A new Face Book Group has launched: Transformational Fiction Fans.
Conceived by award-winning author Nikki Arana, author of the newly released The Next Target, Transformational Fiction Fans is a site for readers and writers to connect and talk books that have made or are making a strong impact on their lives—including those with hot button topics. We share news and events related to thought-provoking fiction that transforms the lives of characters through Christ, inviting readers to make that journey with us from darkness to light.
I’ve been getting to know some of the authors and their work this week, especially a couple who’ve written about issues I’ve spent time researching lately—immigration, and human trafficking, and how those intertwine.
Nikki Arana’s first book, The Winds of Sonoma, is a love story (inspired by her own) set against a question we all face sooner or later—Should I do the thing I know is right, or the thing that will get me ahead and secure my future? Nikki makes it clear that those choices—about our present and future (even our eternal future)—are complex and life defining. I learned so much from her book about the plight of Mexican laborers crossing our border for employment, the risks they take, and the extreme poverty of their families in Mexico that compels them. She brings perspective to several different sides of the issue. I was left with a determination to look more closely at newcomers who move to my community, welcoming them, and helping them to connect to services they may need. You can read my review on Amazon.
Award-winning author Kathi Macias’s books, Deliver Me From Evil and Special Delivery, are her first two in The Freedom Series, and give a compelling, if frightening look at the world of human trafficking in this 21st century (read my reviews on Amazon). Kathi’s trafficked characters include immigrants, too—from Mexico and Thailand, as well as girls in our own United States. I couldn’t put these books down. Besides the fact that they’re well written, I desperately wanted the characters’ lives to have happy endings.
But the truth is, the stories of trafficked women and children in fiction and especially in life are beyond grim. Those real lives will only have happy endings if we do our part in rescuing and restoring victims, if we fight for and achieve abolition, and if we raise a new generation of men worldwide who refuse to exploit girls and women, and choose to respect them.
There’s something each of us can do, and there are dozens of organizations already in place with which we can partner through prayer, physical help, or finances. I’m compiling lists of those organizations now, and will be posting them, along with other resources, on my website this summer. I’ll let you know when they’re available.
In the meantime, whether you’re curious about these books, or you’d like to try lighter fare, drop by the open Face Book Group: Transformational Fiction Fans, and get to know some of the wonderful authors there. There are so many good books!
I’m stacking my reading table and loading my Kindle with intriguing and delightful summer reads from a variety of genres. I look forward to sharing more of them with you soon. What’s on your to-be-read list? What are you reading now?
And what is your beverage of choice for a summer afternoon on the porch, good book in hand? I’ll take mint iced tea–lots of ice. How about you?
Looking forward to seeing you here, in the garden, next week.
God’s blessings for you,
Comments 14
This sounds like a great group! I will go over to Facebook and check it out. I’m glad to hear you have connected with these other authors who have a heart to share these messages. These stories need to be told.
I think the icy cold mint tea sounds lovely! I think I will go make a glass….wish I could join you on the porch.
Blessings,
Carrie
It IS an exciting group, Carrie! I’m enjoying getting to know these new writers and their powerful stories.
Yes, let’s share that mint iced tea on the porch! : )
Thank you for letting the followers of your blog know about transformational fiction and how to connect to books, fans and authors of this category of fiction. I know readers who love your books will find other authors they will enjoy through the Transformational Fiction Fans group.
Thanks for stopping by, Nikki. Yes, I think that readers who enjoy these types of books will be delighted to find our discussion group. At least that’s true for me–I’m lining up another “to-be-read” from this group for next week–can’t wait!
Hi Cathy. Funny, I think I did this backwards. I came from the Facebook group to your blog 🙂 Which is beautiful, by the way!
I have soooo many books on my to-be-read shelf. Right now I’m reading a fantasy, Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. It’s really good!
I LOVE mango green tea. If I had a porch, that’s what I would drink on it 😀
Thanks so much for stopping by, Sarah! However you got here, I’m so glad you came. : )
I LOVE having stacks of books to look forward to reading. So often I find myself reading nonfiction only–for research. By the time I take a break and dip into fiction again it feels like I’m eating dessert–and don’t want to stop!
Mango green tea sounds wonderful. I’ll have to give that a try!
My TBR list is a stack of books taller than I am. I guess that’s not saying a whole lot, I’m 4’11”. 🙂 I’m currently reading The Hole in Our Gospel which is non fiction but it’s the heartbeat of a lot of what I write and read.
Your post is wonderful in that it points to what we can DO. I was especially touched by the part about raising men who refuse to exploit. My husband and I are passionate about family, about our kids not being a burden but a weapon in world today. So far we have four boys and one girl. I’ve found renewed hope that my “small” job of raising them is monumental and important indeed!
Thank you.
Oh, that’s a new book to me, Jessie. I’ll have to check it out. There’s something wonderfully secure about having a stack of books to look forward to reading!
But I must take issue–raising children is no “small job!” That you’re raising them deliberately with a heart to serve and heal is a glory and honor to the Lord. You’re so right–raising them is monumental and an important need. What a different world we’d live in if every parent grasped that! God bless!
Thank you so much for posting this, Cathy. I just finished “Band of Sisters” and loved it! Will be spreading the word!!!
These are important books and concepts to share. Thank you so much for writing the stories you do, Kathi!
I’m delighted you enjoyed “Band of Sisters.” I hope it, too, will ignite a flame in the hearts of readers!
God’s blessings!
Hi Cathy,
I also just finished Band of Sisters. What a heart-rending story! I’ll be reviewing the book, so won’t say anything further here.
Thanks for pointing me to Nikki’s blog. I’ve visited, as well as downloaded her book on my Kindle. I’m reading it now. And, of course, Kathi Macias is a big favorite of mine.
Blessings,
Susan 🙂
So glad you were moved by “Band of Sisters,” Susan!
I’m enjoying those reads from the Transformational Fiction group–just started “The Wings of Morning” by Murray Pura–a new writer to me.
Blessings today!
I just finished Promise Me This and I must say I loved it. I’m a teacher and summer break is my time to read to my hearts content. I look forward to reading your other books!
I’m so glad you enjoyed “Promise Me This,” Lisa! It’s a book I loved researching and writing–and absolutely fell in love with the characters! I still expect to run into them someday.
My next book releases in September, “Band of Sisters,” and I hope you’ll enjoy that one, too.
Enjoy your summer reading!
God’s blessings for you!