Seekerville: The Journey Continues

Some can hit close to your own heart struggles or your own dreams. Some we've struggled with for so long, the very idea that they'd made it into print feels like a miracle. And then, there are the ones that are drawn from places and people dearest to you.

The Heart of the Mountain, my 18th published book, releases on July 1st and it carries at bit of that latter reason. Based on family history and the culture of my native Blue Ridge Mountains, this story brings to life the struggles, suspicions, beliefs, hopes, and connectivity endemic of so many spots within Appalachia. Two characters are actually based on family members of mine: my great grandpa and one of my great great aunts. 

In Appalachia, oral storytelling is a BIG part of the culture. I learned dozens of family history stories from my Granny Spencer, who, though she wasn't very skilled at writing, could spin remarkable tales that seemed much too fictional to be true. Her own life would make a remarkable "overcomer" story, but, maybe, that's for another tale.

How often have you seen a news story or read a historical event, and it immediately inspired a book idea? My debut novel, The Thornbearer, was a mixture of a personal story mixed with a historical event t hat fascinated me. I paired the two because the external chaos of World War I/Sinking of the Lusitania paired well with the internal chaos in my heroine.  

So I want to hear from you! How has some real event or personal story inspired your writing? 

If you're a reader, do you enjoy finding out the behind-the-scenes reasons for why an author writes the books that  they do?

Granny "Rat"

1. I'm giving away a paper copy to one lucky commenter. (U.S. entries only).

2. SPOILER ALERT: below is the behind the scenes TRUE story for The Heart of the Mountains :)

Sam McAdams’ story was inspired by the family history of my great grandfather, Papa Surratt (“Papa Rat”). His true story is much more poignant and beautiful than any fiction could portray, but the heart of his comparison to his fictional counterpart is real. After years and years of prayers from his family, God found my great grandpa, a long time alcoholic, and rescued his heart in a most unexpected way. The small bit you hear about Sam’s childhood in this tale reflects some of the true pieces of Papa Rat’s story. He lost his mother when he was young, his father left him to fend for himself when he was about eight, and when he was eleven, he ran away from the mean-hearted farmer who’d taken Papa in after Papa had been abandoned. At eleven, he took the fifteen-mile trek to Mt. Airy, NC, started work in a furniture factory, and, eventually, met and married Kate (a cousin to Andy Griffith, btw). The two lived in town until Papa Rat’s drinking became so bad that they had to move deeper into the mountains. Years passed. Dangerous winters passed. The children grew up in a world where they lived for their daddy’s “good days” and survived the unpredictable dark ones. The quote Caroline McAdams says to Sam related to “if you hit me, you’d better kill me, or I’m gonna get up and kill you”, was straight from my Granny Rat’s mouth. She was a small woman, but strong. Almost anyone who talks about her describes her as “lady”, who held a gentle spirit and was an excellent storyteller.

One day, on a drive home from Mt. Airy after work, the Holy Spirit fell on Papa Rat so hard that he pulled the car over on the side of the road, ran out into a field, and gave his heart to Jesus. He was a changed man after that and never drank alcohol again.

When Granny Rat passed away unexpectedly from an aneurism, Papa Rat (the burly, mountain man that he was), mourned her loss so hard that four months later, he died of a massive heart attack. The doctor said that he really died “of a broken heart” for the woman who’d loved him long, even when he wasn’t a very loveable man.

Old family cabin

Suzie McAdams is based on my granny’s sister, Shirley. Unfortunately, in real life, Shirley died from croup, but, in the magic of fiction, I was able to keep the little girl from the same fate. The family story of how folks in the mountains dealt with croup and the painful effects of a mama struggling through the exhaustion and heartache of watching her little girl die, haunted me as I wrote those scenes. So…I’m glad I got to give Suzie a different fate.

I loved getting to take inspiration from these true stories and incorporate it into this fictional one. Someday, I hope to bring the remarkable tale of Kizzie to the pages of a book. It is my favorite family history story, and…probably the most unbelievable.

God’s thread of redemption weaves and spins through generations and each story within His bigger story has a tremendous way of showing God’s unique handiwork. I’m so grateful I had the chance to hear this story and know that the same God who rescued my great grandparents, loved me enough to rescue me too.

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You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com

Brooklyn Museum - Jesus Discourses with His Disciples (Jésus s'entretient avec ses disciples) - James Tissot. [PD-US]

When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:51-62

 The Seekerville bloggers are praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional prayer coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you safe. 

Last month I took a deep dive into managing your mailing list with the goal of archiving unsubscribed fans and subscribers who have rarely (if ever) opened one of your newsletters. Managing your list will increase your open rate as well as keep costs down if you’re to the point of paying for a newsletter service. You can review last month’s post here.

This month is where do you go from here?

This month’s post should be a good bit shorter… and well, last month’s would have been as well if I’d found out where to segment the 0% Open & 0% click rate before I did. Oh, well, live and learn.

So, you read last month’s post, took a day, or a week to clean up your list and then dusted off your hands, thinking your work was done. Not so fast. :)

Now that you’ve cleaned up your list, you need to stay on top of keeping it that way. It’s like your kitchen countertops. You can have your kitchen spotless, and thirty minutes later, a kid or your spouse will walk in, get a drink of water and leave the glass on the counter. By day’s end, there are 5 coffee cups, 10 glasses, 15 plates and 45 spoons and forks. Can I get an amen?

Do you ever participate in PR campaigns like Round Robins or Blog Hops? Maybe host a giveaway or your publisher does where readers sign up for your newsletter? Or even collect email addresses at book signings?

Go ahead and segment these email addresses when you add them to your list. You can be as broad or narrow as you like.

For instance, I’m signed up for a Christmas in July Blog Tour. Blog hoppers won’t sign up for my newsletter directly, but I’m supposed to get the list of all the visitors after the tour is over.

I plan to upload all those emails and either use the segment or tag feature to identify where they came from. Segment Organic signups, too. Most of these can be just by year.

Right now my biggest criteria is 0% Open & 0% Click Rate. But, remember, just because they have 0% Open/Click, don’t archive them just yet. How long have they been on your list? If they just signed up and you haven’t sent out a newsletter, then of course it’s 0%. As long as I have room on my list, I’ll keep those 0%’ers on there for 12 months at least.

Book Trailer videos are here to stay and as authors we can utilize them to help build our name brand in so many ways.

Shannon is giving away a copy of her new release, Secrets Left Behind, to one lucky commentor (US only, please). Simply leave a comment to be entered. Or you can snag your own copy here.

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Shannon hopes her stories immerse readers into a world of joy and escape while encouraging faith, hope, and love for those around us.  Her debut novel, Cave of Secrets, was released by Love Inspired Suspense in October 2020 and Book 2, Secrets Left Behind, is available now. Her other published works have appeared in Spark magazine, Splickety magazine, The Horse of My Dreams and Romantic Moments compilation books, the Lightning Blog and the Seriously Write blog. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. 

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