Meet David Stearman!

David is giving away an e-print copy of his book, Hummingbird, to one randomly chosen commenter. Please be sure to leave your comment and your email address. Now a little about David and his book:

Bio:
David Stearman is a novelist, recording artist, songwriter, and missionary whose travels take him around the world. He loves to write about exotic locales, describing them as only a cultural and physical eyewitness can.

When not writing, singing, or speaking, David enjoys outdoor sports, gardening, and breeding birds. He lives in Kentucky with his wife Diane, their mother and daughter, Bichon Frises, Latté and Lilli, and a cheerful green parrot named Alley.

Contact him at: tropikbird@gmail.com
Website: www.davidstearmanministries.org
His blog: http://davidstearman.wordpress.com/.



Hummingbird synopsis:

Lexa Morales is a misfit. Smuggled across the Mexican border and separated from her mother as a child, she knows what it’s like to face the world alone. And being Mexican by ethnicity and American at heart only adds to her sense of alienation, making her feel more like the dash between the words Mexican-American than anything else. But now, Lexa’s last meaningful relationship is threatened. So to keep her stepbrother Juan from being squashed by Los Angeles’s 18^th Street Gang, Lexa does the unthinkable.

It all seems to be working out perfectly, too--the robbery, the escape to Mexico, the whole enchilada, until Lexa and her greasy boyfriend/partner-in-crime Justin go surfing near the West-Mexican town of Manzanillo. Lexa wipes on an outsized wave, pops her head on a rock, and has a near-death experience in which she could swear she’s being dragged downward into Hell by a hideous specter. Afterward, while she’s recuperating in the hospital, Justin takes advantage of her moment of weakness by absconding with their ill-gotten stash. And Lexa finds herself alone and homeless...as usual.

Determined to survive, Lexa checks out of the hospital and drives sullenly up the coast, where she makes a pit stop at a Podunk called El Nido. Over breakfast, she strikes up a conversation with an elderly restaurant owner called Doña Angela, who recites a local proverb: “as a hummingbird draws nectar from the heart of a blossom, a benevolent soul extracts kindness from the hearts of men.”

Hardened by life on the streets where taking seems more reasonable than giving, Lexa considers the adage to be so much bunk. Nevertheless, she recognizes isolated El Nido as an ideal sanctuary from US bounty hunters and takes up temporary residence there.

Soon, Lexa meets several other societal rejects: a street-urchin named Pablito, a teenaged hooker called Mercedes, and Roberto the Marijuana farmer. Her own sense of seperation from society enables her to empathize with their needs and she helps them as she is able. As the four misfits rely upon one another for friendship and support, they begin to function as a rudimentary family.

Lexa learns of a cliffside bay north of down, where an huge shark is reputed to dwell. Upon seeing the distained beast, she empathizes with it, nicknames it “MC Hammerhead” and begins feeding it with cast-offs from her daily fishing trips.

Lexa’s newfound habit of helping others engenders a positive evolution in her character. Though helping the downcast, she strengthens her human connections and discovers a newfound sense of belonging. In response to this change in behavior, Doña Angela begins calling her Colibrí, or Hummingbird, a reference to the proverb about generous souls. The new nickname catches on around town and aids Lexa in forming a more constructive self-image, which in turn inspires her to even greater personal transformation.

About this time, California bounty hunter Jeff Winn stumbles across Lexa’s case file. His partner and unrequited lover Jen Jones objects to their taking the case, since Mexico forbids US bail bondsmen to ply their trade within its borders. Irrespective of her objections, Jeff heads southward to Puerto Vallarta, where he undertakes relentless pursuit of his quarry. What he doesn’t tell Jen is that he has an old score to settle with Lexa Morales; that for him, this case is personal.

Jeff is forced to leave Puerto Vallarta in response to a hurricane evacuation. He departs during the onset of the storm in a hastily booked, low-budget charter plane, which crashes, leaving him wounded and struggling in rugged seas. Upon rescue and return to California, he has the opportunity to interrogate Justin, the ex-boyfriend who made off with the cash and is now incarcerated. As part of a plea bargain, Justin begins emailing Lexa in an attempt to uncover her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Jeff becomes romantically involved with his bounty hunter partner, Jen Jones.

Lexa learns that her friend Mercedes has had a near-death experience eerily similar to her own. Mercedes explains that the apparition Lexa believes she’s encountered is the stuff of local legend called the Chupacabra. The unusual similarities between the two girls’ experiences drive them to to seek answers from a the pastor of a small church, where they find mercy and pardon for their sins. Afterward, as an expression of penitence, Lexa contacts the California storeowner she robbed, a Mr. Fong, and sends money to help compensate for his losses.

Meanwhile, Lexa’s grungy fishing job is driving her nuts. She wracks her brain for a way to survive without it and conceives the idea for a new business called Hummingbird Tours. The plan, as she describes it to Doña Angela, involves driving busloads of tourists from Puerto Vallarta to El Nido for an evening of dining at Angela’s café among the exotic hummingbirds.

Doña Angela likes the idea and invests in a used school bus, which Lexa uses to make twice-daily runs ferrying tourists to and from the café. The restaurant’s profits increase, giving Lexa yet another idea.

Again, Doña Angela is intrigued by her scheme, and drives Lexa to Guadalajara to meet a doctor with sufficient funds to invest in her idea of a rustic little motel. Lexa swoons upon meeting dreamy Doctor Solís, who chooses to buy in to her enterprise.

Jeff hatred for Lexa drives his blood pressure through the roof, causing an aneurysm he acquired during his plane crash to rupture and kill him. Jen, overwhelmed by grief, blames Lexa for Jeff’s death and vows to take revenge. Fueled by rage, she hatches a plot to murder Lexa in Mexico and then escape back to the US, where she can’t be prosecuted for the crime.

Jen ventures to Puerto Vallarta, where a spirit calling himself the Chupacabra haunts her dreams. She disregards her visions as mere imagination and continues to pursue Lexa, ultimately locating her in her little rented beachside shack. Jen forces Lexa at gunpoint to the cliff north of town, where she attempts to shove her off the edge. Lexa manages to slip out of Jen’s way, causing Jen to lose balance and plummet over the precipice. Jen winds up wounded in the sea below, where MC lays waiting to consume the easy prey. As the monstrous hammerhead drags Jen beneath the waves, she again encounters the Chupacabra, who is in reality a demon that drags her screaming into Hell.

Afterward, Lexa learns that Dr. Solis has inquired about Lexa’s dating status. And yet there’s even better news: Lexa learns in an email from Justin that Mr. Fong has refused to co-operate with the State of California in prosecuting her case. Evidently, her feeble attempts at restitution have moved him profoundly. As a result, the State of California has been forced to drop all charges against Lexa Morales.

A bit of a chapter to whet your appetite:

“You’re free to come on home,” Justin writes.

She glances out the window, taking in the town and people with whom she’s become so deeply connected through her new giving lifestyle, and the once lonely Lexa replies, “Justin, I’m already home.”

Check out David's books. And don't forget to leave your comment and your email address. 

Blessings!
　

An Interview with Past Missionary, Song Writer . . .

                  David Stearman

I'm so thrilled to have talented David with us today. You'll enjoy hearing all about him . . . Read on:
How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?

Hi, Carole—so great to get to share with you today!

I’ve always loved writing, having been a professional songwriter since I was eighteen.

And yet I never really considered writing novels until a few years back when I picked up a book about the orchid collecting business.

The first chapter included a tale wherein a collector falls from a two-hundred-fifty foot jungle tree. I’d spent years in missionary work, so it was easy for me to envision myself telling that selfsame story. After reading that first chapter, I recall thinking “I could write something like this! So why don’t I?”

The next day, I began penning chapters about my personal experiences on the mission field. And yet about halfway through the work, it occurred to me that inventing such stories would be much more fun than just retelling them. And so I became a novelist.

What an unusual experience, David! Loved reading about it. Tell us what is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?

Most of my work falls within the Action/Adventure category, with the exception on my most recent effort, entitled Hot, which is a romantic novel about the music business. My adventure stories often feature exotic overseas destinations, usually places where I’ve worked personally as a missionary. Hot, on the other hand, explores another, equally alien world, that of the popular music industry.

How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?

I try to write an hour or more per day, but due to my involvements in both missions and music, I usually fail to pull that off. That’s why it takes me about a year to span the distance between story inception and the final edit. But I am trying to get faster :-)

Ooooh! I can relate to that. Tell us about your new book. What is the spiritual message in it? What can readers expect to get from reading it? How and where can readers buy your book?

The book I’d like to draw attention to here is currently being shopped to publishers via my wonderful agent Diana Flegal of Hartline Literary. I do a lot of work in Mexico, so this one is particularly dear to me.

Set against the backdrop of the illegal immigration crisis, Hummingbird is the story of Lexa Morales, a misfit. Abandoned as a child, Lexa is Mexican by ethnicity and American at heart, but feels more like the dash between the words that compose the term Mexican-American than anything else. In her struggle to arise from the ghetto of her youth, Lexa commits a crime and flees south of the Border to escape prosecution. While hiding from bounty hunters in a small fishing village, Lexa finds redemption, discovers her true identity, and becomes part of a forever family and a Kingdom without borders.

The story’s theme elaborates on the concept popular culture refers to as Karma and the Bible calls The Law of Sowing and Reaping--that those who sow good deeds will reap a good harvest and those who sow evil will reap an evil one.

Hummingbird illustrates this principle by portraying Lexa as a selfish person who learns to sow good seeds of generosity, kindness, and mercy, and ultimately reaps a harvest of these same things in her own life. In contrast, her antagonists sow hatred, destruction, and death, and end up reaping in kind.

Sounds fantastic. I'm fascinated with Mexico, too. Do you ever feel like giving up? Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer. How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through? Who’s inspired you the most?

My experience in the music business, another horrendously over-competitive field, has hardened me somewhat to the challenges faced by an aspiring novelist. Be that as it may, this is a tough business for everyone; the thin-skinned need not apply. Even the most celebrated writers have received their fair share of rejection letters. I have a publisher friend who ashamedly recalls rejecting Ted Dekker’s proposals.

Nevertheless, and contrary to most beginning authors’ beliefs, we are not automatically born skilled wordsmiths. Writing is a craft; something we must learn, and learning involves a willingness to receive correction. That was a hard one for me, since having been a successful songwriter; I assumed that I already knew all I needed to know abut working with words. Wow, was I wrong about that! So I humbled myself and asked for help from others, and then at last began to learn. (I’m still learning!) And yet once I did receive a certain level of facility with the craft, I also had to learn that there is some advice that’s not worth listening to at all. I recall a song lyric that goes: you’ve got to know who to, and who not to, listen to. So nowadays I try to listen to people who actually know what they’re talking about; i.e, well-published authors and experienced agents, and take advice from all others with a grain of salt.

Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes? Hobbies, interests? Where would you like to travel if you could?

I have an abundance of interests: Music and travel, obviously, (French Polynesia sounds nice!), but I also breed parrots, keep aquariums, grow orchids, enjoy photography, deer-hunting, snorkeling, fishing, and movies, not to mention geeking around with the computer.

Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?

You can learn a lot about what I do at my website, http://www.davidstearmanministries.org/

Promo? Please buy lots of copies of Hummingbird when it comes out!!!



Can't wait, David. Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you and your publisher sell many, many copies!

Blessings!

Imagination Gone Wild . . .


Snicker.

Don't you just love the names of some books? Here's a few that capture my attention . . .

• "All the Tea in China" a missionary book by Jane Orcutt
• "Reclaiming Nick" by Susan May Warren
  
• "Bayou Justice" "Bayou Corruption" "Bayou Judgment" and "Bayou Paradox" by Robin Carroll. (Anything to do with Louisiana captures my interest!)


• "Along Came Love" by Carrie Turinsky
  
• "The Root of All Evil" and "The Lost Sheep" by Brandt Dodson (love this guy's writing & by the way, I sat under one of his classes at the ACFW conference. Talked with him, too. He is a cool guy.)
  
• "The Winter Pearl" by Molly Noble Bull (look for her interview soon!)


• "Petticoat Ranch" by Mary Conneally
• "In the Midst of Deceit" by Deborah Piccurelli
• "The Guy I'm Not Dating" by Trish Perry


• "Chocolate Beach" by Julie Carobini
• "A Pirate's Prize" by Lena Nelson Dooley (gave me a great critique!)
  
• "Sushi for One" by Camy Tang

I also like story titles like these:

The Cat Who Went Bananas (Lillian Jackson Braun)
The Shadow of Suspicion (Emily Loring)
and lots of Martha Grimes books: "The Old Contemptibles," "The Man with a Load of Mischief," and "A Dinner to Die For."

Then I have a couple of friends who are writing stories. Here's some of their titles:

Jazz Baby (Christy)
Alabama Rain (Lin)
Chasing the Wind (Jam)

Don't those just make you want to dig into those novels?

I'm not much on one-word titles, although that's all the fad right now. Of course, that won't stop me reading, if the book is good.

This is just a scratch on the surface of interesting novel titles. There are so many, who can name them? I guess that goes to show what imaginations we humans have . . . or maybe I should say, we writers have.

What catches your attention?

I love hummingbirds! Here's a few hints to keep them coming!
Pour 4 cups of hot tap water into a large pot or pan (don't use aluminum).

Add one cup of table sugar (No honey or artificial sweeteners)

Stir until sugar has dissolved.

Cover the pan, bring the mix to a rolling boil for 1-2 minutes. don't let the water evaporate.

Cool and pour into well-cleaned feeders.

Notes:

• boiling is not necessary if birds are draining the feeders within 3 days
• red food coloring is not necessary once birds have found the feeders.
• feed extra mix until needed
• the usual water/sugar ratio is 4:1. When weather is hot, cut back on the sugar.

Quote:
A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air. -- Eric Sloane


Blessings