FREED TO FORGIVE - Julie B Cosgrove - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I was privileged to read this book for endorsement. You won’t want to miss this book. The way Julie deals with the need for forgiveness, and how terribly hard it is sometimes, is masterful. And the suspense in the story will keep your heart beating double time.

Bio: Julie B Cosgrove is widowed and lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with two cats, lovingly dubbed her “beastie boys.” She is a part-time church secretary, professional public speaker, faith-based freelance writer, and award-winning author. Julie writes regularly for six Christian devotional and inspirational magazines and websites, and has her own blog, Where Did You Find God Today? She has published six non-fiction and four fiction works, with five more under contract. A native Texan, she grew up in the Texas Hill Country and is a true “river rat” who enjoys people watching, word games, and mystery novels/movies, especially British ones. She is active in the prayer and outreach ministries in her church and president over the women of her denomination in three states. Julie is also a representative for Women at Risk International, a missionary group who rescues women and children from sex slavery in thirty countries, and she speaks to civic and church groups about how to thwart human trafficking in their communities.

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

Whether fiction or nonfiction, I write about people finding God in their everyday lives and Him meeting them where they are. So often people wonder where He is    moving in their lives, but they are so focused on themselves and their conflicts, they can’t see His fingerprints on the situation. 

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

So glad you asked because I am giddy about it. I have been a mystery aficionado forever, so I finally got up the gumption to write one. Bam - I just signed a three-book contract for a cozy mystery series called The Bunco Biddies Mysteries about twelve women in a retirement community who gather for Bunco and solve crimes as they toss the dice. Book One, Dumpster Dicing, will be out the summer of 2016, book two, Baby Bunco, will be out in the winter of 2016 and Threes and Sixes will be out the summer of 2017.Yes, the series is humorous as well as faith-based and heart-felt.

I also have two romance novellas, Navy Blues and Greener Grasses which will launch in 2016 as part of an anthology of fifteen works with fourteen other authors based on 1Corinthians 13.

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

I’d really like to spend the evening with Joyce Meyer. When I was at a real low point in my faith years ago, her TV program lifted me. I saw her once in person as well. I have seen her talks lift other women as well, plus she is a hoot, right? It would not be a dull evening.

James and I have enjoyed her for years. We were in the studio audience when she was on James Robison’s show. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

Sam Houston. Any man who nails studs to the banister of the brand new Texas Governor’s Mansion main stair railing to keep his kids from sliding down it during dignitary visits is worth meeting. He must have been a bigger-than-life sort of man to fight with the Texicans, be the first president of a brand new country and then lobby for it to become a part of the United States and take on being the first governor.

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

If they are truly serious about their craft, I encourage them to never give up. Keep writing and learning. Like many things, it takes time, effort and dedication to develop your talents. Find a supportive critique group with published authors who will mentor you and take their advice to heart. Finally, purchase Autocrit. Take the time to put one of o your rejections through it and go through the editing process. It is an amazing tutor.

Tell us about the featured book.

(Author sucks in her breath.) Freed to Forgive is about forgiving those who hurt us so we can heal and move on. God commands us to do that in the Lord’s Prayer and it is the hardest and most uplifting thing we can do on our faith journey besides initially accepting the fact we need a Savior.

           

That being said, it does come with a disclaimer. Though faith-based, this novel does contain veiled and delicately-worded abusive scenes necessary for the plot, and unfortunately, all too common in human trafficking.

           

This is a not a fluffy romance. It is a story of a young of girl’s journey from trafficked to triumph. I researched and conferenced for hours and hours with legislators, social workers, immigration counselors and missionaries before I wrote it to make sure I’d tell the story accurately.

           

Jesus met people where they were—in the middle of their sins—and then healed them and lifted them out of it into redemption. Thus, I felt I had to take the reader through the whole journey. But there is a happy ending, and the reader can see God’s purpose and movement in her life, even though Marisol doesn’t see it at the time.

Juxtaposed to Marisol’s journey is that of a young pastor as well as the protagonists from the first two novels, Hush in the Storm and Legitimate Lies, who will cross her life several times. But I purposely added scenes not revealed in the first two in this series and only referenced to scenes elaborated upon in the first two, so hopefully the reader doesn’t feel like they are in the middle of a rerun if they have read them or feel lost if they have not.

           

It’s my favorite of the trilogy and I am blessed that Prism Book Group has taken the “leap of faith” to support me in this effort and publish it. And I thank you, Lena, for endorsing it and encouraging me.

Please give us the first page of the book for my readers.

San Antonio, Summer, 2023  

Marisol Hernández did a double take. An icy tingle slithered down her arms. She recognized  the woman’s face. One she never thought she’d see again. Jen Westlaw. Except now her name read Wilson?

She back-stepped a few paces to peer into Jen’s pixelated bluish-green eyes displayed on the Abundant Life Church’s marquee as it flashed the latest posts from their social media site. The face beckoned her—once again. Yes, definitely the same woman.

They met in 2013. The year Marisol’s life changed. Hadn’t the news reported she’d disappeared without a trace and was presumed dead years ago? Yet there she gleamed in 3D color.

A man with a handsome smile stood next to Jen in the photo. Tom, it read. She’d never learned his name, but she recognized him all right. He’d helped Jen escape. He appeared again at the shelter on that horrid day—held Marisol’s hand, whispered she could trust him. She had, and part of her still regretted the decision.

Vivid memories flooded her thoughts, pressing against the emotional dam which she’d carefully constructed over the past decade. The hurt, once pooled deep inside, rushed from its stagnant state through cracks in her psyche. Waves of her secret torment rolled and crashed within the walls of her heart, threatening to drag her under. She gasped for breath.

“Watch it. Other people use this sidewalk.” A sharp male voice jolted Marisol back to the present. She’d absent-mindedly edged into the passenger’s path.

She dashed her gaze to the concrete. An old habit. Never look a man in the eyes. That had been pounded into her brain. And her back. Her last jefé once beat her with a belt for doing it. Ten lashes. Obey, or suffer. A tough lesson learned for a spirited, angry teenager who’d fought so hard to survive. She twitched her shoulder blade, the old pain jabbing her once again. Some scars never heal.

In a low voice she apologized to the stranger. “Lo siento. Um, sorry.”

“Yeah. Well, this isn’t Mexico.” Disgust vibrated through his words. “Give them some help and they think they deserve the world.” His grumbling faded with his footsteps.

Thank you. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.juliebcosgrove.com. I also have a devotional blog, because I write devotions for several publications as well as Bible studies.

You can also find my books on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble, and seek me on Facebook - juliebcosgrove_texas, Twitter@JulieBCosgrove, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Thank you, Julie, for sharing this new book with us. I know my readers are eager to find out how Marisol's story ends.

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Freed to Forgive - paperback
Freed to Forgive - Kindle

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