WHAT FOLLOWS AFTER - Dan Walsh - One Free Book

Bio: Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 10 novels, published by Revell and Guideposts. He’s won 3 Carol Awards, 2 Selah Awards, and three times his books have been finalists for Romantic Times Inspirational Book of the Year. Dan served as a pastor for 25 years and now writes fulltime. He and his wife Cindi have been married 37 years and live in Port Orange, Florida.

Since you’re being published regularly, what new avenues will your future books take?        

What Follows After is my 10th published novel. I’ve already completed the third and fourth books in my Restoration series with Gary Smalley. They will come out in September and April of next year, and that will complete the series. I’m actually writing my 13th book now, a Christmas novel. My agent is shopping a new 3-book proposal. The books will be similar in style to the novels I’ve been writing. As far as new avenues go, I plan to include more romantic suspense in my books, which I’ve already done with What Follows After, and another novel I wrote last year called, The Discovery (a Carol Award finalist).

I’m planning on publishing a new indie novel in the fall, called A Far Better Dream, which is a bit of a stretch for my brand. It will definitely include a romantic thread but be more of a traditional suspense novel.

Sounds interesting. I’d love to schedule all these coming books on my blog. Please email me with the titles and publication dates. I’ll put you in the database now. What conferences will you be attending this year? Will you be a speaker at any of them?          

I’ve already attended the Florida Christian Writers Conference last month, and taught a continuing education class there. I’ll be attending the Oregon Christian Writers Coaching Conference in August teaching a coaching session there, a workshop, and sharing the keynote duties with my friend, Allan Arnold. I also plan to attend the big American Christian Fiction Writers conference again this September.

Good. I’ll see you there. I hope Cindi comes this year. If you were in charge of planning the panel discussion at a writing conference, what topic would the panel cover, and who would you ask to be on the panel, and why?           

That’s a tough one, Lena. The challenge is to narrow down the topics to just one. Perhaps I would go with a panel on Managing Writers Expectations. I think there’s a lot of confusion and a good bit of unnecessary heartache that comes from this area. There are so many people I’d consider inviting on such a panel, starting with Allen Arnold. He’s gleaned a strong perspective on this topic after spending so many years working with authors at Thomas Nelson. I’d invite my friend, Jim Rubart. I think he has his finger on the pulse in this area of expectations. Maybe Susan May Warren, a talented writer who’s written for several different publishers and in several genres. And also Brandilyn Collins, an author with a ton of experience who’s recently made the switch from traditional to indie publishing.

That would be an interesting panel with lots of expertise. I’d sure attend the session. How important is it to you to be active in writing organizations?

Carving out time to be involved with other writers is definitely a priority for me. Even for personal reasons. Writing is such a solitary business. I need and want to interact with others who get what I’m doing. I attend a monthly Word Weavers chapter in my hometown and I’m involved in several online groups. I used to be more involved with the ACFW loop and hope to spend more time there in the future.

Where in the community or your church do you volunteer?       

My wife and I are part of the prayer counselor ministry at our church and often lead small groups, as well. I’ve also volunteered at events at the local Humane Society where my wife works as a dog trainer.

Who are the five people who have made the most impact on your life, and how?        

My wife, Cindi - no one has had a greater and more lasting impact on my life than she has. Still to this day. No one even comes close. I simply wouldn’t be who I am or do what I am doing without her. My late mom would probably come next. From her, I experienced a consistent flow of unconditional love and encouragement. I guess the third and fourth spots would go to my agent and editor at Revell. My writing career is a direct result of their support, their faith in me, and input into my work.

I’m guessing by your question you intended to mean those who’ve made a positive impact on my life. To be honest, a few people come to mind who’ve made a major negative impact. People who’ve caused me more harm than good. But I guess the same thing can be said for anyone, and it really wouldn’t bless anyone to hear me go on about them. Besides, God uses situations like these to refine us so, in time, the negative impact is lessened and even some good comes out of it.

Yes, those negative impacts help form us, too. If you could write the inscription on your tombstone, what would it be?

That’s a hard one. Maybe something like: Dan Walsh – Loved by God and a remarkable wife. Tried―sometimes successfully―to be a loving husband and father in return.

I like that one. Tell us about the featured book.    

Here’s what it says on the back cover: In 1962, life was simple, the world made sense, and all families were happy. And when they weren’t, everyone knew you were supposed to pretend. For the past year, Scott and Gina Harrison have been living a lie. While they show up at family get-togethers in the same car, they’ve actually been separated for over a year. To keep up the charade, they’ve even instructed their sons, Colt and Timmy, to lie–to their grandparents, their teachers, and their friends.

Colt, for one, has had enough, so he hatches a plan. He and his little brother will run away from their Florida home, head for their aunt’s house in Georgia, and refuse to come home until their parents get back together. But when things go terribly, terribly wrong, Scott and Gina must come to grips with years of neglect and mistrust in order to recover their beloved sons, their love for one another, and their marriage.

In this emotional story, Walsh takes you on a journey to rediscover the things that matter most in life–love, truth, and family. With profound insight into the heart of a hurting child, he reminds us that a time will come to look back on hard times and smile, because we’ll know that what follows after … is not what we expected at all.

Please share the first page with us. 

The Present

The young look forward, the old look back.

Someone way smarter than me said that. Guess I’m old then. If you saw me, you wouldn’t need to be told. But the looking back part, been doing a lot of that lately. So much so, I’ve been driving Elaine nuts.

Funny how the memory works. You can think you forgot something, like it’s gone for good. Then you hear a song from fifty years ago, and it unlocks a door. One you haven’t opened for so long, you forgot it was even there. A flood of images and sounds―and all the emotions that go with them―come rushing in. It’s great when it’s a nice song and opens a nice door. Not so great when the room behind that door is stacked with boxes of pain.

The song itself was stupid, the lyrics, I mean. I didn’t even like it back then. Seems like I would, coming from a beach town. Had a catchy tune, I’ll say that. I was in the car when I heard it. Before that, I’d barely heard it over the last several decades. The few times I had, it triggered a replay from one of the worst moments of my life.

I’m talking about “Surfin’ Safari” by the Beach Boys. I’m not a superstitious man, don’t believe in omens, but considering what I had come here to do, I’ve gotta say ... I got a little spooked hearing it again. I reached over and shut the radio off. Of all the songs that could have played on the thirty minute drive here (and I wasn’t even listening to an oldies station). What did it mean? Was God trying to tell me something? Like maybe, turn this car around?

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

The best way is probably from my website: http://danwalshbooks.com . On my homepage there are buttons you can click to link up with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. I also blog weekly with two of my writing friends, Jim Rubart and Harry Kraus, at http://3menwalkintoablog.com.

Thank you, Dan, for dropping by. I always enjoy our interviews. So do my readers.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

What Follows After - Christianbook.com
What Follows After: A Novel - Amazon
 What Follows After: A Novel - Kindle

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