Where Love Once Lived

The idea for writing a bookmobile story came to me while driving one back in the 1960's. At that time, however, I didn't have the life experiences needed to write what I had in my mind. My dream was to write a book showing the glories of living a Christian life that might bring just one person to God. A year or so before I actually began the story, I heard this from my pastor, Dr. Jeanie Stanley: "Trust the Lord God with your dreams and he will help you achieve them." This gave me the idea to turn the whole project over to God. To help me remember and not be pulled away from my goal, I wrote a prayer and read it every time I worked on the story.

Dear Lord, be my source of inspiration. Give me the words you want the world to hear. Help me create the story and the characters to convey your message in such a way as to be desirable to the business world of publishers. Guide my hands and stay in my mind and my heart while I write and while I edit.
Amen

Short Synopsis

Brian Donelson returns to town after thirty years in hopes of rekindling a relationship with his college sweetheart Karen Williams. He had planned to ask her to marry him. Instead, he was forced to break up with the only person he had ever loved. Now they were both free again to love each other. A successful businessman, Brian sells his company, and concocts an intricate plan to win Karen back. The plan goes sour when he learns she never wants to see him again.

When Brian left Karen, he also left the church and never returned. He dedicated his live to his work and his daughter, but that wasn't enough. He felt empty inside and began a search for love that took him back to Karen. All he had to do was convince her it wasn't too late for them.

Unlike Brian, Karen turned closer to God after the breakup. When Brian comes back into her life, she is an active member of her church and a lay minister who uses her pastoral skills to assist fellow teachers as well as her students. She is happy with her life, for the most part. When Brian sends her flowers anonymously, she is pleased. She feels loved for a while, even though she doesn't know who loves her. When she finds out it was Brian who sent the flowers she is disgusted. When he persists on seeing her, she is angry, even frightened. His appearance forces her to think about a time she worked hard to forget.

Brian drives a bookmobile to Karen's elementary school to surprise her. He had driven a similar vehicle as a college student and that is where he last saw her. He sent flowers once a week for six weeks before he arrived thinking it would be all so romantic. As soon as Karen sees him on the bookmobile, she guesses he was the one who sent the flowers and starts to leave without speaking to him. Curiosity causes her to stay longer than she planned, but soon she walks away. He follows her and explains why he had been forced to break up with her. She thanks him and tells him she never wants to see him again.

Brian persists until Karen recognizes the need to face her past. But before a solid relationship develops, Brian learns that his first wife was pregnant before he met her. His daughter is not his own. Brian's mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the library shuts down the bookmobile service. Meanwhile, Karen faces her past and decides it is too much to share with anyone, especially Brian. She decides the truth would be too painful now. Before saying goodbye, she goes with him to a party at his cabin on the lake to see friends from their college days. After everyone leaves, she tells him that she was pregnant with his child when he left her thirty years ago and she had a miscarriage. Telling him, she knows will end all hope for a new relationship. Instead, he takes the blame for what happened and works harder for her love,

Once the truth about what happened in their past is known, their love grows. Karen travels to California with Brian to meet his family. Brian, who has gradually moved closer to God, finally understands that the emptiness he had felt was not the loss of Karen. It was the loss of God. Brian proposes on the bookmobile while parked at the city's favorite scenic location.

One-Sentence Description

When I read the deals from Publisher's Marketplace I wonder how to describe my novel in a sentence like they do. Here's what I came up with:

I co-authored the non-fiction book, Automated Law Office System, published by West Publishing Company, and have had a number of non-fiction articles published.