In her own words Linda says she “drinks coffee, I write, and I know things about people (and pigeons).”
After writing her first short story at the age of 10, Linda decided to share a deeply inspirational book with the help of selfpublishing.com.
Book Title: Wolves Among Us: Biblical Principles To Identify And Expose Spiritual Predators
Genre: Non-fiction, Christian Counseling
Who is this book for?
Social and religious conservative (male or female) between ages 30 to 60, probably married, involved in church and community building efforts.
What inspired you to write a book about identifying spiritual predators?
I grew up in a small congregation planted by a historically powerful (but small) Christian denomination, hidden inside a multi-million person megatropolis (Phoenix, AZ). Every third visitor would ask, “How long have you been here?” The bold ones asked why we were so small. It had survived multiple takeover attempts in a highly transitory population.
After a few years of attempted revitalization, I started wondering if survival was truly a mark of success. And when a third takeover attempt would be made. The wolves just kept coming.
Based on the takeover attempts and some amateur profiling, I wrote the rough draft in 2019.
What will people learn from reading Wolves Among Us?
The main learning from the book is to identify spiritual predators, but specifically –
(1) Identify a predator’s character and habits.
(2) Gain conviction after assessing a past defeat.
(3) Learn to trust their instincts on red flag issues.
Tell us about your own journey as a Christian author – what was that like?
After an attempt at an outline, I wrote down a lot of disconnected thoughts and pondered my way through rabbit trails of questions.
I tried the ‘volume of words’ approach with NaMoWriMo but it didn’t work for this material because I kept having to stop and do research, and realize what I didn’t know.
Every time I watched a documentary or read a new book, I’d write down some tidbit about predators and churches.
Then I had several sessions with a SelfPublishing.com coach named Gary, who seemed genuinely interested in the subject.
Did you experience any challenges while writing?
Surviving a needlessly wretched situation does not make you feel automatically empowered to do anything. It either makes you want to cry, curl in a ball, or hit someone.
To see this through the lens of expertise, you have to collaborate with other survivors who are determined to grow from the experience.
You also have to overcome the mental blocks of inadequacy of scope (my trauma isn’t big enough to make a good story), comparison experience (other people have better/more courageous stories than mine) and confidence (can I defend my position with truth when it’s attacked).
What are your plans for the future?
I’m planning a posthumous publication of the second book, mostly written by my dad (deceased in 2015).
Then a series of interviews with other survivors.
After that – maybe consulting with churches on risk reduction and policy creation.
The fourth book will be short story small-town fiction (mostly written).
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