If I were to write a novel, ...? ~ Lynne Tagawa

A Twisted Strand: A Story of Faith and Second Chances 

 By Lynne Tagawa

One night I couldn’t sleep. As I stared up into the darkness, I wondered: If I were to write a novel, what would it be about?

Thoughts swirled. One popped up: What if a genetically engineered virus were set loose in my South Texas neighborhood?

Yes! I’d use the San Antonio area as my setting—complete with bluebonnets—since that’s what I know best. I blew up my favorite restaurant in the process . . . is that a spoiler?

Another set of thoughts tangled with the first: What would the story really be about? You know as well as I do that a story with a virus isn’t really “about” the virus. Stories are about people—people we care about, people who grapple with important issues.

I thought some more. I definitely wanted the gospel in my story—a description of a person coming to Christ—and I’d just read a book about the Ten Commandments.

I know most folks, when presenting the gospel, will start with the book of John or Romans. But what if a person does not know what sin is, or can’t see it in herself?

Rachel Davis, one of my protagonists, has been sinned against. She’s bitter because of her husband’s infidelity. The first time she reads the Ten Commandments on her brother’s wall, she spots “adultery” right away. But how will she discover her own need of grace?

I invite you to read the rest of the story!

About the book:

After a painful divorce, Rachel Davis is ready to enjoy her new South Texas home, raise her kids, and find some peace. Can she find the secret to making her heart whole again?

William Davis, MD, would do anything to take back his horrible mistake, but infidelity is more than his wife can forgive. He tries to be a good dad to his kids from afar. When Rachel discovers their Jersey heifer dead from a hemorrhagic fever, she quickly realizes that the disease might spread to humans.

Working for an epidemiologist, she joins the investigation. The family vet sickens, and Will enters the battle against the mysterious virus. Is it natural? Or is it terrorism? Estranged from God and from each other, Rachel and Will encounter the truth of the gospel and struggle to make sense of it. Is there hope? And is there hope for their relationship?

What others are saying:

"Lynne Tagawa takes us deep into the world of biological warfare with a mystery that is both plausible and scary." --Laura V. Hilton, author of The Christmas Admirer (Whitaker House)

". . . I believe this story will inspire everyone who picks it up." --Amber Schamel, author of Dawn of Liberty (2017 CSPA Book of the Year Award Winner)

Available in paperback and kindle: amzn.to/2HGsvkm

About Lynne:

Lynne Tagawa is married with four grown sons and three marvelous grandbabies. A biology teacher by trade, she teaches part-time, writes, and edits. She’s written a Texas history curriculum in narrative form, Sam Houston’s Republic, and published her debut novel, A Twisted Strand, last year.  The Shenandoah Road, a story of the Great Awakening, is scheduled to be published in 2018. Lynne lives with her husband in South Texas.

My website: https://www.lynnetagawa.com/