Thanks for having me, Penny. I hope after our visit today
your hubby will play the accordion for us. I’ll sing!
Gay: Hubby will play for you anytime. 🎼 🎹
With my newest book, Mattie’s Choice, I’ve departed from my
sweet, whimsical, fantasy genre about a dyslexic angel. Oh, Sarah is still up
to her bumbles and antics, but I’ve put her in time out for a while.
I’ve been writing a Woman's Christian historical about two women married to abusive brothers. Mattie’s Choice was inspired by my mother-in-law and an aunt by marriage. The book is
not biographical, but many of the events in this book actually happened to
these women.
My father-in-law wasn’t
physically abusive, but he was emotionally cruel. My husband's mother wasn’t allowed to visit her
twin brother or any family members. She couldn’t go to her dad’s funeral. Hard to believe, right? Most of us ladies today would say, “No way, buster. Out of my way.” But even today too many women today live with a controlling man. Choices are not easy in these circumstances. My
mom-in-law was a strong woman who managed to live within her claustrophobic
existence while rearing eleven children. All of those children are now emotionally healthy adults—none
took after their dad’s controlling ways. They are successful and respectable
citizens.
Everyone has a choice.
Everyone has a choice.
Here's more about Mattie’s Choice.
In 1925, against her
father’s wishes, a romantic and naïve seventeen-year-old Mattie elopes with
Jesse Colby in rural Oklahoma. Dreams shatter when Jesse slaps her. Jesse
believes women are to obey husbands and forbids Mattie to have a relationship
with her “infernal” family. Mattie can’t imagine life without her twin brother,
Maury. Her self-confidence ebbs away as Jesse degrades her.
Joe, Jesse’s brother in
Galveston, marries a nurse and returns home to Oklahoma. His wife, Ella,
becomes Mattie’s best friend. Ella feels one’s safety is more essential than
marriage vows. Mattie believes a vow made before God takes priority over abuse.
To bring relief from
responsibilities and dreariness of life, Jesse and Joe embark on an illicit
entertainment with two sisters who live near-by. In the meantime, Jesse refuses
to allow Mattie to visit their eleven-year-old son, Adam, in the hospital. Adam
is diagnosed with Polio.
One woman discovered the
strength to stay in an abusive relationship.
The other found strength to leave.
Neither choice was easy, and both women believed they did what God
wanted them to do.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
There are study questions which follow the book:
What would your choice have been?
Women are abused today. How can you help them?
What would your choice have been?
Women are abused today. How can you help them?
Assistance was
unavailable in 1925, but shelters and aid exist today. In 1925 the vogue of the
day indicted the woman and exonerated the man.
In my research for this story, I discovered that America has only 1,500 shelters for abused women, but 3,800 shelters for animals. Statistics
show that one out of four women will face abuse in their lifetime. On a
personal note, I can verify this statistic. I have three daughters, so counting
me, there are four women in my household. One daughter was married to an
abusive man. Fortunately, that was a short marriage.
Here’s another
statistic. Police will respond quicker if an intruder is a stranger rather than a
member of the household.
A native Texan, Gay lives in Fulshear, a small town west of
Houston. As a pastor’s wife, Gay
writes Faith Features for various church periodicals. She also writes articles
for Texas Hill Country. As a published
author for Pelican Book Group, she writes in romance and fantasy fiction. Her
current series is about a dyslexic angel who comes to earth to help humans, but
Sarah, the angel, is more like Lucy Ricardo with humorous antics and bumbles.
Her
latest books, Mattie’s Choice, and Clue into Kindness are not fantasy
and romance. They are Christian women’s fiction. The stories are about abusive
men and women who are addicted to unhealthy relationships.
The books are available in print, eBook, and audio.
Gay would love to have you see her video trailers and become a
follower of her blog.
www.facebook.com/GayNLewis and also on Twitter @GayNLewis2.
Sarah, the angel, has her own Facebook page. Follow Sarah on Facebook@
Sarah Wingspand
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