SONG IN THE DARK - Jessica White - One Free Book

Dear Readers, Jessica White has been a part of my critique group for several years, and I’ve loved having her. Now she has moved to Oklahoma, and I miss seeing her in person. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the publication of Song in the Dark. I’ve loved all her books, but this one is my favorite. I love the story line, the characters, the suspense. It’s the whole package. You won’t want to miss reading this story.

Welcome, Jessica. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I enjoy exploring God’s love for people, seeing them with His eyes. He never fails to show up on the pages and reveal things to me I’d never have thought of myself. And I enjoy delving into the depth of my characters’ lives. By the time I’m done with a book, I know them better than most people in real life. I get to see the crevices most folks never share with others.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

That’s a hard one. Probably going off to college in West Virginia and being surrounded by thinkers who loved God, but still questioned everything. It was a safe place to really challenge what I’d been taught about history, race, class, gender, and faith.

How has being published changed your life?

It’s compelled me to put my thoughts out in the world. I’d be content to stay in my little corner, working behind the scenes, but as a writer there is no hiding. You have to put yourself into every story or it doesn’t ring true.

What are you reading right now?

A lot of spiritual non-fiction. I just finished The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge and am currently on The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. I’m also about to read the Advanced Readers Copy of Earth Our Original Monastery by Christine Paintner, who is a favorite of mine.

What is your current work in progress?

I have several irons in the fire. I’m almost finished with another standalone based on Artemis mixed with the myth of Theseus and the Labyrinth.

Former Army sergeant Naomi Delos runs a group home in New York City for high-risk girls. When one who suffers from selective mutism goes missing and the police insist she’s just run away, Naomi puts her scouting skills to work and calls on the help of a search-and-rescue team. But in a city of millions, she doesn’t expect the Army teammate who risked his life to save hers to answer the call.

Levi Goldberg refuses to let the determined woman who changed the course of his life to disappear again. With the help of his bloodhound, they follow clues and messages hidden in the girl’s poetry to rescue the teen before she’s lost in the human trafficking ring known as the Labyrinth.

What would be your dream vacation?

My dream vacation would be a spiritual retreat somewhere surrounded by woods that has a walking labyrinth where I could just be one-on-one with God. I’d love to find a week-long event with spiritual director appointments where I could dig into my walk with God and see what needs to be shed and where I need to be braver and step out.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Typically something in the story requires some specific detail. For my historical Healing Seasons series, I knew it started in West Virginia, and they had to flee west. Using a railroad map, I found they would have hit Billings, Montana, in the late evening and could see Samuel getting off to look at the stars and losing his ticket in the dark. Thus the story ends up taking place halfway between Helena and Missoula because that’s where they would run out of money and resources, and be approaching the mountains.

With Song in the Dark, it was a mental image of Mount Olympus as a high rise in Manhattan, but Hades didn’t have a place there, so I wanted a nearby seat of power and decided to use Albany, because it’s the capital of New York state.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

This is hard because after Rachel Held Evans died last year, I made a list of people I really want to meet. Her best friend, Sarah Bessey, is top of that list now, not because she knew Rachel, but because she’s a passionate woman wrestling out her faith. Every book she writes rings true for me and my walk with God. Along with her are Tony Kriz, Andrew Peterson, Jeremy Courtney of Preemptive Love Coalition, and dozens of other people who are out there loving people to Christ through honest conversations and living a life that preaches louder than words.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Cleaning, organizing, and helping people de-clutter. I love tackling physical messes as much as spiritual and intellectual ones. There is so much connection between our inner and outer worlds. Sometimes people need to work on the outside tangible things to understand how to fix the inside. And sometimes it’s the reverse. Helping someone let go of some object of a “someday dream” they once had to make room for where God has them now is such a blessed privilege.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d probably have said figuring out the publishing world. But hands down, right now, it’s expectations. Recently, God has been showing me that the braver and truer I write what He calls me to, the more people who are going to say “You can’t do that…” But God never called anyone to do what’s easy. He called them to step out of their cultures, their families, their religious systems, and just love and obey Him.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Be brave. Yes, you need to learn the craft, learn the business, figure out who you are as a writer and who your audience is and how to reach them, but if you’re not brave, you’ll get lost in a sea of mediocrity and good enough. When you’re brave on the page, your stories are richer and ring truer in the reader’s heart.

Tell us about the featured book.

Song in the Dark explores what it means to overcome our darkest struggles. Harpist Jenna Fields grew up with a narcissistic parent whose love was conditionally based on her performance and how she made her mother look. We discover the self-destructive coping mechanisms she’s relied on to take back control and how often these victims end up attracting predatory partners.

It also tells the story of homicide detective Dean Blackburn who feels tainted by death. He doesn’t see himself as a rescuer but as the one who seeks justice for the dead. He struggles to accept there is a place for light and hope in his life. When he sees Jenna’s goodness isn’t because she’s never faced the world’s ugliness, but despite it, he determines to help her break free of her mother’s gilded cage.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is http://www.AuthorJessicaWhite.com  

Readers can subscribe to my email list to be the first to hear about releases, sales, and updates, as well as follow me on social media from there.

Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your new novel with my blog readers and me. I received my copy on Thursday evening, and I’m eager to read it after the publisher worked on it. By the way, I love the cover.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Song in the Dark - Paperback
Song in the Dark - Kindle

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