CHRISTIAN FICTION - Trapped in a world of prostitution and drugs, can a teenage runaway's life get worse? It can. Now she's pregnant and witness to a murder. Three years after her father's death in the Gulf War and shortly after her mother remarries, the beautiful and talented Rachel Stewart steals money out of her step-father's wallet and buys a bus ticket to the station nearest Broadway, intending to become a star singing and acting. Angry and rebellious, but also naïve and foolish, Rachel trusts the wrong man and vanishes into a world of prostitution and drugs. Five months later, sixteen, pregnant and witness to the murder of another young girl trapped in the same captivity, Rachel escapes before an abortion can be forced upon her. "I messed up big time, didn't I? I did a really dumb thing," Rachel admits to her grandfather. "I've done my share of really dumb things, too," her grandfather, a builder of wooden boats, confides. "Your life was in turmoil, a great storm, and you ran before the wind. In sailing, that can be dangerous; you can easily get off course and lose your way. But now you've made a turn to windward; you're back on course." Rachel is back on course, but she is on a collision course with the psychopath paid to prevent her from testifying.
About the Author: As a native Texan, I grew up at the edge of a small town and roamed the woods with a freedom that might be impossible today. Even now, I feel more at home and infinitely safer in wild places than I do in cities. I don't suppose a kid could grow up in Texas without dreaming of being a cowboy, and I lived that dream briefly on a Nebraska ranch. I also dreamed of being World Champion in a Formula One racing car; I won my first road race as an amateur on England's Snetterton Circuit and my second as a professional through the streets of Austin, Texas, during the River City Road Races run as a part of the annual Aqua Festival. That dream ended for lack of funds, probably because I failed to listen to good advice. So I 'settled down' and married. My wife, Alyssa, and I have three grown children, a son and two daughters, and four grandsons. We love to hike and camp; a few years ago we bought a tandem kayak. And I dream of building a small wooden cruising sailboat. I began to write in high school and worked professionally as a photographer and newspaper writer for a brief period after I returned from military service in the U.S. Air Force. My first experience with book publishing was as editor of the Jacksonville College yearbook; later, I sold a magazine article about a neighbor and the hunting rifle he helped me customize for greater accuracy. Now we live in eastern Washington, and I 'lie for a living' by writing the kinds of fictional stories I like to read.