I hope your Valentine's Day was blessed and happy. Today I'm pleased to bring to you, Ms. Claire Sanders with her brand new release, From the Ashes.
After many years of dry, academic publications,
Claire Sanders yearned to stretch her creative muscles. Since she’d long
enjoyed the guilty pleasure of reading romance novels, she decided to try her
hand at writing one. Claire has several publications:
o
“Fresh
Start” – Wild Rose Press, 2008 (not Christian fiction)
o
“Equally
Yoked” – Barbour Books, 2011 a novella featured in “A Quaker Christmas”
o
“New
Garden’s Inspiration” – Barbour Books, 2012 a novella featured in “The Quakers
of New Garden”
o
“Three
Gifts” – Prism Book Group, 2012
o
“The
Captive Bird” – Prism Book Group, 2013
Fleeing a secret that
changed her life forever, Judith Robertson decides she can live in the little
cabin in the woods that she inherited from her grandfather. The big barn and
the quaint little church just add to the allure of the four hundred acres of
her new home. Within minutes of her decision, Reverend Washington asks to use
her church building, and Jacob Fraser wants to cut a deal to timber the woods
Judith now owns. But arsonists are burning African-American churches and
threatening anyone who dares to intervene. Judith loans her church to the
recently burned out members of the All Faith Community Church, which brings
troubles beyond anything she ever imagined. And Jacob Fraser is everywhere,
causing a heart she'd thought was stone cold dead to flutter with emotions she
had lost a long time ago. But Jacob has secrets, too. Can two heartbroken
people gain the courage to challenge the status quo and accept the Lord's
blessings?
EXCERPT
Jacob Fraser aimed the stream of high-pressure
water toward the burning roof of All Saints Community Church. This was the
fourth church fire he and the other volunteer firefighters had fought, and his
heart sank lower with each fire. Someone was intentionally destroying places of
worship.
He glanced at the familiar faces in the huddled
groups of onlookers. Arsonists liked to watch their handiwork. Was one of his
neighbors the culprit? Maybe it was George Hampton, his old Boy Scout leader,
or Marvin Simpson, his Little League baseball coach. Maybe he didn’t know the
people of Piney Meadow as well as he thought.
Henry Washington, the pastor of the church, stood
in front of a separate group of bystanders. His dark skin glowed in the
firelight, but the brightness of his dark eyes was more than mere reflection.
Was it anger, righteous indignation, or something more that ignited the fire
inside the African American pastor? Henry raised his Bible toward the flames
and his congregation gathered around him. Some embraced and others cried, but
most stood in silence, their backs straight and their gazes fixed on their
suffering church.
Above the roar of the fire, Jacob heard voices
singing a familiar chorus:
“Leaning,
leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the
everlasting arms.”
Jacob’s heart swelled with admiration. The
fire might destroy their building, but their faith was strong.
“What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?”
A second truck from a neighboring community
arrived, but there was no saving the All Saints Community Church. Jacob and the
other firefighters could contain the blaze, but the church was beyond rescue.
At last Chief Dutton gave the order to turn off the
hoses. While Jacob’s team stowed the equipment, other volunteers raked through
the charred ruins, putting out hotspots.
The county sheriff, Vince Miller, clapped Jacob on
the shoulder. “Good job keeping the fire contained.”
“We were lucky there’s so little wind tonight.”
“Is Chief Dutton around?”
“I saw him just a few minutes ago.” Jacob scanned
the area, then pointed to a man talking into a radio. “There he is.”
. The chief
raised one hand in acknowledgement and strolled toward Jacob and the sheriff.
Sheriff Miller shook hands with the other man. “What do you think, Emmett?”
“Same as the others. It burned too fast to be
anything other than an accelerant.” Chief Dutton removed his wire-rimmed
glasses and wiped his sooty face with a bandana. “When are you going to call in
the cavalry?”
“Already done it. The FBI is sending a special
agent from the hate crime task force.”
Chief Dutton let out a low grunt. “Hate crimes in
Piney Meadow. Didn’t think I’d ever live to see the day.”
Jacob’s stomach churned as he removed his heavy
firefighter’s jacket. Four churches in three months, all belonging to African
American congregations, and now the FBI was coming. What was happening to his
hometown? Piney Meadow had always been a place where neighbors could live and
work without the threat of violence. He’d needed just such a haven after his
stint with the Houston Police Department. Now crime menaced his refuge as sure
as a nest of copperheads.
From the Ashes is available from Pelican Book Group.
1 comment:
Great story! Yes, prejudice lives on, but I loved the sense of community this story creates. Wonderful!!!
Post a Comment