SOWN IN PEACE ~ Joy Avery Melville ~ The Story Behind the Story

SOWN IN PEACE

The Story Behind the Story

Joy Avery Melville

 

Sown In Peace would not be the story it is without some amazing input from two of America’s wounded warriors, but let me back up just a little. After God gave me the idea for this novel, and after I quit arguing with him about writing it, I did a mammoth amount of reading from non-fiction books I purchased at Amazon.com. I knew it wasn’t enough. There was a niggling within that had me sensing a need to dig deeper, which led me to pray for a human resource. Someone who’d been there and done the things I wanted to include in my novel. Someone who wouldn’t fear talking about their take away from their years of service.

 

Since I don’t believe in coincidences, I can say with all sincerity, God nudged two people to answer my prayers. Through an editing client, I met an extraordinary soldier… a wounded warrior. Then, God connected me with another outstanding, Army wounded warrior, through the editor of my books. These two men, Jeremy Rockstroph (Rock) of Indiana and Keith Youngblood (Big guy) of Texas have PTSD, and yet, were willing to open up and give me insight into that devastating result of their service to our country. They were able to share what no text book or reference source I’d been through had given me. These soldiers gave me what I needed so badly for the characters in the story.

 

When I first interviewed each of them, it was to gain information as to military terms, the types of vehicles and how they were used, base life, and the atmosphere. Then, as I spent time with them over the many months we talked, via email, FB Chats, by phone, email, and even in person with Rock, I learned they had so much more to say that would impact the novel. These men shared their very hearts with me, bringing so much more life to the novel and two very important characters.

 

I am grateful for the ideas God put in my head and heart, the strength He gave me to put them into book form, but my life has been changed for having known these men. I will be forever indebted to them… the heroes I am now privileged to call family!

Lest you think this story is all about military life and PTSD, I promise, there are emotional and romantic elements running through this novel. See below ~

 

From the back cover:

 

How much can one wounded soul take?

 

Victoria (Tori) Archer has the heart of a soldier. Taken down by an IED during her fourth deployment, she’s permanently separated from her military career and left with physical scars as well as PTSD. Moving back to her hometown of Three Rivers, Michigan, she’s forced by circumstances to live with an irascible and unsympathetic aunt. Tori’s battle with pain, horrific memories, and loss of independence creates a deep yearning for peace. Will God grant her even a small measure of it?

 

Retired Military Dog Handler Griffin (Griff) McKay turns to training dogs at his farm for wounded warrior therapy, desiring to bring former military men and women emotional and mental healing. Implementing his plan proves to be more difficult than visualized with the arrival of one stubborn soldier. Why has God placed that particular warrior in his path?

 

 

One thing God has allowed me, while writing the genre He nudged, pushed, and then affirmed I write, is a strong Romance thread and ultimately a sigh-worthy ending. Something my Advanced Readers have assured me, is there.

 

Keith Youngblood read the e-book format of Sown In Peace last week then left a comment on my Facebook page with five bright yellow stars. He said the following:

 

“Everyone needs to get a copy of this book!! It is a Faith Based Fictional, yet very realistic story about a Wounded Warrior (IED explosion) returning home after being medically retired from the Army. She has to learn to live with her physical and mental injuries.

I also have a personal connection to this book, as the author, Joy Avery Melville was initially put in contact with me in order for her to get technical info for the book. Well it turned in to much more than that. Throughout the process, I got to know Joy and got comfortable enough to start sharing stories about my life and my struggles in the Army and since retiring. We have now become life-long friends. I love you Ladybug.” (unedited)

 

Needless to say, my eyes leaked when I read that. I am indebted to both men, for their candor. I look forward to working with them each again as I begin Pursuit Of Peace in the next month or so.

 

About the author:

 

Fully intending to write Historical Romance—had in fact— Joy had no plans to deviate from that. God had something else in mind for that ‘call’ He’d made on her life back in 1967. A mere eighth grader at the time, she had no clue about the topics she’d be drawn to write about.

Surrendering to the genre God placed on her heart has given Joy new insight into the hearts and lives of those who too often hurt in silence.

The settings of Joy’s books are near where she lives in Schoolcraft, Michigan with her husband of nearly 47 + years and their 21 mo-old Yorkie, Is-A-Bella Bindi, (Is-a-beautiful little girl) who thinks she’s a much larger breed with tomboy tendencies.

Joy loves to hear from readers and will respond! 

• Email       joyjournaling@gmail.com
  
• Twitter    https://twitter.com/Journeystojoy 
• Website  https://www.joyaverymelville.com 
• Blog        https://www.journeystojoy.net 
• Facebook Author Page http://facebook.com/jamauthor 
• Facebook Personal Page http://facebook.com/joy.averymelville 
• Amazon:         https://www.amazon.com/author/joyaverymelville
•  Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/joyjournalinggmailcom 
• Bookbub:      https://www.bookbub.com/profile/joy-avery-melville

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Blogger Author Tina Pinson, Article, Book, and Giveaway!

Award Winning author Tina Pinson resides in Mesa, Arizona with Danny, her husband of thirty plus years. They are blessed to have three sons, and nine grandchildren. Tina started her first novel in elementary school. Her love of writing has caused her to seek creative outlets be it writing poetry, songs, or stories. She also loves to doodle and enjoys gardening.

It is her prayer that her stories, though fiction, will transport you to worlds beyond and touch your spirit and give you a closer insight to yourself and God.

In the Manor of the Ghost, Touched By Mercy To Carry Her Cross Black Rain Then There Was Grace, Black Rain, Christmas in Shades of Gray and the Shadow Series; When Shadows Fall, Shadowed Dreams , To Catch A Shadow and This Shadowed Land are available through Desert Breeze Publishing and major retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and CBD. Then There Was Grace took First Place in the Epic Awards for Contemporary Fiction and Christmas in Shades of Gray was a finalist in the Epic Awards for Paranormal Fiction. Her newest release Betrayed - Trail of the Sandpiper Book #1 placed third in the Genesis in 2003.

~♦~♦~

War and Peacestilence

by

Tina Pinson

At the time the US was drawn into the war in 1941 the country was on the tail end of the Great Depression. In truth, it was the war that put the country on the path to financial recovery.

But it sent thousands to their death, many in island places we call exotic paradises, and hope to visit one day for vacation. We can visit these places today, having been vaccinated to hopefully protect us from any virus or disease we might confront.

But that wasn't true for the soldiers in WWII. In 1942 the US Government vaccinated all personnel for tetanus, typhoid, smallpox, cholera, and yellow fever, which helped eradicate many of the diseases and kept outbreaks from spreading through the ranks like in prior wars.

Having prepared their army with every medical advance in their arsenal, the government sent them to war. Some headed to Europe to fight against the Nazis and others headed to the islands of the Pacific to face the Japanese.

Those fighting in the South Pacific soon found out it was nothing like home. At home they fought Tuberculosis, and Polio, Flu, and other diseases that scared them, but those diseases they understood and knew some precautions to take. In the South Pacific, they marched into jungles ready to fight the Japanese unaware they'd battle extremes of heat and incessant rains that would give them rashes and jungle rot so bad they itched, bled profusely, and could become gangrenous

They fought all kinds of bugs and disease carrying vermin and ended up with; dengue fever, malaria, hepatitis, dysentery, Leishmaniosis (black fever, sand fly disease), cholera and Scrub typhus (brought on by mites).

Living conditions and tainted drinking water caused cholera and dysentery, which would inflict the already fatigued soldier with diarrhea and cause dehydration. Canvas water bags (Lister bags) treated with chlorine were hung around camp to give a fresh supply of water, and many soldiers learned (some the hard way) the importance of a clean canteen and a clean mess kit.

Some soldiers got Dracunculiasis, or guinea worm disease, from drinking water infected with water fleas carrying the guinea worm larva. The soldier would have no symtoms initially, but after about a year they would develop a painful burning feeling, usually on their lower limbs. The matured worm would then come out of the skin over the next few weeks. This disease was usually deadly, but could you imagine trying to figure out why your skin was blistering only to learn it was from a drink of water you took almost a year before.

We know about these diseases, but people today can still get them from visiting countries where these diseases persist.

But in WWII many hadn't even heard of Dracunuliasis and for every two men saved on the battlefield two or more might die from disease.

Soldiers, especially if taken prisoner and fed a staple of rice, also fought Beriberi, a vitamin B1 deficiency that caused a loss of feeling in hands and feet, vomiting, coma and even death.

Those who contracted Malaria carried it for years after, as there wasn't much to then to stop the disease from revisiting when it wanted.

Another disease that lasted years after the war, was PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or Syndrome,) even then we didn't talk about it as much as we do today. Like a mental malaria PTSD hung around and attacked uninvited long after the soldier had returned home, leaving soldiers to relive the atrocities of war over and over again. Pulling them from their now quiet existence back to the battlefield. And yes, like today, there were those who took their lives to kill the echoes of war in their heads forever.

In Betrayed -- Trail of the Sandpiper Book #1, I write about some of the pests and bugs on the island of New Guinea. And show some of what Trauma does. Lieutenant Tyler Merrick lives with reoccurring dreams from child hood and Pearl Harbor. And Justine Whitcomb is haunted by her own memories. Remember PTSD doesn't just hit a soldier who's been to war.

~♦~♦~

Betrayed

Justine Whitcomb, who, after the missionary compound where she lives is attacked, is left to get herself and several children off the island of New Guinea. Escaping might be easier done if she didn't have to get through Japanese lines and fight Lieutenant Tyler Merrick of the US Navy in the process.

Lt. Merrick is on a mission to find a rogue spy, and Justine's independent nature and knowledge of the island has him believing she just might be the spy he's after. Were it not for the children she's protecting, he would've followed his instincts and taken her prisoner already.

Now she wants him to follow her through the jungle. He not certain he's ready to trust her. But if they can't put their fears aside and learn to trust one another, they might not get off the island alive.

It's the summer of '42. The world is at War and Japan's Imperial Army is moving across the island of New Guinea.

After their mission is attacked, Justine is left with seven children to lead to safety through enemy lines. She leads them to a cave and goes back for her husband when she is taken captive. Upon her escape with the help of a friend, Virginia, she starts back for the children and runs into Lt. Tyler Merrick. She hopes he will help her. But he's drunk and doesn't believe there are children. He thinks Justine is the rogue spy he been sent to find.

Justine goes for the children and returns to an even angrier Lt. Merrick. He wants to tie her up. She hopes to win his trust. Because if they can't stop fighting one another, they will never get off the island alive.

~♦~♦~

Where to find Tina “Out There”:

• Tina's Blog
• Twitter:@Tina_Pinson
• Facebook-- https://www.facebook.com/TinaEPinsonAuthor
• Pinterest-- http://pinterest.com/tinapinson/

Book Links for Betrayed

• Amazon - http://tiny.cc/BetrayedAM
• B & N - http://tiny.cc/BetrayedBN

~♦~♦~

About the Giveaway:

Tina is giving away a free copy of Betrayed to one lucky winner who visits this blog. Entering is easy: just leave a comment below and your name will be entered into the drawing at Contest End, Midnight (Central) September 3. Winner will be selected in a drawing through random.org the next day and notified via email.

Tina, thank you so much for being my guest here on Whispers in Purple. I really enjoyed reading your article about the so very unpleasant–often deadly–things our brave military men faced, every one of them heroes. even if they didn’t return home. God bless them all.