I had no idea what would happen.
When you know the end of the story, I believe you will understand why I did not have “Christians” in mind when I wrote: “The Wonted Voice of Forgiveness”. Instead, my thoughts were centered upon the lost and searching world. So, I wrote this novel in full focus of mainstream America and all its cravings for love and fun. Mixed in the story are two critical life-and-death decisions that are made my millions of people every day. The Wonted Voice of Forgiveness is a fiction story that has both characters and suspense steeped in 21st century realism. You probably are one of the characters, or have a relative that matches one.
My inspiration was to write what is called a cross-over Christian novel that could hopefully make its way into both book markets and touch hearts. I struggled over how far I should let my characters go into what some would cast as worldly. Sometimes I cried as I wrote. Sometimes I laughed. There were times when I felt God so strong in what I was writing that I got goose bumps. Finally it was finished, and with a click of the computer mouse I let my story sail to my publisher.
Facing true facts, Christians are fully saturated with devotional books and religious sermons, and novels that stay on the soft side and are predictable. Another book like those would be like a thousand more in the market, which would be destined to get lost. The Wonted Voice of Forgiveness gives the Christian a fresh novel that deals with real life, yet has Godly precepts as the end result.
So I went to my computer, and everything in my life stopped once I decided to do this. I had only one initiative — to bring the lost heart to know the lover of their soul (Jesus), and to do it in a story that touches real mainstream life and witnesses to the forgiveness and saving grace in Christ the Savior. The character, Ellie, is the spiritual leader in this wealthy family, whom I placed in a penthouse condominium in New York City. She is perfect — steeped in the spiritual freedom of Christ and His salvation, yet not so stiff-necked that it would chase people away. Twists and turns are in this story on every page, with the world presenting itself in different ways, yet the “wonted voice” of forgiveness and redemption holding tight.
This book was released May 3, 2022 and it appears that I may have inched into a tiny edge of the secular world, but in a troubling way. What has happened is that one of the category labels which Amazon, and other book distributors have placed on my novel, is flatly false. Amazon has labeled one of their categories for this book as LGBTQ-EROTIC. How could this have happen? There is nothing in this book that even hints of LGBTQ-EROTIC. The team working with my Christian publisher believes that the book distributors misunderstood the word “Wonted” in the title. Instead, their minds latched onto the word “Wanton”, which means lewd and sexual. When I discovered this false label I felt like dropping to the floor in despair. I became exhausted with fear and I was depressed with all sorts of negative thoughts. Mostly failure.
My first inclination was to get angry with God. Why didn’t He intervene during the editing conversations regarding the title? Why would He let this title be printed, when in His omniscience (all knowing) He knew this false label was going to happen? I was literally shocked! It seemed that the last page of the book — which is an invitation to accept Christ — was actually mocking me.
Then, a friend looked into world statistics on the LGBTQ-Erotic population and told me that this population of people are just a small group compared to the global population of almost 8 billion. Still, that bit of information didn’t help much, because the false label was there for the world to see…even for Christians! The whole matter seemed to be an attempt by the minions of Satan to destroy my work. Well, maybe that is another grandiose thought of mine — assuming that my work might be a threat to Satan. But I truly desire to believe that the message of love and forgiveness woven throughout “The Wonted Voice of Forgiveness” is powerful enough to cause success, and a sustained battle against Satan.
Shortly after the false category discovery my publisher emailed a message to me – “God is still on the throne. No weapon formed against a child of God will prosper.” I appreciated that reminder. Then word also came to me from one of my pastors. “I get it,” he said, regarding my inspiration to gain a cross-over book. He went on to say, “The book would make a great forum for Christian discussion.
My point in sharing this with you is that there are many ways for you, my cyber friends and blog family, to use this book, besides simply reading it. First, it would be an excellent book to give as a gift to your family members and friends. It would also be a good book to plan a forum (small or large group of people) for an interesting exchange of sharing, even spiritual blessing. It would be a good start for a small book club, with three or four people. You could also give the book to a neighbor, to witnesses without being “preachy” about your personal faith. There are many ways this book can be used.
Sharing this article on Facebook would also be a great help. Lots of ways, lots of opportunities. God says His Word will not return void. I encourage you to use this book as an evangelical ministry. (To be honest, this is the most humbled post I have written, and it is with carefulness that I have clicked the mouse.)
If you have not read this book, I encourage you to get a copy. It is available on Amazon and at all stores where books are sold. I believe that you will be blessed as you read the story and see how powerfully God works in the lives of each character. It’s a story for both the Christian and the secular audience. The fields are ripe for harvest!
Direct link into Amazon for this book: https://amzn.to/3MvajYx
More books:
Direct link into Amazon for this book: https://amzn.to/3vRaWEh
This is the sequence story to “The Wonted Voice of Forgiveness”. It can be ordered now from Amazon by writing the title, with my name, into the Amazon search bar. You will immediately be sent a copy upon its release date, July 19, 2022.
Thank you so much for your support.
God bless you!