Upcoming releases from author Tamera Alexander

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Coming in August!

Within My Heart

Bethany House Publishers

A Timber Ridge Reflections novel

~ Read a personal note from Tamera below ~

Dear friends,

Many of you have written to inquire about the upcoming release of Within My Heart. Within My Heart was originally scheduled to release Fall 2009, but due to family health issues it's taken longer for me to write this story than originally planned.

While Rachel Boyd and Dr. Rand Brookston's story first captured my heart as I wrote From a Distance and Beyond This Moment, the better part of my year (2009) was spent traveling to and from Atlanta to be with my parents as my precious mom battled metastatic gallbladder cancer. Mom was diagnosed with the cancer in February and went home to be with the Lord six months later on August 17th.

Tam_Mom_First_day_of_cruise.jpg (Tam_Mom_First_day_of_cruise.jpg)

Me and Mom, on the first day of a family cruise we were privileged to take in May 2009. This was the last picture Mom and I had taken together, just the two of us. I'm so grateful she got strong enough to take that last family vacation. Now she's on the greatest journey of all.

So many of you prayed for my mom, June, during her illness, and I appreciate every prayer and thoughtful email and note you've sent for her (and me). We miss her so much and are slowly adjusting to this life without her, and are confident in the certainty that we'll see her again one day soon. But it won't be soon enough.

Though I didn't write much while caring for her, this story hasn't been dormant. It's been living inside me, growing and taking shape. For a while, I tried writing in the hospital, as I stayed with Mom, sitting close beside her bed. But I quickly learned that hospitals are no place for rest--or for writing. The real clincher for me (when I knew I needed to lay aside this story for a time) came when Mom started to ask me something then stopped, and said, "Oh honey, I'm sorry. Am I bothering your writing?"

I closed my laptop with a click.

Looking back now, I'm keenly aware of how the story changed and took shape in the months following. Everything a writer experiences eventually makes it to the written page in some form, at least it does for me, and my life experiences during the final months with Mom are no different.

I treasure every moment with her, every overnight hospital stay, every "early wee hours of the morning" chat when she couldn't sleep and we'd stay up and talk. Every one of those times is written on my heart and has changed me and my view of this life, I think for the better. When my time comes to cross over from this life to the next, I'll do a better job of it because of watching Mom go before me. Thanks, Mom.

I'm grateful to my publisher (Bethany House) for the additional time to finish this book, and my utmost gratitude also goes to you, dear readers, for your enthusiasm over this story and for 'hanging with me' as I finish it. The connection we share through these characters and their journeys is precious to me, and I look forward to sharing yet another journey, Within My Heart, with you in August 2010. I have no doubt that God chose this time in my life for me to write this particular book, and though I may not understand His ways, I trust Him with all my heart and will continue to lean on Him for understanding in the days ahead.

One last note--I'll email my contact list when Within My Heart is about to release, so if you'd like to receive that notification, please sign up for my updates here. And watch for a brand new six-book series that will follow on the heels of Within My Heart in 2011. More on that series soon!

Igbok, (Aren't familiar with that word? Click on it to discover the meaning)

Tamera