IN SEARCH OF FOREVER - Patricia Lee - One Free Book

Welcome back. Patricia. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon? God has indeed blessed my writing, beyond what I ever dreamed could happen. I’m older now and don’t know how many stories may be left to write. I could stop writing now and be completely satisfied.  But God will decide that for me.

Tell us a little about your family. I’m married to my husband of 48 years this July. We reared two children—a son who is almost 40 and working as an aid to those with disabilities.  My daughter is an artist.  Her medium is colored pencil and her subjects are critters of all kinds.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how? I read a lot of Christian fiction. Reading helps to hone my own writing skills.  Studying how someone else wrote a scene helps me improve my own scenes.  There’s something about absorbing someone else’s prose that lends strength to my own.  A writer who doesn’t read is a writer who doesn’t publish.

What are you working on right now? I have a women’s fiction tale set on a fictitious island in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia.  This story involves blackmail, conflict between heirs, and a child in danger.

What outside interests do you have? I scrapbook, play piano, bird watch, and love flowers.

How do you choose your settings for each book? The setting is usually dictated by the storyline. One of my books was about wild horses so I had to have the characters live in a region where horses could roam. Another book involved commercial fishermen where they were stuck in Dutch Harbor Alaska.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why? I’d like to spend time with Mary, mother of Jesus. When I think of her and the courage it must have taken to rear Jesus, watch him die, and go on living after the crucifixion, I stand in awe of her.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?        Marketing my books has taken me by surprise. That’s is a third career in itself. I’m not good at it and it claims a lot of time.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

I’m having some severe mobility issues, and I’m learning how to trust the Lord for each day.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

            *Never, never, never give up.

            *Pray before every writing session. Let God direct your writing. Don’t miss a day.

            *Involve yourself with other writers. Draw from their strength.

Tell us about the featured book. This story takes readers back to where the Mueller Rescue Ranch began. Jayden Clarke, the foster child in the original story Love Calls Her Home is now grown and returned from a tour in Afghanistan. He’s been wounded and has not fulfilled his dream of following in his father’s footsteps, so he is disillusioned and unsure of his future. His high school best friend Baylie Summers is waiting for his return, her own recent past full of regrets. 

Back Cover Copy    

Can they bridge the long gap in their friendship?

Growing up Jayden Clarke dreamed of becoming a Marine like his late father, who was killed in Afghanistan when Jayden was nine. His foster dad, Kurt, was also a decorated soldier. But his own encounter with a narrowly missed IED in Afghanistan leaves Jayden wounded and honorably discharged. He returns home defeated, his dream destroyed, not certain what his future will hold. Who will he become now? Is there anyone he can turn to?

Baylie Summers, two years out of college, has returned to the Mueller Rescue ranch where her best friend Jayden Clarke once lived as a foster teen. She hasn’t seen him since they graduated six years ago but she’s thrilled when she lands the job as the ranch’s fundraising newsletter writer.  Seeking refuge from the storms of life, Baylie waits for Jayden to return home, hoping he’ll have wisdom to help her recover from past incidents she wants to forget. Once a foster child herself, she fears Jayden might not like the woman she’s become. Will telling her secret make her lose Jayden forever?

Please give us the first page of the book.

CHAPTER ONE

“Stay low, Private.” Jayden Clarke rolled the injured man into a rocky outcropping along the side of the Jalalabad-Kabul road and patted his shoulder. “I’m going back up.”

“No, Clarke!” The man rasped. “You’ll be a target.”

Jayden ignored his plea and turned away, crawling toward the burning Humvee in which he and four others had been riding only moments before. One wheel caught only a minor shock of an IED blast, but the vehicle had overturned, throwing them out. Enemy fire pelted the air above causing debris to churn like a sand storm. His courage waned the closer he got. An image of his hero dad flashed before his eyes. Had Dad braved a hailstorm of bullets like this when he was pinned down by enemy fire? Did he feel death coming at him? Did he persist in spite of it all? Jayden swallowed.

I will make you proud.

He dismissed the images and focused on his target. Were any more men stranded beneath the vehicle’s overturned frame? Dust choked the air, making him wheeze. He slithered on his belly toward the wreckage, squinting through the cloud of smoke.
Steadying himself on one knee, he scanned the area for other survivors. Seeing no one he turned to go back the way he came. Before he could clear the pavement, another deafening blast rocked the ground. The Humvee rolled to its back in the force of this new explosion, catching Jayden’s right leg beneath its front tire. He screamed, the weight of the vehicle against his thigh pinning him to the ground. Pain raced up his calf, knee throbbing.

He tried to see through the haze, his safety glasses askew on his nose, but countless fragments flew from the cloud of smoke and blinded him. Shapes danced like images in a fun house mirror, grotesque figures that laughed from the reflection. In a last effort to make sense of what he saw he squinted, collapsing as everything around him dissolved to shades of gray.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Facebook: @patricialeebooks

Website: www.authorpatricialee.net

Twitter @lee_patricia__

Linked In: Pat Lee

Thanks, Patricia, for sharing In Search of Forever with my blog readers.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Forever-Mended-Hearts/dp/1953957307/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1686403891&sr=1-1

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