Another Week

An email popped up this morning to tell me that the printing of my novel has been delayed a week. I was a little put out, but hey, it’s only a week right? I guess I don’t understand the publishing process so I won’t try to explain. I can tell you the release date for Enough Grace to Make Things Right was July 15. (I hadn’t been told that, but that’s what I read when I found it for the first time on Amazon.) It is available from all the major bookstores’ websites, and it’s fine with me if you order straight from them. Christianbook.com does not ship to Canada because they do not store this novel in their warehouse. Amazon had been advertising fast shipping, but today I noticed they are “out of stock” until further notice. I have nothing to do with the pricing on those sites. The e-book should be available soon.

A couple of my friends are organizing a get together on September 18th (rain date: Sept 19th) in Leamington. I call it the “Book Event,” I’ll tell you about the novel, explaining why I wrote it and what I hope to come of it. We plan to have copies available at the event and I will read my favorite passages. You can ask questions and I’ll answer them. Then we’ll visit, and have refreshments. We can only have a limited number people there but hope to have a similar activity in Wheatley, in the near future. If you would like to come to either event please contact me.

I guess it’s time for me to start talking more about Enough Grace to Make Things Right. Maybe you haven’t thought much about “Grace” and what exactly it means. There are many definitions of grace in the dictionary but I’m going to go with what the Bible says. It tells of God’s grace, the unmerited favour, He bestows upon us. We can’t earn His favour. Totally undeserved, he grants us a welcome to His family when we come to Him.

My main character in the book has struggles for a long list of reasons. He walks out of prison thinking he can stay away from the life of substance abuse and crime. On page 24, he was challenged by his uncle’s statement that it would be hard to stay off the drugs. His reply summed up his attitude: “I believe that I’ve changed – no, that I’m changing. I don’t want to lie, steal and get wasted. I don’t want to go back to jail. Ever. I know I’m safe here and I will try. But you need to give me time about the Jesus stuff. I’m not too interested in Him. I think I can do this by myself. I need to do it by myself.

Joe comes face to face with grace many times in this novel. Ultimately he experiences the Lord’s grace as he is drawn to Him. But God’s grace should encompass our lives too. 1 Peter 4:10 says:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (NIV) Joe experienced grace in his family, in his church and with his friends. Many people around him were being faithful stewards of God’s grace. For those of us that are Christians God’s grace must show up in our lives.

For those who are waiting for your copies of the novel… I have all my materials ready to mail them as soon as they arrive. For my local friends… I will email or call you to arrange pick up or delivery. I plan to sign them. Let me know if you don’t want yours signed. Hopefully a week from Thursday I will have notification that they are on the way.