THE WISE GUY AND THE STAR - Shannon McNear - One Free Book

Welcome back, Shannon. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about? Loss, grief, dealing with past abuse … but also the majesty and faithfulness of the Lord to carry us through anything, even to bring good from the awful things in our life.

What other books of yours are coming out soon? My surprise #4 of Daughters of the Lost Colony, Virginia, releases in September. It is, of course—if you’re familiar with Lost Colony history—the story of Virginia Dare herself, the first English child born in the New World. This series is properly termed alternate history because it deals more with what might have happened rather than what we know for sure.

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why? I’d love to have a long, leisurely chat with fellow author Lori Benton. I so adore her work!

What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why? Right this minute it’s a toss-up between Corrie Ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, and Susanna Wesley … all of them for their faith and wisdom. 😊

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers? Well … as someone who waited for 30 years on my first publishing contract, I learned that waiting on the Lord is the best path—and His timing is always perfect. The process had deeper purpose than I knew, partly to grow me as a writer and to make my stories “better,” but also to teach me it really is more about the journey than the “destination” of being published. Don’t rush whatever it is the Lord has for you!

Tell us about the featured book. This story was originally part of Love’s Pure Light, a Barbour Christmas collection from 2020, with Susanne Dietze, Janine Roche, and Deborah Raney. The collection features an heirloom Nativity passed down through several generations, and while the other three are back in print, I was not able to get mine released again until now. So without further ado … 😊

Can a chance encounter be the connection they have always needed?

After the end of the Great War, pastor’s daughter Stella Shepherd accompanies her aunt on a business trip by train and meets convalescing war veteran Nat Wise and his two older brothers. The three men are whimsically named after the gifts of the biblical wise men and dubbed “the Wise guys” by their cousins. They claim to be down-and-out soldiers recently returned from the front, but they’re surrounded by mystery.

Stella secretly carries the family Nativity to comfort her while away from family during Christmas. Nat quietly spends his spare time carving a set of wooden wise men to honor his own deceased mother. To him, Stella is the perfect church girl—darling, but unattainable because he’s done too much for God to forgive him.

Stella longs to help Nat find renewed faith in God, but could he be the answer to the wanderings of her own heart?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Charleston, South Carolina—December 1919

Stella Shepherd stepped inside the huge building of Union Station, stared about her at the hustling crowd, then lifted her eyes to the arching beams high over their heads. Why had she ever thought she’d be comfortable traveling so close to Christmas? Away from home. Away from family.

Well, family who extended some modicum of warmth, at least.

“Stella girl, you best get a move on, now!” came the voice of Old Joe, her aunt’s manservant, behind her.

Stella swallowed hard, took a better grip on her satchel and suitcase, and fastened her gaze on the retreating form of her aunt, sailing through the crowd ahead of her like the battleship she was oft compared to. But still she couldn’t move.

This trip was an adventure, Mama said. And surely, if she and Papa had thought it a bad idea, they’d not have allowed her to go with Aunt Lila.

Or, as the case may be, let Aunt Lila talk them into allowing her to go.

“Stella!” came old Joe’s booming admonishment, closer now.

Aunt Lila glanced over her shoulder, her arched brows rising even higher.

No more hesitation. Stella scurried after her, weaving between the other travelers.

The rumble of the steam engine echoed through the busy station and vibrated in the stone floor, growing stronger as she neared the train stretching the length of the station platform in front of her.

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Thank you, Shannon, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me.

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