Hello there!

Today is a quick #QuestOfFireFriday. I’ve been busy working on the last Quest of Fire book (though of course never so busy or undistracted as I need to be) and kind of low key. But I had some good news recently and I thought it would be a good idea to quickly drop in and let everyone know that Quest of Fire: Resurgence of Dawn won 3rd place in the Angel Awards and Quest of Fire: Succession was a finalist for 2020 Book of the Year with its publisher Scrivenings Press/Expanse Books! I don’t tend to talk a lot about awards or how my books do in contests, but especially with these two books it seemed worth taking a moment just say, “Soli Deo gloria.”

Quest of Fire: Succession was the first book I had published by Expanse Books after Scrivenings Press bought Mantle Rock Publishing (Quest of Fire’s original publisher). I was only one book into a seven-book series and Succession was already finished, but I was super nervous about how it and the series as a whole would be received. I prayed about it, a lot, especially as the publisher chose to be the editor for that particular book. I felt like a lot was hanging on its success and I was worried that if it wasn’t well received Expanse Books might change the decision to continue with the seven-book contract Mantle Rock had for Quest of Fire. But the publisher really liked Succession and has been incredibly supportive of the Quest of Fire series as a whole.

Which I desperately needed because as I’ve written about before (see this previous post), writing Resurgence of Dawn required more of me and from me than I could do on my own. That book five in the series won an award (it’s increasingly rare the further you get into a series to see a book win) is just another reminder that when I needed the Lord’s strength, His words and wisdom—imperfectly as I ever am able to transcribe them—He blessed me with it. “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 isn’t about how a believer is now a super soldier, but a soldier of the cross standing in its shadow and witnessing how His “power is made perfect in weakness.” * My weakness in this case. It’s impossible to convey how it feels to have very much come to the metaphorical edge of the Red Sea and then see it parted, cross over, and then look back. I can imagine the Israelites wonder must have only doubled having seen the waters close behind them, safe on the other shore. There’s a reason why Scripture is filled with recalling that moment. Once you’ve lived through something that undeniably resonates with the Lord’s hand upon it and upon you, it will never ever leave you. Which seems obvious in saying that, because He has said, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” **

So, I had to stop today for a beat and just share about these two honors, because ultimately all the honor belongs to God and these rightly belong laid at His feet. Thank you for stopping by to read this and I hope it’s evoked memories of times when you’ve seen the Lord working in your own life. In all things and ever more, may the Lord bless and be with you.

* 2 Corinthians 12:9

** Hebrews 13:5