ASK THE AUTHOR: Wil Mara
LATEST PROJECT: Frame 232: A Jason Hammond Novel (9781414359519, $13.99, July).
PUBLISHER: Tyndale House Publishers.

What is the main  “What if?” question in Frame 232 related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy?

“What if new evidence concerning the Kennedy assassination—something with conclusive proof that Oswald did not act alone—was discovered by an ordinary person, and a few very powerful people who had taken part in the conspiracy and were still alive wanted to make certain that evidence never saw the light of day?”

What inspired you to explore this possible scenario in fiction form?

As I was watching one of the countless documentaries on [the assassination], I was introduced to a little-known figure called the Babushka Lady—a woman who had been standing in Dealey Plaza wearing a headscarf (aka a babushka) and was apparently holding a camera of some kind. I’d like to point out here that this was a real person, not the product of my or anyone else’s imagination, and that her identity remains unknown to this day. Anyhow, seeing her sparked an idea—what if she’d had a film camera, what if she captured something that no one else noticed and what if, out of concern for herself and her family, she decided to keep her film a secret for half a century? 

What is the significance of the title?

The key image in the Babushka film—the one that opens the door to everything else for Hammond and Sheila—just happens to be frame 232.

Would you give us a short summary?

The daughter and only child of the aforementioned Babushka Lady—the name I gave in the story is Sheila Baker—discovers the film after her mother’s death and contacts Jason Hammond, our wonderful Christian hero, for help. Hammond is the son of a wealthy industrialist who, along with Hammond’s mother and only sibling, died tragically in a plane crash years earlier. As a result, Hammond has been struggling with his faith and has been escaping the pain by throwing his energies and resources into solving the most high-profile mysteries of 20th century. In the case of the Babushka film, he knows he’s onto something huge. 

Jason struggles with the loss of his family. What is his crisis of faith?

Like so many people, his crisis was born from suffering through a massive loss, and that suffering continues unabated. He goes to bed with it, wakes up with it, feels it with every breath. His family were good people, so he cannot make peace with the magnitude of the tragedy in relation to his belief in the Lord. What’s interesting, though—and this is where the agonizing tension is most taut—is that he’s still a believer. Think about it—if he weren’t, there wouldn’t be any conflict at all. And this unresolved issue provides a giant story arc that will span many books. Hammond’s bruised and battered faith is the real story in this series. 

Latest project: Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices (9781426751172, $15.99, Abingdon Press).

What is the message of Ragged Hope? The core message of Ragged Hope is that even when hope is tattered by the consequences of other people’s choices, it remains strong. Hope may look ragged, beaten up, faded, but that’s perception only. The hope God offers is indestructible, no matter what we’ve done or what’s been done to us. 

What sparked the idea for this book? In a word, compassion. The prayer, “Lord, break my heart [for] what breaks Yours” was answered more fully than I expected. Listening to “fallout” stories broke my heart and stirred me with admiration for the resilience and tenacity of the survivors. I longed to throw a spotlight on how they pushed through pain and found hope hidden in the folds of the fallout.

Why did you choose the particular stories that appear in the book? So many stories remain to be told, but I chose a selection of those that represented both the all-too-common and the inexpressibly painful, hoping that each reader would either sense their own story had been given voice or that they finished the book with a deeper understanding of pain they hadn’t experienced.

How did you collect the stories? A sea of stories floated around me in the lives of people I love, those I see every Sunday morning, those I minister to through books and speaking engagements, those against whom I brush in the course of everyday life. I dialed in to listen to their pain and observe the wonder of their incredible survival instincts and God’s intimate responses to them.

How has your own life been affected by a decision someone else made? Our family held its collective breath through tension-filled years of concern for our heartbroken son and his toddler children as they walked a very difficult path. We were caught in the tangle of what at times was raw fear for them. We learned more than we cared to about addictions and the justice system, observed, but were unable to change dangerous living conditions and dried the tears of little ones who survived because of their relentlessly faithful father and the grace of God. The fallout from that season has settled, but we have the grandparent version of flashbacks of some of those scenes.

How is hope more than simply anticipating when a problem will go away? When God said, “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5), He had to have meant more than anticipation for the endpoint of a crisis. Some crises have no endpoint this side of eternity. That verse is linked to the promise of His presence through it all. Our hope is the anchor point that assures us He sees, He hears, He understands, He cares, He weeps, and He is there in the midst of it.

You write that Ragged Hope is not a how-to book, but a celebration. How is that? America both sympathizes with and cheers for wounded soldiers, including amputees from military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re moving forward. They’re adjusting to artificial limbs and life changes. They’re walking again, running, competing in sports, dancing. They and their families—and all of us—are changed forever by what they endured in the line of duty. But we’re also changed, buoyed in spirit, by their determination to keep moving and step into the bright future, no matter how altered and challenging it might be. Horrific stories. Heroic responses. In that sense, stories like those in Ragged Hope are a celebration of survival.

What do you hope readers will gain from this book? A heart more sensitive to the distresses faced by those who live in the aftermath of other people’s choices. Greater confidence that in our own crises, hope is still there, even if it seems hidden or battered. Assurance that—small as they are—our efforts to show ragged-hope survivors they are not forgotten mean more than we can imagine. A clearer understanding of the indestructibility of the hope God offers. 

When is your upcoming Facebook chat, and what can readers expect there? The Facebook chat is on Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. EDT. Readers will be able to discuss Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices, ask and answer questions and win prizes. Readers can watch the Cynthia Ruchti Reader Page on Facebook for details. 

Is there anything else Christian retailers should know about Ragged Hope? Ragged Hope is the kind of book that soothes rather than stings. Only God can heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds [Ps. 147:3], but Ragged Hope holds the jar of ointment, the hand of the hurting one and the hopes of those who care.

Angels in the Fire: The Dramatic True Story of an Impossible Rescue by Dann Stadler tells of a miraculous rescue from a horrific auto accident. Dann and his wife, Tracey, survived the crash after Tracey was saved by a powerful angel. The book encourages believers and reveals that God still intervenes in lives today. Stadler blogs at www.saturdayspromise.com, which focuses on living in the promises of the resurrection. Bethany House (Baker Publishing Group) releases the book this month in softcover for $14.99.

Best-selling author and managing editor of Credenda/Agenda magazine, N.D. Wilson has penned a set of poetic meditations designed to encourage readers to live each day by viewing life through the lens of mortality. Thomas Nelson releases Death by Living: Life is Meant to be Spent this month in hardcover for $19.99. In the book, Wilson reminds readers to pause and remember that we are all authors of the books that will be our lives.

Charisma House releases Freedom From Depression: Emotional Healing Through Spiritual Health and Wholeness (softcover, $14.99) this month. Author Jenny Swindall writes from experience following her own battle with depression and the suicide of her brother. Reporting that 10% of Americans are on an anti-depressant, she offers a biblical plan based on two principles—ownership and abandonment—to bring emotional healing. Each chapter includes questions, prayers and assignments for application.

A call for compassion for the poor is the focus of Relentless: Pursuing a Life That Matters by Dave Donaldson and Terry Glaspey. Donaldson is co-founder of Convoy of Hope, an international relief agency. His book examines the problems faced by the poor and oppressed around the world and showcases examples of many Christians who have already accepted the task of caring for those in need. Influence Resources releases this title in softcover for $12.99 this month. 

Godonomics: How to Save our Country—and Protect Your Wallet—Through Biblical Principles of Finance by Chad Hovind releases this month from Multnomah Books (hardcover, $12.99). The author is pastor of the 2,000-member Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati and author of the Godonomics DVD series. While a left-leaning critique of America’s economic system is gaining in volume, Hovind offers a defense of capitalism by showing that, like America’s system of government, its economic system is also rooted in the Bible.

In Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts, Dena Dyer and Tina Samples use stories from wounded women in biblical and contemporary times to explore the emotions and hurts women of all ages share—and spotlight the healing only God can provide. Dyer is author of several books, including Mothers of the Bible, and Samples is a worship leader and devotional writer. This month Kregel Publications releases their book, which includes a Bible study guide, for $12.99 in softcover.

Screenwriter and TV producer Ron Austin recounts the three major threads of his life in Star Crossed: A Hollywood Love Story in Three Acts (softcover, $24). Releasing this month from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Austin’s memoir covers his early life and career in Hollywood working with stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Farrah Fawcett, his conversion at age 50 from atheism to Catholicism, with the support of his Jewish wife, and a discussion of how Jews and Catholics can find common ground. 

You Were Born for More: Six Steps to Breaking Through to Your Destiny by Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr. outlines a six-step pathway to help believers draw on God’s mercy and grace to rise above their circumstances, discover their destiny and achieve lasting change. Jackson is pastor of Hope Christian Church, a 3,000-member congregation outside Washington, D.C. This month, Chosen Books (Baker Publishing Group) releases this softcover book for $13.99.

Gang-member-turned-evangelist Nicky Cruz has noticed what he calls a disturbing trend in the church. As he preaches worldwide, he sees an increasing unawareness of the devil and the threat he poses. In his latest book, Cruz exposes the unrelenting attacks of Satan and issues a battle cry. 

In The Devil Has No Mother: Why He’s Worse Than You Think—But God is Greater (9781617951893, $14.99), releasing from Worthy Publishing this month, Cruz writes that he has had “more experience with the evil one than most.” 

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Cruz was victimized by his parents’ occult activity. People began to say about him, “Ese hombre no tiene madre.” Translated, this old Spanish saying is, “This guy has no mother,” and it refers to boys who seem bent on evil and destruction.

In the 1950s, a teenaged Cruz moved to New York City and became warlord of a gang involved in drug use and crime. But, through David Wilkerson’s efforts, Cruz came to Christ and later became an evangelist. His dramatic testimony was told in The Cross and the Switchblade (Chosen/Baker Publishing Group), a book that has sold more than 15 million copies and was made into a film.

Cruz says Satan’s greatest trick is deceiving people into believing he doesn’t exist. 

“The devil is real and active in this world. ... We need a knowledge of his power, as well as of the even greater power for good that is available to us,” he writes. 

But Cruz emphasizes the superior power of God. 

“The overriding message of this book is one of confidence and reassurance,” he writes, reminding readers that “the end of the story has already been written.” 

To order, call Capitol Christian Distribution at 800-877-4443.

Eva Piper shares her personal story after husband Don’s popularity rose with his trip-to-heaven testimony 

One split second was all it took. In 1989, Eva Piper’s life changed forever when her pastor-husband, Don, was pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident. A semi had crossed the center line and hit his car head-on. A pastor who was driving behind Don stopped, laid hands on him and prayed. 

As told in 90 Minutes in Heaven (Revell/Baker Publishing Group), Eva’s husband returned to life 90 minutes later, and he says that in that time, he had gone to heaven. Told with the help of Cecil Murphey, Don’s story stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for nearly four years.

Now Eva has also collaborated with Murphey to explain her experiences at her husband’s side during recovery, including his 34 surgeries and severe depression. Releasing this month from Thomas Nelson, A Walk Through the Dark: How My Husband’s 90 Minutes in Heaven Deepened My Faith for a Lifetime recounts how her journey strengthened her faith and revealed abilities she didn’t realize she had.

For 15 years, Eva had relied on her husband for decision-making. With the accident, however, she had to make all the decisions. One of the most difficult was whether to authorize either the amputation of her husband’s leg or the use of a device to stimulate bone growth.

Since childhood, Eva had feared the dark. She also feared figurative darkness and yet she faced many dark days after the accident. Eva tells how God caused her to grow  as she became more assertive and her prayer life intensified.

Eva’s decision to allow the use of the device on Don’s leg resulted in success. In time, his major injuries healed, although he still deals with pain and some long-term challenges. The book also provides helpful information to caregivers. 

To order, call 800-251-4000 or visit www.thomasnelson.com.

Releases include Michael Card’s Gospel-focused music and rockers We As Human

MATTHEW
Michael Card
InterVarsity Press
9780830838035
June 12

A companion CD to Matthew: The Gospel of Identity (IVP Books) from the “Biblical Imagination Series,” Matthew: The Penultimate Question aims to help the listener engage with the Gospel of Matthew. The CD includes 10 new songs from best-selling artist Michael Card.

Orders: 800-843-7225.

WE AS HUMAN
We As Human
Atlantic/Word Records (Word Distribution)
075678732089
June 25

Recorded in Los Angeles under the direction of producer Howard Benson (Skillet, Three Days Grace, My Chemical Romance), the 10-track, self-titled rock release is the first full-length album from Nashville band We As Human. 

Comprised of lead singer Justin Cordle and members Jake Jones, Justin Forshaw, Adam Osborne and Dave Draggoo, We As Human was discovered by Skillet lead singer John Cooper and signed to Atlantic/Word Records via Hear It Loud, a partnership helmed by Cooper, manager Zach Kelm and attorney Todd Rubenstein. 

The project features special appearances from Cooper and Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf. Highlights include songs “Strike Back” and “We Fall Apart.” 

WE WON’T BE SHAKEN
Building 429
Essential Records (Provident Distribution)
083061097929
June 4

Working again with producers Jason Ingram and Rob Hawkins, pop/rock band Building 429 recorded 10 new songs for We Won’t Be Shaken with messages that aim to encourage listeners to erase fear, stand firm and believe in a God who cannot be shaken.

The album includes a new, live acoustic version of the band’s No. 1 Billboard Christian Song of the Year, “Where I Belong.”