Laurean Brooks at ShoutLife.com

Hello! My pen name is Laurean Brooks. My first fiction book entitled JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS will soon be released. Without God, I could not have done it. The writing, itself, was a journey. The abuse scenes were so heart-wrenching that I sometimes had to shut down my computer and take a breather. You see, the 342-page novel, though a fiction, is based on my mother's life. It takes place in 1938 on a 50-acre farm in Tennessee.So I guess you could call it a historical romance.

After the abusive father leaves, my heroine (Jenny) must move to Chicago to seek employment to support her family. Sparks fly when Jenny confronts Austin Grant in the Kankakee depot over a luggage mishap. Besides a distrust of men, Jenny has other emotional issues, including nightmares of the beatings. She has no desire to forgive her abuser, but knows it is the only way to relinquish the bitterness and overcome the flashbacks. And it is her only alternative if she wants a future with the man she loves. But can she do it? Will she do it?

But... the winsome Austin is a thief. He swiped her vanity case. And she saw him pocket a large sum from the mission strongbox.

The abuse theme in JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS does not go into harsh detail. The pages ripples with humor with every encounter between Jenny and Austin.

I have been hooked on writing since a fifth grade teacher, after listening to my cliff-hanger book report, announced, "One day Laurie will become an author."

Miss Mary probably regretted those words soon after that. Ah...I remember it well. Miss Mary's sugary voice, "Class, I want each of you to write an essay about the harships Columbus surely faced on his grueling journey to America."

As the rest of the class groaned, wild ideas spun around in my head. The next day I could not hardly wait for Miss Mary to call on me to read aloud. I walked up in front of the class, cleared my throat and began. I don't remember the whole story--just the ending. It went something like this. "When the Indians spied Columbus, they grabbed him and tied him to a stake. But, before one of them lit the fire, the chief Kangamooga came up with a better idea. So they stuffed Columbus into a large cannon, pointed it towards Spain, and shot him back across the ocean."

By this time the class was rolling, and I was laughing so hard that I could barely finish. Miss Mary remained silent behind me as I wrapped it up. "...And if you see a shooting star on a clear night, be sure to stop and salute. Because it could be Columbus still orbiting the earth."

You could have heard a pin drop at Miss Mary's gruff tone. "Laurie!"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"I want you to rewrite that essay. And this time make it a LITTLE more realistic."

I did as I was told, but got no enjoyment out of it. To be honest, I was afraid to allow my imagination free reign for several years to come. But it finally escaped my freshmen year, when I wrote an open-ended sentence essay entitled, "I often wonder what I would do if I were...an Oscar Mayer weiner."

My ninth-grade English/literature teacher laughed harder than anyone when I read it aloud. Yaaaaaay! My creativity had free reign one again.

That was several decades ago. JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS is an inspirational novel soon to be released by The Wild Rose Press. Nicola Martinez did the cover art. Isn't it beautiful? She is one talented lady. I cannot thank her and Anne, my editor, enough. It was a journey well worth the wait. And without God's urging and inspiration I would never have completed it. Thank you, Lord!

Read the blurb at www.thewildrosepress.com. Click on "Coming Soon," then "Inspirational" and finally, "Journey To Forgiveness."

I look forward to meeting all you talented and zany authors. I give God the glory. With Him all things are possible.

Laurean or "Laurie"

Join me the week of November 2, 2008 on Sister Writers blog and post a comment. http://sisterwriters.blogspot.com I would love to meet you there.