by Lynette Eason
Detective James Cross has been honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Division due to wounds sustained when an IED blew up near him. Now with the Lake City Police Department, he's rooming with his good buddy and partner, Cole, while he figures out his family dynamics.
Physician Assistant Lainie Jackson is eighteen months out from an attempted murder perpetrated by her ex, which ended when she managed to grab the weapon and shoot him. When he appears to have survived and is back to finish the job he started, Lainie insists it's not possible. But someone keeps trying to kill her, and she keeps seeing his face.
Lainie and James must work together to find out who, exactly, is after her and why he wants her dead. And failure is not an option.
I grew up reading. My mother and grandmother were my biggest book influencers. For as long as I can remember, they always had a book in hand or on a table next to “their” chair. My mother was mostly a stay-at-home mom, and she and my brother and I spent many hours in the local library. Especially summers! We would check out as many books as we could possibly carry and spend our days reading. I found a love for all things suspense (shocking, I know!) and gobbled up Alfred Hitchcock, Nancy Drew, Perry Mason, The Hardy Boys and everything else. As I got older, I found myself drawn to the Romantic Suspense genre so I guess it was only natural that I would write in that genre.
This story—Double Take—was one I came up with ages ago and never wrote. When it was time to send in another proposal for a series idea, I pulled this one out, made some tweaks and it became book 1 in the Lake City Heroes series. The interesting thing was I didn’t start out to do another stalker story. I’ve written a few of them. As you may remember in Countdown (book 4 in the Extreme Measures series), Raina Price was on the run from an abusive former boyfriend/stalker. Well, I was about halfway through Double Take when I realized the similarities. Then I laughed. Why? Because the story might have that one thing in common with the previous one, but it was such a completely different story in its own right that I only panicked for a brief second before jumping back in to finish it up. So, all that to say, if you’re an author, don’t be worried about someone stealing your idea, no one will write it the same way you do. And even you’ll write the same idea different!
Writing this book gave me an appreciation for my healthy marriage and a man who loves Jesus. So many people are in abusive relationships and it breaks my heart. I guess writing about that really hit home how blessed are those of us who don’t have to deal with or experience that.
Since this story is about loving others and treating them right, I think I’d probably choose the verse John 13:34 that says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” That’s pretty straightforward. We’re to love one another as Christ loved us. We can only do that when our relationship is right with Him, so loving Him first allows us to love one another. I love that picture.
About the Author
Lynette Eason is the USA Today bestselling author of the Extreme Measures, Danger Never Sleeps, Blue Justice, Women of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Hidden Identity and Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, among others. Eason lives in South Carolina with her husband. They have two adult children. You can reach her at www.lynetteeason.com.
About the Book
After shooting her ex-fiancé in self-defense, Lainie Jackson assumes he is dead. But someone is trying to finish what he started, and she keeps seeing his face. With the help of former Army Ranger James Cross, it’s time to find out if the past has come back to haunt her.
Did You Know?
The two most common reasons publishers and agents reject novel manuscripts are: unprofessional presentation and bad writing. While it’s true that a large platform and previously published books can sway a publisher’s opinion in your favor, the best thing a writer can do to improve their chances of getting published is to submit a professional looking book proposal with a well-written manuscript. Here are three ways to help with that:
Follow submission guidelines. There are industry standards for formatting a manuscript, but each publisher and agent has their own requirements, usually on their website. Giving them exactly what they request makes your submission stand out in a good way.
Know your audience. The general and Christian publishing markets require and reject certain things. Additionally, each genre has its own requirements. Correctly identifying your market and genre will help you identify the agents and publishers looking for your type of book (which will save you time by not submitting to the wrong people).
Ask for specific feedback. Having other people read and comment on your story before you submit can help identify and strengthen your story’s weak spot. Asking for specific feedback and avoiding questions with yes-or-no answers will show you exactly where to revise and how to do it.
It doesn’t matter how many people follow you on Instagram if agents and publishers won’t read your manuscript. By polishing your presentation and prose, you’ll increase your manuscript’s chance of getting read (and published).
-Karin Beery, How to Edit Your Novel
Why I LOVE My Local Christian Bookstore
“I love taking my family to a bookstore because it’s one of the few places left that all ages connect in the same space. Such fun conversations with kids and grandkids about what they found. What better way to discover their interests than when they’re literally showing you with examples!”
-Angela Breidenbach, Heart of the Rockies
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