Live Chat w/ Heidi Wright on The Awakened“
Heidi has been a champion of The Awakened since long before its release. We’re so excited to have her joining us to share why she loves it! Please join us! Bring chips, a cup of coffee, questions, and most importantly, your company. 🙂 We’d be thrilled to have you!
What are others saying about The Awakened?
“The Awakened is probably one of the best Christian fiction novels I’ve ever read. I’m typically more critical of Christian fiction because, as a Believer myself, I really want the faith genre to be represented as wonderfully and professionally as possible. When it comes to Indie authors and self-published authors, I sometimes feel like they rush into publishing without giving their stories time to grow and develop from a decent book to a page-turning masterpiece.
I don’t know if Spillman threw this together in one night of God-breathed creativity or if he spent years of careful planning—either way, this book is clearly written with the heart and fervor of a most patient and passionate Christian writer. Mr. Spillman, I appreciate your contribution to the Christian literary realm.”
– Valicity Garris (Read Full Review)
Before I start with this review, I just want to start with the disclaimer that I will not be reviewing the religious aspect of this book (i.e. accuracy of portrayal, use, facts, etc). I don’t believe that I have the knowledge or understanding to critique or comment on these parts of the book, and will be reviewing it like I would any other book. The only thing I will note in relation to this is that I hope that my review serves to show that this book can be enjoyed by someone who holds different beliefs or does not possess a deep knowledge regarding religion, and encourage others in the same situation to pick it up as well.
Okay, disclaimer over.
I am going to be 100% honest here. I was not sure that I was going to like this book. I loved the premise (big heck yeah to secret organizations!), but this idea has been used in so many different books (I read too much) that I was expecting a re-hash of the same plot that I had read a gazillion times. This was definitely not the case. For some reason this book reminded me of a James Bond movie, despite the fact that… it really wasn’t like a James Bond movie. Also, I liked it, whereas I hate James Bond. But this book did have the suspense, intrigue, and plot twists that I would associate with a James Bond movie. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another twist was thrown in there that made me realize that I was horribly and utterly wrong. Which was kind of depressing, but at the same time I really enjoyed it. As I read more and more I find it harder and harder to be surprised by “plot twists,” but this book did a really good job of making me feel like I shouldn’t have passed kindergarten.”
– Empire State Bookshelf (Read Full Review)
From Richard Spillman:
Richard Spillman
Dear Readers,
The Awakened is my first novel and it is safe to say that every step of the way has been a learning experience (that’s a safe way of saying that during every step of the process I had no idea what I was doing). Some days it was a struggle to face another blank page. I would stop and ask myself, “What ever possessed me to start writing a novel?” Other days wild horses couldn’t pull me away from the computer. Yet, regardless of the nature of the day, one fear, one question, one very large doubt was always there: Will anyone read this and enjoy it?
Well, now the writing is finished, the editing is over (whew!) and even the publishing is done but the question that haunted me all through this process remains…kind of…because as I write this I can already sense that question beginning to fade away. I am now confident that sometime soon, it will not only have faded away but that it will take its place on top of my little garbage heap of baseless fears.
Now to my point. The reason it is fading away (and quite quickly I might add) is you. Not only have you picked up the book and read it, you have posted comments that I would never, even in my wildest imagination, have expected. You have encouraged me, blessed me, and humbled me (that’s a good thing), and while I have many times thanked God for you I have been remiss in not directly thanking you. So here it goes: Thank you for all you’ve done to make this more than a book on a shelf somewhere and in the process making me a bona fide author.
Rick
Watch for book 2, The Ascension, releasing September 2019!
