So, do you want to know what Absolved is about?

I realize I should have probably shared this a while ago, but here is a little more about Absolved and how it came to be.

Those that know me well know I’ve written since I was young.  I started writing stories shortly after I learned how to write.  I have some handwritten stories from when I was a little girl.  I have a picture of one on a previous blog post.  In high school I became interested in journalism, and was the editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper my senior year.  It was called the Haltom Image.  I have a scrapbook in my closet with clippings of every article, column, and editorial I wrote for that paper.  It was a lot of fun for me.

During my time in the Navy I didn’t write much other than journal entries.  I did start what I thought might be my first book while I was living in the barracks, but it never amounted to anything.  I wasn’t sure I would ever finish anything I started when it came to writing.

After being married and having my first child I really started to have the itch to write something again, and finish the project this time instead of just let it go.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write though.  The honest truth is that I sat on my couch one night while my husband was working and my little girl was sleeping, opened my laptop, and prayed.  I simply asked God to have me write something for His will and not mine.  And I started to write what became Absolved that night.

It’s short.  Technically a novella because it’s under 40,000 words.  And it’s ultimately about forgiveness.  My main character is a woman whose father abandoned her to start a new family in a new place, and this devastated her. She was only 12 when he left, and he had been her whole world.  Her heartbreak caused her to become a teenaged girl that sought the attention from the wrong kind of boys, and she wound up a pregnant 17-year-old.  The father of the baby told her she needed an abortion, and she listened to him.  She immediately regretted that decision but kept her feelings about it hidden for years.  So, she becomes an adult that carries the heavy weight of hating her father for leaving, and hating herself for aborting the unborn child that she dreams about at night.  The only way she can possibly be freed is both to forgive her Dad, and forgive herself.  Absolved tells the story of her process through this.

My manuscript has been read only by my publisher.  As excited as I am to be having a book published, I’m terrified at the same time.  I have a hard time even sharing this blog and soon many will read my first finished book.  It’s honestly scaring the heck out of me.

But it is happening, as surreal as it is.  And having someone say yes to Absolved has made me feel more confident that I can do this again, so I’m happily working on The Consequence.  I also have plans for a third book that I cannot wait to begin.

So there it is.  You know what’s interesting about this particular blog post?  It has taken me over an hour and a half to finish.  I’ve had a few interruptions from children.  This is just how I write, in very short increments.  It’s kind of funny actually.  Until next time…