Mason's Memories Is Here!

I am extremely excited about the new series, Hers to Redeem. I love these stories of hurting heroes who become recluses because of problems in their pasts. My first contribution to the series is Mason's Memories, but I'll have four more in the series, continuing through 2024. There are sixteen books written by ten different authors scheduled in the series before it finishes in August 2024.

In Mason's Memories, Mason Greene comes back from the Civil War to find his family dead. The citizens of Yadkinville, NC, think his flashbacks of the war show mental deficiencies and want to have him committed to Dix Hill mental hospital in Raleigh. Mason sells the farm and runs away to Colorado where he becomes a recluse and lives on only what he can produce or find on his farm. However, when he rescues a young lady who has experienced a tragedy of her own, things begin to change.

Link for Mason's Memories

(On Kindle, KU, print, and Audible)

As soon as I'd finished writing Mason's Memories, I knew Jared Walters would be a perfect fit to narrate the Audible version. He had already produced Taking Stock, Candace, and The Prodigal Pastor for me, however, he was tied up in another lengthy project. I wanted him enough that I decided to delay the Audible edition and have it release later than the ebook and print editions. I will announce its release when it comes out. 

The novel released on Tuesday, and it's already doing well. At the time of this writing, it has nine reviews, and all of them are five stars. Maybe readers are also thinking this series is special.

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 A Story of Hope Amidst Tragedy

In  November 2011, thirty-three-year-old Andrew Davies checked into a hospital in Birmingham, England, with severe symptoms that, as a dentist and medical professional, he knew could mean trouble. The doctors didn't see what was happening, and he soon had a massive stroke in the area of his brain stem, which left him almost completely paralyzed and on life-support in what is known as locked-in syndrome.  As time progressed and he made little improvement, his parents, wife, siblings, and friends had to adjust their expectations for recovery and cope with seeing a loved one in this condition. The one thing that sustained them all was their faith.

It is natural to question God at times like this, but in their own way, each of them came to realize that they might never understand why it had happened this side of heaven, but they still could trust that God knew what was best. Andy, Emma, and Barbara, his mother, all wrote that their faith strengthened and grew through their struggles. Eventually, they could see some of the good that came from his tragedy.

Andy is home now with special round-the-clock caregivers. Meticulously using a special computer, a few head movements, an infrared box, and a tiny flicker of his thumb, the only movements Andy has, he has typed passages like:

I have tried to explain how my faith has not only been sustained, but also how my thoughts have served to reassure and possibly strengthen my convictions. Three years ago, my family faced an impossible decision. The doctors, giving a purely scientific prognosis said the damage to my brain was permanent and profound and I would only ever be able to blink, and it might be kinder to turn off the ventilator there and then. The other advice my family received was from Christians, who suggested it wasn't all over ...."

Emma, his wife, writes:

It goes without saying that when Andy's illness hit, people were concerned not only for Andy but also how I would cope. I am sure it was in answer to many people's prayers, but I straight away had a rich sense of comfort and peace.

The irony was that although on the outside my circumstances were as bleak as could be..., I was somehow being carried throughout the ten months that Andy was in the hospital, and knew a sense of courage, hope, and peace amongst the storm.

"... it is not always God's will to take away our difficulties, but for us to know His blessing in spite of them."

Barbara Davies, Andy's mother, writes:

Paul was in prison, chained, and under threat of execution, but the letter to the church in Philippi is full of hope and peace. ... being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). The first time I heard this verse was when we were staying with Andy in November 2012 (about a year after Andy had his stroke).

I am absolutely convinced that God is in complete control, that He has a great divine plan for all of humanity, and personally I feel privileged that He has called me to be a part of the incredible things He is doing in the lives of those I love. The life-changing effects of Andy's stroke have had a deeply profound effect on all who know and love him, but also on many people around the world ....

(See the book, Pressed but Not Crushed, by Andrew, Barbara, and Emma Davies.)

They haven't lost hope that God will show His miraculous power and heal Andy, but if He doesn't, they can accept that because they trust God. If this family, who has been through and is still going through so much, can come out stronger and closer to God, and if they can see the good in everything, what excuse do we have for complaining about hard times or caving under struggles? God is good all the time.

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 Simplifying Research

As a history and English major, I like doing research. However, as an author who will be publishing fifteen or sixteen books this year, my time is limited. Often, I don't need to wade through tomes and volumes about a place to do my background research; I just need some basic information. I've discovered juvenile books to be a good unexpected source for this. The available information is already condensed into what's most important, and yet they are more thorough than the internet or encyclopedia article.

This, of course, gives me the background information. As I get into the writing, I'll need to research some of the specifics that come up, but that's true no matter what sources I use for my background information and general research. I usually find some of these specific details on the internet.  If I can't find something I really need there, I start contacting libraries, museums, historical societies, or other appropriate organizations that might have the information or know.

Research is a lot like sleuthing or detective work. I guess that's why I like it. It can be a challenge, but I enjoy finding the answers.

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 Like Dynamite

Have you gone through struggles that left you reeling or hard times that left you shattered? Most of us have. It's hard to see any good when you're in the middle of trouble, but these are the times we need to trust God the most. He has promised to never leave us and to bring good even from the worst of times if we love Him and are called according to His purpose. I don't believe God brings bad things into our lives, but He does use them. 

"We want everything to be easy, for God to swoop down and fix our problems. God does care about our difficulties, but through them, He is doing something important we may not understand. Through the trials, He is producing a deeper faith that, like a stick of dynamite, will blast through anything we go through. Although times of testing don't feel good, don't let the moment of testing destroy your faith. Instead, allow the test to strengthen you and build your character (Getting to Know God's Voice - Patty Mason).

May your faith be like a stick of dynamite that will blast through any situation the world or Satan can throw at you. 

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Personal Connections to Mason's Memories

Although nothing in my upcoming novel, Mason's Memories, is the least bit autobiographical, there are a few connections with my family and background. I rarely use names from my family in my books, but for this one I did. Greene is my mother's maiden name and also the surname I gave Mason because it fits, and it's a common name in Western North Carolina.

Dorotha Dix

 Mason came from Yadkinville, a     town about 25 miles east of where I   grew up. When Mason comes home from the Civil War, however,   neighbors mistake his flashbacks, and what we'd today diagnose as   PTSD, as being mentally unstable.   They wanted to have him committed to Dorthea Dix, the mental institution in Raleigh. Mental hospitals, even the best ones, were not where anyone wanted to be in those early days, so Mason sells out and moves to Colorado where he becomes a recluse.

When the designer sent me the cover for the book, the man portrayed there looked like someone from the Greene family in Watauga and Wilkes counties, or, in other words, my mother's family. In fact, my grandfather had some of those same features. How's that for coincidence? But it just reinforced my idea of using Greene for his last name.

This story, in fact, this whole series, is special to me. The series fits many of the plots I had already been thinking about, and I had an extra strong connection with Mason and Carrie as I wrote their story. I anticipate the readers also having that connection as they read it. Mason's Memories will be released on February 21, and it's available for preorder now.

Link to Mason's Memories

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Love Is ...

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40).

Every person has an innate, natural desire to be loved. From the time we are born, we're looking to be loved, whether we recognize and admit it or not. Our parents normally meet this need in the beginning. As we grow into childhood, other family members and special friends are also added to our group of loved ones. Later, we start dating, because we feel the need for a different kind of love than we've experienced so far, and we marry when we think we've found the mate we can love and who will love us for the rest of our lives.

But no matter how many people we find to love us on earth, our needs will never be completely satisfied with them. Lost friendships, divorces, and broken families all attest to this. Even if our relationships are solid, something is still missing. We were built with a love hole in our hearts that only God can fill, and we will never find complete contentment until we let Him fill it. He has the missing piece.

Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love. If we follow The Greatest Commandment in the way Jesus meant it, we will keep all of God's other commandments. Sadly, too many church members have trivialized this. With their selfishness and petty concerns, they show little love to each other. However, the love we show one another is the best testimony for Christ that we can give. It is the gift of the gospel message tied up with the ribbon of grace. It overcomes barriers of differences and forms a community of acceptance among believers. God is love, and He'll pour so much out on us that it will overflow into others if we'll let Him. Love should be what makes the world go 'round.

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 A Match for Marshall and More

I'm very excited to have my first book published in The Matchmaker: Agatha Returns series. A Match for Marshall published last week, and by all indications, the series is going to be a huge success.  In the book, Marshall Walker has built a successful ranch from years of hard work, but he hasn't had time for courting. When his brother dies, leaving him custody of two nieces, he decides now is the time to take a wife, so he contacts a noted matchmaker.  Callie Jones grew up on a small farm and knows the toil it takes to eke out a living. When her parents ask her to leave home to allow more food and clothing for her nine siblings, she decides to become a mail-order bride, but she's determined to marry a man who lives in town. She wants nothing more to do with ranches or farms. But the matchmaker makes a mistake.

Link to Marshall

I'll have seven books in this long-running series. Besides A Match for Marshall, there will be:

A Match for Cord  (5-01-23)

A Match for Silas  (2-01-24)

A Match for Merle  (7-01-24)

A Match for Milton  (9-02-24)

A Match for Reece  (11-01-24)

                                                       A Match for Matt (12-02-24)

All my books are set in the fictitious town of Pinyon Falls, Texas, so the characters will continue to appear throughout my books in the series. Readers tell me they love this because they like seeing the earlier characters again.

A Match for Marshall is available on Kindle, KU, print, and Audible. For the audible, I have the dual team of Douglas Birk and EJ Lavery, and they've agreed to do my other books in the series since there's a continuation of characters. I find a male and a female narrator works best when there're this many characters. I hope readers and listeners are as eager to see this new series unfold as I am.

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Hearing God's Voice

The key to hearing God's voice clearly is to have a personal, growing relationship with Him. Then when you hear Him, you should respond in obedience. Invite Him into every part of your life and have Him with you wherever you go and in whatever you do. Feeling His loving presence is one of the great treasures of the faith.

Two of the most likely times to hear from God are when you read and study His Word and when you pray. However, you need to set aside quiet time where you can better hear His often still, small voice. Of course, God can speak to you at any time and through any source. Be open to hearing from Him. Remember, He wants to fellowship with you. It's one of the reasons he created you.

Our spiritual ear will never be sensitive to his voice if we have a personal agenda to which we are already committed.  God leads and speaks to the humble who have surrendered their plans to do his will. With an "open heaven" and a surrendered will, we will be able to clearly hear God's voice in our hearts.   -- Jim Cymbala

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