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Showing posts with label #WhiteRosePublishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #WhiteRosePublishing. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Takeover Thursday with Emily Conrad
Here's Emily with the "story behind the story"...
I started the very first draft of Justice over fifteen years ago. Fresh out of high school, I’m not
sure I ever envisioned publishing the story. At the time, I couldn’t even come
up with a satisfying ending for poor Jake and Brooklyn.
I gave up and wrote other manuscripts, including a YA novel
that interested my first literary agent. When the novel didn’t sell, the agent and
I parted ways—but amicably, and not before she supplied the idea of writing A)
for adults, and B) based on a classic storyline.
As I gravitated toward picking up Justice again, a group of
women from my church invited me to hear Liz Curtis Higgs speak. That was when I
learned Higgs has a way of taking Biblical storylines and using them as
inspiration for stories set in different time periods.
Justice deals with
the aftermath of a sexual assault, but also with an unwed couple facing with
the scandal of an unplanned pregnancy. Though their circumstances were
different, couldn’t I borrow inspiration from Mary and Joseph’s account to
rewrite Justice?
The short answer is, Yes. The more honest answer involves
multiple drafts, cuts, rewrites, and edits to fashion Justice into my debut novel.
So, in one sense, Mary and Joseph are the story behind the
story, but I didn’t start studying their account for ideas until over ten years
after starting that first draft.
The true story behind the story is this: the journey from A
to B is longer for some of us than for others, but through it all, God is
faithful. He patiently, lovingly, plays the long game, and He’s more interested
in our relationship with Him than in one dream come true or another. As His
children, we can always rest assured that wherever this sometimes very long
road leads, it’ll be for good.
Blurb...
Jake thought he was meant to marry Brooklyn, but now she's
pregnant, and he had nothing to do with it. Brooklyn can’t bring herself to
name the father as she wrestles with questions about what her pregnancy means
and how it will affect her relationship with Jake. If Harold Keen, the man who
owns the bookstore across from Jake's coffee shop, has anything to do with it,
the baby will ruin them both. Can Jake and Brooklyn overcome the obstacles
thrown in their path and finally find the truth in God's love and in each
other?
Excerpt...
Even wrapped in privacy, she stared toward the wall and
picked at her fingernails. “I planned what to say to you.” Her voice quieted.
“But I don’t think I can do it.”
His relief morphed into dread. What could be this bad? Father, don’t let me mess this up. “Just
tell me the script. What’d you plan to say?”
“I need a ride to a doctor’s appointment.” She spoke in
a flat tone.
He wanted to play along and say his lines, too, but all
this over an illness? If she’d been sick since her mood froze over in January
and couldn’t drive herself, it was serious. His dad’s problems had started this
way—an appointment followed by a cancer diagnosis, months of treatment and
supposed remission, and, finally, a funeral.
Brooklyn searched his eyes, tense sadness weighing down
her features.
He kept his gaze trained on her beautiful, worried face.
Maybe this appointment was something simple. He had to believe it, or he
couldn’t ask. “What kind of appointment?”
Brooklyn swallowed, neck ridged. “I’m three weeks late.”
“To the appointment?”
“My body. My body is three weeks late.”
“Your body…” Then it hit him. She thinks she’s pregnant. How had he not understood sooner?
“I took a test, but maybe it was wrong.”
She’d changed on that business trip. An image thundered to
mind, and he willed it away. But the question remained. “You and Caleb?”
“It’s not like you think, Jake.”
“No kidding.”
She taught Sunday school. She had worn a promise ring
for years, but her finger was bare now. Caleb went on the New Wilshire trip knowing
how Jake felt about Brooklyn, knowing he’d ended his last relationship to
pursue her. Would Caleb have slept with her anyway?
“I can explain. There’s not enough time right now, but I
will explain.”
He clenched his fist under the table. “I’m sure you could
summarize.” After all those years of pushing him away with the claim she’d
never marry, never fall in love, she’d let someone else in. If it was just Jake
she hadn’t wanted all this time, she could’ve saved him years of trouble by
being honest. “It’s none of my business.” He started away.
“Jake, please.”
He turned back.
“I can’t face this alone anymore.” Her grip on the table
turned her fingertips white.
The day Dad had died, when Jake reached home from the
hospital, he’d found her waiting in the driveway. He and his mom had been
together the whole time, but as soon as he held Brooklyn in his arms, he felt a
million times less alone. Later, when losing Dad prompted him to question God,
it had been Brooklyn who stood by him, her unshakable faith drawing him back to
faith of his own. She may have brought this on herself, but he owed her company
in her darkest hour. “Fine. When’s the appointment?”
“I sat in the parking lot for half an hour before I
worked up the nerve to come in.”
He crossed his arms.
“Ten.”
He checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes?”
She nodded, sighed, and stood. “I was going to talk to
you sooner.”
He trusted his managers, and he could leave with little
to no warning. As he led the way to the door, he braced for snowflakes. Since
he lived in the apartment above the shop and had no plans to go out, he’d worn
short sleeves, and there wasn’t time to run up for something warmer.
As they walked to the car, his peripheral vision caught
the line of Brooklyn’s dipped chin and the slant of her downcast eyes. He was
failing her. He put an arm around her shoulders but felt no warmth when she
leaned into him.
Purchase links...
About Emily...
Emily Conrad lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two
rescue dogs. She loves Jesus and enjoys road trips to the mountains, crafting
stories, and drinking coffee. (It’s no coincidence her debut novel is set
mostly in a coffee shop!) She offers free short stories on her website and
loves to connect with readers on social media.
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/justice-emily-conrad/1127841580
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