Guest Author: Boo Riley (aka Dave Arp)

Dave Arp (aka Boo Riley) in Alaska

Welcome to Chirp 'N Chatter, Boo! (Love the moniker!) Also love the photo...but it sure looks cold. Brrr! 

Congratulations on the release of ME AND JAKE. It sounds like an interesting, touching story with bursts of fun lying in wait here and there. Let's chat a little, shall we?

I'm always curious about the story behind the story. What inspired you to write Me and Jake?

Actually, Jake did, a Black and Tan Coonhound, he and the little boy, now a man, who called Jake his friend. I met Anthony Turner on a drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana in 2004. He told me about the childhood he and his brother lived and escaped from, and I decided to document it, as it happened. I soon discovered that no one wants to read about a man abusing his children. I rewrote it in a present/past/present/past format so readers could see the redemption from the beginning—with the same result, no takers. Me and Jake is the fiction tale, a hint at abuse and survival that never seems to get told. It took me fourteen years to finally sell just a small portion of my friend’s story.

Persistence pays off yet again! Perhaps it'll take hold and readers will be raring for more of Jake and his friends. Speaking of readers...what book are you currently reading?

Presently I’m reading two books: the Bible (for the nth time) and Josephus The Complete Works by Flavius Josephus and translated by William Whiston A.M. I’m four months into what I can only call a side-by-side comparison of Biblical History. Josephus’s works is twenty-seven hundred pages. I’m on page five hundred eighty. It’s a journey.

A journey indeed...both of your current reading choices! Do you usually insert a spiritual theme into your books? If so, do you have a favorite?

I do insert a spiritual theme, but not always as per a set plan or outline. I’m a by-the-seat-of-my-britches writer who likes to wait until my characters stop to ask for directions before I decide which way they’re going to go. I can’t say that I have a favorite theme. Though, the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers is special to me. Me and Jake leans that direction.

I hear you. I write by the seat of my pants too, most of the time -- although I'm learning that it's necessary to at least lay out a simple plot, because those editors just think they need to know what a book's about before they'll buy it. Imagine that! :) 

Joseph's story is one of the most beloved, most inspiring stories in the Bible. I love it too. 

Thank you for stopping by to chat for a moment, Boo. Best of luck to you and Jake!

  

About Me and Jake:

Ty told his twin brother, Cameron, that he felt like something was going to happen to change their lives. Little did he know how prophetic that statement would be, or how soon it would come to pass. What seems like a series of coincidences are anything but, and what’s more amazing, Ty’s coon dog, Jake, might not be a dog at all.

Ohhh...that pulls at the whiskers of curiosity, doesn't it? If Jake isn't a dog, what might he be? I know what I'm thinking...what about you?

Grab your copy of Me and Jake and journey along with the
uhm..dog?...and his friends.

Guest Author: Bethany Kaczmarek

How Can I Get Up From Here?

I imagine there are many people who feel like Kasia Bernolak has—caught somewhere between pretending to be doing well and sitting in a corner crying. Alone.

The heroine of my book, Strains of Silence, says it’s the worst at church, when she ought to be an encouragement to others, but she’s running on empty. Add to that the pressure to be strong, to be a pastor’s daughter, or a missionary—it becomes hard to say “I’m not okay.”

And even if her mouth would willingly form the words, people don’t hear what she means. Her “I’m struggling today” gets a response like she’d just said she has the sniffles.

“Yeah, that’s going around.”

Once, she said she felt depressed, and a woman told her to focus on what was true and noble and right. [That’s not always wrong advice, but sometimes, things are happening to a person’s mind and body that make it impossible for them to think of anything except surviving. Or dying.]

The thing is, since believers are supposed to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have, we get uncomfortable when one of us says they feel hopeless.

Hear me.

First, if someone shows up and speaks honestly about struggles and pain and suffering, let’s not blow it off the table like so much dust. Let’s listen. Let’s take it in quietly, even take a moment to pray before we respond. And let’s let our first words be something along the lines of weeping with those who weep. And let’s be deeply thankful that they’ve managed to get themselves motivated enough to be around others, to speak the words that are so hard to say.

It’s so much easier to hide.

Now, for you hurting people.

Find one quiet listener. (I am one, if you live near me.)

And speak.

The.

Words.

Whisper them if you have to. Share the burden your soul carries. Share it with Jesus, and share it with someone who can be His arms and hands and feet in this world. Who can stand beside you and hug you. But break the silence. The church is full of imperfect, hurting people. And it’s okay to be real about that.

“Bear one another’s burdens…” Galatians 6:2.

About Bethany's Book:

He can’t save her from her past, but he can wait to be her future.

Music was her driving passion and the truest expression of her faith, but three months before her wedding, twenty-year-old Kasia Bernolak can’t even pick up her guitar. Feeling like a fraud who will ruin her dad’s pastoral reputation, she can barely meet his eyes. When Kasia finds the strength to break off her engagement, she still doesn’t realize the dangerous truth: Blake Hamilton isn’t ready to say goodbye. And he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her.

Alexander “Zan” Maddox has seen what a domineering man can do to an unsuspecting woman, and Zan is sick of injustice. He gave up a college baseball scholarship so he could protect his sister from her abusive husband. When he rescues Kasia from her ex-fiancé, he instinctively appoints himself her personal bodyguard. Now, all he has to do is keep from falling for her himself.

Kasia and Zan become fast friends, but true healing and justice might cost more than either of them is willing to pay.

To pre-order your copy, click here.

About Bethany:

Bethany Kaczmarek loves to share her own journey of healing and redemption with anyone who needs it. Back from the Polish mission field where she and her husband worked with college students for six years, their home is often filled with twenty-somethings who come over for a listening ear (though she’s willing to admit it could also be for the board games and food). Other job titles: Wielder of Red Pens, Grammar Ninja, Wiper of Tears and Milk, Indie Music Connoisseur, and Friend. Bethany writes about places where grit meets Grace. Find out more about her at www.bethanykaczmarek.com 

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