Memoir

title: Living With Tension:

author: Jennifer Hill

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoir • date submitted: 9.30.2011 • author id: HiJ5530110

word count: 140

Content

Where is God in the midst of our struggles? Is God really good? How do we respond in faith when God doesn't seem to intervene on our behalf? My story examines these questions through the lens of a Christian walking with the Lord in the midst of living with cerebral palsy (CP). As a young teenager, I began to seek the Lord for miraculous healing from my incurable neuro-muscular condition. After many failed attempts, I began to wrestle with the Lord over His sovereign decision to withhold healing from my body. This painful struggle lasted twelve years. Through interactions with others who have CP, psychotherapy, and an understanding church family, I came to discover how to walk with the tension of knowing that Christ is the Healer, yet I will limp for the rest of my life. Told with transparent vulnerability, my story will resonate with readers; encouraging them with hope. Christ firmly embraces us in the midst of our struggle using His power to make us perfect in our weakness.

About the Author
Jennifer Hill works as a school library media specialist and is currently a doctoral student. A summary of her personal story appeared in an issue of @thedoor, a publication of Church of the Open Door, Maple Grove, MN. Following its publication, Miss Hill had the opportunity to share her story with Open Door's congregation (approx. 3,000) and online audience reaching people in over 40 countries. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwsu4WzWMjE). More speaking engagements followed, and the associate senior pastor of Open Door has agreed to write the forward to this book. In addition, Miss Hill blogs for United Cerebral Palsy of Central MN (http://www.ucpcentralmn.org/blog) to widely share her experiences of living with CP.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: The Years The Locusts Have Eaten

author: Michaela MacKenzie

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Inspirational Memoir • date submitted: 7.29.2011 • author id: MaM0872311

word count: 400

Content

The writer states, "My book describes a lifetime of abuse and its consequences. I was physically, verbally, emotionally and sexually abused throughout my entire life up until I was almost 46. It culminated in my being brutally beaten, stabbed approximately 30 times, and left for dead. God and my young sons, 8 and 10, saved my life. Following a recounting of that incident in 2003, via flashbacks, it takes you from my early life up to the start of healing." She uses the pen name of Michaela MacKenzie.

About the Author
"My main credentials for writing this book are that I have lived it. I have pictures, police reports, restraining orders, etc. to document my life . . . But I cannot use real names so I have to rely on the approximately 300 people I have met over the past few years who are interested in buying my book and repeatedly ask about its progress." The writer's name and address are available from The Writer's Edge.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: My Call to Prayer:

author: Tammi Jarrett

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoirs • date submitted: 4.30.2011 • author id: JaT6548611

word count: 400

Content

The writer summarizes, "God had been a big part of my life until my mother was brutally murdered in the mid 1970's. Life during my teenage years was difficult and at age eighteen I moved to Chicago to attend a finishing school. Desperate and alone I became involved with a man who did not openly confess his nationality and religion. I found myself trapped in an abusive and volatile marriage, my husband's association with questionable people and trouble with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies made my life in the USA unbearable and dangerous. Each day that passed I found myself farther away from God. Still very naive, I agreed to attend a wedding overseas thinking I could leave him with his parents while I returned to the USA with my children. Once I entered Libya, I was stripped of all my rights; my American citizenship and the term 'Christian' were removed. I was so demoralized that I gave up my will to live. In desperation and not wanting my children to grow up as Muslims, I found myself seeking and beseeching the God I knew from my youth. In the sands of the Sahara desert I found my God and the courage to live."

About the Author
The writer placed third in the Zondervan writing competition for her manuscript. She speaks publicly about her experiences in Libya. She holds a BA in Psychology. "My courageous son, who is with the 101st Airborne, was shot five times in Afghanistan and is alive. I am a warrior's mother and have once again found my voice and the courage to speak openly about Libya."

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: Walking With Tension

author: Jennifer Hill

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoir • date submitted: 11.30.2010 • author id: HiJ5530110

word count: 140

Content

“Where is God in the midst of our struggles?” “Is God really good?,” and “How do we respond in faith when God doesn’t seem to intervene on our behalf?” My story examines these questions through the lens of a Christian walking with the Lord in the midst of living with cerebral palsy (CP). As a young teenager, I began to seek the Lord for miraculous healing from my incurable neuro-muscular condition. After many failed attempts, I began to wrestle with the Lord over His sovereign decision to withhold healing from my body. This painful struggle lasted twelve years. Through interactions with others who have CP, psychotherapy, and an understanding church family, I came to discover how to walk with the tension of knowing that Christ is the Healer, yet I will limp for the rest of my life. Told with transparent vulnerability, my story will resonate with readers; encouraging them with hope. Christ firmly embraces us in the midst of our struggle using His power to make us perfect in our weakness.

About the Author
Miss Hill works as a school library media specialist and is currently a doctorate student. A summary of her personal story appeared in an issue of @thedoor, a publication of Church of the Open Door. Following its publication, Miss Hill had the opportunity to share her story with Open Door’s congregation and online audience of over 36,000 people. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwsu4WzWMjE). More speaking engagements followed and she has agreed to begin blogging for United Cerebral Palsy of Central MN (http://www.ucpcentralmn.org/blog) to widely share her experiences of living with CP.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: In His Hands: A Grace-Filled Grief

author: Sandi Elzinga

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoir • date submitted: 11.30.2010 • author id: ElS4941710

word count: 261

Content

Imagine yourself completely paralyzed, save one hand. What would you do with that hand? This manuscript is the author's account of her husband's swift descent from triathlete and marathon runner, to paralysis and ultimate death from three brainstem tumors. The latter portion of this book continues on into Sandi's first year of being carried, in God's hands, through the shadows after Bill's death. She has drawn in and detailed the profound effects his illness had, not only on the two of them, but on those around them: their family, their friends, and his doctors. Bill's nine week stay at our nations #1 hospital,(U.S.News & World Report), draws the reader inside Johns Hopkins for an up-close view of exceptional care. When a creeping paralysis stripped Bill of all he valued physically, he radiated the true source of strength and solace in life: Jesus Christ. The real story is of God's love and sustaining grace, enabling Bill to lift that one hand in praise to God.

About the Author
As published author and former newsletter editor, Sandi Elzinga wrote this manuscript from the heart of personal experience. Her grief articles have been published in In Touch magazine,(Sept. 2010, circ: 1,000,000) and Canada's The Christian Journal(May, 2009, circ: 30,000). She is an ongoing writer for CHERA Fellowship(circ: 2,000). Her blog, GriefWalk: Hope Through The Dark Places (http://sandielzinga.wordpress.com) is widely used as a resource for those in grief.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: Stand at the Cross Roads

author: Hilda Hellums Baker

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Inspirational/memoir • date submitted: 4.24.2010 • author id: BaH7783610

word count: 248

Content

The true story of an imperfect woman and a call from God that would change lives forever. The story chronicles a call from God through ten years of trials and frustrations to the joyful fulfillment of his challenge. Hilda Hellums Baker did not expect to hear God's voice on a hot afternoon at a youth retreat in South Texas. A mother of three working on her third marriage, Hilda returned home from that retreat knowing exactly what God needed from her yet had no idea how to accomplish it. His guidance came in many forms - sometimes in a gentle whisper but more often in a flood of tears, sweat, disappointments, disillusionment and grueling hours of hard work - yet she has never experienced greater happiness.

About the Author
Hilda Hellums Baker is the volunteer director and chairman of the board for Cross Road Retreat and Conference Center, Inc. She is also an active member of the United Methodist Church and the Brazos Valley Emmaus Community, with contacts in the upper levels of both organizations. Hilda is an accomplished public speaker and has media contacts at the Christian radio station in Albuquerque, NM. The book would be available at the retreat center and on their website.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: Cramming for Heaven: A True Story of Casting Out Demons

author: Margaret Jarpey

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoir • date submitted: 3.25.2010 • author id: JaM5576010

word count: 176

Content

The writer relates, "This story begins when my mother asked me to take her out of the nursing home, and I did, despite her dementia. I followed the Writer's Edge advice for rewriting, encouraged by the reviewer's positive comments on the writer style, the relevance of the subject matter, and the fact that the book is experiential but based on scriptural truth. During the month that I had my mother at home, her ravaged mind somehow allowed her spirit to reveal and deal with problems that had plagued her all her life and were thought to be just a negative part of her otherwise delightful personality and turned out to be caused by actual demons. Together my mother and I cast out these demons just before her mind cleared. The dementia had been temporary-- the result of surgical anesthesia. For physical reasons and some (non-demonic) mental impairment, she went into another nursing home, at her own request, before she died. The account includes flashbacks about my mother's life in Australia before coming to the U.S. after she came her as a war bride." I have published it as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle under the pseudonym Maggie Charnock, and I want to keep it under the pseudonym.

About the Author
The author is a professional copyeditor. She offers "no special theological credentials" apart from Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: An Anchor in the Storm

author: Lauri Tigner Khodabandehloo

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Inspirational memoir • date submitted: 3.24.2009 • author id: KhL9740809

word count: 250

Content

The writer summarizes, "After a desperate search for answers to her peculiar behaviors, doctors diagnosed my daughter with a life-shattering brain disorder known as 'classic autism.' Then God answered my prayers suddenly one afternoon as Farema found a new life in figure skating. That day, as she emerged from her cocoon of autism to spread her wings and fly, was just the beginning, culminating in a performance for Olympic champion, Scott Hamilton. But the dream was not to last. Our stories are interwoven into a heartbreaking tragedy, and yet God has been faithful. My story will offer encouragement and authentic hope in the face of overwhelming confusion and grief as it points readers to the source of that hope--the Anchor of our souls who holds us steady when our lives have been turned upside down."

About the Author
Lauri has shared her story in local television and newspaper interviews and with parents and family members of children with autism, has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, is a certified autism advocate and supporter in many public outlets and venues, daughter of Marcy Tigner, (Little Marcy Sings to Children), and Everett Tigner, sales associate for Tyndale House Publishers, Word Books, and Harvest House Publishers.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: Grace Interrupts: A Daughter’s Memoir of Grieving

author: Jami Lee Gainey

category: nonfiction • subcategory: Memoir • date submitted: 12.31.2012 • author id: GaJ7508912

word count:

Content

The writer states, “As a college student, everything changed when I received a phone call that uncovered my greatest fear: my father had cancer. The fear grew over the next seventeen months, only to morph into a different form following Daddy’s death. Through a small encounter of grace that surfaced through music, I began the tension of struggling with the pruning I felt God allowing me to experience. This book explores the spiritual growth that can come out of the death of a loved one and contains reflections and stories relatable to others who have experienced death through the loss of a family member or close friend.”

About the Author
Jami Lee Gainey works as a trip coordinator for iGo Global, an organization that teaches high school and college students to live missionally and sends groups to least-reached people groups around the world. Each year she recruits high school and college students, trains 300-500 students, and travels with her specific team of 100-200 students for a one-week trip. She’s spent several summers serving as a missionary overseas and has traveled to six different countries. She and her husband recently planted Connection Community Church in Rowlett, Texas, where her husband serves on staff as one of the pastors and elders. She also ministers alongside her husband, who leads worship for youth events, conferences, and camps. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard Payne University in both English and Cross-Cultural Studies, Jami Lee continued her graduate work and obtained a Master of Arts in English from Baylor University. Most memoirs of grieving center on the death of a spouse or child. Core audiences for the book most likely will center on evangelical Christians, but it may also attract non-Christians or those seeking spiritual direction as a result of their loss and grief.

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.


title: The Road to Beaver Park

author: Janice Kirk

category: nonfiction • subcategory: memoir • date submitted: 12.4.2014 • author id: KiJ5598714

word count: 47,000

Content

On Sabbatical in 1976-77, the Kirk family lived a nature lover's dream when they took their children out of school and spent a year camping. The great outdoors opened like a book as they explored, fished, hiked, and camped throughout the deserts, mountains, and canyons of the greater Southwest. Jan sketched and hoped to finally master watercolor painting, while Don studied plants and photographed. Jan relates how she learned to paint--and learned to see--as she lived close to nature. To her surprise, a spiritual awakening sneaked up on her. She discovered that seeing is a radical activity: it will change your life.

About the Author

Janice E. Kirk, retired teacher of art and voice (Shasta Co. Schools, Simpson University, Redding, California) has a lifetime of family camping stories and drawings to share. Author/illustrator of The Christmas Redwood, A Forest Parable (Oak Tara Pub.) and Cherish The Earth: the Environment and Scripture (Herald Press; co-written with Don), she also contributed 300 botanical drawings for Wild Edible Plants of Western North America by Donald R. Kirk (Naturegraph), and currently writes a newspaper column, “Out Sketching.” In 1977 an opportunity to step away from a fast-paced life and explore the great outdoors expanded her vision and revealed the glory of God through the window of his creation. This inspired a return to Christian faith.

Niche markets include: ASLE, CIBA, Christian Earth Stewardship groups, families who suffer from the Nature Deficit Disorder (Richard Louv), and those who find nature a Sacred Pathway (Gary Thomas). This fits both ABA and CBA markets. http://kirksnaturebooks.net/

If you are a publisher interested in this manuscript, please contact us at info@writersedgeservice.com for contact information.