About the Book
Book: Faith’s Journey
Author: Heather Greer
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Release Date: February, 2018
Sometimes it’s the unexpected path that leads you on your journey back to faith.
Katie McGowan left her parents and their faith behind years ago. However, when faced with a devastating betrayal, Katie is ready to go back to Carbondale, Illinois to help her elderly parents despite their tempestuous relationship. Drained by the constant friction, Katie finds emotional support and encouragement in Austin. His practical, simple faith speaks to Katie, and she finds herself yearning for a new connection to God. As their friendship grows, so does the attraction between Katie and Austin.
Before her fledgling faith and thoughts of romance have a chance to take root, Katie’s cheating fiancé returns, remorseful and promising change. Can her tentative faith strengthen their past love? And if her heart breaks again, will Katie’s journey to faith end before it has really begun?
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About the Author
Heather Greer is a pastor’s kid and pastor’s wife from southern Illinois. Though her nest is quickly approaching the empty stage, with three of her four children out on their own, she enjoys the times she gets to spend with all her children, husband, and grandson. Equal mix geek and romantic, you could as easily find Heather watching an episode of Doctor Who as the latest Hallmark movie. Of course, you may find her baking, reading, or crafting too!
Heather’s writing and teaching ministries revolve around a passion to see believers grow in their faith. Though God has used her most often with teens and adults, she has worked in ministries reaching all age groups through the years. It is Heather’s prayer for God to use what she writes in her books and on her blog to challenge and encourage readers in their faith walks.
More from Heather
What happens when a person raised in church begins to see the failure of those within the church to live their faith every day instead of on Sunday morning? Often, the truths of scripture are pushed aside in favor of blanket statements like “churches are full of hypocrites” and “I don’t want to follow a God whose people are like that”. In frustration, they walk out the church doors in frustration. Sometimes they walk out with their beliefs intact, but other times faith gets left in the pew they vacate.
That’s what happened to Katie in Faith’s Journey. And when she left home for college disappointed with the people in the church she was raised in and at odds with her mother, it was all too easy to listen to the voices in her life telling her religion and God made no difference in life. Deciding she knew better than anyone what her life should be, Katie makes her own decisions without considering the God she left behind.
It takes a return home for Katie to start realizing there may be more to God than the people in the pews. Maybe she was quick to see the failures of others to live their faith but slow to see her own problems with the same issue. And maybe it’s time to acknowledge that regardless of how others are living out their faith, God has plans for her and desires a relationship with her that defines who she is every day.
While the original idea that sparked Faith’s Journey was what happens when someone you love betrays you, I quickly realized Katie’s story was more than that. In a sense, the first betrayal she needed to face wasn’t the one with her boyfriend. It was the perceived betrayal by those in the church who failed to live faith outside the church walls. It’s a feeling I believe many Christians have to face since there isn’t a perfect person in any pew.
I pray Faith’s Journey may be an encouragement and give a new perspective to those who currently struggle with the idea of church. And I hope it’s also a challenge to those of us faithfully in the pews each week to make our time there about more than religion or habit. I pray Faith’s Journey challenges us to evaluate the depth of relationship with have with God and let Him change the way we live every day, not just on Sunday.
Author Interview with Heather Greer
What is your favorite childhood book?
That isn’t an easy question. I remember going to the school library each week and picking out a Berenstain Bears book to take home. Those are the first ones I remember loving. But as I got a little older my mom worked in a Christian bookstore. She would bring home Janette Oake’s Animal Friends series for me. I specifically remember Spunky’s Diary from that series. Sweet Valley High books were popular when I was in middle school and junior high. I never read them, but I loved a Christian version called the Cedar River Daydreams series by Judy Baer and the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn. I think my first book crushes came from those two series!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I read. I love to bake and do craft projects. I’m not really picky and will try anything I think is cute. Usually it’s something I’ve found on Pinterest. And I’m guilty of binge watching my favorite television shows and the latest Hallmark movies. But I usually turn to the shows and movies when I’ve had a long day and want to do something where I don’t have to think.
How do you select the names of your characters?
It really depends. I named Katie after my great-grandmother, though she is nothing like the real Katherine McGowan. My granny wouldn’t have let anyone get away with calling her Katie! I don’t usually name characters after real people, but there are exceptions like Katie. Other than that, I usually start with a picture of the character. Once I have that, I consider their personality, where they’re from, and what they look like to come up with names that suit them. Once I have a name, I’ll text it to a few friends and get their feedback on it.
What comes first, the plot or the characters?
Though I can’t say it’s always the case, I think my plot comes first. Or at least the idea that brings the plot. I’m generally more of a pantser than a plotter. When I sit down to write I have a theme or scene that has inspired me. I don’t usually have much more than that. Any plotting I do is fairly loose and general. Due to this less structured way of writing, I have to have the characters in place before I have all the details worked out. On rare occasions I may start with a character, but those are very rare.
What was your hardest scene to write?
What was the hardest in Faith’s Journey or overall? Any scenes where betrayal plays a part are difficult because whether it’s a friend, family member, or someone we’re in love with having trust broken in the relationship, to me, is one of the worst things that can happen. I believe most of us have probably felt that sting at one point or another. And betrayal and the damage it causes are themes I had to deal with in Faith’s Journey from a romantic perspective, parental perspective, and spiritual perspective.
The hardest scene I’ve had to write overall would have to be the time I gave a main character a happy ending only to tear it all away. To set this person on the right track and then challenge her with incredible loss seemed cruel but necessary. Readers of this story have expressed their own anger at what happens and their desires to see the character find restoration. It was as difficult for me to write these scenes as it is for the readers to read them.
Thank you Heather for taking the time to let us get to know you better!
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, January 24
Through the Fire Blogs, January 25
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 26
Inklings and notions, January 27
janicesbookreviews, January 28
Artistic Nobody, January 29 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, January 29
For the Love of Literature, January 30
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 31
Quiet Quilter, February 1
Older & Smarter?, February 2
Emily Yager, February 3
Godly Book Reviews, February 4
Pause for Tales, February 5
A Baker’s Perspective, February 6 (Author Interview)
Batya’s Bits, February 7
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Heather is giving away a Cozy Winter Nights giveaway including a $15 Amazon gift card, a mug, assorted teas and hot chocolates, chocolate, and a fleece blanket to create the perfect reading experience on cold winter nights!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/f52e/faith-s-journey-celebration-tour-giveaway