When
Laura Pearl first brought Finding Grace to Bezalel Books, I was impressed with
her writing. At Bezalel Books, we don’t publish everything that comes our way—even
if the author is willing to pick up the publishing costs. Rather, we read a
sample chapter or two, a synopsis and then get a “feel” for the author’s
passions and skills. Pretty much the Holy Spirit is part of everything and we
are okay to say “no” if things don’t seem like a good fit.
Laura
was a great fit.
Laura’s
work at marketing and blogging and even entering the world of Twitter continued
to impress me. Laura is the mother of five grown sons and I am the mother of
three grown sons so there’s that, too. But I just continued to find her wit and
insight to be inspiring. Every time I read a blog of hers I found myself
smiling or laughing or in some way connecting with her spirit.
So
it was that I began praying about approaching Laura to write a second book with
one big difference: this one would be on our dime. We’d take the chance on her
because what we saw in her first book and in her continued foray into the world
of Catholic fiction really captured what we are about at Bezalel Books.
Needless
to say, after months (literally) of praying, I approach Laura with the proposal
for a second book. Knowing it took Laura years to write Finding Grace in
between her duties as wife and mother, I also knew that I had a timeline in
mind—as well as a smaller book.
Finding Grace is epic. The sort of book that
continues to draw you back and that you really sink your teeth in.
I
wanted Laura to condense her abilities into a book that would be considered
Young Adult but would capture the interests of all ages—from tween through
adult.
Now
it was Laura’s time to pray…
The
contract has since been signed and Laura has just sent me the first six chapters
of Erin’s Ring.
Once
in a while, the stars line up and God’s blessings are so evident it feels
miraculous. That’s how I felt reading these chapters of Erin’s Ring. This will be the sort of book that makes the YA
audience the fasting growing audience in literature among adults.
We’ve
got a spring 2015 release set for Erin’s
Ring; in the meantime, I highly recommend Finding Grace if you haven’t yet
come up with a great summer reading book. If nothing else, check out Laura’sblog. You’ll be glad you did!
(the picture used is ID 5121949 ©
Connie Larsen | Dreamstime.com)
