Thursday, September 19, 2013

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The Blindsided Prophet by Sonja Lewis

The Blindsided Prophet  by Sonja Lewis



"Daughter, you have given birth to a child who will
see many things beyond what the rest of us see."

1980. Coffee, Georgia. A mass killing in a church claims the lives of twelve people. Isaiah Brown, a fourteen-year-old prophet, fails to predict the massacre, in which his mother and grandfather die.  After the killings, a blind and traumatized Isaiah flees the scene, disappearing into the woods.

Fifteen years later, at God's bidding, and able to see again in all senses, Isaiah returns to Coffee, to make reparation and free himself from his past.

There, he finds the people of Coffee on the brink of an even worse trauma than that experienced in 1980. Can Isaiah discover what was behind the original tragedy, and why he didn't foresee the event? Will he be able to prevent another impending tragedy? Or will he be blindsided by his love for one woman?

The Blindsided Prophet explores man's relationship with God and its effect on daily living. Also, the novel examines beliefs and values at the deepest level, as well as how they shape our thoughts, ideas, and experiences.


Available at most online retailers as a printed book or ebook, including: 
Barnes&Noble   |    Amazon.com  |   Smashwords  |   GoodReads   |   Kobo   |   Sony   |   iTunes UK

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1
The tall man freed himself of his friend’s hand on his shoulder and walked ahead. The shorter one stared at him for a few seconds, his cigar between his lips, and then he followed. Lydia waited until they were on the porch. They lingered there for longer than she wanted them to, both taking off their hats and looking out over the land. She moved back further behind the tree, and held her breath; when she thought they were inside, she shot back towards the woods. In her haste to get out of there, she slammed into a white boy, knocking him to the ground.

She tried to keep going, but he caught her leg, tripping her to the ground, too.

"Hey," he said, "who are you? Why are you trespassing on my property?"

She was just trying to free herself, but she noticed that his voice was distinctly southern and more refined than the other two men’s. When she finally stopped struggling and looked back, she was moved by his frightened green eyes in a way she had not been expecting. She seemed to have the same effect on him. He released her.

"You remind me of somebody," he said.

"Yeah, right," she said.

Still he gazed at her until she felt hot and uncomfortable. She lowered her eyes and pushed herself up to her feet. He stood, too, and brushed off his suit. Though he wasn’t even as tall as she was, he was quite handsome, with a head full of hair the color of hers. It was parted to one side.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"That's what I want to know about you."

"I come from the other side of the woods," she said.

 “A colored preacher lives on the other side of the creek,” he said, squinting.

This word “colored” stirred her violently, always did, even when her daddy referred to himself as colored. Wasn’t everybody colored? She swung around and walked off.

He ran behind her. "Whoa!"

"Whoa is for mules," she said.

"You are about as stubborn as one." He jumped into her path. “Why you mad?”

"If you don't know, that's your problem—not mine!"

 “It ain’t safe for you to be hanging out in these woods,” he said.

“And why is that?”

"I told you that you're trespassing." He scratched his head. She knew what he was thinking, but he didn’t have the guts to say it, so she said it for him.

"I am not afraid of the Ku Klux Klan." She swung her blondish brown hair around. "Why should I be?"

“You say your daddy is a colored man,” he said. “That means, ah . . .”

“Jess,” a man called out. “Jess, Uncle Rodney is about to head on back."

The look in his eyes had tensed up again. “You better go on,” he said.

She tore off running. She didn’t look back until she was on the other side of the creek. Her shoes were now ruined because she forgot to take them off at the creek. Her heart was hammering. Jess—his name was Jess. Was that short for Jesse? She turned thoughts of him over and over. She had never felt so mesmerized in the presence of a boy. She wondered if she would ever see him again. Would she pluck up her nerve to go back and seek him out? Suddenly she thought of her father. She would have to settle for thinking about Jess, hold him in her heart, for she could not go back to the other side of the woods. Not ever.

(  Continues...  )

 Copyright © 2013 by Sonja Lewis.   All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author.  This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the publisher's written permission. Copyright infringement is a serious offense. Share a link to this page or the author's website if you really like this promotional excerpt.


Where to Buy The Blindsided Prophet
Amazon:     http://amzn.com/B00D09DD7A    

The Blindsided Prophet is available at online retailers as a printed book or ebook: 
Barnes&Noble   |    Amazon.com  |   Smashwords  |   GoodReads   |   Kobo   |   Sony   |   iTunes UK
 

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