Chaplain and author Marie McGaha is chatting with me about her new devotional, Shine His Light 3: Instructions in Life.
During her virtual book tour, Marie will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Chaplain, author, editor, and inspirational speaker, Marie McGaha, lives in the beautiful Ozarks of southeast Oklahoma. After losing the love of her life, Nathan, Marie returned from the mountains of Idaho to their native home where she lives with a houseful of yapping furbies, pigs, chickens, and a horse named Horse!
Welcome, Marie. Please tell us about your current release.
Instructions in Life is the third book in the Shine His Light series. Life is the journey we take on our way to Heaven. It’s not easy, it’s not pretty, and sometimes, it’s downright difficult. However, we have an Advocate unlike any other, Jesus Christ. In Shine His Light, the author uses scriptures and her own life lessons to help others get through the bumpy spots.
What inspired you to write this book?
I wrote devotionals on my blog and after about a hundred of them, my friend, Carolyn Clark, asked why they weren’t in a book. After thinking about it for a bit, I agreed, why weren’t they in a book? So the first book, Shine His Light Lessons in Life was published in 2017.
Excerpt from Instructions in Life:
All of us feel like outcasts sometimes, and we have all done things we are ashamed of, but the thing with God is, He has seen every evil thing we’ve done, and He still loves us. God is the only One we never have to prove anything to. We don’t have to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, wear make-up, or do anything to try and impress Him the way we’ve had to do with people in our lives. God knows the innermost secrets, the hidden things we wouldn’t dare tell a living soul because we know they would kick us to the curb if they knew the real us.
But long before we come to the point of confessing our sins to God and accepting Christ as our Savior, He already knew our innermost secrets and the darkest thoughts we have had. Yet, He doesn’t care. He loves us anyway, with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), and the wideness of God’s love is immeasurable, incomprehensible, unbelievable, and all-encompassing. His compassion for us is beyond measure and His love is truly a “reckless, raging, fury” because there are no lengths He will not go to, no depths He will not sink to, and no sin He will not forgive in order to have us by His side.
What exciting project are you working on next?
Book 4 in this series is due out Spring 2023, and in the summer, I have a very special book coming out that I hope everyone will be anxious to see!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always considered myself a writer. I have written stories and plays since I learned to write, and in the 8th grade, I wrote my first full-length book about a teacher from Boston who comes to the wild, Wild West and falls in love with the town marshal. When I first began trying to get published, it was in the days before laptops and online publishing. I had to print out every page, box it up and mail to the publisher, and then wait months and months for the rejection letter. But those days were great education for the publishing market today. Online publishing and promotion is much easier!
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t consider it fulltime writing because I don’t write every day, but it is fulltime work. By the time a book is written, edited, rewritten, edited again, published, released, and promoted, years can be put into the work itself. But other than writing, I have a small farm with pigs, chickens, dogs and a horse named Horse to care for, plus a garden. So I am working fulltime at something!
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I love research and sometimes get so lost in it, I forget I’m supposed to be writing!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an English teacher and a writer.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this interview and I hope you enjoy the book!
Links:
Website | DWB Publishing | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds great.
I enjoyed the excerpt the book sounds really good.
I really like the book cover!!
Great interview!! I really enjoyed reading it!!