The Big 5-OH! - Sandra D Bricker - Free Book

Welcome back, Sandie. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?


The future’s so bright, I had to buy a new supply of shades! I don’t really know why the Lord chose this time and place after so many years of spinning my wheels. I’ve just finally come to know that His thoughts aren’t my thoughts, His ways not mine, and now I’m just happily riding the wave. I’ve sold several more books over the last couple of months that will keep me writing for the next two years. In addition, there are some talks about Always the Baker, Never the Bride being adapted for film. I’m really excited about that because that’s where my writing roots originated. I went to film school to learn screenwriting while I lived in Los Angeles, and I’m a movie NUT. That would be the best turn ever.
Tell us a little about your family.

I don’t really have “family” in the usual sense. My parents are both gone, and I’m now single with no children. I have a couple of awesome cousins that I keep in touch with via Facebook, but I’m a walking depiction of that scripture about how God sets the solitary into families. I’ve sort of made my own family out of longtime friends.

You're certainly a member of the ACFW author family. Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

The primary change in my reading habits is that I just don’t have the time to read like I used to. My stack of books I’m eager to read has spilled over into three enormous ones. And my writing habits are still very regimented because I also work a day job, so 40+ hours each week belong to someone else. My weekends have sort of become like an All Writing All The Time channel.

What are you working on right now?

I’m writing The Big 4-OH!, the sequel to The Big 5-OH!. And I’m collaborating with four other authors for a devotional we’re doing for Summerside Press.
What outside interests do you have?

I’m a dog lover in Biblical proportions, so I’m very involved in fundraising and volunteer work for various rescues. There’s also the care and feeding of my film addiction. And I’ve just purchased my very first home, so that’s an ongoing project.
How do you choose your settings for each book?

In the case of my Summerside books, of course they make the choice. But with the others, I like to use settings I know well. My father was a lifer Marine Corps officer, so we moved around a lot. I like to think of those years as early research.
If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

Just one? Hmm. I think I’d like to hang with Mary, Jesus’ mother, for a while. She’s a case study in faith that I’d like to really dig into deeper.
What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

Not to waste so much of my time writing what **I** thought I should write, but to follow that still small voice instead and head right into the journey.
What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

To trust Him and His plan for my life. Some days, it’s just important to stand very still and quiet in order to hear what He’s saying.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

• Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all of this other stuff will be added after that.
• Delight yourself in Him, and He’s got your back on the other stuff.
• And finally … finish, finish, finish. DO NOT get caught in the maze of proposals before you learn how to finish a project from Fade In to Fade Out.
Tell us about the featured book?

Olivia Wallace has a birthday curse . . . or so she thinks. It was a broken heart on her 16th, a car accident on her 21st, pneumonia on her 30th, and a fall down a flight of stairs on her 35th. There were Ohio blizzards on her 38th, 39th, and 40th; and six days before her 45th, she lost the love of her life to a heart attack. Numbing grief stole that birthday and a couple more to follow and, on the morning of her 48th birthday, she received the call she’d dreaded ever since losing her mom so many years ago…she was diagnosed with stage-3 ovarian cancer. The doctors didn’t hold out a lot of hope, but Liv survived and maintained her faith. Now she’s in search of a safe haven and a time to regroup in the Florida sunshine. But what she actually finds is the biggest birthday surprise ever!
Please give us the first page of the book.

Prudence leaned over the edge of the pond and gazed sadly at her own reflection.


“What’s happened to me?” she exclaimed. “I looked like a perfectly normal young donkey when I left home this morning.”


“The journey has taken its toll,” Horatio HootOwl replied. “But just one dip in the Enchanted Pond, and you’ll surely be revived.”


Prudence lifted her head and closed her eyes.“Braaaaaaaay,” she whimpered. “Oh, me, oh, my. Braaaaaay.”

“No, no,” Horatio said, rubbing his feathered wing over the fold of Prudence’s smooth ear. “One dunk in the water, and then a nap in the sun, and you’ll be good as new. You’ll be a new Prudence.”


She chuckled at that. “Do you promise?”


“I promise,” said her friend. “You’ll be a brand new Pru.

1

Liv dug the shovel into three inches of snow and pushed as hard as she could, then tossed it to the side of the driveway. Three more reps followed before the muscle down the back of her arm throbbed in response. It used to take much longer for her old body to react to physical labor in this way.

Time marches on, she thought. Whether we like it or not.

“Hey, neighbor!”

Liv looked across the white meadow between them and waved at her friend Hallie, who stood at the edge of her garage next door.

Three kids filed past Hallie, all of them bundled up in coats and boots, hats, scarves, and gloves. At thirteen, Jason was the oldest. He had reached the bottom of the driveway by the time Scotty, the ten year old, hurried past his mother. Katie, age six, scampered behind her brothers, then she turned and waved at Hallie.

“Later, Mommy.”

“Later, sweetie.”

“Hey, wait up, you guys,” the little girl called.

“Boys, wait for your sister and walk with her all the way to the bus stop, please.”

Jason didn’t so much as slow down, but Scotty came to a full stop until Katie reached him. The two of them skated along the patches of ice on the sidewalk.

Liv’s heart pinched a little as she watched them. She’d had more than her share of obstacles over the years that had kept her and Robert from having children of their own. Hallie was blessed to have a houseful, and Liv envied her that.

“Coffee?” Hallie called out to Liv.

“Half an hour?”

“I’ll bring cake.”

The thought of cake cheered Liv right up, and she returned to the chore of shoveling a channel up the driveway so that Hallie could bring it safely to her.
How can readers find you on the Internet?

My Web site: http://www.sandradbricker.com/
My blog: http://sandradbricker.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Sandie, for dropping by today.

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