Ebenezer Book Spotlight:
Exodus 14:19 "And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them: 20) and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night..." Here are some questions I've been asked about the Ebenezer series with the answers.
Q: What is the name of your book, and what genre is it?
A. If I Should Die is the first book in the Ebenezer series. It is a Christian-fiction adult detective/ mystery.
Q: That's quite a label. What does it mean?
A. First off I agree with Louis L'Amour, a prolific writer, who has written many different genre. I must borrow his thoughts (because I can't find his exact quote), he said, "I have lived and worked among some of the roughest characters, heard some of the roughest language, yet I do not use that language. I feel that is only a cover for poor writing." Christian writing tries to focus on good writing without the trash. Fiction speaks for itself, and adult as opposed to 'young adult, middle grade, etc, and detective/ mystery.
Q: Where did the name Ebenezer come from? What is Ebenezer?
A. During my daily Bible reading things wave at me. For instance, Genesis 31:49 "and Mizpah, for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another." Mizpah=Jehovah watch between me and thee... Or as in Joshua 22:34:
"And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: For, said they, it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God." Ed=a witness between us that Jehovah is God...
Q: Yes, and Ebenezer?
A. 1 Samuel 7:12 "Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us."
Ebenezer= Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us: 'A stone of help'.
Q: How long have you been working on this story?
A. I began writing on this particular book in October of 2003. It was momentous because within days I felt like I was under attack...actually, I developed appendicitis and was sent to the emergency room.
Q. Wow, that's a long time. Did it take that long to write?
A. No, I had it written in less than a year, but was told by an editor to send it to a Christian service for review. The review company told me to rewrite.
Q. Then what?
A. Well, I rewrote all 678 pages and the next year I sent it back to them. They said: rewrite...I rewrote it three times before they accepted it and put it on their 'list'. So, that was three years...
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These are some of the questions I have been asked, and there are several more left on 'the book' part of the spotlight before reaching the 'character spotlight'. Have a great weekend.
