You’ve probably read more about Beyond the Storm from me lately than you ever wanted to, but there’s a bigger reason behind that than just another book release. To help you understand why, I need to take you back about forty years. Some of my longtime readers are familiar with this story, but for newcomers, here’s what happened…
I was in my early twenties and working in the billing department of a hospital as a medical coder. To get from my office to the cafeteria for my lunch, I had to pass through patient rooms. In one room, there was a five-year-old boy in a coma. I never knew the details of what happened to him, but I knew he was a ward of the state. I created a backstory for him in my head that his family had been in a tragic car accident and he’d lost his parents.
As sad and intriguing as that was, what struck me most was the way the nurses and other staff cared for him. While I was in college, before any of this happened, I had taken pre-nursing classes and planned to enter a nursing program. Instead, I went on to get a degree in English, and the rest, as they say, is history, but memories of that little boy in the coma stayed with me.
Fast forward twenty years. I’d traveled the world with my family and done some writing, but I hadn’t yet begun my formal writing career. That is, until the morning I woke up with a fully fleshed-out story for a novel based on the boy in the hospital. I grabbed my computer and began to write like a woman possessed. To add an extra layer to the story, this happened while my husband was serving a year-long diplomatic post in a dangerous part of the world, and I was caring alone for the three of our four sons who were still living at home. Needless to say, it was a challenging time, but writing was my therapy.
It would be a few more years, two different jobs, and two cross-country moves before I took the plunge and fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming a full-time writer. Then, nearly ten years ago, Arms of Grace was introduced to the world. Coming to the end of this series is even more poignant to me because I have lived with and dreamed about these characters for almost two decades. Saying goodbye to them truly is bittersweet.
When this all began, I couldn’t have pictured where this journey would take me, but it’s been far better and more fulfilling than I ever dreamed. I owe so much of that to all of you for the support, enthusiasm, and encouragement you’ve given me over the years. So thank you all for being there to remind me why I do this and for encouraging me to keep going! It means more to me than I can express❣️
All my best, and as always, happy reading!📚
