Tuesday Promotion in Motion: Becky Melby

Welcome fellow Wisconsin Author, Becky Melby, author of Tomorrow’s Sun, to Reflections in Hindsight.

Tomorrow’s Sun back cover copy:

One House. Two Loves. A century and a half apart.

Her fractures have mended, her scars faded, but Emily Foster can’t move on until she makes restitution for a past mistake. Flipping houses seems like the path to her goal. Yet, instead of finding a door to the future, the 1840s house she plans to remodel opens windows to the past.

Contractor Jake Braden hates Emily’s plan to modernize the old house, but the cost of fighting for guardianship of his late sister’s twelve-year-old twins forces him to take the job anyway. When a hidden door and faded love letters connect the house with the Underground Railroad, he and Emily embark on a mission to uncover the fate of young lovers.

As Emily and Jake unravel the long-forgotten love story, words of faith in the face of fear inspire, convict, and draw them to each other. . .but will they be prepared when faced with the greatest test yet?

 Becky Says—-

 

What I love about Tomorrow’s Sun:

For years I’ve been a fan of artist Charles L. Peterson’s “Memories” Collection (http://www.clpetersonstudio.com/prints-memories.html). Each painting depicts a contemporary setting superimposed with a translucent scene of a by-gone era. These paintings spark questions and spin stories in my head. Several years ago, sitting at a historic restaurant inRochester,Wisconsin with my husband, the history of the building we were sitting in awakened the same kind of muse. Built in 1843 and originally known as the Union House, the building had thirteen-inch stone walls. Local legend claimed it had once been a stop on the Underground Railroad. . .and was inhabited by ghosts! From there it was an easy step to creating a father and daughter living just across the bridge from the Union House. What impact would their involvement in the Underground Railroad have on a woman who bought their house a hundred and sixty years later? I loved the vicarious experience of living in this house with a hidden room in two radically different eras.

 

What I learned while writing it:

That I love writing historical fiction! That came as a surprise since most of what I read and all I’ve written has been contemporary. Rather than choosing between genres, I hope to continue writing parallel stories that juxtapose two time periods.

I also learned some intriguing facts and legends about the Underground Railroad in my part ofWisconsin. While his conductor got a fresh team of horses, Joshua Glover, a Missouri slave seeking asylum in 1854, enjoyed “a hot cup of tea and lunch” at a home in Rochester—just across the river from the Union House. On arriving inRacine, Mr. Glover was “pounced upon” by his master who had him arrested and put in jail. But abolitionists from all around southeasternWisconsinsurrounded the jail, broke down the doors, and transported him safely toCanada.

The other thing that comes to mind wasn’t new knowledge, but a needed reminder: True freedom is only possible through surrender to Jesus Christ. Most of us are bound by some kind of shackles—memories of past injustice or mistakes or loss—and only through a relationship with the God of the universe can we experience the breaking of chains and cycles.

Something unique about the book:

Adam, one of the twelve-year-old twins in the book, is patterned very, very closely after my grandson Sawyer. All of the things Adam carries in his cargo pants can be found on my ready-for-emergency grandson at any given time. My daughter sent an email last week telling about Sawyer’s latest doctor’s check up: “We forgot to have Sawyer disarm before he left home. The nurse asked if he had anything in his pockets and he just started pulling out knives (four, I think) and flashlights and rope and duct tape. . .”

While Adam got to use a lot of his survival gear in Tomorrow’s Sun, Sawyer is still dreaming of that great adventure for which he will be more than prepared.

About the Author:

I started writing stories when I was about seven. One memorable piece. . .“How Valentine’s Day Got Started,” foreshadowed my future career in romantic fiction. In high school, a poem I wrote about Jacqueline Kennedy was published in the Union Grove Sun, our local paper. I imagine the circulation was about four hundred, but I was ecstatic. My next big break came with a high school literary magazine. We used a lot of literary license in calling it “literary”! One of my poems, entitled “Depression,” depicts being symbolically buried alive and ends with the soul-stirring words “Metal on stone, I’m now alone.”

            My goal of seeing my first novel published by the time I turned twenty-five was detained a few years thanks to my real-life romance and the four sons that resulted. My publishing dream became reality the same year I found out I was going to be a grandma. In March we’ll celebrate forty years of marriage. In January of this year our twelfth grandbaby was born. In spite of all these wonderful “interruptions” I’ve co-authored nine books for Heartsong Presents and written three novellas. Tomorrow’s Sun is the first book in the Lost Sanctuary series, my first full-length project. Yesterday’s Stardust and Today’s Shadows will be released later this year.

            I love writing and reading spiritual Cinderella stories. For real-life and fiction stories of “tarnished dreams refinished by grace,” come and visit me at www.beckymelby.com/blog.

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