THE STORY OF ‘THE BELOVED’

We’re still packing and shifting, sorting and skip filling, and the date the builders are due to start is getting uncomfortably close. I’m also still trying to keep up with my book marketing and writing. I have written two guest blogs this week; one that will appear on my wonderful publishers’ website later this week, and one for the ICFW (International Christian Fiction Writers) which is due out in April sometime. What a great privilege to be asked to write about my book! I have uploaded the fabulously edited video recording of my Book Launch Party (if you missed it – the link to the video is on my website), and sent a few more signed copies of the book out. But probably the most exciting thing I have done this week is published another book!

I know! How awesome is that? If a bit greedy, I guess, when I have only just launched the first one! But actually this one has been ready to go for some time, and I so wanted it to be out there as a companion book to The Healing. So I am really pleased to announce that THE BELOVED is now also available, and I am over the moon to introduce you to it.

The Beloved is a novella, and a short one at that. Just four chapters. It is a love story, but not your typical romance. Set in the years following the events of The Healing, it does feature some of the same characters, and a similar setting, without giving too much away. This is the blurb I wrote for it:

When love whispers, will the heart respond?

A young woman unsure of herself and not ready to open her heart. A young man sure of his feelings but clumsy in his approach. Both have a lot to learn about the true nature of love. This story takes them on a journey of discovery, which causes them both to come to a place of understanding, that will ultimately alter the direction of their lives. It isn’t only an understanding of human love that needs to touch their souls, but the realisation of the unconditional love that God offers them.

 So where did the inspiration come from for the story? I wanted to write a short story to provide a snapshot of the world of The Healing, perhaps to encourage new readers, definitely to satisfy those clamouring for more, and to give me a bit of breathing space to finish the other novel (more on that another time!) Who to base it on? A character barely mentioned in The Healing caught my attention, and they became my person to build a story around. I knew what the person looked like and their character traits already, because of their parentage. And I saw a great deal of myself in them too, as writers often do in their character creations. I knew it was going to be a love story, but I’m not a romance writer, and I didn’t want it to be sloppy or fluffy. I also knew I wanted it to teach spiritual truths, as The Healing does.

Then the idea began to formulate, because again it was based on my own life experience, and the convoluted courtship my now husband and I embarked on many moons ago. The feelings and the frustrations, the questioning and the confusion, as described in the book, are true to life, if the setting and exact events differ somewhat! I will leave it there to not too give much more away. I wrote it some months ago, and then got the manuscript copy edited by the incredible Sheila Jacobs, and a stunning cover designed by David Salmon. The same people who had worked on The Healing were kind enough to invest in The Beloved too. So the two books sit really well together.

I do hope you will get yourself a copy of The Beloved and enjoy reading my little love story. It is currently only available in Kindle format. It is free to download if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, and will cost you less than the price of a cup of coffee if not. You will find it here

It is also available on Amazon sites worldwide.

If you do read and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review of the book on Amazon.

I am still taking orders for signed paperback copies of The Healing via my website http://www.joymargetts.com, where you can also sign up to receive my email newsletter.

The Healing was published by Instant Apostle on 19th March 2021 and is also available on Amazon, in paperback and kindle formats, and from other online book sellers worldwide.