THE WIDOW OF SAUNDERS CREEK - Tracey Bateman - One Free Book

I'm thrilled to have my friend, Tracey Bateman, back with us. Welcome, Tracey. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I was five when I decided I better ask Jesus into my heart. But it was mainly because my best friend was getting baptized and got all the attention. When I was eight, I had an experience with God where I realized I was a sinner and that Jesus had died for me. I spent hours on my mother’s bedroom floor crying and repenting for my sins. That was the day I truly believe I was saved.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

Susan May Warren—Because she knows more about the craft of writing than anyone I know.

Rachel Hauck—because not only does she know writing, she knows God and I love the way He oozes from her when she speaks about anything, but writing in particular. Plus, she has the coolest way of phrasing things of anyone I know. I could listen to her read the phone book and be inspired.

James Scott Bell—Because he’s funny and smart and knows exactly what he wants to say and communicates it effectively.

Colleen Coble—Because she is the biggest encourager I know, and I think more than “technique” new writers, in particular, just need encouragement to keep on.

I’d want to sneak into that retreat. Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

Not really. I do speak on occasion, sometimes about writing, sometimes about life and God. They are few and far between, but lately, the doors seem to be opening more. Not sure what God has planned, but “YES” to whatever He asks me to do. Lord, send me…

People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

Usually, I get more information. What sort of book? And that opens a dialogue. You can center people pretty quickly and if they’re just thinking one day they might write a book about a life experience, I encourage them to journal and flex their writing muscles that way. If they have an idea for a fiction book and just need the courage or a little nudge in the right direction, I usually point them to ACFW or My Book Therapy, plus I encourage them to sit down and just write.

Tell us about the featured book.

Corrie Saunders’ journey begins with deep, heart-wrecking grief. She’ll do anything for one more moment with the man she loved and lost. As the story evolves she must come to understand that God’s ways are always higher and the enemy of her soul has one focus in mind where she is concerned: to separate her from the love of God and take her down a path of destruction. But for God…

It’s a love story with a supernatural tilt to it. My response to the lies blasted onto the airways with Ghosthunters and other shows that promote what God forbids: speaking to the “dead.”

Please give us the first page of the book.

Prologue

An easy spring wind blew through my open Jeep, lifting my hair and ruffling the cloth seat covers as I turned off the interstate and traveled east toward Saunders Creek. It was the last leg of my nine-hour drive from Dallas to the tiny, unassuming Ozarks town that bore my husband’s family name.

Towering oaks, full maples, and evergreens hugged the narrow, winding road in a way that even a few months ago might have felt intrusive. But today the trees seemed to embrace me, welcoming me.

Déjà vu came over me, as though the scene before me came out of my own childhood memories instead of recollections of stories my husband told about growing up here.

I wanted him beside me, flashing his Top Gun Maverick grin. Jarrod had died the way he lived—reckless, but heroic. Saving at least fifty lives in a little Iraqi settlement on the east bank of the Tigris River. Leaving me to pine after him, sick with love for a man who would never hold me again. I couldn’t breathe. God, just take me too. But every day my eyes opened, air filled my lungs, and I forced myself to go on.

Six months ago, I buried him according to his wishes, in the Saunders family graveyard. After the funeral, my mother demanded that I return home to Dallas to grieve—as though I could just put the last seven years behind me and move on. Forget the consuming, crazy, once-in-a-lifetime love who had rescued me from her in the first place. Every night since then I had dreamed of my husband’s childhood home. A force compelled me to come here, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer.

Jarrod was gone, but as I drove my Jeep up the path that led to the two-story farmhouse, I finally understood why I had been so drawn to this place.

I had come here to find the man I loved.

I’m intrigued. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Twitter and Facebook of course and my website

www.traceybateman.com

Thank you, Tracey, for another interesting interview.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

The Widow of Saunders Creek: A Novel - paperback
The Widow of Saunders Creek: A Novel - Kindle


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