But before I get to that I'll do a little one-sided interview here and give a little background (to make this blog article less of a plug and give it some value).
A little over two years ago I came up with the idea for this series while listening to secular book-on-tape stores on my looong commute into the city every day. Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, and the rest are masterful storytellers who can really get your adrenaline pumping with danger and intrigue. I always wanted to share these exciting stories with my own boys, but all the sex, foul language, and other thematic elements made that impossible.
So I decided to write my own.
I already knew the sorts of extreme circumstances that the characters would be getting into, but the big question was, "How would a Christian react in these sorts of situations?" I mulled this over for quite awhile. (Yeah, I'm a "muller".)
What shook out was this concept of a Bible Study group -- something common that most of us are familiar with, but with a twist. Where sometimes church small groups (another name for it) take on special interests like mens' and womens' groups, different age ranges, or hobbies, what if there was a group that happened to be focused on saving the world?
From there, it became a matter of assembling a team that could do it.
I've often been amazed by the wide range of folks you often find in Christian churches and groups. I mean, people who would never have anything in common are suddenly thrown together and now considered brothers and sisters. Church culture gets this strange potpourri dynamic happening where vastly different people now have to learn how to try and relate to one another.
I wanted to capture all that, while at the same time each person must bring his or her own piece to complete the puzzle together as a team. The "body of Christ", being the Biblical analogy.
Here's the cast, in brief:
Michael Moast - a real man's man. Strong and silent type. Also, a self-made millionaire. The guy who pays for all the team's toys, and gets the bill for all of their mistakes.
Melinda Moast - his wife, an old-money heiress who would prefer things clean and simple, but rarely gets her wish.
Dr Puttery - a reclusive and eccentric scientist / inventor. He's always ready with a spliced-together gadget or key fact and doesn't mind arguing for his offbeat opinions.
Ms McCready - as you'd expect, a matronly old Irish woman. As you would NOT expect, she is also an expert sniper once involved in US covert ops, and has names, addresses, and overdue favors from many unscrupulous characters around the globe.
Wendell - long and lanky, yet with a bottemless stomach. This young man never shies away from peril, nor pun.
Misty - just as short as Wendell is tall. She has a low self-image, but is an expert in martial arts. She finds a kindred spirit in Jane and the two become fast friends.
Kurt - a running gag. We never really see Kurt. And he always seems to collect some bizarre injury that takes him out of the action for the duration of the book.
Jack - our dashing young hero. He's a James Bond / Indiana Jones / name your cliche, young man. Things never seem go his way, but he'll fight his way though against any odds.
Jane - our main protagonist. As the book description says, she really doesn't have any special ability that she can point to. In fact, she suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, which makes just leading everyday life hard, let alone such extreme circumstances as what the Bible Study must face.
Like in real life, they each react to one another differently. Sure, they sometimes even get on eachothers' nerves at times, but they always have this deeper bond that holds them together through it all.
From there it was simple. All it took was two, plus, years of grueling, often exhausting work. In fact, most days I was living exclusively off crackers and cheese as I sat hunched over my laptop in the parking lot on my lunch break.
Very long story, short, it did finally come together, and I am proud of that.
In fact, my eldest son is reading the paperback as we speak, so that alone is enough to bring a tear of satisfaction to my eye.
Furthermore, I honestly do think that it developed into a great story and a great adventure with many interesting surprises along the way. I'm quite confident that you'll enjoy it too! :)
I guess that's as good a segue as any to get to the purchasing details:
You can get the paperback on amazon.com [here].But what if you're not sure if you want to buy it or not? Maybe the concept seems good, but you don't know if you'll like my writing?
Or a kindle version [here].
Or if you have some other brand of eReader, you can get it [here].
That's fair. All you need to do is follow that last link and you can read the first 20% of the book for free to see if you like it.
But honestly... you'll like it! ;)
Live your adventure!
-E.L. Fletcher
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