So, my author friend Travis Thrasher and I were in New York this summer, and he HAS to have his picture taken next to the Flat Iron building in Manhattan, right? (On the hottest day in New York history, no less) And my big question is, why? It’s just a building, right?

Uh, no, it’s a building that is on the cover his new book, Blinded. Which I got in the mail, and made the mistake of opening to read the first chapter. Now here’s the deal. The book is written in second person. You know, something like:

You don’t expect to receive a book in the mail, but when you do you open it. And find yourself sitting down on your stairs, blocking out the children while you enter a world of what-ifs. Because you’re a woman, you don’t expect to understand the main character, a man much like your husband, or your best friend’s husband. A normal man, who finds himself in the middle of a nightmare of his own making. You don’t expect to stay up until 3am, when you have work to do the next day.

But you do. And because of it, you’ve read a story that will linger with you long after you close the pages.

Okay, so that’s my version of 2nd person, but Travis’s is Oh, So Much Better. The book sucks you in and it feels like you’re right inside the main character’s head. Let me tell you, every man you know should read this book, and woman who is married (or thinking about it) should too. It’s frighteningly realistic. And painfully honest. Blinded. Stop by Travis’ site (www.travisthrasher.com) to check out this book and many others at www.travisthrasher.com. And tell Travis I sent you.

Every once in a while I happen upon a book that takes my breath away, makes me ponder, captures my writer’s love for words and leaves me wondering why I ever thought I could write. That happened recently with a self-published book by a fella I met in North Carolina. His names is James Graham. And the book is called, Finding Life.

Another gem from this book:
“As kids, we could sense the people who had been beaten down by life, and at some point drained of every ounce of compassion or regard in their souls. They scared us. Their eyes were as deep as the cold, dark ocean. We wondered if they just walked out of their mother’s womb that way. There were no highs and lows as experienced by most people, just a steady existence with emotions buried deep beyond some impenetrable tundra that disaster, disappointment and loss had effectvely formed.”

Nice, huh? Yeah, this book is chock full of evocative scenes, so much so I could feel the salty water on my skin and the sand between my toes, hear the sound of seagulls, taste the grief in the back of my throat. This book drew me in, not only through the writing, but the story, the relationships, the emotions of the plot. I read it all on my trip home from North Carolina, so glued to it that I barely made my connections, so absorbed that I found myself in tears surrounded by strangers on the plane. (And boy, was that fun for them!). Every bit as good as a Nicholas Sparks novel, this story goes deeper, to touch spiritual issues in a way that makes you feel as if you’re experiencing the questions with Chance, the main character. You’ll be touched by the love, the grief, the healing and the joy that only God could magistrate. Finding Life is a story that won’t leave your heart, I promise.