Dear Readers, I’m
thrilled to bring this book to you. Lee is a dear friend and one of the authors
I’m mentored for several years. I loved this book as I watched it develop. As I’ve
said before, I really like books with foreign settings, and this one is partly
set in Brazil .
I’ve long been interested in missions, especially pilots who have taken the
gospel into hard to reach areas. This book takes us there with them, and of
course, there’s a wonderful love story that plays out. You won’t want to miss
this book.
Welcome back, Lee. What
are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?
In Love Takes Flight,
I particularly addressed the reality of a call from God and how it may be recognized.
What other books of
yours are coming out soon?
I spent last year writing a series of three books set in Brazil
at the request of a publisher and my agent. Unfortunately, that publisher was
bought out by another, and the line was closed out. I’m having fun writing a
novel set in a small Texas
town, but it isn’t nearly finished yet.
If you could spend an
evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would
it be and why?
Dr. Ben Carson, a man of remarkable intelligence, insight,
and abilities.
James and I would
love to meet this man as well. What historical person would you like to meet
(besides Jesus) and why?
I would enjoy chatting with the Pasteurs, who proved the
germ theory of disease.
How can you encourage
authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?
Don’t keep trying to perfect a book which has received only
rejections. Start something new, something you will enjoy writing. Make it
imaginative. James Scott Bell says to put a surprise on every page. Thinking
that way is fun.
Tell us about the featured
book.
Volunteering in the Amazon to escape a broken heart, an
American nurse re-examines her life’s calling as she confronts hijackers,
malaria, and her attraction to a certain missionary pilot. This is “the book of
my heart,” the net of living many years in Brazil .
Please give us the
first page of the book.
A child’s scream pierced the Brazilian jungle night,
wrenching Camille from the tendrils of a nightmare. The wail soared through the
trees again, long and desperate. She rolled out of her hammock and stumbled on
numb legs, gripped the supporting rope, and got her bearings. The humid night
vibrated with fear and confusion, in time with her pounding pulse.
Nearby, a mission team member hit the floor with a thud,
emitting the forced unh! of having
the breath knocked out of him. She could run to him or toward the shriek that
woke them.
Shouted questions stabbed the moonlight and flashlights
snapped on at odd angles. The child howled a Portuguese word Camille didn’t
know, but she couldn’t miss the desperation.
Focus. Reacting
with her nurse’s training and passion, she slipped on flip-flops, grabbed a
flashlight, and dashed off the open platform in the direction of the pitiful
cries. In this jungle, she and Dr. Flavio were the only ER.
“Sucuri! Sucuri!”
The word rang throughout the village more like the name of a beautiful bird
than the vicious anaconda.
She ran to where villagers converged on the wide footpath in
front of the stilted houses. Raised machetes flashed as muscular brown arms
brought knives down hard. Shouting and groaning, men hacked at an enormous
snake curled in the baked red dirt.
Camille pushed into the circle of defenders and found a
young boy under attack. The snake writhed, dying but not giving up its prey. A
final cut severed the snake’s head from its squirming body. Blood squirted on
the clay clearing and the people. Snake blood and boy blood.
She recognized Pedro as a ten year old from the previous
day’s medical clinic. He cried, but no longer with curdled terror. She knelt in
the dust to examine his wounds and her guts twisted. She had to get him
somewhere she could treat him.
…
Camille glanced around. Where was Dr. Flavio? She’d have to
start without him. Faced with the responsibility, her mind wanted to freeze.
Stop the bleeding. Compression. Disinfectant.
She spotted Jessica, the blonde fourteen year old who
assisted in the dispensary. She would have the keys to supplies or know who
did. “Jessica, get me some disinfectant—alcohol, Betadyne. Lots of it.”
(And by the way, Jessica is real. She is now an RN and about
to return as a missionary to the Brazilian Amazon with her husband. They will
serve in a very primitive jungle area near her parents.)
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
For the book: http://amzn.to/12nRfpk
This last website has hundreds of photos from our years as
missionaries in Brazil .
Thank you, Lee, for sharing this new book with my readers.
Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
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Our church has a great missionary program.
ReplyDeleteWe hope to plant a church on each one of the continent's.
Thanks for the opportunity to win this book.
Janet E.
von1janet(at)gmail(dot)com
Florida
The missionary aviation group we served with in the Amazon, Asas de Socorro, assisted the missions of a Gainesville Baptist church which used a re-purposed luxury fishing ship on the Rio Negro. The ship stayed on the river, and Asas pilots flew new crew out and took back those who'd already served a week. I went one week as a translator for the Florida volunteers. It was an eye-opening experience. BTW, your church might also be interested in the autobiography, "Flying for Jesus." It's a free download on my websites and available without profit as a print book from Amazon.com.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I would like to read this book. I can't imagine living under those circumstances.
ReplyDeleteTennessee
It is a very different world, Kay. I've tried to illustrate the setting--let it be a character in the book--without allowing a travel-guide to overtake the plot. I think you'll enjoy the view.
ReplyDeleteI've read Lee Carver's book "Love Takes Flight". it's unputdownable!
ReplyDeleteMy Grandpa grew up in the jungles of Surinam, along with his four siblings and missionary parents. My siblings and I love hearing the stories he tells of life as a boy in the jungles of South America. Having great-grandparents, which I knew while alive, that lived and worked as missionaries there, gives me a deep interest in all things South America/missionary related. Thus being said, I'd LOVE to read this book!
ReplyDeleteJ.C. -Indiana-
What a wonderful family history, J.C.! A background of caring for others is important to the plot of this novel. The main character's name, Camille, came from her grandparents' volunteer labor following Hurricane Camille, which did terrible damage along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969. They met while working together. Her parents honeymooned in Biloxi a generation later and named their first child after the hurricane.
ReplyDeleteCount me in on this one, for sure!
ReplyDeleteMelanie Backus, TX
WOW! This was very interesting. Scary too. I would love to win this book. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteMaxie > mac262(at)me(dot)com <
WOW! This was very interesting. Scary too. I would love to win this book. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteMaxie > mac262(at)me(dot)com <
What an exciting beginning. This promises to be a fascinating read.
ReplyDeleteMary P
QLD AUSTRALIA
I love, love, love to read about nurses in exotic settings. This one is going to the top of my wishlist. Thank you for the interview as well as the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteDiana in SC
dianalflowers(at)aol(dot)com
What an interesting story. would love to read it.
ReplyDeletedkstevensne AT outlook DoT CoM
Enter me!!
ReplyDeleteConway, SC.
LEE! Hello and thank you for tagging me you were guesting on Lena's blog! What a great into into your story!i look forward to reading it! And hey, Lena! Hugs and blessings to you both!
ReplyDeleteGreetings, blog responders. Melanie, Maxie, Mary, Diana, Deanna and Caryl. This was a fun book to write--not easy, but fun. I felt an urgency to tell this story. Though the setting is exciting, the plot is, after all, about the characters. I hope you enjoy them. The book is getting excellent reviews. You can read them on Amazon by searching for books by me, Lee Carver.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a interesting story! Shelia from Mississippi
ReplyDeleteI'm making the assumption you are an MK who grew up in Brazil. I am an MK from Nigeria. I know your book will be so interesting because of the different culture and all the possibilities that contributes to the plot. Sm, CA. wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteNope. Not an MK. I grew up in a small town in Alabama. We were already living in Brazil when my husband took early retirement at age 55 in order to be a missionary pilot in the Amazon. We lived there over 6 years until we returned to the US to care for his parents. You can read it all in "Flying for Jesus".
ReplyDeleteWow!! I cannot wait to read this book! I too am a nurse and i love reading books that have a medical theme.
ReplyDeleteKandi in Montana