DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN - Ace Collins - One Free Book

Welcome back, Ace. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

I don’t really have any limits on which spiritual themes I address, kind of depends on what I am thinking about in my own life at that time. Darkness Before Dawn is really about moral decisions and the consequences of allowing revenge and retribution rule you life rather than forgiveness and love. Hollywood tends to glorify the former with films about wronged heroes taking the law into their own hands. In real life, the end results of such actions don’t end happily. I wanted to show what that kind of attitude and those types of goals do to a person.

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

I have two that come out this fall, The Cutting Edge, which is a novel that centers on violence against women as well as a world that worships beauty. Also I have a devotional book that will out entitled Music for Your Heart. I am writing three more novels and a really neat nonfiction book for Abingdon at this moment, but they will be out in 2014 and beyond.

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

This is a difficult question. Living people, even those who are famous and powerful, are not fully formed yet, and we also have access to so much of what they say and do that we feel we know them pretty well anyway. But, if I had to choose, it might be the rock star Bono. He has plenty of rough edges, but he is an interesting man. He lives his faith by not just giving money, but by also going to where he is needed and getting involved in hands-on mission work. So what really, really makes this outspoken man tick and why does he seem so committed to helping the poor. I’d like to know!

What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

My answer always varies on this one, but at this moment I might chose either Mark Twain or Will Rogers. I have been studying both of these men recently and find their creative minds and unique viewpoints absolutely fascinating.

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

My best selling book, The Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, was rejected time and time again for ten years. If my memory is correct it scored 27 rejections before it finally found a home. When it was published the timing was perfect too. So if you truly believe in your idea, don’t give up on it. At the same time, study the reasons for the rejections, learn from them, do some editing and rewriting before you pitch again.

Tell us about the featured book.

Darkness Before Dawn is an issues driven book. As I have always written mystery or action-adventure, this is a different direction for me.  Darkness explores the loss of a spouse, DUI, abortion, a court system that can be manipulated by money and influence, suicide, and those are just the beginning. Our central character is twenty-eight, a nurse, whose husband is killed by a drunk teenage driver the same day she finds out she is pregnant. Meg is angry and driven. Her rage tends to consume her and she tosses out who she was in an effort to extract the ultimate penalty from the young man who killed her husband. It is the story of faith lost. It is pretty emotional work and an intense read.

Please give us the first page of the book.

When it first reached the inner most depths of her dreams, Meg Richards thought the distant noise came from the alarm clock rousing her for another day of work at the hospital. As she struggled to rise and shake off her deep slumber, the distant ringing sound stopped. As it did, she fell back onto the bed. But a second later, like a determined mosquito, it came back for a second strike. This time, awake enough to separate dream from reality, she understood her cell phone demanded her attention. She didn’t want leave dreams to answer, and, if she had known who had been waiting on the other end of the line, she wouldn’t have. But she couldn’t let phones ring; it wasn’t in her nature. When a phone rang, her curiosity always won out over everything, including her need for sleep.

Awkwardly rolling out of bed, her feet finding the cool, slats of the wooden floor, she blinked a half dozen times until she could finally focus on her clock. 2:32 a.m.!

Trying to shake the grogginess from her head she moaned, “What could anyone want at this time of night?” Even as her heavy eyelids closed out the world, she halfway fell forward toward the sound.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.acecollins.com.  I am also on Facebook, just search for Ace Collins and my tweets are @acecollins

Thank you, Ace, for visiting with us again.

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Darkness Before Dawn - paperback
Darkness Before Dawn - Kindle


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