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Essex
Author Promotes First Novel
East County Times, January 23, 2003, by Allison H. McAlister
With the
release of her first novel, local author Melody Ravert began
the daunting task of promotion. On Saturday, January 18, Ravert
was at an open house for Joy-A-Cize, a woman's exercise facility
in Dundalk, to sign copies of her novel "Shadow of Death."
If you'd told Ravert a year ago that she would be here now
signing copies of her very own published novel, she wouldn't
have believed you.
A stay-at-home
mom, Ravert has always loved to write. "It's my passion,"
she says. Though she enjoyed writing romance stories and superhero
fan fiction when she was younger, she longed to write in a
way that would please the Lord.
"I
feel very blessed," she says, explaining that she gives
all the credit for her writing success to God. Though Ravert
started out writing romantic fiction, she began to feel guilty
as her stories took a slightly erotic turn. "I knew that
my love of writing was a gift from God, but I didn't know
how to include Him in my fiction," she reveals. "My
romantic fiction wasn't X-rated, but it wasn't something for
which I could give God the glory.
While
dealing with much internal struggle over this, Ravert discovered
inspirational fiction about a year ago. Mostly inspired by
Terri Blackstock, Ravert has been writing short stories in
this genre ever since, posting several of her works of inspiration
with a cat theme on her web site at http://www.j-e-s-u-s.net/Jesus/kittykorner/homepage.html.
When she
began writing "Shadow of Death," she knew that this
story would be much longer than the others she'd written.
Indeed, when she was finished, she had over 60 chapters yet
only 169 pages. "I felt led to submit this particular
story," Ravert reveals. "I received an acceptance,"
she says, "after only two weeks. That's when I knew this
was in God's hands." PublishAmerica, a company headquartered
just outside of Washington D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan
area, published her novel.
Though
busy making local appearances promoting her new book, Ravert
is also hard at work on books two and three of the series.
She says that she is about three quarters finished with the
second book "Avenging Sword," which includes several
of the supporting characters from "Shadow of Death."
Describes Ravert, "The overall theme is the worldwide
challenge we all suffer from racial prejudice." A sneak
preview of both books can be found on her web site.
Ravert,
who lives in Essex with her husband Tim and daughter Stephanie,
says of her writing, "My main focus is sharing the good
news of God in an interesting way." More information
on Ravert is available at http://www.authorsden.com/melodyravert.
While available at most bookstores, "Shadow of Death"
can also be purchased online at http://www.publisamerica.com.
Ravert will be available for another book signing on Saturday,
February 15 from 1-3 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Bel Air.
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