Peeking Between the Pages

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Guest Post & Giveaway with Emily Sue Harvey, Author of Song of Renewal

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Please join me in welcoming Emily Sue Harvey to Peeking Between the Pages today. I had the pleasure of reviewing her novel Song of Renewal yesterday and you can see my review here. The book is beautiful and inspirational and I really enjoyed it. Please relax, maybe get a tissue as Emily Sue shares this very heartfelt guest post with us on Song of Renewal…

Renewal. The word rings of positive change. It denotes energy. And power. And life itself. But when I was a child, I’d not yet met its necessity. The very sound of it was tinny and foreign to my ears, definitely not musical. I hadn’t a clue. During those lemony years, after all, the air was always crisp and clear, the world, through perfect 20/20 vision, boasted, in 3D clarity, endless, vibrant colors that danced and twirled and carried me to ecstasy.

Ahhh. If only life remained that way.

Instead, my life flowed seamlessly through strawberry adolescence and into vanilla adulthood, hitting bumps and snags along the way but with the mystical resilience of youth still intact, I managed to emerge relatively unscathed.

Until one January day in my thirtieth year, when I received the news that my eleven-year-old daughter, Angie, had been killed in a tragic accident while visiting church friends. The world dropped from beneath my feet, plunging me into a bottomless dark chasm from which I wasn’t sure I’d ever emerge.

We all face devastation if we walk this earth long enough. Count on it. It will come in some manner and shape, unconcerned about ill timing. Brutal. It will change the most stoical soul. That January introduced me to another me, one chewed up, spit out and stomped into the ground. One who existed in another realm where food and sleep were inconsequential. One who no longer cared to live. One who now had two choices. To succumb to it. Or to refuse to lie down and die. Because I loved my husband and two remaining children, I chose the latter. I would go on. I was needed. Period.

But how?

There’s always a lifeline. It varies from person to person but it’s there. We simply have to look for it. In my case, I latched onto the therapy of writing my feelings down. It saved my sanity. In the end, it was my renewal and salvation. Through writing, I found me.

During those earliest, lemony fresh years, if anyone had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, “writer” would have been last on my list. “Nurse” was first because, even then, I keened to help people. Making a difference in others’ lives gives my own life purpose and fulfillment.

In my renewal during those bittersweet years following loss, I began to search for the child inside me, the one who’d been so resilient and who could lose herself in the stunning beauty of God’s creation. The one who giggled spontaneously at goofy happenings before she’d been shamed into reticence and inhibitions. Coaxing her into the open proved difficult but I soon discovered that I could more easily entice her into my writing.

To pen Song of Renewal, my first published mainstream fictional novel, was a finely tuned balancing act. It was not my first completed manuscript by any means. Remember that I wrote for therapy and that meant copiously. I threw away some but others evolved into heartfelt stories. Several of those await publication. But Song of Renewal is very special and during its writing I called upon the child inside me, who loved shaping and fleshing out the story’s characters, capturing the humorous as well as the darkness coexisting in every live, breathing human being. At the same time, the adult, ‘been there, done that’ part of me delved deeper, deeper into the complex pysche of the Wakefields, a family wracked with devastation and loss. Those to whom hope seems unreachable. But each of them, Father, Mother, and comatose daughter, mystically connect to that elusive option of renewal. It inspires one to look beyond the most devastating carnage and see what can be. What must be. And cling to it like a buoy in a raging storm swept sea.

By now, renewal is woven into my texture. My very pores sing of it and often, I dance in it. Innate me, my entire substance offers it up to everyone—just as it was offered up to me. It’s there for the taking. It’s what life, real life is all about.

Making a difference was mine for the taking. Yes, despite the grief and suffering from loss, all things do, in the end, work for the good. Those writing therapy years converged into dozens of published stories that reached out and touched hearts. My own Song of Renewal is that unconditional love and forgiveness is what makes life worth living Enjoy, reader!

Amazing, isn’t it! Thank you so much for that guest post Emily, it’s one of the best I’ve read. I have to say again that I look forward to your next novel a great deal.

GIVEAWAY

I’ve got 2 copies of Song of Renewal to give away. One copy is US & Canada only (no PO boxes) and will be coming directly from the publisher. The second copy is my very own that I’d like to share because I think this book is worth sharing and it will be open to all my readers! What do you need to do…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you please.
  • For 2 entries blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word.

I will draw for the winners on Saturday, August 8, 2009. Good luck to you all!

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  1. See, this is why I would take a guest post over an interview anyday. This woman's spirit shines through, and makes me compelled to read her novel. Wonderful, heart-rending post. Please sign me up Dar! rnawrot at cfl dot rr dot com.

  3. I enjoy this guest post. So sincere. I also check the book review and it is intriguing. I hope to read this book soon. Please enter me. 😀
    linna.hsu(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. Very moving guest post! Thanks so much for sharing. (please don't enter me in the giveaway)

  7. Emily Sue Harvey is so brave and kind to share such intimate details with us. I was smiling at first with her use of the words vanilla and strawberry, but eyes welled up with tears when I read about her daughter. My heart goes out to her. milou2ster(at)gmail.com

  8. Wow – what a heartbreaking yet inspirational post. Such beautiful writing. I'd love to read this book.

    melacan at hotmail dot com

  9. This sounds so inspirational. What a great post! I'd love to enter tthis giveaway; thanks

  10. This is one of the most awesome, wonderful and inspiring guest posts ever. The book must be absolutely incredible with writing like that.

    Please enter me in the drawing, Dar.

    florida982002[at]yahoo.com

  12. Luckily I have never had this kind of heartbreak, but I have had enough that I could really use some renewal. So, please count me in.

    rebecca[dot]cox[at]charter[dot]net

  14. Hey Dar: Please enter me!

    k9kutter64(at)yahoo(dot)com

    I will post about the giveaway in my sidebar.

    Have a great day!

  15. Wow this sounds like such a deep book (in a good way though) and I adore that cover its so lovely and soothing, thanks for the chance to read this book.
    unforgetable_dreamer_always[at]hotmail[dot]com

  16. Lovely guest post 🙂
    This book sounds great, there is just something about it. I would love to enter and have a chance at that international win.

  17. What a wonderful post! I also agree that "unconditional love and forgiveness is what makes life worth living"

    I'd love to win a copy of this book!

    hawkes(at)citlink.net

  19. This looks interesting! Please enter me!

    What a great cover too!

    BethsBookReviewBlog AT gmail DOT com

  21. peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-post-giveaway-with-emily-sue.html

    chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com

  22. peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-post-giveaway-with-emily-sue.html

    chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com

  23. Oh my gosh this interview is so inspirational. I need to read this book. Thank you for this giveaway and please count me in

    chinook92(at)gmail(dot)com

  24. She's quite the woman. I'm glad she found something that helps and since it's writing others benefit too. It can't be easy sharing that much of herself with virtual strangers either. I wish her success in all her endeavors.

  25. Great guest post! I would really like a chance to win a copy of this book, so please enter me in the contest.

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

  29. Please count me in.

    Posted on my sidebar.
    Tweeted

    cindyc725 at gmail dot com

  31. That IS an awesome post, Emily. Wow.

    Thanks for the e-mail, Dar. All posted at Win a Book for ya!

  32. oh, i DO want to peek between these pages, please enter me, my email is in profile

  33. I really enjoyed this post. It was really heartfelt and touching. I can't wait to see what the writing in the book is like.

    jen4777[at]hotmail.com

  34. What an amazing author post!! She's a true survivor. I don't know how I would be if that happened to me. I really need to read her book now!

  35. Awesome post…
    I was amazed at the wy she used "strawberry adolescence and into vanilla adulthood" , lemony years.. I don't know but I like the sound of it. Writing is so very lyrical… beautiful!

    And the post IS heart-rending
    Emily, I am really sorry for your loss..but you have come out beautifully.. to show to us people that nothing is impossible.

    I would LOVE to be entered for this one Dar!
    Thank you for the guest post… this is the best I have read in a very LONG while. I so want to win this one 🙂 🙂

    Thank YOU Dar!

  36. I recently lost someone very close to me and I would love to read this book which sounds so inspirational. Please enter me to win.
    Mariag

  38. What a beautiful guest post. She is an amazing spirit.

    Thank you, Dar & thank you, Emily.

  41. What an emotional guest post this was. Please count me in for this contest Dar!
    joannelong74 AT gmail DOT com

  45. This book sounds amazing; please enter me! Thanks!

    lesleymfan(at)gmail(dot)com

  47. Please include me in your giveaway.

    Canadian Contests, Freebies, Coupons, Deals, Games and Chat – join us at CoolCanucks.ca

    bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

  48. There were goosebumps up and down my arms reading this post! Emily Sue you are truly an inspiration to be able to grown in strength, love and forgiveness after suffering one of the most dire of life's tragedies and then to reach out and share that love, forgiveness and hope with others. It is a rare and kindred soul who can do that. I am so happy to know you are able to laugh and dance with your family today.
    Thank you Emily Sue, I look forward to reading your book and your stories. Darlene, thank you so much for hosting this giveaway!

    Amy
    Aimala127@gmail.com

  52. What a beautiful and inspirational guest post. Please sign me up for this one.

    Dutchlvr1(at)aol(dot)com

  53. Darlene,
    your review is amazing, just compelling to grab the book! I've been reading your posts for a while, this is my first comment. I will put you on my blog, and I'm following you!
    May I enter your contest?
    Thank you!
    ivanaquick AT gmail DOT com

  59. Great post – I would love to be a part of this giveaway. My email address is

    laarlt78 at hotmail dot com

  60. I would love to read this book…a wonderful post. thanks for sharing.

    karen
    kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com

  61. Sounds like a wonderful book. Please add me to the drawing.

    kkhaas AT bellsouth DOT net

  63. Song of Renewal sounds wonderful.Please enter me in the giveaway.augustlily06(at)aim(dot)com.Thank you.

  64. This sounds like a good read for anyone who has had a lifechanging loss although I can't think of anything that would compare to the loss of a child. Thank you for the opportunity to win this book.

    rrdjasper(at)aol(dpt)com

  66. Wow, what a moving post. I can't even imagine what she went through.

    I'd love to be entered. Thanks.

    carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com

  67. This looks like such a wonderful book. Please enter my name. Thanks.
    wandanamgreb (at) gmail (dot) com

  71. I adored the intimacy of this guest post. What a lovely woman and very inspirational.

    It amazes me when writers take so much of themselves to create wonderful fiction.

    I'd love to be entered, and I will post in my sidebar!

    savvyverseandwit AT gmail DOT com

  72. I would love to be entered for the international copy please! Thanks.

    lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com