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/

Unconditional: Behind the Story By: Tanya Eavenson

He will fight for her at any cost...

Elizabeth Roberts can't remember her past, and the present is too painful. She turns to nightclubs and drinking to forget her infant daughter's death, her husband's affair.
When his wife's coma wiped out the memory of their marriage, Chris Roberts found comfort elsewhere. He can't erase his betrayal, but with God's help he’s determined to fight for Elizabeth at any cost.
She wants to forget. He wants to save his marriage. Can they trust God with their future and find a love that’s unconditional?

~♥~♥~

Unconditional: Behind the Story

                     By: Tanya Eavenson

Most little girls grow up believing in happily-ever-after and fairy tales of an unconditional love story. But I grew up in a family were divorce was common, with the idea once you “fall out” of love and you can’t get along anymore, it’s time to get a divorce. The proof was watching family members bounce from spouse to spouse. At a young age, I learned to believe love was fleeting. I began to protect myself with walls of preservation no one could penetrate.

Until one day when I visited a church and met a certain guy. It had been years since I’d been to a church, but I felt drawn to go. Soon afterward, the guy and I started dating, and for the first time in my life, I believed in happily-ever-after. I believed it throughout high school and right after college when we married.

But months later, I held divorce papers in my hands. To this day, I recall the emptiness in that moment, the hurt and pain and the reasons why I’d left my husband. Once again, I experienced the same feelings I felt when I was a child--love was fleeting, and happily-ever-after didn’t exist.

As I picked up the pen from the desk to sign the divorce papers, I never counted on the Holy Spirit urging me to call my husband. We spoke, barely, more like grunted at each other, but on that day we decided to meet, and shortly after, to fight for our marriage.

I didn’t plan to write Unconditional, but a desire took hold to tell a story of a husband and wife lost in their marriage. Although Unconditional isn’t the story my husband and I faced, there were similarities. We were at the brink of divorce and no one could stop it from happening—except for God.

Psalms 103:2-5 says, Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

Yes, God kept His promises. He forgave our sins, redeemed our marriage, and the life to which He’d called us. But most importantly, God revealed His passion and love for me like no one ever had, will, or could. I was His and He would never be willing to give me up, regardless of the circumstance. And though humanly speaking, there’s no such thing as happily-ever-after, in Christ, I would be happy for all eternity.

My husband and I celebrated nineteen years of marriage; the same month I held Unconditional in my hands for the first time. I cried seeing my name scrolled across the backdrop of a woman ever so gently kissing her husband at their wedding. It was surreal. Unconditional was a gift, a reminder of God’s love for me and for my readers. It’s an unconditional love story of a woman, a man, and an amazing God.

~♥~♥~

~ Tanya Eavenson enjoys spending time with her husband, and their three children. Her favorite pastime is grabbing a cup of coffee, eating chocolate, and reading a good book. Tanya is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Word Weavers International, and writes for Christ to the World Ministries. You can find her at her website http://www.tanyaeavenson.com/ on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google, or on Amazon.

Buy Links:

• Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Unconditional-ebook/dp/B00AZL8F5G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357883999&sr=1-1&keywords=tanya+Eavenson+Unconditional


• Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unconditional-tanya-eavenson/1114108760?ean=2940016066837


• iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/unconditional/id592895859?mt=11


• Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/unconditional-7


• Publisher: Clean Reads


• Release date: September 2, 2015

~♥~♥~

Thank you so much, Tanya, for being my guest here today, and for your wonderful, heartfelt story. God Bless You!

Join the conversation!

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