Interview with Rachel Reynold Author of Four Seasons For Charlotte

Yesterday, I posted my review of Rachel's book Four Seasons for Charlotte.  It was a very moving memoir and I greatly admire Rachel.  I tried to be as courteous with the questions as I could.


Here is the interview:

Let me just start off by saying, and I’m sure you’ve heard this many times, I can’t even imagine being in your situation and I admire you immensely for writing this book. How hard was that for you?

There were definitely parts of the book that were challenging to write and edit. The passages where I recount Charlotte’s final days opened up my emotions and that was difficult to document. At the same time, writing the book was an incredible experience and it felt like a good way to capture my feelings and experiences surrounding that time of my life, encapsulating it in one story for others as well.

I have a couple of acquaintances who have children who are battling cancer, what would be your best advice to them?

Ask for and accept help! It is very difficult in these situations to realize that you need assistance but you can’t do it on your own. We found the community to be very generous and willing to help but sometimes we had to be specific to our needs. I think one of the most important things is to recognize the need for your own mental health. Whether you get counseling, take breaks, or find time to relax in small ways, it is very important to take care of yourself as well. Otherwise, your mental and physical health will suffer.

What would be something you would tell them not to stress over so much, and I won’t be surprised if there is anything?

Know how they say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”? This goes double when you have a child who is sick. Get other people to do some of those small things for you. Someone else can help you with meals and housekeeping. You need to focus on your child’s health. One lesson we learned on this journey is that plans can change very quickly because of treatment protocols or unexpected medical changes so try go one step at a time. Being ready for things to change can be important.

How has this impacted your faith? That is an interesting question that I actually explore a little bit in the book. My Christian faith has always been important to me. I was raised in the church and my faith was an important part of this process dealing with life and death issues. After Charlotte died, though, church became uncomfortable for a variety of reasons (you can find out how in the book). God and I have a pretty good relationship right now. He just doesn’t find me at church every week.

How would someone find out about CJs Thumbs Up Foundation? They can visit our website at www.cjstuf.org. We are very active in social media as well so you can find the latest updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Again thank you for your time and if any of these questions are too emotional for you to answers, please don’t feel like you need to respond. If there is anything else you would like to share, please feel free. Thanks for letting me share our story!

Rachel

Review-Four Seasons For Charlotte by Rachel Reynolds

   About Four Seasons for Charlotte

Rachel Reynolds shares a powerful journey in her memoir, Four Seasons for Charlotte. It is the story of an ordinary family bearing an extraordinary burden.
When Rachel’s three year old daughter Charlotte was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the world of the Reynolds family was changed forever. In Four Seasons for Charlotte, she recounts the events of the year of Charlotte’s diagnosis, treatment, and eventual death. Her chronicle of the family’s story is about more than the untimely death of a child. It is about harnessing the strength of a community, gaining perspective through tragedy, and finding light in a time of darkness.

 

 

My Review:

This book was very poignant and touching. Rachel Reynolds did a very inspiring job writing this memoir. It is hard for me to express how this memoir made me feel. I could not even imagine being in Rachel’s shoes. I really admire her for writing the memoir and giving people a glimpse of what it is like to struggle through a year of your young child fighting cancer. Her memoir is heartfelt and I feel that she doesn’t feel sorry for herself, she wrote and honest account of what that struggle was like. I highly recommend this book if you are in a similar situation, and even if you aren't in a situation like this, this book will make you appreciate your children. If you read this memoir, have a box of tissues handy. I give this memoir five stars.

I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.

ABOUT RACHEL REYNOLDS

Rachel Reynolds is a special educator and freelance writer. She currently serves as the principal of the Dominion School, operated by Commonwealth Autism Service. You can find her writing at Richmond Mom,Hello Grief, Richmond Magazine, the webzine Insert Eyeroll, and her personal blog, See What You Meme. She is also the co-founder and executive director of CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation (CJSTUF). In 2012, Rachel was awarded the Eagle Rare Life Award for Courage.

Rachel lives in Ashland, Virginia with her husband and two incredibly annoying (but completely adorable) cats. In her spare time, she obsesses over Don Draper, dark chocolate, and public radio personalities (not necessarily in that order). You can follow Rachel on Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads.

To find out more, please visit http://www.rachel-writes.com

Review-No Safe Harbor-Elizabeth Ludwig

  Picture and synopsis from Bethany House website

About

New York City, 1897

She came to America searching for her brother. Instead all she's found is a web of danger.

Cara Hamilton had thought her brother to be dead. Now, clutching his letter, she leaves Ireland for America, desperate to find him. Her search leads her to a houseful of curious strangers, and one man who claims to be a friend--Rourke Walsh. Despite her brother's warning, Cara trusts Rourke, revealing her purpose in coming to New York.

She's then thrust into a world of subterfuge, veiled threats, and attempted murder, including political revolutionaries from the homeland out for revenge. Her questions guide her ever nearer to locating her brother--but they also bring her closer to destruction as those who want to kill him track her footsteps.

With her faith in tatters, all hope flees. Will her brother finally surface? Can he save Cara from the truth about Rourke... a man she's grown to love?

 

My Review:

 

I really enjoyed this book.  It is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Ludwig and it won't be my last.  It had a lot of action and intrigue and at the end it kept you on the edge of your seat.  I really liked the characters of Cara and Rourke.  I routed for them the whole way through the book, and as is the case when GOD is involved, everything worked out for the best.  Cara can to America to find her brother, Rourke was looking for Cara's brother, but they found each other instead.  Now we have to wait till the next book in the series, Dark Road Home, comes out to find out if they find Cara's brother.  Great job, Elizabeth, I really enjoyed it. 

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.

 

About the Author:

 

   

Photo courtesy of Rayburn Bodden with Rayburn Bodden Photography

Elizabeth Ludwig

Elizabeth Ludwig is an award-winning author and an accomplished speaker and teacher. Her historical novel Love Finds You in Calico, California earned four stars from Romantic Times. She is the owner and editor of the popular literary blog The...

Review-Radical Well-being by Dr. Rita Hancock

  

Book Synopsis

Research increasingly shows a strong connection between our spiritual life, our emotions, and our physical well being. Yet too often our physical conditions are treated without taking our whole lives into account. In Radical Well-being, Dr. Rita Hancock shows you how your mind, body, and spirit are connected and addresses the factors that can contribute, and even cause, illness, addictions, and chronic pain.

If you suffer from medical conditions like fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, neck or back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, jaw pain, food and drug allergies, depression, anxiety, or unwanted behaviors such as overeating, an eating disorder, overspending, drug abuse or alcoholism, Radical Well-being will show you a biblical, whole-body approach to overcoming your condition. With nearly twenty years of experience counseling patients from a balanced, mind/body/Holy Spirit perspective, Dr. Rita gives you practical nuts-and-bolts advice, including how to:

· Identify the lies that are manipulating you from a subconscious level

· Deal with emotional factors that can make your pain seem worse

· Address addictive behaviors that you want to get rid of

· Fully accept God's love and forgiveness on a deep, healing level

True freedom and improved health come when deeply-rooted lies are illuminated and replaced with knowledge from the merciful heart of God. Radical Well-being will help you feel better in all three domains—in your mind, body, and in your spirit. You will end up feeling the way one of Dr. Rita's patients put it: "Like the weight of a skyscraper has been lifted off my shoulders."

My Review:

 

This book really is radical.  It explains how stress can lead to your physical pain and gives practical advice from an OMM (osteopathic-style manual medicine) doctor on how to deal with the stress.  This can include trauma from your childhood, or other situations.  The author uses biblical principals to help combat the stress.  She helps you work through your problems with GOD's help.  I've not experienced anything that was explained in this book myself, but it seems like a practical, if not radical approach.  The author provided prayers at the end of each chapter to help the reader and offers a scripture appendix to also help.  Great job Dr. Rita.  This book helped me, even though I didn't know I needed the help.

 

I was given a copy of this book for my hones review by the author.

 

Author Bio

Dr. Rita Hancock is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as Pain Management and is passionate about helping her patients achieve optimal health and wellness in three dimensions: mind, body, and spirit.

Dr. Rita's books include The Eden Diet (Zondervan) and The Eden Diet Workbook, which are about learning to eat in response to physical rather than emotional hunger. Her second book, Radical Well-being: A Biblical Guide to Overcoming Pain, Illness, and Addictions, offers a road map for finding relief if you suffer with nearly any type of symptom or behavior that can be magnified by stress. Examples of such stress-related symptoms or conditions include fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, back or neck pain, migraine headaches, and others.

Dr. Rita writes from the Christian perspective and lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and children. To find out more about her, visit www.TheEdenDiet.com and www.RadicalWell-being.com.

 

Review of Amazing Love by K. Dawn Byrd

  Picture and synopsis from CWA website.

Gabe Knight, a pastor in a small coastal town, finds his life is turned upside down when Dee Dillow arrives and hires him to remodel an estate she’s inherited from her aunt. Dee dashes his plans for wedded bless when on a drunken binge, she divulges that she’s the highest paid call girl in Nevada and part-owner of the ritziest brothel in the state.
Gabe falls in love with her, but can’t believe he’s hearing the voice of God when a still, small voice tells him to marry her. After much questioning, they marry and he is deliriously happy. Until, Dee betrays him.
Gabe soon discovers just how hard it is to have the unconditional love God calls him to have for his wife, the kind of love God has for his children. When faced with losing her, Gabe realizes what true love is, how much it hurts, and just how much God loves and is willing to sacrifice for his children.

My Review:

This book started out really slowly for me.  There was a good message, that GOD can and will redeem anybody no matter what they do.  But I had a hard time liking the character Dee.  I felt bad for Gabe because GOD kept telling him to marry her anyway, not matter what her lifestyle was.  Dee just kept hurting Gabe.  It took her being in a really bad situation before she finally turned to GOD.  The book was well written and had an excellent message. 

I received a complimentary copy of the book for my honest review.



Bio: K. Dawn Byrd is an author of inspirational novels in several genres, including, historical, suspense, romance, and young adult. Some of her favorite things are chocolate, cars, and her pets. Her hobbies include reading, writing, and riding down country roads in the passenger seat of her husband’s Corvette Stingray. When asked why she writes, her response is, “For the simple joy of placing words on the page!”

Learn more about her at www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com.

Review of Suzanne Woods Fisher's The Lesson

  

About The Lesson:

Centered on one of Suzanne Woods Fisher's most loved characters, this is the story fans have eagerly anticipated. The precocious M.K. is all grown up (well, almost) and ready to take on the world-with surprising results. Fisher's trademark plot twists and turns are as unexpected and satisfying as ever in this third book in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series.
In her wildest dreams, spunky and impulsive nineteen-year-old Mary Kate Lapp never imagined herself behind a schoolteacher's desk. A run-in (literally) with the schoolteacher compels her to act as a substitute teacher, just as her restless desire to see the world compels her to apply for a passport . . . just in case. The only thing of interest to M.K. in the sleepy Amish community of Stoney Ridge is the unexplained death of a sheep farmer that coincided with the arrival of a mysterious young man into the community. Frustrated that no one takes the crime seriously, she takes matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case for M.K., she jumps headlong into trouble.

 

 

My Review:

 

I was so looking forward to this book!  I've read the other two in the series, and M.K. was, by far, my favorite character from the series and I was so excited that this was her story.  Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.  This book was so good, I couldn't harldy put it down.  M.K. is just as precoucious as and adult as she was as a child.  We are also introduced to Chris "Yoder" and his sister in this story,and they are somewhat of  a mystery.  Where are they from, and why are they here.  My heart really aches for their circumstances.  They are welcomed into the Lapp family fold.  There are also so mysterious issues that come to light in this book that aren't addressed in the other two, having to do with Maggie Lapp, the mother of M.K., Sadie and Julia.  Amos, their father, has to work through these issues, because they cause a real problem for him.  M.K. does grow up in this story and does some things she doesn't want to do, but she ends up loving them.  All same, lovable charaters are still in this book that were in the other two.  I would highly recommend this book as I would recommend the other two in the series also.  The best book I've read in a while, keep up the good work Suzanne, can't wait for your next book, and wouldn't mind to read more about the Lapp family!    I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.

 

Link to buy the book

 

 

Meet Suzanne:

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of the Lancaster County Secrets series and the Stoney Ridge Seasons series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. She is also the coauthor of a new Amish children's series, The Adventures of Lily Lapp. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Carol Award winner and a Christy Award finalist. She is the host of internet radio show Amish Wisdom and a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such magazines. She lives in California. For more information, please visit www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and connect with her on Twitter @suzannewfisher. Get Amish proverbs delivered right to your iphone or ipad! Download the Free App!

 

 

Find out more about Suzanne at http://suzannewoodsfisher.com/.

 

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Review of Miss Nobody by Nicole Dunlap

   Picture from Barnes and Noble.  Synopsis from Amazon.com

How far are you willing to go for fame? Fifteen-year-old Charlene Shaw runs away from home to pursue dreams of becoming an actress. Taking a chance, she meets a truck driver with a cross around his neck. She's always been a bit hesitant about God granting her "luck," but takes this as a golden opportunity to get closer to her goal. On the rugged road to stardom, Charlene's using everything in her might to erase the past and the baby she abandoned--her daughter, Raven. Just thinking about Raven sends chills of fear down Charlene's spine.

Meanwhile, Raven Shaw grows up in her mother's hometown, tight-knit Bellwood, North Carolina and has been dubbed "Miss Goodie Two Shoes." She's head of the children's choir, but nothing can calm her rage when someone gossips about her mom--she takes up for a woman she doesn't even know. On a mission, Raven wants to learn about Charlene, but her grandparents and people of the small town won't reveal anything. All the while, she finds love. Now Raven knows she can't be fully committed to the man that has her heart until she learns why her mother neglected her. When mother's and daughter's path collide, Raven asks her mother two requests--two family secrets that can ruin both of their lives. Leading Charlene and Raven down the road of feeling like... a "Miss Nobody."                

My Review:

I'll admit this book was kind of slow going at first, but about halfway through, I couldn't put it down.  It is the story of Charlene Shaw, who ran away from home when she was fifteen.  She headed for Hollywood, but has many struggles, among them, having a child that she gives up.  Her daughter ends up at back home with her grandparents.  Raven has struggles of her own.  She finally finds her mother, but things don't go the way she had hoped and Raven has even more struggles.  There are a lot of shocking secrets in this book.

This is a powerful book that shows how the actions of parents and grandparents deeply impact children and what happens in their life.  I'm looking forward to the next installment of this Shaw Family Saga.  Great job Nicole.  I recieved my copy from the author for my honest review.