“Be ye kind” is a simple command, so why is it so hard for people to follow? When the Lord opened the door for Denise’s husband, Topher, to Pastor the beleaguered Rhodes Baptist Church, she agreed to return to their hometown. Opening a bakery, supporting Topher in his ministry, and volunteering at Sylvie’s school aren’t nearly as challenging as trying to dismantle the harmful teachings that have taken over the church. Ideas masquerading as ‘biblical truth’ and ‘traditional Christianity’ resulted in spiritual bullying and a dwindling congregation. Denise is determined to help Topher guide the church toward the love and kindness of Christ. Sixteen-year-old Sylvie is angry at being ripped away from the only home she’s known—and from her church, friends, and boyfriend, Owen. She pretends that moving to Rhodes is an adventure and admits she’s looking forward to attending a “real” school and making new friends. She’ll help her parents with their church and work at her mom’s bakery, but this isn’t the life Sylvie wants. Everything is different now, and it isn’t fair. Sometimes, it feels like the bullies are winning. |
Release date: October 21, 2024
Interview with Marbeth
Denise Stade has been in the series since the beginning but always as a side character or “visitor” in other novels. I wanted a story centered on her as she returned to the hometown and church where she was raised. I love the character and am so proud of her determination to be a success while lifting everyone around her. We need more Denises in the world.
About a year from start to finish.
I chose contemporary Christian fiction because I wanted the voices of my characters to be immediately recognizable. Although the issues they face have been around for a long time, they have only recently been discussed openly (which is why they’ve been around so long).
I admire Denise. She’s much smarter, talented, and independent than I am.
How easy it is to be kind. It’s a Fruit of the Spirit for Christians, yet it is often portrayed as a weakness. Instead, it takes great strength to stand in the face of bullying and choose to be kind.
Since many of the characters appeared in book one, Plague of Lies, they got their names from baby name lists and an occasional television character. New characters were inspired by people/places in the news/documentaries, and some have variations of names from my former students.
I wrote this book about a challenging and life-changing move during an extremely difficult year. We had multiple financial crises, including having our car totaled in an accident and not being able to replace it. Not long after that, my mother fell while in a nursing facility where she was undergoing therapy to help her balance. By the time I got to my sister’s house, my mother was in hospice and lived for only a few days after I arrived. I remained with my sister to plan the funeral and to help her and her husband. The two invited my husband and me to move in with them since we all needed help and knew we could assist each other. We were here only a month before my brother-in-law died of a brain hemorrhage, just before Thanksgiving. Through it all, I thought I was doing fine, but the truth is, I let a lot of things slide because I couldn’t keep up with everything. I’m getting back on track now, but 2024 beat me up. And yet, I’ve never experienced so much kindness. Our family gatherings this year have been sweet and refreshing.
I started writing when I went back to college in my thirties. Before that, I was a nanny and decided I didn’t want to wipe poopy butts for the rest of my life. Every day, I’d drop my kids off at school and then go take classes at the local community college or work at the college library. Just before I graduated, I begged our pastor to please let me teach literature to the high school class at the school. Their teacher hated literature and let everyone know it. As a result, the students hated it, too. By the time the school year came around, I was on the schedule to teach literature once a week, but because Christian schools have a knack for adding more and more responsibilities, I was also tagged to teach Bible for every elementary class, Jr. High history, and 5-6th grade reading, science, and history. My husband taught 5-6th grade and became the financial director/school administrator/principal. Eventually, I became the history and literature teacher for the 7-12th grade students. I taught for 18 years before I quit and began writing novels.
My oldest son, who had returned to his alma mater to teach math and computers, left the year after I did and is now a software engineer. My husband left the year after that and now drives for a ride-share company. My younger son was the first to go and has a podcast called Preacher Boys that exposes abusive practices in IFB churches.
We didn’t realize until we left how toxic our church had become. All of us had issues with depression, anxiety, and exhaustion. We had hectic schedules and very few benefits. When we walked away, we left with nothing (no retirement, no savings) but at least we have each other.
And lots of material for future novels.
When my youngest son was 17, a new family joined our church the day they visited. I thought that was odd at the time, since most people like to attend for a while before becoming members. The husband/father was immediately plugged into several ministries (also odd) including teaching 6th grade Sunday school, leading music, and directing the choir. By the next week our pastor was encouraging me to have my son work with the man since they had a mutual interest in videography (my son was already making videos for the church). When I relayed the messge to my son, he told me tha the man had already told him he planned to take over my son’s ministry. I confronted the man, in front of the pastor, and thought the matter was settled. It turned out the man and his wife pulled my son into an empty Sunday school room and chastised him for being disrespectful. The wife made it clear that her husband had said no such thing and that he didn’t lie.
The next week my son handed me a stack of articles and court documents he’d printed off. It turned out the man had a bench warrant and had been arrested for molesting a girl at his previous church. I handed those papers to my husband (a deacon) and told him to give them straight to the pastor (we’d been trained to look to him for guidance). I watched my husband hand them over and the expression on the pastor’s face change. I fully expected our pastor to pick up the phone and call the police. Instead, the pastor instituted at coverup to “protect the man’s family.” We were told that the deacons would keep an eye on him and would not allow him to be a part of leadership. The man balked at every restriction and constantly tried to put himself back in the spotlight. After we left the church/school, The same man was filmed sitting on the bench at a school basketball game, offering advice to the teen players. My son, now an adult with a child of his own, used his platform as a podcaster, to expose the man and he and his family were finally forced to leave the church and school.
A year later, the basketball coach was fired for molesting a student.
If I could go back in time and change one thing about my life, I would pick up the phone and call the police myself. I would have let my child know in no uncertain terms that I believed him and that his safety meant more to me than anything.
Read what you love. Life is too short to slog through books that you don’t like. Don’t be afraid to try something new, but don’t feel like you must finish a book you’ve come to dread. Let it go. Pick up another.
Remember that the Bible lists the fruit of the Spirit for a reason.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
More from Marbeth
But some people go from victim to victorious. They stand up for others, leading them away from preferences used to bully others into submission and toward the freedom of God’s love.
Though born on the east coast, I spent most of my life in the American Southwest, eventually settling in California where my husband and I raised two sons. Later we welcomed two fantastic daughters-in-law and four grandchildren into our family. After teaching history and literature for eighteen years, I resigned to write full-time. That new career move was paired with a physical move to beautiful Nevada, where I continue to write happily. My preferred genre is Christian contemporary fiction. I keep my characters grounded in the real world and the real problems that Bible believers face today. While they grow, learn, and find possible solutions to their issues, my characters must also deal with the detritus of the past. Living well today doesn’t mean that yesterday is erased. I write what I know, either first-hand or through close observation, injecting the joy, happiness, and humor that comes with spiritual freedom and love. |
of the past. Living well today doesn’t mean that yesterday is erased. I write what I know, either first-hand or
through close observation, injecting the joy, happiness, and humor that comes with spiritual freedom and love.
It's Time For A Giveaway!
a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of the book!!
Blog Stops
Vicky Sluiter, February 8 (Author Interview)
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, February 9 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 9
Simple Harvest Reads, February 10 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 11
For the Love of Literature, February 12 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, February 13
Tell Tale Book Reviews, February 14 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 15
Blossoms and Blessings, February 16 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, February 17 (Author Interview)
Stories By Gina, February 18 (Author Interview)
Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, February 18
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 19
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, February 20 (Author Interview)