RADICALS WANT TO ELIMINATE CHRISTIANITY BY HIGHJACKING INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

EXCERPTS FROM JOE THE DREAMER: THE CASTLE AND CATAPULT

FREE APRIL 11-13

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

OR http://buff.ly/XeqTvH      

 

From Chapter One

Baker looked at the kitchen window again, hoping headlights would turn in to the driveway. Instead, an image moved on the other side of the glass. A tremble ricocheted from Joe’s chest to his fingers and toes. A hotdog chunk he bit off almost lodged in his throat.

 “What time is it?” Brown hair framed the scowl on Penny’s slightly freckled face as she sat across from him at the glass-topped table. “I’m worried about Mom and Dad.”

Joe swallowed. Tangy mustard taste lingered on his dry tongue.

“They’re probably fine,” he choked out. He dropped what was left of his bun on his plate and ran over to see if a friend peeped at them. At first, Joe’s tan face, thick mop of black hair, and frightened brown eyes reflected in the window. He leaned closer. A bald head he’d never seen before glistened. Huge eyes glared from the other side of the glass. The man’s drooping jowls jiggled as a hand tried to push the window open.

“Get out of here!” Joe yelled blood and panic pulsing through him as he flipped the blind shut and pulled his cell from his pocket. He dialed 911.

***

 The man was now kicking the door. He motioned for Penny to follow him into their parents’ bedroom. Listening for police sirens, he mentally repeated the Shaws’ number. He slammed the door, flipped open his cell phone again, and punched. As he waited for the answer, Penny’s wet eyes, instead of her mouth, screamed for help.

“Faulkner here,” a deep voice answered.

“Mom and Pop aren’t here, and a man is banging on the door. Do you know where our parents are?” Joe’s jaw twitched.

“Pardon?” demanded Uncle Faulkner. “Slow down and run that by me again. Is this Joe? You should identify yourself!”

Joe slowly repeated, “Do you or Aunt Anna know where my parents are?”

“Haven’t heard a thing,” Faulkner said. “Answer the door. And shut your dog up while you’re trying to talk on the phone!”

“But this dude peeked in—” The dial tone buzzed.

A loud BAAAAM echoed, and Joe grabbed Penny. “Into Mom and Dad’s closet!”

Just as they closed themselves into the closet, the front door crashed open. The burglar alarm screamed. Hefley snarled.

***

About fifty miles away, two big hairy men shoved Darin and Rose Baker across the drawbridge into Sir Henry’s castle.

They stumbled up a wide marble-tiled stairway, hands tied behind their backs.

“We got ‘im,” said the beast who pushed Darin into the room. “But his wife was with ‘im. Couldn’t leave a witness.”

Darin’s eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. Rose seemed to be in shock. Then he turned his gaze so he could see what his wife stared at.

It couldn’t be true!

“Untie these folks,” Kermesis told the goons.

“Kermesis! You’re involved in this? I thought when you turned the business over to Caleb—” Darin’s voice echoed in the chamber-like room.

“That I forgot you have a computer software design I want?”

“It’s mine.” Darin watched as the big thug released the bonds.

“Now listen here, Darin. I was paying you good money when you created that design.”

“I created the program at home on my own time. It’s not yours.”

“Where is it?”

Over in a corner, Darin recognized several leaders of local churches and a priest. Apparently they had been abducted, too.

“I want that software design, Darin. If you don’t tell us where it is, we’ll get your children.”

“No!” Rose screamed. Her high-pitched shrieks continued until the monster who had nabbed her in the parking lot put his pillow-sized hand over her nose and mouth. She pulled at the massive fingers as she struggled for air, her face turning red, then bluish.

WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE LIKE WITHOUT CHRISTIANS? An excerpt from The Castle and the Catapult

EXCERPT FROM

JOE THE DREAMER: THE CASTLE AND THE CATAPULT

By Ada Brownell

FREE

April 11-13

Joe sneaked into his uncle's office and used his dad's laptop to see if he could find any clues to his parents' disappearance. He's been reading his dad's blog, and there were threats amid arguments about whether Christians helped or harmed the world. Joe's dad, Darin Baker, related the history of education, beginning with Jewish men who had to learn to read scripture by age 12, and Christians who read both the New and Old Testaments, influencing the creation of the printing press after the Reformation so everyone could read the Bible.

Joe stopped reading. What was that sound? How he wished Hefley were still inside, but an adventure with Patrick’s chocolate had put him in a backyard prison.

Something was going on outside. Perhaps the click of a car door? Or was that Hefley adjusting the chain Faulkner had put on him? Were the neighbors outside, talking quietly?

Tempted to trot back to bed, Joe almost shut the laptop, but he heard nothing more and read on.

“In the United States, free public education wasn’t available until the end of the nineteenth century, and children weren’t required to complete elementary school until 1918.

“The world still is being educated by Christians. Wycliffe Translators, who are Christian missionaries, live with primitive tribes and give them a written language and then teach them to read,” Darin wrote. “Wycliffe translated the Bible into hundreds of languages and brought literacy to many nations. In their ‘Last Languages Campaign,’ Wycliffe’s translators hope to have the last twenty-two hundred languages translated by the year 2025. Currently, Wycliffe has fourteen hundred translation literacy and language development programs, touching nearly six hundred million people in 176 countries.[1]

“But missionaries and literacy bring other benefits in addition to the spiritual. For instance, AIDS prevention education.”

Suddenly Hefley barked, snarled, and went into a barking frenzy. Neighbors’ dogs joined the barking choir.

The night light blinked, and the room plunged into darkness except for the computer, which ran on battery backup.

A flash of light reflected off the laptop. Was it lightning or a flashlight shining through the window blind?

Hefley’s frantic bark from the backyard continued to rip the silence.

Heavy footsteps in the hall jiggled the floor.

Joe grabbed the laptop, dropped to his knees, crawled to the closet, and eased the door shut. Uncle Faulkner was going to catch him in his office.

“Naw, we don’t want the girl—at least for now,” a deep voice whispered right outside Joe’s hiding place. “She’ll be trouble. We want the son. Must be in the other bedroom.”

“We could take ‘em both.”

“We’ll have enough trouble getting the boy without waking ever’body.”

The footsteps squeaked the floorboards down the hall. Suddenly, weight rattled the floor, and voices grunted and mumbled. A car engine roared. Tires squealed, and Faulkner’s shout shook the house.

“What are you doing, Joe? Stop it, and shut that dog up!”

Joe opened the closet door, walked through the dark hall, and stood behind his uncle’s bed. “I didn’t make all that noise.”

Faulkner sat up in bed.

“Someone was in the house. I was in the office and heard them talking. I think they were after me.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. The one guy asked if they should get Penny, and the other dude told him she’d be too much trouble. Then they went down the hall and made lots of noise, but went out without finding me. I hid in the closet.”

“Something did happen to the lights.” Faulkner got out of bed and grumbled as he went to check the electricity breaker box. He flicked the breakers off and on. No lights came on. “Maybe they cut a wire.”

Joe trembled as if he were cold. “Glad they didn’t find me.” His teeth chattered.

“What were you doing in my office, this time of night, Joe? Your only reason to be in there is to kiss Penny goodnight. My office is off limits to you.”

“I know. Sorry. I looked at Dad’s laptop to see if there were any clues to Mom and Dad’s disappearance, and there are threats on his blog.”

“I told you to leave your dad’s computer alone! Did the burglar get Darin’s laptop? That’s probably what they were looking for. Someone knows about the missing chip design. Must have discovered you live here.”

“I had the laptop with me in the closet.”

“Good...”

***

Joe turned to go. Anna stood outside the door in her housecoat.  “Did you call the police?”

 “I guess I should,” Faulkner said. “Joe says somebody was in here, and we do have a problem with our electricity. If I were guessing, Joe, I’d say some of your friends from that gang just burglarized my home. I’m going to look around and see what’s missing.”

“Shouldn’t we call in the police first to check for fingerprints?” Joe asked.

“I’ll try not to touch anything,” Faulkner said. “Don’t you touch anything, either, and get back to bed. I’ll take care of everything.”

With a sinking feeling, Joe flicked on his flashlight. When he entered the bedroom, he noticed Patrick wasn’t snoring.

“Guess that noise woke you, too.”

When he didn’t get a response, Joe flashed the light toward Patrick’s bed. He wasn’t there. The bedspread was gone, and empty sheets, yanked off the bed, crumpled into a pile on the floor. Strange.

Using his flashlight, Joe made his way to Faulkner and Anna’s room where Faulkner was jerking pants over his pajamas. “Where’s Patrick?”

“Isn’t he in bed?”

“No.”

Acting disgusted, Faulkner slowly followed Joe. When he looked at the bed, Faulkner gasped.

“Patrick?” he yelled. He walked through the house, shouting. “Patrick!”

Then he went back and surveyed the bedroom. “The laptop I was going to give Patrick is gone too!”

Joe used his flashlight and went outside with Faulkner to see what happened to the power. Wires dangled from the house.

“Stay away,” his uncle said, holding his cell phone in his hand. “The wires might be live.” His fingers put in a number and he put the phone to his ear while they walked back into the house, the flashlight beam penetrating the darkness. Hefly yelped.

“This is Faulkner Shaw. We’ve had a break-in and my son is missing!” 

---

[1] Wycliffe Bible Translators, Last Languages Campaign. http://www.lastlanguagescampaign.org

Book Blast, Lillian Duncan's murder and mayhem, and win $50 Amazon gift card

TITLE:  CrossReads Book Blast With Lillian Duncan



BETRAYED

By Lillian Duncan

About the Book
 Witness Protection Program claims they can keep anyone safe if only they follow the rules so Maria follows the rules--every rule. She's given up everything--her friends, her family, her past, even her name to ensure her daughter has a future.

Reborn as Veronica Minor in the sleepy little town of Sunberry, Ohio, she struggles to rebuild their life amid the beauty of her flower shop. A life where her daughter can have a happy normal childhood. A life where her daughter will never know that her father was a monster.

When a child disappears, Veronica prays it has nothing to do with her past, but what if she's wrong? Not knowing who to trust, she trusts no one...and that's her first mistake

LINK to KINDLE | LINK to PAPERBACK

Lillian Duncan

Stories of faith mingled… with murder & mayhem.

Lillian is a multi-published writer who writes the type of books she loves to read—suspense with a touch of romance. Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillianduncan.net. She also has a devotional blog at: www.PowerUpWithGod.com as well as her personal blog, Tiaras & Tennis Shoes at www.lillian-duncan.com

Follow Lillian Duncan

 Website | Facebook | Twitter





Enter to Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
Enter below to enter a $50 amazon gift card, sponsored by author Lillian Duncan!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This book blast is hosted by Crossreads.

We would like to send out a special THANK YOU to all of the CrossReads book blast bloggers!

WHO IS THE VOLUNTEER FOR THE BRAIN CHIP? WHO IS TORMENTING THE GUARD?

WHO IS TORMENTING THE GUARD?
WHO IS THE VOLUNTEER FOR THE BRAIN CHIP?

An excerpt from Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult

By Ada Brownell

Gorilla, the guard, sat on his jacket, leaned against the castle wall, and snoozed. His huge hairy chest and bulging stomach swelled up and down as he breathed in the Indian summer air. The guard had taken off his shirt.

His lunch sack overturned. Fries and part of the extra hamburger spilled out. The metal knight’s armor that had been used inside the castle as decoration lay beside him on the rocky ground, among the boxes from which he’d taken robot kits.

Gorilla’s foot with the broken toe rested on a large rock.

Old Norton crept from the trees behind the man, a smile emerging behind his scraggly white beard. A box jiggled in his hands. His worn shoes halted behind the huge guard.

 Working nearby, Darin Baker watched Norton open the box. A half-dozen mice scurried toward the overturned sack.

Norton stole away so quickly he almost stumbled over a dead tree branch.

One mouse, barred from the feast by the others, ran up the large rock and across Gorilla’s bare foot. The snoring halted. His eyelids flicked open.

“Help!”

He jerked his leg and bumped his toe and groaned.

Two mice climbed over his stomach and surveyed the territory like Indian scouts.

Gorilla rolled over to get them off and landed on two other mice. He rolled again, and the mice he’d almost squashed with his behind scurried in circles with dizziness.

The guard finally got up and limped to a big rock, trying to go around the mice and climb up on it. One mouse, however, zoomed over his bare feet before he made it. A deep scream bellowed from Gorilla’s cavernous organs.

“Help! Who did this? Who put these mice here?”

“I’ve been working here all the time you’ve been asleep,” Darin said. “I didn’t do it.”

“Well, somebody put them here, and you probably saw it.”

The mice still scurried about, darting in and out of the lunch sack, sniffing to find more food, occasionally finding crumbs they’d missed.

“What’s going on here?” Kermesis asked as he strode toward Gorilla. “What are you yelling about?”

“Mice attacked me!” Gorilla scanned the ground, and every time a mouse came near, he bellowed again.

“Mice are all over in the forest. They’re probably hungry and smelled your leftovers.”

Darin feared Kermesis would ask if he saw anyone bring the mice. Darin would never betray Norton. He’d take the blame first.

“Darin ought to be in the dungeon!” Gorilla grumbled.

“Darin is the best stone layer we have. This wall and castle were supposed to be done yesterday!”

“But Darin broke my foot! Then he brought all these mice in. We can’t run this place without discipline!”

“Kermesis, I didn’t have anything to do with these mice.” Darin walked toward them. “But I will scare them away for you.”

He reached down and dumped three mice out of the sack. When they scurried toward the rock where Gorilla stood, the huge man hopped and yelled again. Darin ignored him and grabbed a small branch off a nearby tree and swept the creatures into the forest.

“Darin.” Pride shone from Gorilla’s dark eyes, “You might be interested to know my robot won’t be no ordinary robot. I’m combining three kits to make a Super Robot Guard. Remember that old show ‘Home Improvement’ you probably saw in reruns?”

Darin remembered.

“Well, I’m doing the ‘Tim Taylor thing.’ I studied electronics and built a robot in college. You might have seen it at the State Fair. That robot couldn’t do much, but this guy will. He’ll keep track of all of your electronic bracelets and can zap you from fifty feet.”

“Sounds creative.”

“It is, and it’s been loads of fun. I think I’ll have it ready in a week. Next time you do something, I’ll send this robot after you.”

Kermesis ignored the big guard. “Darin, we have a volunteer to have the epilepsy gadget connected to his brain, and a surgeon volunteered to implant it.”

“Who volunteered?” Gorilla asked.

“Jimmy Roberts.”

“Jimmy Roberts!” Darin felt ill. “He’s mentally challenged. He probably already has seizures if he doesn’t take medication.”

Kermesis ignored him. “He would still be a good subject, because we could see if saying religious words will trigger a seizure. The surgeon said we can bring in patients and give them a drug where they won’t remember anything about it. We’ll just drop them off at home, and they’ll be unable to preach Christianity again.”

“You know a seizure could kill Jimmy—and even other people you nab off the streets We don’t even know for sure how brains will react to the device.”

“We’re going to do this, and you’re going to help us, Darin—sooner or later.”

Darin rubbed his beard, hating the bristles as they brushed against his hand. Would it hurt to insert the brain chip in Jimmy? Perhaps he could keep the program set at seizure control instead of tweaking it to cause a seizure.

Then pain ran through Darin’s stomach.  The project needed tested, perhaps on animals, and then, if it looked promising, there would be lengthy clinical trials with patients. Besides, when the radicals had the chip design and the wall was finished, he probably would have no value to his captors. Would they kill him then?

©Ada Brownell January 2013

BOOK SUMMARY

Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult

By A.B. Brownell

Free April 11-13

Enter an area where people are missing and radicals want to obliterate Christianity from the earth. After Joe Baker’s parents and 30 other people mysteriously disappear, he finds himself with a vicious man after him. Joe and an unusual gang team up to find his mom and dad. The gang is committed to preventing and solving crimes with ordinary harmless things such as noise, water, and a pet skunk instead of blades and bullets. Joe reads the Bible hoping to discover whether God will answer prayer and bring his parents home. In his dreams, Joe slips into the skin of Bible characters and what happened to them, happens to him—the peril and the victories. Yet, crying out in his sleep causes him to end up in a mental hospital’s juvenile unit. Will he escape or will he be harmed? Will he find his parents? Does God answer prayer?

 No fantasy. No wizard, but suspense that sometimes makes you smile. Christian payload. Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06  or https://www.createspace.com/3962829

The book is also available at Barnesandnoble.com, and is listed at Goodreads.com

To learn more about this author’s books: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com Stick-to-Your-Soul-Encouragement

Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

Want to write historicals like Little House on the Prairie? Interview with novelist Cynthia Hickey

INTERVIEW

What event triggered your interest in history and historical fiction? I grew up loving Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, pretty much anything from that time period. I find it fascinating how people seemed to thrive despite the lack of modern conveniences.

What do you do with the historical society? Does your research there spill over into your novels? Do other members help with your research?

I post a monthly blog post. This year I’m posting on certain holidays. Sometimes the research crosses over into my own writing, but rarely. Yes, I read the other posts and save the ones I think may help in my own writing.

What era is your new Heartsong Presents book, An Unconventional Lady? This book takes place at the Grand Canyon in 1910.

Is it a romance? Yes. I love romance

How did you meet your lead character? The secondary character? I met Annie while looking for a spunky heroine who wanted to be modern. Her mother had other ideas and signed her on as a Harvey Girl hoping Annie would learn decorum. The hero is hired by Annie’s mother, actually taking away the job that Annie craved.

Is this part of a series? Yes, this is book two of four centering around the famous Harvey Girls who served along the Santa Fe railroad. The third book releases in July, the fourth one in November. I’ve had fun with these ladies and hope my readers love them as much as I do.

Tell me about your other series, and especially about the award-winning books. I have two, and have started a third, cozy mystery series. The first series, The Summer Meadows series, centers around a candy-shop owner who finds a bag of diamonds and is intrigued enough to find out where they came from. This lands her in loads of trouble and led to four books of adventures. The second series, The River Valley Series, came about because a mother needed to clear her daughter of a crime. The third series, The Nosey Neighbor series is about a reclusive writer who is told to mingle with society more. This causes her to stumble across a dead body. Solving the murder is research for her next book.

How many published books do you have? If you count my indie published ebooks, I have thirty-four. I am very prolific.

What makes your books Christian? All of my books deal with real life issues and the characters realizing that following God’s leading is the best path.

What is the most important thing you've learned as a writer about creating a story? To know why your characters do what they do. They need a purpose. You can’t have them going after something without a good reason.

Was success difficult, or did you sell your first book quickly? My first book was written as a dare. I had no idea what a cozy mystery was, and a friend dared me to write one for a publisher’s new line. I wrote the book, entered it into a contest, won first place, acquired an agent, and got published, all within six months. I haven’t slowed down since.

What advice to give to novice writers? To follow that dream. To follow your heart. To follow God’s leading. If you do these things, the rest will fall into place. And never stop learning to improve your craft.

What would you like to tell veteran authors? Can I be like you when I grow up?

Book Blurb:

ANNIE ROLLINS LONGS FOR ADVENTURE 

But her strict mother keeps her close to home, working as a Harvey Girl waitress. Until Dallas Baker shows up in town and takes the job Annie really wants—leading tours through the Grand Canyon. Annie's frustrated, but finds it impossible to ignore the handsome outdoorsman. 

With her split skirts and modern hairdo, Annie challenges Dallas's old-fashioned notions of what makes a lady. To his surprise, he finds her delightful, until he learns she has no interest in settling down. Dallas is ready to win her heart, but is Annie willing to fall in love?

Meet Cynthia Hickey, award-winning author who has 34 published books.

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com

God made rules for my protection

Finding Rest In The Daily Crazy

By Ann Lee Miller

I sat in the prayer room during my turn of a week-long 24/7 prayer vigil squeezing globs of brown, yellow, and white paint onto a paper plate. I chose a brush, blended colors, and stared at the blank cardboard wanting to project a feeling inside onto the page. The last time I’d tried this, I was in kindergarten. An hour later I had a painting of a person kneeling with sun streaming in the window any five-year-old would have been proud of.

For my Type A personality, this was a colossal waste of time. I should have been interceding for a long list of needs, or mining the Word for things God wanted to tell me. I should have been writing prayers to God in my journal, doing anything other than playing. And I probably would have been doing something more productive if the vigil hadn’t been mandated as a time of rest.

In Exodus 31:15 God’s command to take a Sabbath is stern—resulting in death if not observed. He must have lightened up in New Testament times or I would have been dead a thousand times over.

I know God—who designed me in the first place—makes rules to protect me. But while raising a houseful of kids, working, doing all the things in life that must be done—resting felt like a luxury I couldn’t afford. But the words from Exodus bore down on me, along with other verses stretching all the way to Hebrews 4:9, “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

So, I’ve rested one day a week for quite a few years. To my surprise, I find myself bursting out of bed on Monday mornings eager to dive into my work week. Sometimes I need more rest because my work—writing—requires that I not burn out. But isn’t burnout a threat for everyone? We’ve all experienced exhaustion that goes deeper than our need for sleep.

The Bible is packed with rest—the land laying fallow the seventh year (Leviticus 25:4), regular festivals, Jesus sleeping in the boat during a storm, attending a wedding, retreating to a quiet place to pray. Sometimes we need a vacation, sabbatical, or ninety minutes of peace.

A day of preparation for the Sabbath was customary (Luke 23:54). We need to prepare rest for ourselves, too. Examine what you do during your time off—shop, exercise, engage in a hobby, seek entertainment from TV or books, socialize, do extra work. Which, if any, of these things bring rest and refreshment to your soul? Brainstorm ideas that bring life and rejuvenation to your inner man and your relationship with God.

Rest, for me, means disengaging from the internet and anything else that busies my brain. I take long walks and talk to God. Sometimes I sit beside the river and invite God to speak to me. I might listen to instrumental music out of my usual genre, try something new, or laugh with friends.

Look for ways to help each other find peace and God. Encourage friends to take longer vacations, choose activities that restore their souls. Applaud them for making hard choices that feed their spirits rather than to-do lists.

The day I painted my goofy picture I met a facet of God I’ve never seen. I felt God’s nearness, camaraderie in a new way. And something stuck long after the activity—joy.

Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland University and published four novels. She guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t writing or muddling through some crisis—real or imagined—you’ll find her hiking in the mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids’ lives. Over 96,000 copies of her debut novel, Kicking Eternity have been downloaded from Amazon.

1.  

Gal who grew up on a houseboat gets a love email from God

By Ann Lee Miller

An e-mail from God showed up in my in-box November 16, 2010, during a year I strained to wring out the deeper novel my literary agent was convinced I had in me. At a seminar I learned that I needed to scrape out my emotions and smear them on the page. But I only knew how to shove them inside.

I was raised by an I’ll-give-you-something-to-cry-about father and a mother who wore a happy mask, even through a divorce. If I wasn’t such an Eeyore, if I had an ounce of gratitude, I would have said my childhood was okay. A lot of people suffered worse.

At nineteen I hurled myself at Jesus, finally Someone who listened to my heart.

For three decades I locked my childhood and my emotions behind Get Smart steel grates. But an e-mail from a stranger burst open the doors.

A fire fighter sat at his desk in Florida one night when the memory of a fifth-grade girl walking home from St. Hugh’s Catholic School in Miami flashed through his mind. His carpool passed me every day as I plodded through a ramshackle, black neighborhood. He was a sixth-grader who could never understand why his station wagon wouldn’t pick me up and drop me off at the marina where my family lived on a sailboat.

Though we never spoke, the man wrote, “I always thought how sad and lonely you looked.” Now in his fifties and a Christian, he googled me and found my web site where he discovered God had rescued me.

Through his words Jesus pressed three fingers into my right shoulder and said, “Yes, your childhood was sad.”

Finally, I could walk back through the doors with God to the little girl who had been silenced and free her.

As a child my emotions were too loud and bothersome to my family, and I shut off my voice because it wouldn’t be heard or believed.  Just now I’m starting to come all-out with my husband, children, and friends. They hear and believe me. They embrace me. I am showing them the core of who I am. Color and intensity are shooting through my deadness. I am learning to pen pain and joy on the page.

Ironically, in my writing, public speaking, and one-on-one conversations, people have told me for years that my unique voice is my strength. Could it possibly be that what I have to say needs to be said, that there are people desperate for my message, that my words are valuable?

God is connecting my pre-Christ years with my adulthood, making me the whole person He originally designed. I have found those years again, and they no longer sear me with pain.

God went out of his way to love a girl nobody would listen to and to prove He is an emotional God who hears.

Tattered Innocence Book Blurb:

    (Chosen by Michelle Sutton as a 2013 Top Read)
      A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgiven:
        On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him. Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist.
       On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel's salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.
       Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride.
       The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged.
      Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt.

Buy link: http://www.annleemiller.com/novels.html
Website: http://www.annleemiller.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnLeeMillerAuthor
Blog: http://www.annleemiller.com/anns-two-cents-blog.html
Bio:
Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn't writing or muddling through some crisis-real or imagined-you'll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids' lives. Over 96,000 copies of her debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon.