All of us are reviewers or critics of what we see or hear. How often have you wished a book had a different ending or you wanted to learn more about a character, or you had ideas about how the story line should have been developed? Well, today is your opportunity to help develop People of the Book, a new novel being released next April. If you are a reader and not an author, I want to hear what you like or would like to change about the attached chapter. People of the Book excerpt 11
The author, Kathi Macias, is working on the manuscript for People of the Book right now. When I asked her why she wrote the story, this is what she told me.
I wrote People of the Book because of Asia Bibi, a woman in Pakistan who is under a death sentence for no reason other than being a Christian. I wrote People of the Book for my friend Dolly, who miraculously escaped the Saudi Kingdom after living there for eighteen years, most of which was spent sneaking out to attend an underground church whenever possible. And I wrote People of the Book for Dolly’s friend who was also a secret believer—until her parents found out. When they asked her to deny Isa (Jesus) and confess that Allah was the only true god, she refused. Her parents held her down and cut out her tongue. Then they set her on fire and watched her burn to death. They called it an honor killing. It was the event that spurred Dolly to find a way to escape and to tell her friend’s story every chance she gets.
Sadly Dolly’s friend’s murder is not an isolated incident. Honor killings happen more often than we can imagine, primarily to young women and primarily for reasons that have to do with “blaspheming Islam.” No one has it harder in the Saudi Kingdom than Christians, particularly Christian women. For that reason, I knew I had to include a story about honor killings in the Extreme Devotion series.
But People of the Book is also a story about a young American woman whose family left the Saudi Kingdom before she was born and who are now faithful Christians. This American woman, whose name is Sara, meets two young Saudi women in a chat room and begins to share her faith in Isa. The lives of these three women intertwine to bring about a story that will ultimately call the hearts of readers to a firmer commitment to their faith—possibly even to a life on the foreign mission field. If People of the Book accomplishes that, it validates my reason for writing it.
So now is your time, if you are a reader of books and not an author, to help shape the characters and story of People of the Book. Kathi and I will enjoy seeing what you have to say.
