HUMMINGBIRD - David Stearman - One Free Book

Readers, this is a new author to me, but his work sounds really interesting.

Welcome, David. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I live through my protagonists when I’m writing, so in a way they all reflect facets of my own personality. In fact, I’m currently working on a story with two main characters, a man and a woman. The man reflects my decisive, practical side, and the woman expresses the artistic/creative part of my nature. I don’t do this on purpose, as these books are not about me at all. It’s just something I tend to notice after the work is done.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

OK, this is an easy one, since I’m kind of quirky anyway: I once boarded a plane for a two-week trip to the Philippines with no credit cards and only twenty-five bucks in my pocket. Amazingly, things worked out very well. God took care of everything. I stayed in a first-class hotel, ate excellent meals, and had a great, very productive time.

I’m sure a lot of people would like to know how you did that. When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I’ve always loved movies and TV, but I read no fiction at all as a child, just information books about animals and plants. (I’m a bit of a nature geek.) I discovered fiction at 50 years of age, fell in love with it, and started writing right away. And now amazingly, telling stories is my career.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I love adventure stories, especially the Michael Crichton/Preston and Child type that incorporate a touch of Sci-Fi. It helps if they’re a little scary too. But I like cowboy tales as well--not the new, romancy-kind, but the old-school shoot-em-ups. Still there are few genres I can’t enjoy.   

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

I do a lot of missionary work in Mexico, where people have taught me that life is for living, not just producing. So I try to slow down, enjoy myself more, and trust God to take up the slack.

James and I have been on numerous mission trips to Mexico. We love the country and the people. How do you choose your characters’ names?

I pick my protagonists’ names from people--often actors and actresses--I really like. But my other characters’ names can be either symbolic or chosen to evoke the personality traits I want that particular character to bear.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

I’m not perfect, but I’ve remained faithful to Jesus ever since I met him at sixteen years of age.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

A parrot. They’re smart, fun, and long-lived.

What is your favorite food?

Anything involving salsa and corn tortillas.

I love the corn tortillas they make in Mexico, fresh ground that very day. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Just learning the craft. Especially that showing-not-telling thing.

Tell us about the featured book.

Set against the backdrop of the illegal immigration crisis, Hummingbird is the story of Lexa Morales, a misfit. Abandoned as a child, Lexa is Mexican by ethnicity and American at heart, but feels more like the dash between the words that compose the term Mexican-American than anything else. In her struggle to rise from the ghetto of her youth, Lexa commits a crime and flees south of the Border to escape prosecution. While hiding from bounty hunters in a small fishing village, Lexa finds redemption, discovers her true identity, and becomes part of a forever family and a Kingdom without borders.

Please give us the first page of the book.

I skipped the prologue to get you right into the story:

Chapter 1:

Sonora, Mexico near the US Border, 1988

The air smelled like sweat and urine. The road rattled Rosa’s teeth. Someone coughed near the front of the truck’s long trailer, and Rosa pulled her three-year-old defensively to her side.

She ran her fingers through the girl’s silky hair. “We’ll be there soon, amorcita.”

Rosa glanced down and soft brown eyes met her gaze. “I’m hungry, Mami.”

Rosa reached between the slats of the crates at her back, placed there to provide a visual barrier between the passengers and the border guards who would all too soon be checking the door. The coyote they’d hired back in San Cristobal said that masquerading as a fruit shipment would make for an effective ruse. Rosa hoped with all her heart that he was right.

She extracted an orange, squeezing it to test for ripeness. “This one feels nice,” she said as she handed it to her daughter.

A sweet smile. “Gracias, Mami.”

Rosa kissed the top of her baby’s head. The girl was far too young for such an ordeal, but this was their only way out. Ever since the dark day Emilio was murdered in that church raid, life had been grindingly hard.

Traditionalists. How could people who claim to be godly be so cruel? Now she and her daughter were reduced to sleeping in a cardboard box and scouring the dump for food.

I have no choice, she reassured herself. God forgive me, but I have no choice. My daughter will not grow up eating garbage. We will make it through this border and into our Promised Land.

The coyote had demanded a fortune to smuggle them in, money Rosa simply didn’t have. But she’d worked out a deal to pay him from her new American wages, and the investment would be worth every dime. In the Land of Opportunity, even common laborers made over three dollars an hour. At such a rate, her baby would grow up rich beyond her dreams.

I can’t wait for my copy to arrive. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Here are some links to various places where I can be found on the web--probably way more than you need!

My Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QMSBW8/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hummingbird-david-stearman/1112311872?ean=2940015029314

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.stearman

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6454021.David_Stearman

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/davidstearman/

And lastly, my Ministry Site is: http://www.davidstearmanministries.org/

Thank you, David, for introducing us to your book.


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