BOOK EXCERPT: CHILDREN OF DREAMS, AN ADOPTION MEMOIR: “...Ask The Animals, And They Will Teach You” (Job 12:7)

Children of Dreams

Excerpt

By Lorilyn Roberts

 ...ask the animals, and they will teach you - Job 12:7

My mind flashed back to when I was young. I was awakened by a big white dog licking me in my face and jumping all over my bed. As I tried to open my eyes from what I thought was a dream, my mother said, “This is Gypsy. We are going to keep her.”

Gypsy was the friend I longed for but didn’t have. When I came home from school, she would greet me at the door with her tail wagging. I walked her, fed her, and played with her. After we returned from each walk, I would announce how many times she had used the bathroom, both number one and number two, as if to validate I was the best dog walker in the world. I even cleaned up after her when she threw up so nobody would know.

Gypsy was a stray. The night before she jumped on me in bed she had snuck into the house with my dad. She was God’s gift to me. We were inseparable.

One afternoon I arrived home from school and knew something was wrong. She didn’t greet me at the door like she usually did and I ran through the house frantically looking for her.

“She’s gone,” my mother and father told me. “She won’t be back. The manager of the apartment came and took her away.”

“Where did they take her?” I cried.

“The manager said they would dump her off on the road somewhere far from here. You know the apartment complex doesn’t allow dogs.”

I ran out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom. My mind was flooded with memories of the most important thing in my little world. My heart was broken, confused, and hurting. Gypsy was gone.

That night bolts of thunder crashed outside my bedroom. Lightning pierced through the window shades. I imagined Gypsy in the darkness. I could feel her white warm fur against my skin and see her dark, brown eyes pleading for me to come get her. I cried into my pillow as peels of thunder bounced off the walls. If Gypsy ever found her way back, I vowed to run away with her. I would never let anybody take her from me again.

But the next day came and went and she didn’t return. I went to school each day hoping for the impossible, that somehow she could find her way back from wherever they dumped her.

It was Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We were packing things up to go visit my new father’s family in North Carolina. My mother had recently remarried. I kept looking up the hill in front of the apartment, imagining that she would come running down the street any minute. I knew it would be impossible, but still I hoped. I made one last trip to my bedroom. The car was loaded and we were ready to leave. I picked up my pillow and thought of the first morning she licked me on the face in bed.

“Please, Gypsy, come back to me. You need a home and someone to love you. I need you.”

I walked out the door of our apartment to get into the car. I glanced one last time up the hill. Out of nowhere, suddenly, there was something white. Was it, could it be—I dropped my pillow and started running up the hill. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, my mind racing to think what seemed like the impossible. It couldn’t be—but it was.

Gypsy ran frantically toward me, tattered, dirty, and exhausted. Somehow she had miraculously found her way home through the raging storm. After being lost for days in the cold November nights, miles from our home, Gypsy had done the impossible. She had found her way back to me.

“Gypsy!” I cried. I crouched down to grab her as she jumped into my arms, holding her tightly around the neck, crying and rejoicing all at the same time. My dog was lost, but now she was found.

“I will never let go of you,” I promised. She squealed with delight and licked my face. For the first time in my young life, I knew there had to be a God.

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Lorilyn Roberts is a Christian author who writes children's picture books, adult nonfiction, memoirs, and a young adult Christian fantasy series, Seventh Dimension.

Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama, which included international study in Israel and England. She received her Masters in Creative Writing from Perelandra College and is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature.

Lorilyn is the founder of the John 316 Marketing Network, a network of Christian authors who are passionate about promoting books with a Christian worldview.

To learn more about Lorilyn, please visit her website at http://lorilynroberts.com. You can follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lorilynroberts

GUEST POST BY EMMA RIGHT: Excerpt from “Keeper of Reign,” Book 1, a YA/Middle Grade Adventure Fantasy

Excerpt from Keeper of Reign Book 1

 

A Young Adult/ Middle Grade Adventure Fantasy

 

Guest Post by Emma Right

 

 

 

Jules said, “We need a plan. Let’s check what’s missing.” He rushed to the hearth and pried the loose brick to the side. He reached his arm deep and thought he felt the soft nap of the pouch but then he jerked his hand back out and sucked on his finger.” Ouch!” 

Ralston said, “We can’t afford to lose your pouch—maybe the only way to buy things if we have to look for Mom or Dad.” 

Jules glared at him. 

Ralston said, “What’s wrong?” 

Jules reached back into the hole, this time less enthusiastically. “Something sharp.” When he pulled it out he stared at the shard of glass in his hand. “Hold this, Rals.” 

Ralston held the sharp edge gingerly. “Is it yours?” 

“Would I put something sharp like that to cut myself up?” Jules then brought out his pouch, and sighed. He gave its contents a quick peek and slipped the soft pouch into his cloak pocket. 

“It’s a good thing the burglars missed that,” Ralston said. “Should we toss this?” He passed the shard to Jules who turned it over. 

“Some words here.” He read, “‘—ook within.’ What’s that mean?”

 

 

Keeper of Reign Book 1 trailer:  http://bit.ly/Keeper_of_Reign_Book_Trailer

To order, click here: Keeper of Reign on Amazon

What reviewers are saying:  “Overall, I definitely enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fantasy lovers. ”Fallen Angel  |  22 reviewers made a similar statement

“Emma Right did an excellent job with the character development. ”Larry B. Gray  |  19 reviewers made a similar statement

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and I look forward to any sequels. ”Morgan Chase  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement

 

Emma Right is a happy wife and Christian homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast of the USA. Besides running a busy home, and looking after their five pets, which includes two cats, two bunnies and a Long-haired dachshund, she also writes stories for her children. She loves the Lord and His Word deeply, and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she is telling her kids to get theirs in one.  

Emma worked as a copywriter for two major advertising agencies and is the recipient of several awards.

 

GUEST POST BY MARTIN ROTH: “Brother Half Angel - the Persecuted Christian”

Guest Post by Martin Roth

 

 

 

"Brother Half Angel" – Fighting for Persecuted Christians

What does a writer do when current events overtake the novel he is writing? In my case I just kept on writing, guessing (correctly) that eventually the status quo would be restored.

It happened a couple of years ago, while I was writing “Festival in the Desert,” the fourth in my "Brother Half Angel" series of international thrillers.

"Brother Half Angel" is a rough-diamond military commando who was once a leader of the Korean equivalent of the SEALS, but was forced to quit after an operation went tragically wrong, cutting off his forearm (and slicing in half his angel tattoo).

He is also a Christian with a passion for justice, and is now the leader of a clandestine group dedicated to helping the persecuted church.

I personally believe that the growing levels of persecution of Christians in the world today – particularly in Muslim countries – is one of the big issues facing the church today. I am continually shocked and disturbed that so few Christians really seem to know much about the continuing – and intensifying – threats against our brothers and sisters in so many parts of the world. I write my novels at least in part to educate my fellow Christians about these matters.

“Festival in the Desert” is set at a fictional mission hospital on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Mali, West Africa. It is under attack from Islamist extremists.

How many Christians know that Mali and surrounding countries constitute one of the key battlegrounds for Al Qaeda and related Islamist groups? Boko Haram, responsible for killing thousands in Nigeria, is just one of those groups.

This is why, according to a recent report in the Baptist Press, fully 70 per cent of the Christians killed worldwide in 2012 were Nigerians, making that country the most lethal place for Christians by a huge margin.

Here is an excerpt from Festival in the Desert:

“Drugs is just one of the problems,” said Dr Becker. “And it is getting worse, according to the embassy briefing I’ve received. We all know that the Sahara has become the transit point for shipments from South America, heading for Europe. That’s not new. But the big problem, the main problem now, is Al Qaeda. They are increasingly active. They are targeting this whole region. The whole of West Africa. All these traditionally moderate Muslim countries. They view them as a place for expansion. They are trying to radicalize the people. That’s why we see them in the markets more and more. Talking to local people.”

“It’s also all these new Saudi-sponsored mosques in town,” said Dr Steyn. “There’s more than a dozen of them. All recent. They send their imams from Saudi Arabia. Telling the women they have to wear veils and the men that they have to stop drinking alcohol and stop talking to people of other religions.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right. And according to the briefing I received, both Al Qaeda and the new mosques are recruiting young men, sending them off for training at madrassas in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. These men come back home with radically new beliefs. They’re not tolerant any more. They hate the West, hate America, hate Christians.”

Dr Becker paused and glanced around. He looked a forlorn figure, with his white hair and lined face and wire-rimmed spectacles that sat at the end of his nose. “And then there are the Tuaregs. Thousands of them were forced to escape from Libya after the fall of Gaddafi, and now they’re back home, heavily armed and stirring up trouble. They’ve renewed their war of liberation against the government.”

 “Are they a threat to us?”

“They’re a threat to everyone. They say they want self-rule. But a lot of criminal elements are involved as well. They’re involved in kidnap. Extortion. Whatever. Westerners will always be a target. And they are all mixed up together.”

“Who are?”

“Al Qaeda. The Tuaregs. The drug dealers. Sometimes they’re enemies, fighting each other. But sometimes they’re friends, when it suits them. This whole region is becoming a lawless Wild West.” He looked at Bobby, the only American in the room, as if he were somehow responsible for all lawless Wild Wests around the world.

“So what does all this mean?” asked Dr Ryu.

“It means our hospital is a target.”

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It was as I was completing the book that news came through that Tuaregs – the traditional desert nomads of the Sahara – had rebelled against the Malian government and captured about half the country, including the region where my fictional mission hospital was located. They were supported by elements of Al Qaeda, who quickly moved against all churches and Christians in the region. They certainly would have closed down my hospital.

My book was nearly done. I decided not to try to accommodate the new realities. I could not believe that Western powers would allow Al Qaeda to take over half a country. I was right. Eventually the French government sent in soldiers, who appear to have recaptured most of the region.

But the persecution of Christians continues. Just this month Islamists massacred several dozen teachers and students at a school in northern Nigeria. Sadly, Brother Half Angel is not ready to retire.

 

 

Martin Roth is a veteran journalist and foreign correspondent whose reports from Asia have appeared in leading publications around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and The Guardian. He is the author of many books.

His Brother Half Angel international thrillers focus on the persecuted church. They feature Brother Half Angel, an abrasive former military man who heads a clandestine new military order that is dedicated to fighting for the rights of persecuted Christians around the world.

The five books in the series are The Coptic Martyr of Cairo, Brother Half Angel, The Maria Kannon, Military Orders and Festival in the Desert.

He is also the author of the Johnny Ravine Private Eye Series, with Prophets and Loss, Hot Rock Dreaming (Australian Christian Book of the Year finalist) and Burning at the Boss, and the Feisty Ferreira Series of financial thrillers - Tokyo Bossa Nova and The Kalgoorlie Skimpy.

He lives in Australia with his Korean wife and three sons.

 

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