Since tomorrow is April 19th, in order to celebrate the third anniversary of On 4/19, I wanted to share a little more with you about where the idea for the book came from. So here’s a little behind the scenes look:

The idea:
I never watch the evening news, but for some reason, when about to change the channel one night, a story caught my attention. The story was about how young women, especially college age women, were entering into contracts with older men through some match service. It showed video clips of older men with beautiful young girls. I’m not sure why the thought crossed my mind, but I wondered what would happen if a Christian girl got caught up in that. The early story was born.

Characters:
Chelsea – Just so you know, I always have someone’s face in mind when I write, some actor. I don’t know why she came to mind, but if you have kids and have ever watched The Jonas Brothers TV show, then you know who the character Stella Malone is. The actress who played her is Chelsea Kane. Such a cute girl.

John – sigh… When I started to think about my leading man, I knew I wouldn’t go with some creepy old man. John was inspired by Jim Caveizel, specifically his look on Person of Interest. His expression and intensity created a perfect profile for our relationship-phobic millionaire. 
Always in his dark suit and white shirt, Jim was the perfect John. Of all the leading male characters I’ve written, I think John is still my favorite. I’m not alone. I’ve had more fan comments on him than any other character.

The Release:
When I published On 4/19, I was nervous. It was so different than my first book, Unmending the Veil, much less deep and spiritual. Of course the sequel, Beyond 4/20 went to deeper places, but I dreaded the reviews. So many had loved UtV because of its depth, that I feared disappointment when they read the more fairy-tale romance of John and Chelsea. In part I was right. A few readers were disappointed. For the most part, though, like me, you needed a lighter read after UtV. That was taxing to write and read as I did the revisions. I enjoyed allowing my creative mind to flow. Now, On 4/19 has been nearly as well received as Unmending the Veil.

Reviews:
There were some haters who didn’t like the age difference, but there will always be haters. If I’ve learned anything as a writer, I’ve learned that. I will never make everyone happy. Some thought it was too light just like some though UtV was too preachy. I just have to let the negative comments and reviews roll off my back. That’s never easy, but I move on after mean comments.

What’s next for the novel:
Just as I’m doing with Unmending the Veil, I will be making revisions to On 4/19. I’ve learned so much this past four years that I feel I have to go back and make it the best it can be. I’m not sure when it will happen, but you can be sure there will be new scenes when I do revise. One thing I have to do is to have more “on stage” and less “in the head” time. In order to do that, I have to add scenes. I can’t wait to see the possibilities as I revise. I’ve found that the UtV revision has allowed me to expand some areas that I have wanted to since publishing the book in the first place. I’m sure it’ll be the same with Chelsea’s and John’s story. And then Tucks, when I get around to working on Beyond 4/20.

Funniest thing ever:
When I chose the contract date for the novel, 4/19, I just picked a date out of thin air. There was no significance to it. Of course at the time I had no idea there would be a sequel. Even when I wrote the sequel, I had no idea that 4/20 meant something. Come to find out, it’s national pot smoking day. People actually take off work to smoke pot. That still makes me fall out laughing that I wrote a book with that date in the title. I have to wonder if my book comes up on web searches for pot day. I’m okay with stealing back the day for God’s glory. 🙂

Comparrison:
The first person I let do some proofing work for the novel said that it was a Christian woman’s 50 Shades. At the time I had no idea what that was. She told me to go look it up but not purchase the book! I still haven’t read 50 Shades nor do I plan to, but from what I gather, I have to assume there was some contract imposed in the story. Once again, if I can be the Christian alternative to 50 Shades, then I’m happy to win another victory for the Kingdom.

So there you have it. I would love to hear your comments below.

Until next week,
Lisa

I seem to have reached a new milestone – 600 likes on my Lisa Heaton Books page. I’m sure there are people with hundreds of thousands of likes, but considering I was excited when I hit 50, 600 feels like an accomplishment. I have to admit, this is a team effort. Thanks, Emily for your hard work on my behalf and thanks for your creative ideas in reaching more people.

To help in this effort, we are asking you to invite your friends list to “Like” my page. On the right hand side of my Facebook page, you will see a tab that says, – Invite friends to like this page – (See photo below of what to look for.) Once you click that tab, your friends list will appear. You may not want to invite everyone, but invite those friends who you think would like to connect with me.

What will I win, you ask? This beautiful, handcrafted, one of a kind necklace. There are two other items in this prize package. The video is on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/lisaheatonbooks/

Early on I drug my feat on social media, but then I discovered the wonderful connections that can be made with readers. Through various forms of social media, I have been contacted by people from all over the world. That’s exciting. To know I am reaching people across the world in places like West Africa and the UK and Australia amazes me. God unites His faraway kids as only He can.

This little book writing thing has been a journey of one small achievement after another. Things I never dreamed I would do a few years ago, I’m doing. While this is a business, I find it’s also a ministry. I love what I’m doing. I love tapping into the heart of a reader in an unexpected way. I love that women contact me and say that God is using things I’ve written to help them draw nearer to Him. That’s not of me. And the more I see Him do amazing things, the more I know I have very little hand in it. (Just ten fingers to type.)

Thanks for your support and encouragement along the way. So many of you have kept me going when I felt like giving up. Many times, when I was at my most discouraged, some of you have messaged me with exactly the words I needed to hear. I’m grateful for connections. God created us to connect with one another. I can’t wait to see what He might do next.

Just a little while ago, I was watching out my kitchen window and saw my little neighbor boy jumping on his trampoline. He was holding something, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Several minutes later I looked again and saw he was still jumping and holding onto something. Then it hit me, it was his security blanket. It crossed my mind: Too bad what we, as adults, can’t take our security blankets with us to cope with all of life’s ups and downs.

That thought no more crossed my mind when I remembered that we can and do, at least those of us who belong to Jesus. If you’re His, then He’s your Security Blanket – your covering, no matter life’s ups and downs. The key is that we need to learn to hang on, just like Cole was doing with his blankie.

While I considered using that in today’s blog, I thought of this: Yesterday, one of my favorite radio personalities was telling of how his toddler son was recently walking with him down the driveway. The boy is just learning to walk and felt the need for some independence. He pushed his father’s hand away. He took no more than a step or two when he went tumbling head over heels down the driveway. When he came to a stop, his dad said, “Are you okay, buddy?” The little guy just laid there, eyes wide in surprise, staring at his dad as if to say, “How could you let this happen?”

Don’t we do that? We push God’s hand away when His plan interferes with our independence. Then when we fall, we cry out asking why He let the difficulty happen. I think we adults are much more like children than we care to admit. Being like a child can be both good and bad. Jesus Himself said we should come to Him as little children. But He never said we should be childish, not in the negative sense of the word. Childlike is dependent. Childish demands independence.

It’s too easy once we get older to think we can handle things on our own. We can’t. Life has ups and life has downs. For both we need our Security Blanket – the hand of God to hold and guide us.

In my own life I’ve finally learned that the hand holding mine can be trusted. My Security Blanket has it all under control, no matter what my eyes can see. Not one thing will happen to me or the ones I love that isn’t first filtered through the One who carries us wrapped up in His loving care.

Not sure the point to today’s blog other than a reminder: Cling to your Security Blanket – the hand of God.

Comments are always appreciated. And feel free to share this with a friend if you feel it may meet them where they are.

I pray tons of blessings heaped upon you.
Lisa