This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
All Through The Night
(Bethany House - July 1, 2008)
by
Davis Bunn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Davis Bunn is an internationally acclaimed author who has sold more than six million books in fifteen languages. His audiences span reading genres from high drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both contemporary and historical settings.

Honored with three Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, his bestsellers include My Soul To Keep, and Full Circle . A sought-after lecturer in the art of writing, Bunn was named Novelist in Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.

He and his wife, Isabella, make their home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England, where they each teach and write.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A loner, trying to forget. A community–and a woman–who need for him to remember…
Broken relationships and unfulfilled promises scatter themselves across Wayne’s past like burned-out craters. His background in military special-ops is something he’s trying to forget. But when he gets himself sweet-talked into helping a quirky group of seniors who’ve been scammed, he discovers it will take a lot more than muscle and nerve. Breach a conman’s high-security estate to recover stolen money? No problem. Become part of the community? Love again? Not on your life.

A lawyer with her own painful past is intrigued by Wayne and asks him to take on another unusual case–Tatanya’s wealthy employer believes he’s been visited by…an angel? Did a messenger from God in a pinstripe suit truly bring a divine warning, or is this merely another cruel hoax? Tatanya is willing to trust Wayne with her boss’s life, but she’s not sure she’s ready to trust him with her own wounded heart.

With a financial analyst’s skills and a warrior’s tenacity, Wayne races to unmask dangerous forces hiding behind a corporate veil. But he will need all his resources–and then some–against an unseen enemy bent on destroying his fragile bid for a second chance at life…and love.

All he wanted was to put his past behind him. But now it’s the only thing that will save them…

If you would like to read the first chapter of All Through The Night, go HERE

After 15 months, I finally found a reason to go to the athletic club. As I’ve mentioned a thousand times or so, I can’t lose weight no matter how much I do business with the treadmill. Really. But that’s OK. Call me perseverant, determined, or just plain nuts, because I’ve continue to go even though 5 pounds is all I can boast for over a year of trying.

Back to my reason to continue. Yesterday my oldest daughter and I finished punishing ourselves (her 5.5 miles, me 4.5) and went down to pick up the tots from the nursery. One of the workers who doesn’t know us well looks at my oldest and says, “Are you two friends?”

Daughter shakes head vigorously, like she can’t fathom such a suggestion.

“Sisters?”

More vigorous shaking from Daughter, roaring laughter from me.

“Well?” Puzzled look on kind–and dare I say brilliant?–nursery worker’s face.

I beam with a high-voltage smile. “She’s my daughter.”

The woman’s jaw goes slack. “Are you serious? You don’t look old enough to have a daughter her age.”

“I’m (fill-in-the-blank).” I gaze lovingly at Daughter, knowing that I have good ammo for future discussions about how absolutely old I am.

“I hope I look as good as you when I’m (fill-in-the-blank)!!!”

There you have it–the whole reason I NOW will continue to go to the athletic club. Hey, if I can’t lose poundage, I’ll take what I can get….

RUNNING OUT OF JUICE….

So. Sleepy.

Have you ever just run out of steam? (Look at that bad, bad cliche–there’s one way to tell someone’s wiping the floor with my brain.) And it’s not just fatigue.

I ran out of motivation. Yes, I wrote last night (1000 words, if I remember correctly) but I had to push. Tonight I have to make the decision whether to write or veg out with a book. From that statement alone you can tell which way I’m leaning. Of course if I’m really sluggish I can watch the boob tube.

Usually I can plumb the depths of my self-starter tank and make it happen, but lately the well is dry (LOOK, there’s another one!) And I have to admit that even this post isn’t terribly creative.

I’ve heard that having a deadline is great for making word count happen. What do you do when you just don’t FEEL like planting yourself in front of the keyboard and pounding out the words? Looking for a little motivation….

BEYOND THE NIGHT
Usually I can predict how a story is going to end. Not this time. The twist at the end caught me off guard and added even more depth to the story. I can’t say more on that without giving it away, but I think you’ll be surprised too!

From Multnomah:

With music of the 1970s playing throughout, Marlo Schalesky has joined forces with Multnomah Books to release Beyond the Night, the first of three books whose endings aren’t what readers expect.

A wet road, the dark of night, and pouring rain become the cruel combination that forces Maddie and her husband’s car off the road. Now Maddie lies in a coma, her faithful and loving mate by her side speaking words of encouragement.

As she rests in the darkness of her hospital room, the life journey Maddie has traveled plays again in her mind. Scenes flash in between whispers of a voice she’s grown to love. “Maddie, remember with me. Remember the day I fell in love.”

A playful kiss igniting romance between friends, an extraordinary love, a universe of fear and darkness, a triumph over blindness in both eyes and soul. Maddie’s walked a hard road and succeeded against the odds.

But then came the night that changed everything.

Marlo Schalesky delivers a powerfully emotional story that is certain to take both Maddie and the reader Beyond the Night.

About Marlo Schalesky

Wind Remembers, Cry Freedom, Freedom’s Shadow, and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University, Marlo recently earned a Masters of Theology with an emphasis in Biblical Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. She also runs her own construction consulting business as well as an engineering firm that she and her husband own. Married nearly twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their four daughters in California.

Q&A with Marlo Schalesky, author of Beyond the Night

Q. Marlo, you’re a woman full of surprises! What made you decide to work in the construction industry? Isn’t that a field normally dominated by males?

A. Well, something has to pay for my Starbucks venti white mochas! But seriously, when I met my husband at Stanford years ago (Note: A number of incidents in Paul and Maddie’s love story in Beyond the Night grow out of my story with Bryan . . . I’ll let the reader guess which), he was majoring in Engineering, and I majored in Chemistry. After graduating, he got a job in sales in the construction industry (roofing); I did chemical research. We discovered that there was a lot of chemistry involved in roofing. So, about ten years ago, we decided to open our own engineering firm that specialized in roofing and waterproofing. From the contacts and experience I gained there, in January of 2007 I opened my own construction consulting firm where I can use my left-brained skills (writing novels uses up all the rightbrained energy) to earn a few bucks and pay for those fancy coffees. And I have to admit, I enjoy doing something that’s so different from my writing.

It’s refreshing to deal with numbers and forms, caulking and chemicals, instead of only words and ideas. It makes for a nice balance in my life.

As for construction being male-dominated – it certainly is as far as actual construction workers and facilities managers. But there are plenty of women working in the administrative aspects of the business, which again makes for a nice balance. It’s fun to meet different kinds of people, and a number of them have also become my readers. Others just think I’m crazy – trying to run a business, writing novels, and take care of my four little daughters. But, hey, with God all things are possible . . .

Q. How did you decide to write a series of novels with surprise endings?

A. It was all God’s fault. And it started with a dream. Not one of those “I have a dream” kind of dreams, but a real, honest-to-goodness, it’s-3am-and-I’m-asleep kind of dreams. I dreamt Paul and Maddie’s love story. And when I woke up, I couldn’t get the two of them out of my head. I thought about them in the shower, on the way to seminary classes, in the grocery store. Everywhere! For weeks, I found myself replaying tidbits of their story in my mind, until I finally figured out that maybe God wanted me to write their story.

“But,” said I to God, “there’s not enough here. It’s not compelling enough.”

“Yes,” said God to me, “but Maddie’s going blind.” (Well, maybe it wasn’t so much in those words, but just in the revelation of what was going on with Maddie.)

“Oh,” said I, “That’s very interesting. But it’s still not enough. Not quite.”

Two more days went by, and Paul and Maddie’s story still kept teasing my mind. “It’s not enough,” I kept saying to God. “There’s got to be more.”

And then I saw it – the big twist. The incredible truth that I had no idea about before. It took my breath away. So, after I finished picking my jaw up off the floor, I sat down and starting working on the proposal for Beyond the Night.

As I fleshed out the story, I realized that this is exactly the type of book I’d like to keep writing – something with the poignancy of a Nicolas Sparks love story (without the sap!) matched with the knock-your-socks-off twist of a M. Night Shymalan movie (without the horror!). That kind of story excited me, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. And I figured that there had to be more people like me out there – people who want to be both moved emotionally and surprised and delighted intellectually. People who want to be changed, challenged, and caught with wonder by a story. People who just want something more in their stories, because the typical story is just not quite enough.

Happily, Multnomah agreed. When my agent sent them the proposal for Beyond the Night, they asked for two more ideas in one week. But how could I come up with two more stories like that in such a short time? It usually took months, even years, for me to find the right story. But God was faithful again. Onthe first day of that week, the storyline for Book 2, Faces in the Sand, came to me. And on the last day of the week, I got the idea for Book 3 (with five very nervous days in between). Multnomah contracted all three, and now I’m pressing forward, writing these books that God has given me to write, and prayingevery day that I’ll see the story as He has dreamed it. And I’m hanging on to the belief that He who gave me this mission will be faithful not only at its inception, but in the execution and beyond.

Q. You’ve been in the publishing industry for a while now with four previous novels and a nonfiction book to your credit. How has your publishing experience lined up with expectations? How has it not?

A. You’ll find that most of my books include a theme about life not turning out the way you plan or expect. That’s because God has given me the equivalent of a PhD in “My plans are not your plans, saith the Lord . . .” And my publishing experience has been a significant course in that learning process.

Nothing in my experience with publishing has gone according to expectation. At first, that was just because I was naïve. I thought I just had to write some good stuff, and I’d get a contract for my first books, which, at the time, was an end times series (this was before the Left Behind craze). So, I went to conferences with my proposal and heard from all the editors, “We aren’t interested in this type of futuristic fiction.” What they meant, of course, was they weren’t interested in that type of story from a newbie like me.

So, I tried historical fiction. And got a contract just as expected. Except the contract was canceled . . .that was unexpected. And it hurt.

Eventually, another publisher contracted that book and it became my first published novel. I received a few other contracts, had those books published, and then came another rude awakening in the form of sales figures. I expected to write a good book and have it do well. But that’s not how it worked for my third novel. Because of internal publishing house changes, sales went badly. And there wasn’t anything I could do about it. That was hard because I’d written the story as an act of faithfulness to God’s call, I felt He was pleased with it, I’d done everything I could in promotion and marketing, and still it “failed.” Ouch!

At that time, I was told to expect the numbers for that book to prevent other publishers from wanting to publish future books of mine. “It would have been better for you if that book hadn’t even been published,” they said. But God was about to crush that expectation as well.

A publisher contracted my next historical novel, I wrote it, and then just before it was scheduled for release, the company went through a large restructuring – they cut fiction, most of the members of the PR department left, the fiction editor left, and my book was stranded. I hadn’t expected that either.

But God was up to something in the meantime – a new story idea that I simply had to write. A story that so moved the Multnomah team, even in its synopsis form, that they wanted to publish it despite my previous sales numbers. They wanted that story, plus two more. The story was Beyond the Night. It came as an unexpected gift from God.

And just like everything else in my publishing experience, it has taken me by surprise. Pre-readers are calling me and emailing saying how the story has moved them, impacted them. But it’s not because of my great planning. It’s because God has again done something that I didn’t foresee, didn’t expect. And I thank Him for it.

**To purchase your copy, CLICK HERE!

LATE NIGHT FOR BREAKING DAWN

Last night my teen daughter talked me into going to Barnes & Noble to stand in line for the release of Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyers. I knew the Twilight series was big, but I had no idea HOW big. A full 3 hours before the books could even be sold, the parking lot was jammed with cars circling like vultures, and when we walked inside I couldn’t even see the end of the line. All this in our little town…

The fun part for me was seeing the raw excitement a book series generated. Faithful readers dressed like characters, indulged in trivia, and RAN when it was time to line up for the actual sale. Though not as huge as Harry Potter mania, I’d venture to guess that for teen girls it’s even bigger.

While in the store, I exercised reckless self indulgence in a book fest of my own. I read almost the entire book French Women Don’t Get Fat, and thanks to a generous hubby I purchased Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, Deep Dish, by Mary Kay Andrews, and The Power of Body Language, which I’m sure I’ll share tidbits with you as I learn.

Anyhoo, here’s hoping that someday our books will generate tons of enthusiasm, stores will stay open late for our releases, and most importantly that people will come dressed as our characters!

BLOOD BROTHERS

I’M A BOMBSHELL?

At least I am in Blogland =P

You Are Most Like Liv Tyler

“I don’t want to spend so much time obsessing about myself.”

LAST STOP ON THE TFO EXPRESS!

Many thanks to those of you who have made the Table for One tour a success. Today is the last stop on the tour. Make sure to click over and wave to Sally Bradley! In case you missed any of the posts, here’s a recap of the tour:

7/11 Betsy Ann St. Amant

7/14 Erica Vetsch

7/14 Sister Circle Radio Interview

7/16 Kaye Dacus

7/18 Gina Conroy Review

7/21 Gina Conroy Interview

7/21 Michelle Sutton

7/23 Leslie Sowell

7/25 Eileen Astels Watson

7/30 Sally Bradley

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS TOUR A SUCCESS!!!

COME AGAIN?

A few weeks ago at baby gymnastics, one of the other mothers and I were talking about how terrible we are at remembering simple things like names during an introduction. Let’s not even ask how many times I had to learn her name, and the names of all the kids in my daughter’s class. True confession: I’m also terrible with faces.

On my quest to learn new and interesting things, I’ve decided to check out how to improve my memory, both short-term and long-term. While I had a few minutes, I took an online quiz (and we all know how much I love those) to see how my short-term memory stacks up without any tricks.

NUMBERS: 12–I was able to remember a 12 digit number. The quiz starts with a 3 digit number and works up from there. When I got to 13 I bombed.

LETTERS: 6–evidently I’m more skilled with numbers. Getting to 6 was pure luck.

WORDS: 13–This one was the most fun for me, but I think I’d have done better had I known how it would work. They show you a list of words and give you 90 seconds to memorize as many as possible. I thought they’d show me random words and I’d pick out the ones I remembered from a list. Not so, I had to type in as many as I could remember.

I’m going to share what I learn about memory every now and then, just because I like you ((wink, wink.)) For now, CLICK OVER and take the 3 short quizzes and come back and give us a report. Let the fun begin!

HITS AND MISSES

When summer began, I had a specific list of things I wanted to accomplish. With only two weeks left before school starts, it’s time to evaluate and see what’s what.

• Finish the book. While I’d love to say I typed THE END, I’m not there yet. With some hard work and 2000 words a day pounded out, I can finish the 2nd major draft by the time conference rolls around.
• Launch Table for One. Woo hoo! Yes, it’s off the ground. In fact, today TFO is #3 on the inspirational bestseller list on The Wild Rose Press site. Plus, my blogging friends have helped spread the word!!!
• Lose 15 pounds. I was so ambitious when I came up with that number. I’ve officially lost 5 pounds. Only 5. Of course it’s better than gaining, but still….
• Help oldest daughter get in shape for cross country. She’s in much better shape than me, and I’m confident she’ll do great when she starts hitting the trail in 2 weeks.

While it’s not all that I’d hoped for, I’m sure it’s more than I would have accomplished had I not made these goals. No excuses. I’m here to say that I can always do better, but I’m happy to have some parts of my list checked.

How about you? How are you coming on your summer goals/pre-conference goals?