6prs