It's official! The Contingency audiobook is now available at Audible.com for $19.59
Perfect Characters?
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Contingency has been out for seven weeks now and as folks read and begin to leave reviews, I am greatly encouraged by how often the characters are mentioned. Bobbi and Chuck are very close to my heart and I'm thrilled when others connect with them.My goal with Bobbi and Chuck (and the other characters, too) was to develop real, genuine characters who are not perfect, but who wrestle with reacting on instinct or according to God's principles. This is no easy task. For Bobbi, divorce is a very real, very reasonable option, but God challenges her to go beyond that to forgiveness and reconciliation. For Chuck, there is a great temptation to give up- the sin was too great, the price is too high, redemption is too hard. But God nudges him along in the process, step by painful step.
These ideas can be traced to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:46-48, He says, "If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." (NLT)
As Your Father in heaven is perfect…
Latest Reviews
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This week's reviews on Amazon. I love how the story is pulling readers in and the characters are holding them tight.
5.0 out of 5 stars the best read book in 2010, February 1, 2011
By in love with Mr Darcy -
I was swept up in this book from page one. I loved it. I felt as if I was Bobbi and was feeling the same way she was. I love how Paula didn't sugar coat Bobbi's feelings and how she bounced between the good feelings and the bad. I would have liked to have seen more of an incite on Chucks feelings though. It was like he made the mistake and then wanted forgiveness, not really knowing what his feelings were.
I can not wait for book two and three to come out.
This book is a must, you won't be able to put it down.
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, complex and uplifting, January 31, 2011
By Nancy in Virginia -
I loved this book! Contingency kept me anxious for more as it unfolds the oh-so-many lives affected by adultery. Brilliantly real, I felt the pain of each of the characters as they fight to save their family, their marriage, and their relationship with God. I would recommend this book to ANYONE who has had turmoil in their lives, or even if you haven't, you will feel hopeful and peaceful in the knowledge that God has control and will walk with you through anything.
5.0 out of 5 stars RENEW!, January 27, 2011
By Sharon -
This review is from: Contingency: Book One: Covenant of Trust Series (Paperback)
This is one book everyone should read! In a hurtful heartfelt situation, what do we do? We feel all of the human feelings. It takes God working in us and others to bring about restoration. You will not regret reading "Contingency." I am so looking forward to Book TW0!
The Challenge of the Summary
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One of the toughest things in the writing process is distilling the novel down to a few sentences. I agonized over the back cover copy for days trying to get the most out of every word. Here are the paragraph, 3-sentence and one-sentence summaries. The one-sentence became the text for my online ads. (I tried to keep it to Twitter-friendly minimum of 140 characters.)- Contingency opens as Bobbi, a comfortably married teacher, discovers her husband’s extramarital affair with another attorney at his law firm. She agrees to counseling with their pastor, but her sister recommends divorce and her oldest son wants nothing to do with his father, or the idea of forgiveness. Chuck does everything he can to make things right and rebuild his credibility, but then the other woman files a groundless harassment lawsuit. Now Chuck is faced with a double ultimatum– if he fights and countersues, Bobbi will divorce him, but if he settles and gives the appearance of guilt, he’ll lose his job. This emotional strain brings Bobbi to a crisis point where she must decide whether God Himself is trustworthy before ever attempting to reconcile with her husband.
- When Bobbi, a comfortably married teacher, discovers her husband’s extramarital affair with another attorney at his law firm, it threatens to tear her family apart. The other woman files a groundless harassment lawsuit, which Chuck intends to fight in order to keep his job. The emotional strain brings Bobbi to a crisis point where she must decide whether God Himself is trustworthy before ever attempting to reconcile with her husband.
- Bobbi Molinsky agrees forgiving her husband's infidelity is the God-honoring thing to do, but it is the beginning of her struggles.
My tendency is to gush all the details, but this (tough) exercise forced me to nail down the real essence of the story. Did I get it right?
Choosing the Title
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Coming up with a title for Contingency was a challenge, but when it clicked, it fit the story perfectly. The dictionary defines it as a possibility, an event that isn't entirely unforeseen. Phil Shannon explains to Chuck, “An extramarital affair was a contingency you never considered, so there was no protection in your marriage against it. I want us to fix that.” Bobbi and Chuck had a whirlwind courtship, married after three years apart, and quickly settled into separate lives. They never took the opportunity to build emotional intimacy. Bobbi hints at it a few times in the flashback scenes, but neither of them took action. So rather than purposefully deepening their relationship in the early years of their marriage, they did it the hard way- in their pastor's office after the pain of infidelity.
Do you think the title fits the story?