Blog Archives
This Ancient Parable Has A Modern-Day Twist
Barclay & Berk Builders retells the parable of the wise and foolish builders with charming illustrations and easy to understand language. What inspired you to retell this specific parable from the Bible?
As a children’s school librarian I am always on the lookout for good, read-aloud stories.
This ancient parable has a modern-day twist. The story is about working together, caring for one another, helping each other and primarily life’s choices. I wrote this story to appeal to a wider non-Christian audience but the sounds of a busy worksite will especially appeal to boys.
I enjoyed the art in the book. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator James Hensman?
James is a professional artist who has his own colorful style and humor. This is his first illustrated picture book, and his seagull character, Gulliver S Gull, is now showing up in his most recent paintings. View and purchase his art at www.jameshensman.net.
What do you hope young children take away from your story?
Stories are always multileveled, so whatever a child takes away from the reading experience is good. I hope children will enjoy the characters, and the art while perhaps discovering what a parable is. If a child remembers to help others–that’s a bonus! and on a deeper level to comprehend that this story that Jesus told is about our everyday choices and building a firm life-foundation by following God.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next two projects are a historical Canadian novel for grade five, and a gift/picture book for children and adults, on the Promises of God. Possibly both published in 2022.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
A Powerful Story To Tell
The Prodigal Father follows a man who lost his wife and his faith and slowly learns that God can do anything and no one is past saving. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
My primary inspiration for the redemption story is from my own life and my struggles with God. There have been times in my own life where I have strayed and felt as though I had wondered beyond a place of being found. My childhood with an abusive parent fed into many life problems that I faced including my own struggles with alcohol and feelings of abandonment. I realized no matter how far I felt I had run or how unworthy I felt I had become, God had never left my side and waited patiently for me through it all.
Tom is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character’s development?
When I originally started writing the story I thought that Eli was going to be my main character. Within only 2 chapters of the original version I realized that Tom had a powerful story to tell because it was real and raw and I knew people would connect with a lot of the complex feelings and changes he faced. I wanted to be honest with myself and readers about how we can start out with the greatest intentions and life can twist us up. I wanted to show that even though we can travel a dark path it doesn’t mean we have to be a bad person forever. Oftentimes who we have been can cast such a large shadow over what we can become that we feel like we don’t deserve to change. I wanted to write about Tom in a way that showed all his flaws and showed he was aware of them, then I wanted to show the struggle of overcoming the flaws and CHOOSING to accept them and ask forgiveness and truly move forward for the sake of others and not ourselves.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Something that was very important for me was to show what happens behind closed doors in families. Often what we see in public can be drastically different from what goes on in private. My own childhood seemed to be split into public life and family life and keeping the secrets of what happens when no one can see. While my siblings and I had a drastically harsher upbringing compared to what I wrote in the book I wanted people to feel some of the feelings from both the perspective of the abused child as well as from the abusive parent. I did not want to write Tom as a complete villain so I did not make some of the harder chapters nearly as intense as my own experiences, but I did want people to feel uncomfortable and dissect how it made them feel about his actions.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am not currently writing another book. I have a few ideas but I do not start writing until the idea hasn’t left my head for several months. I had the idea for this book in my head for almost a year before I started writing because I wanted to see if the idea would be good enough to stay with me. I often write poetry or short stories but I do not publish them.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon | Kirkus
Life was never simple or easy for Tom, but he had all he needed to get him through it. Until he didn’t.
In the blink of an eye, he lost the person he loved more than anything… the one thing that always made him a better man, and his reason for everything that he did in life. His wife and soulmate, Emily. Along with her went his faith in a caring God.
The pain of losing Emily was too much to bear, and he found himself consumed by more darkness than he could handle on his own. He became unrecognizable as a father and a man, and each day continued down a path that there was no coming back from, or so he thought.
Even though Tom believed God had truly abandoned him and there was no way to make it Home, Tom learned that we are never alone and there is nothing God cannot do.
In an amazing and emotional story of hope, heartbreak and redemption, Tom’s story shows us that there is always a way back Home and nobody is ever past saving…
Inspired By A Trip
The Agape Journey follows an journalist on a globe trotting race to find the a powerful historical artifact. What excited you about this story and motivated you to continue writing?
All of my female protagonists are strong women that are challenged to pursue various paths in their lives that ultimately establishes their credibility. Imani Lewis has always been surrounded by impressive role models. Both her mother and grandmother gave her the inner confidence. Nevertheless it is her father’s letters, perhaps ironically and unexpectedly that guides Imani to accepting her calling in life. As I was creating the Imani character I was able to include many of my own personal experiences as well as others who have learned how to move beyond their own limitations.
Imani is a unique character that felt authentic. What were some character traits of hers that you most relate to?
Imani is determined to face any obstacle that she meets as long as it does not require her to become emotionally involved. Her relationship with Phoenix is her Achilles Heel, and she realizes this while at Santander. I believe many strong women have this same apprehension and must learn how to move forward.
I enjoyed the history and culture in this story. What research did you undertake for this novel to get it right?
I have been very fortunate to travel the world using personal experiences in many of my novels. Thesituation that Imani has at the Cairo Marriot was inspired by a trip that my daughter Alexandra and I took in 1994, where we stayed in that hotel for one week.
Many of the spiritual lessons alluded to in the novel were learned during Bible lessons and sermons by the two pastors that I dedicated tis book to.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
There are two projects on my schedule. The first is an adaptation of my novel, High Tea with Ophelia, to a play script. I have always thought this novel would make an entertaining play and several theatre actors agree. My next novel is, The Saint Augustine Sisterhood. It will be a story of five ladies from very diverse backgrounds containing DNA from powerful historical women. Together these ladies dedicate themselves to making significant cultural improvements in the ancient city of Saint Augustine. There will be supernatural events blended with new medical research to offer readers some fascinating answers to immortality. This novel is scheduled to be released late 2022.
Author Links: Amazon | Twitter | Facebook | Website
From Cairo, to Machu Picchu, to a small city in the Midwest the race to find the Agape continues.
I Needed To Tell Ruth’s Story
The Stars in April is based on the real life story of a Titanic survivor and the journey that led her to the ship. What inspired you tell Ruth’s story?
In 2012, during the hundredth anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking, I discovered among the survivors the name of a girl whose parents were missionaries in India. Twelve-year-old Ruth Becker was separated from her family as the Titanic lifeboats were loaded, yet she managed to share her blankets with others and offer a handkerchief to a stoker who had injured his finger.
What would make this young girl act so bravely when she must have been terrified? How did she feel about leaving her home in India, and what led to her decisions in a lifeboat full of strangers that cold, dark night? As I asked myself those questions, I began researching and realized I needed to tell Ruth’s story.
What were some aspects of the story you felt had to be accurate and what were some aspects you took creative liberties with?
I knew I wanted to tell what happened as truthfully as possible, so I gathered all the information I could on Ruth and her family’s life in India, their long voyage to England, their stay in London, and their experiences aboard the Titanic. I paid particular attention to Ruth’s recollection of the events after the collision with the iceberg and what took place in the lifeboats and following their rescue. I filled in the story with fictional characters Ruth could have met, along with several subplots to show Ruth’s development and gradual change of heart from when she leaves India up to the most terrifying night of her young life.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
It’s a coming-of-age story, with courage being the most important theme throughout. In the beginning, Ruth knows she has none. On her long journey, she observes it in others and learns from them, taking small steps and seeing her world in a new light. Then, everything culminates as the Titanic sinks, and Ruth must draw from the well of her own newly-acquired courage as she fights to survive and face an unknown future.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book is also based on a true story, set in New York City during the American Revolution. It’s still in a rough draft stage and I have a lot of work and research ahead, but I’m hopeful that it can be published within a year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
“Sometimes we have to go a long way to find out who we are.”
The year is 1912. When doctors in India are unable to treat her baby brother’s illness, Ruth’s missionary parents decide there is one solution: move her mother and the children across the world—to Michigan.
But India is the only home Ruth knows. In a matter of days, she must leave Papa and all she loves behind, abandon her dream of one day playing violin in the Calcutta Orchestra, and embark on a rollicking, four-week journey across the Arabian and Mediterranean Seas, followed by the voyage to New York aboard the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic.
Ruth’s story is one of courage and self-sacrifice as she earns her sea legs and faces the unknown, culminating in a desperate, tragic night she will never forget.
The Prodigal Father
![The Prodigal Father by [Forrest Hutter]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Nw4feVkEL._SY346_.jpg)
The Prodigal Father by Forrest Hutter is a touching story about family and faith. The novel tells the story of Tom Davis, a man who was a drunk in his youth, and when he wasn’t drinking he would be angry constantly. Everything changed when his wife got pregnant and had their eldest son. Tom became a different man, a loving husband, and a devoted father. Even though they struggled financially they had each other and that’s all they needed to be happy. Everything came crumbling down when he tragically lost his wife. And with her passing, he also lost his faith. The years went on and Tom felt like he was only sinking deeper and deeper with no escape. This impassioned story of heartbreak and redemption tells readers that no one is past the point of saving and we can always find our way back to ourselves and our loved ones.
The author writes effortlessly and readers can feel the powerful emotions conveyed in the story. As we dive into this inspirational Christian fiction story we are more than just readers, we are a part of the book and the characters. Even though the book follows two timelines, the present and the past, the author manages to keep the narrative straightforward while simultaneously creating an ocean of emotions for us to experience with the characters.
As a reader who is interested in character development, I am pleased with Hutter’s approach to writing. He took the time to develop every character so that they feel as real and raw as possible, giving them flaws and weaknesses as well as just good characteristics. We see all aspects of our main character, Tom. At the beginning of the book we see him do extra work on a client’s car and not charge him, even though he had to pay the extra out of his own pocket and that even caused him to get fired. We see his love and grief. We see his flaws, however, my favorite thing, as a reader, about this character is how he is aware of all his flaws, weaknesses, and wrongdoings.
Yet another plus of The Prodigal Father is the length of the chapters. Hutter keeps his chapters concise and quite short. He brings each one to a fitting end that urges the reader on to the next for more. This captivating book is a quick read and difficult to put down.
The way Hutter captures and describes faith is incredible. In a world with so many religions, agnostics, and atheism, he manages to write a spiritually uplifting book fitted for any kind of belief. The Prodigal Father is a thought-provoking Christian story worth reading. This is an emotionally-charged novel that will stick with readers long after they put the book down.
Pages: 213 | ASIN: B08ZLLWW6T
LITERARY TITAN 