It’s Mantle Rock week on my blog, it would seem! 🙂
Today I’d like to introduce you to a sweet Southern young lady, Candace West! You’ll read more about her in a bit, but first, she wants to tell you about her first book, already out, Lane Steen. I’m excited that her second book – the second in this series – is coming out with Mantle Rock Publishing next year!
Welcome, Candace! It was so much fun meeting you at the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference! Can’t wait to see you this summer at our Ken-Ten Writing Conference!
Thank you, Regina, for welcoming me to your blog! I’m honored to be here today!
My Journey with Lane Steen
Lane Steen’s journey blossomed in my heart long before I ever typed the first word. Without knowing, my granny first kindled it with stories of her mother’s loveless childhood. I could almost hear the scissors snap across my great-grandmother’s head while her stepmother clipped off all of her curls in a fit of temper. One of many such fits.
Into my great-grandmother’s time and place, Lane trudged one day across the imaginary back-roads and hollers of my mind, on her way to school, a purple bruise swelling across her cheek. As the scene unfolded, I typed and discovered the culprit. Her father.
As I grew better acquainted with Lane, I discovered fragments of a dream haunting her. Other characters, Edith Wallace and Tabitha Mansfield, entered Lane’s life carrying their own secrets. Guy Matthews elbowed his way in, determined to be Lane’s hero. At the center, Earl Steen, hid behind his demons, an exile of his own making.
Their stories blended into Lane’s with an outcome that I didn’t expect. That’s the beauty of story writing. Like God’s plan for our lives, it unfolded one page and one chapter at a time with twists and turns along the way. The sum of God’s handiwork in my imagination.
While writing Lane’s story, I found God was writing my story as well. Lane taught me how to forgive during a time when I found it impossible. Lane showed me that God’s love triumphs over the toughest obstacles. And His love encompasses all of us, even those we find hard to love. Most of all, Lane taught me when God directs our path, He will bring victory.
Just as He did with my great-grandmother.
Curious? Here’s the blurb!
How can Lane let go of the past when she is forced to confront it?
Kidnapped by her father at two years old, Lane Steen never imagines she is living a lie until a new schoolteacher, Edith Wallace, comes to Valley Creek. Yet Edith is more than a schoolteacher. She is part of the past—a past hidden in a mysterious dream that has haunted Lane since childhood.
At sixteen, Lane yearns to escape from her embittered father’s hatred. The schoolhouse is Lane’s only escape. Carefully, Edith works to earn Lane’s friendship, but love and trust doesn’t come easy for a heart plagued by hate. But then the truth shatters Lane’s world.
The truth sends Lane on a turbulent search into the past. Leaving Valley Creek behind, Lane reunites with a family she cannot remember—a family that surpasses her wildest dreams.
Despite her newfound joy, her hatred for her father only deepens. Although she desires to experience the faith of her family, Lane can’t cast away one thing she holds closely: the hatred that helped her survive.
Digging into her father’s unbelievable past, she confronts the story behind her father’s ruin. Will she always be bound by hate?
Yet something even stronger binds her. Something stronger than her family, something stronger than her will. She is bound to Valley Creek, the place of her stormy childhood, the place of the man she loves, but more importantly, the place of God’s calling. Ironically, she finds love, purpose, grace, and forgiveness in a place she’d sought all her life to escape.
Watch Book Trailer here: https://youtu.be/yYezCgvKjj0
About Candace
Candace West was born in the Mississippi delta to a young minister and his wife. She grew up in small-town Arkansas and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello. When she was twelve years old, she wrote her first story, “Following Prairie River.” Since then, she has dreamed of writing Christian fiction. Over the years, she has published short stories as well as poems in various magazines. Since her teenage years, she has written many church plays. In 2018, she published her first novel Lane Steen. By weaving entertaining, page-turning stories, Candace hopes to share the Gospel and encourage her readers with stories of hope. Earlier this year, she signed a contract with Mantle Rock Publishing. Book two in the Lane Steen series is scheduled for release in March 2020. She currently lives in her beloved Arkansas with her husband Aaron and their son Matthew along with two dogs and three cats.
Connect with Candace:
www.candaceweststoryteller.com
www.facebook.com/inspirationalnovel
https://www.instagram.com/candace.west.posey.10/
https://twitter.com/candacewest111
Purchase links:
Candace, I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed having you, and reading your story behind the story! God never wastes any experience, and always keeps His promises!
Happy Friday, everyone, and read something good this weekend!
Leave a Reply