Kate’s Comics – writing life
Island Charm with Audrey Wick
I have the pleasure of introducing you to author Audrey Wick. She and I both write contemporary romance, and I had the privilege of reading Island Charm, her latest novel. I’ll let Audrey tell you about it, but scroll down to the end to hear my thoughts.
Are you getting ready for summertime? I love the warmer weather and breezy evenings, which my characters also experience in my latest book, ISLAND CHARM. I’m excited to share this standalone novel with readers that’s a perfect beach book—so even for people who can’t physically travel, they can enjoy a getaway through this book!
When Anna Worthington’s twin sister gets jilted by her fiancé, Anna steps in with a plan for a girls’ Key West getaway instead of a honeymoon trip. Yet when her twin has her own crisis of commitment and doesn’t board the plane, Anna finds herself on a romantic getaway that she’s forced to navigate alone.
Gunnar Lockhart, whose specialty is island tourism, is the perfect match for helping Anna complete her vacation bucket list, but time together forges a connection more personal than either anticipates. As they make island memories, Anna has to untangle her mixed emotions. Are her feelings toward Gunnar real? Or like her sister’s wedding day, has this connection been doomed from the start?
In ISLAND CHARM, readers see how one woman navigates twists and turns in life’s journey. In the novel, readers meet the protagonist, Anna, who has to react to a surprise decision by her twin sister that creates a situation not of her own making.
Having to react to someone else’s choices is not uncommon. But it can be frustrating, for when this happens, we are an innocent party having to cope with a difficult situation we didn’t cause. But God assures us that we are not alone, and that with His grace, the unjust issues that plague us will be dealt with in a righteous way.
In many cases, God’s solutions are very elegant and have more far-reaching effects for the good of all. How joyful indeed!
In ISLAND CHARM, the protagonist has to pick up the pieces when someone else’s decision impacts her life. When she meets just the right person to help her through her unexpected situation, she is swept into a whirlwind of second chances aimed at helping someone else rise above unfairness. Her commitment to her task brings joy to more than one person, and her own circumstances are given a surprising twist that brings peace to her heart and soul.
My thoughts:
Island Charm was like revisiting Key West. Audrey captures the setting perfectly. I remember the wild turkeys, seeing a shark off the pier, and the tiny local shops that made Key West even more charming than I expected. I enjoyed how the novel stored such fun vacation memories for me. Pls, the story is sweet, clean, and a perfect summer read.
Question:
Now, here’s a question for readers: HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF IN A SITUATION NOT OF YOUR OWN MAKING THAT WAS DIFFICULT TO HANDLE? If so, share a bit below so we can encourage one another and learn that we are not alone.
Audrey Wick is a full-time English professor at Blinn College and author of women’s fiction/romance. Her writing has also appeared in college textbooks, and she is a guest blog columnist with Writer’s Digest. Wick believes the secret to happiness includes lifelong learning and good stories. But travel and coffee help. She has journeyed to over twenty countries—and sipped coffee at every one. See photos on her website audreywick.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @WickWrites.
Kate’s Comics – Make Believe Nonsense
Kate usually provides our comic relief, but she is busy with school projects. So, I thought I’d give it a try. Enjoy!
The God of Second Chances
Let’s give Karen Malley a warm welcome to the blog! Karen has visited before, and a handful of readers reached out to tell me they were excited to check out her book Following the Sparrows. Today, Karen is sharing about her newest release and the truths woven through her novel’s themes. Welcome, Karen!
Have you ever felt like you’ve messed up so much there’s no hope for forgiveness? You’re in good company. The Bible tells of the amazing accomplishments of men and women of faith, but we also learn of their failings. I believe God includes these failings to show us we can never fall too far to be forgiven.
Consider Moses. He is best remembered as the deliverer of the Israelites out of slavery, the one to whom God gave the ten commandments, the leader of Israel. He wrote the first five books of the Bible and spoke to God face to face. Before all that, though? He murdered an Egyptian man and ran off into the wilderness to tend sheep for 40 years. When God came to tell him he would lead his people out of slavery, he made excuses.
What about David? David, the king of Israel who delivered the nation from her enemies, was called “a man after God’s own heart.” He loved God deeply and poured out his emotions in the Psalms. David also committed adultery and murder, and he failed in parenting.
The disciple Peter boldly declared his allegiance to Christ. He was the first to proclaim Jesus as the messiah. He led hundreds to Christ after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He performed miracles in Jesus’ name and was eventually martyred. When Jesus was arrested, however, Peter denied even knowing him.
Perhaps the most striking example is Paul. Paul was one of the most influential people in the early church. He started multiple churches, spread the gospel to the Gentiles, wrote more books of the Bible than any other author, and spread the gospel throughout the world through his missionary journeys. Before all that, though, he actively persecuted Christians. He spoke against Jesus and had Christians thrown in jail. Paul says the following:
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:15-16
The Bible is full of examples of God’s forgiveness. No matter your past, whether you’re a murderer like Moses or have actively spoken out against Jesus like Paul, you can be forgiven. It’s simply a matter of asking. When you sincerely ask God for forgiveness, He offers it freely. Does that mean we’ll never mess up again? Absolutely not. It means when we do mess up, we get back up and try again. I, for one, am grateful God is a God of second chances.
A new life coming into the world disrupts Susan’s quiet life …
Susan Montgomery is used to a quiet, peaceful life managing her apartment building, where the hardest problem is her grouchy neighbor’s leaky faucet. She soon finds herself dealing with a pregnant teenage niece, a mysterious briefcase left behind by a tenant, and two very different men vying for her heart.
A near-death experience gives Mac a new outlook on life …
Christopher “Mac” MacAllister is trying to figure out how to “do the Christian thing.” As a new convert, he’s drawn to Susan’s love for life and for God. She’s nothing like the women he used to date; but can Mac compete with the guy who’s come out of nowhere and knows all the right things to say?
You can follow Karen online via her website, Goodreads, BookBub, Facebook, or Twitter.
Mother’s Day Fallout
Mother’s Day is a complicated day in our home. I didn’t cart home from the hospital the three kids that made me a mom. They did not grow in my body. They arrived, fully formed, at ages ten months, two years and three years old.
We celebrate Mother’s Day with such gratefulness that God has knit our family together through adoption. We celebrate how adoption beautifully models how God adopts and grafts us into His family. And then we mourn.
We mourn with our children for all they have lost. We grieve for what could have been—what should have been—for our children. The aftermath of Mother’s Day has always brought questions.
Why didn’t she keep me?
Why didn’t they try harder?
Why didn’t God make it right?
Who am I?
Mother’s Day after Mother’s Day after Mother’s Day, we speak of God’s goodness and our broken world. We discuss God’s sovereignty and how He takes what man planned for evil and uses it for good. We discuss a heart torn in two, between what is and what might have been, and how our God is bigger than both. We affirm His love, His plan, and how He never defaults to plan “B” because plan “A” always works.
We bend our knees to pray for the family they didn’t get to know. We thank the Lord that when unwanted pregnancies are easily terminated, our children were born to a woman that valued life. We pray for God’s mercy in her home, for His saving arm to reach down and retrieve the lost from the miry bog and set her feet on solid ground.
As the kids have aged, Mother’s Day has become less traumatic, but the grief is just below the surface. The questions are still there. Who am I?
We praise the Lord that all three of our kids have confessed Christ as their Saviour, and that decision defines them more than anything else ever will. God defines them as forgiven and clean, and God calls them holy. Col 3:12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…” 1 Pet 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation….”
They are holy, not because they have earned it or made themselves holy by responding to God’s call, but rather, they are holy because those adopted into the family of God are made holy by Christ. They belong to God. They are His child, and nothing can never sever that relationship.
Year after year, we witness God giving them the strength to endure their losses as they lean into Him. As they mature in Christ, we see them stand more confidently because they understand their status is secure because Jesus not only stands with them, but He stands in their place.
And every Mother’s Day I am overwhelmed afresh by the blessing it is for them to call me mom.