This is a book that asks some thought-provoking questions such as:
What is destiny? How do we shape our own destiny including our own love stories?
How does our perception influence our relationships and our actions?
Are there miracles?
How are science and theology interwoven?
The main character, Shandi Pierce captivates the reader with the first sentence of the book: I fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint at the Circle K. Who doesn't want to know what happens next? Both characters have complicated lives. Shandi is a young single mom torn between warring divorced parents who have their own shattered love story. In addition, she is trying to cope with her own history of being drugged and assaulted by a stranger who fathered her three year old son Natty. William is coping with a tragic car accident which resulted in the loss of his wife and young daughter. A brilliant and autistic geneticist, he is positioned perfectly to solve several of Shandi's questions. In turn, Shandi and her son Natty provide a means for William to move beyond an impasse in his grieving. Their evolving relationship provides a setting for teasing out other love stories in the novel.
Witty, personal and engaging, Joshilyn Jackson was the high energy author at a book signing at Foxtale Books in November. Surrounded by old friends and new fans, she entertained her audience with tales of her treacherous drive to the bookshop in the Southern monsoon like weather that Atlanta was experiencing. She referred to her sad lack of direction, by comparing herself to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that simply bangs from place to place without any notion of where it's been or where its going. Apparently her husband reminded her that the comparison is not totally accurate though since the Roomba, as you know, CLEANS. Jackson entertained the audience with a history of the book from the conception of her characters to her pantster method of writing (wherein she writes by the seat of her pants). Sometimes a character's surprise revelations resulted in frequent rewrites. In general, it takes her about two years to complete a novel.
I highly recommend this book as one of the best I've read this year!!
Are you writing your own love story or living someone else's? Wonder about finding your passion and creating your own destiny? Join me and other creative women for the Called Woman Conference 2014-The Reinvention Convention. Check it out here: www.acalledwoman.com
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