Friday, May 30, 2008

JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS by Laurean Brooks

Hey fellow bloggers,

I sent my edits to The Wild Rose Press on Tuesday! My book is in the making. "Journey to Forgiveness" was an ongoing project for me, taking four years from start to finish. Work got in the way. Actual writing time took about 12 months. But a long gap occurred between the first and last half of the book. I wrote the first 7 chapters in 7 months. The manuscript lay almost dormant for 1 1/2 years. The last 12 chapters were written in the 6 months sabbatical I took from my job.

"Journey to Forgiveness" is an inspirational romance that also deals with physical abuse. The year is 1938, the initial setting is Chicory Valley, Tennessee. After inflicting years of abuse on his wife and daughter, Jenny Hinson's father is caught redhanded. A threat forces him to flees the 50-acre farm, leaving his wife and young children to tend the cotton, corn, and livestock. Four years later the boll weevils infest the cotton. Jenny is forced to accept an invitation from an aunt in Chicago to seek employment to support her family.

Electricity has yet to reach Chicory Valley, but Jenny experiences it firsthand when she clashes with Austin Grant in the Kankakee depot over her missing vanity case. Imagine her surprise when the would-be thief shows up in her aunt's church to coerce money from the congregation, with promises to rebuild a small town ravished by tornadoes. What is his real motive? Is this one of his money-making schemes?

Jenny determines to prove that Austin is a con artist. So when the reverend asks for volunteers to join a mission trip to the devastated town, she joins--with the intent of exposing the schemer. And when she witnesses Austin pocket a roll of money from the mission fund, she has the goods on him. So why, is she hesitant to report him? Has he stolen more than money? Has he also stolen her heart?

Austin Grant isn't the only challenge Jenny faces. Nightmares from the past bombard Jenny's sleep. Many nights she awakens to relive the terror.

In a twist of fate, Jenny encounters her abusive father again and is faced with a decision that will determine her future. Can she forgive her abuser? How can she open her heart to love the man who has stolen it unless she releases the bitterness and allows God to heal her wounds?

Follow Jenny Hinson on her "Journey to Forgiveness." Available in e-book on January 9, 2009 through the Wild Rose Press, and in print on March 20, 2009. www.thewildrosepress.com

After March 20th, look for JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble bookstores or on their website, and online at Target, or Kindle.

You can interact with Laurean Brooks and many other Wild Rose Press inspirational authors on the White Roses In Bloom blog. Come join us at http://whiterosesinbloom.blogspot.com

Friday, May 2, 2008

Hey Fellow Bloggers!

I just created this blog in hopes of meeting a bunch of readers and writers. I have just signed a contract for my first book with the Wild Rose Press. Are there any other authors or fans of the Wild Rose Press out there?