ALONE, THE WOMAN AT THE WELL - Golden Keyes Parsons - One Free Book

Bio: Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishers) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17th century France. Her novel, His Steadfast Love, a Civil War novel set in Texas, released November 2011. Her newest book, Alone, The Woman At The Well, is Book #2 in a novella series entitled, Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels, published by WhiteFire Publishing and will release in April 2013. Trapped! The Adulterous Woman was released October 2012. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren. and great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor University.

Welcome back, Golden. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I was a “good” girl. The firstborn in an alcoholic family, so I tried to do everything right and make my oh-so-wrong world perfect. When I was about 13 years old, I went to a revival meeting with my best friend. I realized through the sermon that was preached that I was a sinner, but I didn’t understand what I needed to do. My friend could have easily led me to the Lord then, but for some reason she didn’t. Perhaps she didn’t know how to do that. A year later when I was a freshman in high school, my boyfriend invited me to go on a youth retreat Easter weekend. During that weekend Jesus reached down and drew me to himself … and I’ve never gotten over it!

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

Wow! What a great question. Living or dead? Okay, I’ll do two living and two deceased. The two deceased would be Nathaniel Hawthorne and C.S. Lewis. Nathaniel Hawthorne because I simply have always loved his books. I think when I read The Scarlet Letter in high school is when I fell in love with the classics. C.S. Lewis because he was such a powerful expositor of the gospel and a creative novelist at the same time.  

The two living authors I’d like to spend a weekend with would be Stephen King and Maya Angelou. Stephen King for his knowledge of creating story, and Maya Angelou—what a wordsmith! She crafts so much wisdom into so few words.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

Yes, actually my speaking ministry came before I was published. I speak at women’s conferences, and my husband and I lead marriage conferences. I can be contacted through my website below.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

I really can’t think of a specific instance, but when something embarrasses me I usually choose to ignore it and hope nobody else noticed.

People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

All the time. I simply tell them to write. Keep a journal, write down your ideas, write for your church newsletter, write to your family—write, write, write. Out of the overflow will come your book.

And I tell them to read good books. Writers are readers.

Tell us about the featured book.

Alone, The Adulterous Woman, is Book #2 in the “Hidden Faces: Portraits of Nameless Women In The Gospels.”

When I realized that several of the seminal accounts in Scripture involved unnamed women, I became more than curious. Who were they really? Were they women just like us—women such as the adulterous woman, the woman at the well, the woman who anointed Jesus’s feet, and the woman with the issue of blood? Surely they deserved to be fleshed out, albeit via a fiction author’s imagination. Thus the series, Hidden Faces: Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels, was born. I believe some of them arrived at their station in life through poor choices, some through no fault of their own.

Since she had five husbands, I speculated that the woman at the well’s life had been difficult. Her father died when she was three, and a succession of men began the parade through her life—men who disappointed and abused her. She did not feel worthy of love until a stranger from Galilee asked her for a drink of water. What she had thirsted for all of her life was showered upon her in that brief meeting. Jesus demonstrated not only was she worthy of acceptance, but he crossed cultural boundaries and traditions to honor her, a hated Samaritan woman, with the first declaration of his Messiahship.

As with the woman at the well, no matter what poor choices we’ve made or our situation in life, Jesus still reaches across traditional lines to offer living water and say, “Follow me and you will never thirst again.”

The first thing I wrote after God told me to become a professional writer was a dramatic monologue of the woman at the well. I’ve always been fascinated with her. And I played out that monologue, in costume, at a number of places for several years. Please give us the first page of the book.

I met a stranger today. He sat on the edge of Jacob’s well in the blistering heat and watched as I walked toward him. Undecided, I turned and looked back toward the village. The man was a Jew. He wore the tallit of a Jewish rabbi. What was a Jewish rabbi doing in Samaria? A younger man stood by his side. Perhaps I should return later. I didn’t care to encounter the upturned noses and sneering lips.

Marah hesitated, the afternoon sun beating down upon her. They need water, and Marah chose to come to this particular well at this particular time of day to avoid the gossipy women from Sychar, their frowns and whispers. She lowered the water pot to her hip and shielded her eyes from the the sun’s glare. He stared back at her. She expected him to rise and turn his back. However, the smallest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

The dust swirled around her feet as she veered to the right to go around the strangers.

“Would you give me a drink?”

Startled, Marah nearly dropped her water pot. A Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman—and in public? She glanced about to see if anyone was watching. Beads of perspiration formed on her upper lip.

“You’re safe. No one else is around. My friends have gone into town to purchase food for us to eat. They left us here…” He motioned to the young man with him. “John and myself.” He stood. “You come to this well to avoid the accusations of the other women. It hurts you. I am sorry for that, Marah.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart thudded. How did he know her name? She was certain she had never met this man. She knew the lecherous glances, scorn, and mocking eyes that passed judgment on her as she walked through the streets of the village. Those lying, hypocritical lips that would form words of vulgar propositions. Pious, pompous, prideful men. She hated them. But this man was not one of the men from the village. This man seemed different. How did he know she had been the object of scorn her whole life, as far back as she could remember?

I love it. How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.goldenkeyesparsons.com

                       

I’ve just put up a new page on Facebook, so would love for your readers to come over and “Like” my new page at www.facebook.com/GoldenKeyes.

Thanks so much, Lena, for the interview. Blessings!

Thank you for sharing this book with us today.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

Alone: The Woman at the Well (a novella) (Hidden Faces)


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