A Deep Dive into Redemption of Green Pines

As we stand on the threshold of an optimistic 2024, I've found that gratitude isn't just a word—it's a lifeline. Our latest podcast episode takes you on a journey through our personal battles, as our family grappled with challenges from our dog's mishap to a broken furnace, and how a thankful heart has been our compass. We'll also chat about the playful intricacies of leap year birthdays in my Redemption of Green Pines series, where these rare dates weave their magic into the lives of my characters, with a special nod to my daughter's creative influence on their development.

Navigating through the pages of the sixth book in my series, we uncover the deepening spiritual battles and emotional healing of our protagonist, Sean. Alongside characters like Officer Dave and Ariana, Sean's struggles with PTSD become a lens for us to explore the authenticity of faith in the face of trauma. Join us as I open up about overcoming writer's burnout and the inventive strategies that breathe life into these narratives, culminating in the richly deserved triumphs our characters earn.

Stepping into the more personal realms, I'll share how the transformation of my characters mirrors the evolution within my own family, creating a legacy that infuses my stories with love and familiarity. Our discussion meanders through the serendipitous path that led me to Young Adult fiction, the providential inspiration behind it, and the growth of a standalone idea into a universe teeming with interconnected tales. As we mark the fourth anniversary of our podcast, we extend an invitation to you, our cherished listeners, to join our community and connect with us for prayer and encouragement.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:19

Hi and welcome to the True Up podcast. I am your host, kara R Hunt, and with me is the wonderful Sherry Swalwell. How are you doing today, sherry?

Speaker 2: 0:29

I am doing great we actually have a little bit of sun peeking through the clouds on this beautiful, chilly January day. I have my hot coffee. I have the fireplace behind me keeping me warm Light is good.

Speaker 1: 0:47

How are you Bless to be alive, btba, as you love to say? Absolutely, I am excited. So is what, oh my goodness, can you believe? 2024 is almost, excuse me, january 2024 is almost over. I can't.

Speaker 2: 1:12

I truly can't. It has gone by so fast and but yet, like I told you a couple weeks ago, I'm just like really excited, like I don't know. I don't know if it's because God gave me the word thankful, but I was talking to a friend. Well, I was talking to a friend last year about this time, maybe February, maybe March, maybe just a little bit after, but right around the year ago, and the ending of November 22 was rough for our family In the beginning of 2023 was rough too. But I remember seeing, or remember thinking, as the calendar flipped over, I'm like, okay, god, but we've had a really rough fall season in 2023. 2023 has got to be better, like it just has to. And so I remember, in January, our dog got hurt. He tore his ACL. Our furnace went out, didn't even notice, it was just so really cold in the house and I'm like man may it like drop down a little bit.

Speaker 1: 2:17

And then I went up there and I noticed that it wasn't running at all.

Speaker 2: 2:20

So the house is like 60. And something else happened in January and I remember telling my friend I'm like you know, like God must have given me a different mindset, because I am still believing that 2023 is going to be a good year and so everything that is happening in 2023, I just have this mindset that you know, okay, our dog getting hurt is terrible, but he doesn't have to have surgery. It wasn't like $500 at the vet, he'll be okay. Our furnace my husband does that for a living. He was able to fix it. He had the part we were back up and running that night, no worries, like our pipes didn't burst, nothing.

Speaker 2: 3:05

And then whatever the other thing was which I don't even remember now, which is a good thing, because that means that, whatever it was, I wasn't worried about it. God didn't care about you. So I remember telling my friend I'm like you know, in all honesty, if I want to be completely blunt, 2023 is not starting out that great, but yet I'm not seeing it as a horrible, terrible, no, good, very bad year. I'm seeing it as, yeah, these things are happening, but God's taking care of it. God's taking care of it.

Speaker 2: 3:34

So I guess I'm kind of in that same mode right now in 2024. Like, I am just thankful, I'm just excited, I'm just God's got something planned. He's had us, our family, in a transition season for many years. Didn't know what he was transitioning us to, and I'm just excited to see what God's doing in our lives. So, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at.

Speaker 1: 4:01

I know right, and it's not only is it a year to be thankful which, by the way, we should be thankful every year, you know, just as Christians just take on a mentality of thankfulness, it will change your life, am I right, sherry? As she was just speaking, it will absolutely just change your life. But we're also in a leap year, you know, and which, like I said, I've always just found fascinating. You know, by itself, exactly how all of that works. I don't know the history of it, though, you know what, and I feel bad as a homeschool mom. My boys are men now, but as a homeschool mom, I don't even think I delved into that the history of leap year, why it happens, when it started, or you know, or anything like that. So I kind of feel like a bad mom right now.

Speaker 1: 5:05

I know they don't care at this point in their lives, but and I'm not sure how much it would have added to their academia, you know but it would have been a fun thing to just kind of talk about and tackle. But I mentioned leap year because in one of your books and for those of you who have been joining us for January, this month we have been covering some of our books in our series, and last week we talked about my series, the Habakkuk series, and this week we're going to talk about Sherry's series, the redemption of the redemption of green pine series. And one of the reasons I brought up leap year is because one of the characters in her series has a birthday on leap year, and how she was only allowed her parents only allowed her to celebrate it like every four years. So tell us more about your series, sherry.

Speaker 2: 5:59

So it's actually kind of funny because when I first started writing fiction my kids were a lot younger, but I've always considered the ministry that God has given us that it's a family ministry, not just a mean ministry, and so my kids have helped me name the characters. My kids have helped me with birthdays. So this four month careers group Addy Wynn, owen and Zane. I remember having a conversation with our daughter and oh, she was probably late middle school, early high school at this point and she helped me. Like I kind of described the characters and their personalities and so she helped me to like Owen, he is so fun, loving and just this amiable, just go with the flow, but yet, like, when the going gets tough, he's there and he has four siblings. I believe he comes from a large family and so him, for instance, his birthday is May 4th. May the 4th, be with you.

Speaker 2: 7:06

So it's kind of going along with his personality, like it's just, it's one of those things. And so Wynn, who is treated as the slave or the servant in her house, the one who's forgotten, the one who's mistreated, the one who's just not respected at all, her birthday happens to fall on leap year, and it was our daughter who pointed out to me she's like mom. She only gets to celebrate her birthday on her birthday once every four years. And the road to freedom look forward starts out. It's Wynn's book and it starts out that her friends so her friends noticed that she never got a high school graduation party. Her parents wouldn't do anything for her, she didn't get any money, she didn't get any acknowledgement, any recognition for graduating from high school. She got nothing for no type of celebration for graduating from community college. Her parents just really treated her as the outcast and the misfit of her family. And so her friends noticed this throughout the years and she always was like, oh, it's not a big deal, you know. Oh, I don't care, but everybody cares, like everybody wants to be special at some point. And so book four opened with a surprise birthday party for Wynn, thrown by Holly and Jayce, and her three friends and her parents were invited and they wouldn't even show up. So it was just really highlighted and pinpointed the, the loneliness and the way that when expected to be treated, and then how she learned her identity in Christ and how much God loves her and how she's a daughter of the King and how that changes everybody's perspective, owen.

Speaker 2: 9:05

So book six is Redemption Full Circle and this is where God wanted me to kind of tie up all the loose ends. It starts out with an action path scene and if you read book five, past the grace, the first chapter of book six is in book five and I have had so many people Unfortunately, as a published author with four different jobs it's taken me a while to write book six At the time of our recording. Hopefully book six is out it should be, but, barring any unforeseen things, it might not quite be. But check my website or subscribe to my email list and then you will get up to date announcements of when it does come out. But so, as of right now, hopefully book six is out. I've had a few glitches, but it should be published very shortly if it isn't already approved and for sale right now. But book six starts out with or I should say without giving anything away.

Speaker 2: 10:27

The characters throughout the whole series have really continued and grown from where they were. And there's a lot more of a spiritual warfare element in book six because everything comes to a head. The evil gets eviler, the good gets gooder. I know those are not real words, but you can't really enjoy and you can't really appreciate redemption and restoration and grace and unconditional love by your Heavenly Father unless you have gone through the valleys. And so the first five books talk about the different valleys that have been gone through, and book six I wasn't sure when I was writing it who to focus the book on.

Speaker 2: 11:24

And God just kind of revealed to me in book one your interviews to Sean, holly's brother. And Sean keeps everything together. He keeps the families together. He helps Holly go through the worst time of her life. He also is grieving and trying to deal with the trauma because it affected both him and his sister. So he kind of ignores it, like he does certain things to try to help relieve the stress. But as you and I both know, in real life, when you ignore stress or when you don't deal with the underlying symptoms and the underlying issues, it will come out one way or another.

Speaker 2: 12:08

Well, there's a certain factor that happens at the beginning of book six and it blows Sean's world apart. He has flashbacks and he has memories and he is finally forced to deal with the tragedy from years ago, decades earlier, and he then has to deal with the tragedy that happened in present day. So he ends up having PTSD and dealing with that, and so that's like the main storyline of book six. But in the same token, I knew that there were so many different layers and so many different stories that needed to be wrapped up, and I myself, as a reader, want to know what happened to this people and these people and these people. And so it's actually being told in four different points of view. So the main point of view is Sean. Then we also have Officer Dave. We've never had his point of view before. We've never had Sean's point of view before either, because book one was told in Holly's point of view.

Speaker 2: 13:10

Wait let me think Maybe we did have Sean, so we might have heard briefly from Sean, but we've never heard. From Officer Dave's point of view, then we have Ariana's point of view and then we have Holly's point of view. So those are the four main people that we hear from in order to get the full picture. And, like I said, there's a much stronger element of spirit to warfare in this book and I think that it happened naturally and organically, because that's what happens in real life. Like in real life, you start out as a baby believer. You start out as someone who needs to learn how to trust God. You start out needing to learn how to pray, needing to develop your relationship with God, and the more that you grow closer to him, the more that you trust him, the more that you see God working in your life, the deeper your relationship with him grows and the more the enemy comes up against you and the more battles you need to face. And so that's kind of book six in a nutshell, where it ties up most of the loose ends. There's still some question marks.

Speaker 2: 14:22

Logan, holly and Jason's well, holly's stepson, jason's son, who is a third grader at this point. He plays a big part, a big role in this book and yeah, it's just really exciting and kind of a side note, kind of like a insider scoop last summer I feel like a broken record, but I've talked on this podcast many a time about how I just really was dealing with burnout last summer and so I couldn't write because there was nothing in me to write. And the whole first part of the book, like the whole big and exciting factor that the book starts out with God, gave me throughout the summer to the point that there is something that happened involving Logan and I actually used action figures in my house to role play it to make sure that it was realistic.

Speaker 1: 15:21

That was so much fun.

Speaker 2: 15:24

I'm like, could this really happen in real life? Is this something that could be believable? And it was and it did, and I can't wait until you guys read it and tell me what you think. But there are definitely bits of humor throughout the book. There are definitely parts that made me cry as an author and it just I pray that it really brings to light the full circle of redemption, the full circle of restoration. Happily, ever afters happened, but not always in the way that we think they're going to.

Speaker 1: 16:04

And those end up being the best HEAs, as they like to say in a writing world, the best happily ever afters right Is when they're they're not just given, they're earned Does that make sense.

Speaker 1: 16:18

Yeah, yeah, you know, yeah, they're earned, and to me those are just like the best happily ever afters, and even but most people in long term relationships will probably tell you that that the difficulties they experienced brought them closer to each other, yeah, and made them appreciate the other person more right, and then you can just it's not like you're taking that person for granted or anymore. You may have been doing that previously and if something happens and you're like, oh my goodness, you know what would I would have done, you know, if you weren't. You know, tough times really make us realize what's important, and that's what I love about your books the happily ever afters aren't just fluff. They're kind of wrong, you know, go ahead.

Speaker 2: 17:13

I don't know about you, kara, but for me I I don't feel authentic if every single person in the book has a happily ever after, because unfortunately that is not the way the real world works. Like there, there can be a glimmer of hope, but that doesn't mean that everything is tied with a pretty bow when you save the end, because that's not the way the real world has happened. So there's always hope, there's always a chance to pray for a miracle to happen, there's always, always, always a chance for redemption until we breathe our last breath. But that doesn't mean that when the end is written, that everything is tied up with a pretty bow and everybody has that. Apa Right.

Speaker 1: 17:59

You know, but that's real life, right, that that's real life. Um, and those are the type of books that we write. You know, we we put in all the other elements of life, right? Like we were talking about how, in one day in in a person's life, you could laugh, you could cry, you could scream, you could be loved on. Right, I'll do it one day. You know, sometimes that could happen with some people before noon, right? So those type of things happen, and that's what I love about your books. They all happen, though. The HEAs happen naturally and organically. They don't seem forced upon us. So now I want to ask you who, so far in the entire series, was your favorite person to write?

Speaker 2: 18:51

Oh, boy, Um, I would probably have to say, I would probably have to say Holly, because, to be honest with you, kara, that's who I want to be Like, I want to emulate, I want to, I strive to be like Holly, like she has her life together. She's not perfect by any means, but she relies on God so, so strongly, that I want to be like her. So, yeah, she was probably my favorite one to write. She was the one that was the most natural to write because her responses were like the responses that you should have, the responses that people want to have, that you don't always have, but she does for some reason, because and I didn't like set out to write her that way, like I didn't set out to make her this, you know, epitome of a person, but that's just kind of how she developed, maybe as a start, contrast to all the rest of them that were much, much more imperfect and valuable.

Speaker 2: 20:02

Like I said, not that she was perfect by any means, but I don't know she was. She was just really fun to write because she she was kind of like that um, compass, you know that kind of kept people together. She wasn't supposed to be, she was truly supposed to be a minor character and she ended up stealing the show. And, yeah, although Chloe was really fun to write too. That was Jason's oldest daughter and she had such a transformation from a butterfly no, from a, a worm, an ugly worm to a beautiful butterfly. She matured so much between book two and book six that I loved watching her transformation happen naturally.

Speaker 2: 20:52

Um, so yeah, I mean, I don't know. I love family. I love there are lots of different things that I put in the book that our family does. Um, holly's favorite drink or Holly's favorite coffee was white chocolate raspberry. That's my favorite Doesn't mean I am home but I threw that in there.

Speaker 2: 21:11

Um, logan got a bearded dragon, we had a bearded dragon at our house, so little things like that. Um, I put in Um but um, so that just kind of made it fun. That was part of the whole. It's a family ministry, not just a mean ministry thing. So I not that my kids necessarily read my books, but if they ever do pick them up, I hope that they can find the little fun things about our family and our family's life and that it will just make them smile.

Speaker 1: 21:44

Oh yeah, what it could be like.

Speaker 2: 21:46

Oh, mom, put this in here, you know there's a little God link for them, like just a little hug to say I love you and and you mean so much to me and and I value, you know, having you as as my child, and I just want you to know how much, how much I love you and how much I love that about you. That's kind of why I put those kind of things in there and it makes me feel closer to my kids.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Right and you never know, they may pick one up one day and be you know, and just read them. Um, yeah, because sometimes it's not until they're adults, cause you know, as teens, or how young adults or whatever the that type of generation, just seems to be so busy, you know, and starting their lives, you know, and everything else, and so like um, which is why um, but you know what I was just thinking and you don't really label it as so much as as as such, but your books are very Y A friendly, young adult friendly, and do you know how?

Speaker 2: 22:57

funny. That is Because I never even used to read Y A. I I hate to say this as an author, but I used to hate Y A. I really did, and I just again it's that whole. God has such a sense of humor because I was going to be traditionally published, I was going to only write fiction. I don't like Y A and yet that is the group, that is. That is what God has called me to write and I love it. I absolutely love it and I kind of feel as though God is bringing me into a new season with my ministry to wear the Y A. Really helpful with that.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Absolutely. And it's funny, cause you're like, oh, I don't like that, but yet you end up writing it.

Speaker 2: 23:42

Yes.

Speaker 1: 23:43

People say God doesn't have a sense of humor. Oh, he teaches us dozens. Yes, I have stopped saying.

Speaker 2: 23:49

God, I won't God, I'm not God, and I've started saying okay, I surrender, I surrender Whatever you want Right, cause it's the one thing that we say and he's like Exactly, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:08

So, and they're very, because most of the the characters in your books are young adults. Yes, and it didn't.

Speaker 2: 24:14

I didn't set out that way. This was supposed to be a standalone about a husband, in a way, who were stressed out and had stopped. Actually, to be completely honest with you, Kara, this whole well, the first book to this whole series is centered around a song by oh my goodness, it's coming St. Is Real that song about? And I really wanted to put the song in the book but copyright reasons I couldn't.

Speaker 1: 24:47

Right.

Speaker 2: 24:47

That song that goes lead me.

Speaker 1: 24:50

Right.

Speaker 2: 24:53

With strong hands, stand up when I can't. Don't leave me feeling alone in whatever. I love that song. Love that song. We were driving in the car and I heard that song, and Journey Back Home was born from that song.

Speaker 1: 25:11

Oh, I bet Sincke just really loved to hear that we're on a tag, though, when we share the post about the podcast episode.

Speaker 2: 25:21

We should, we did that that is seriously where this whole entire series came from. And then God gave me two separate dreams. The one dream became well, no, I take that back. He has given me three dreams of three books, but the next series that I'm writing is two of those dreams. The other dream, the first dream, was Book Four with Wynn and Zane Road to Freedom. And then the other ones just kind of came.

Speaker 2: 25:47

Book Six actually came about when I was having a conversation with my mom on a Christmas. It was on Christmas break from school and I was just taking a rare moment with downtime and we sketched out the whole Book Six and for the most part it stayed the same. God gives me twists and turns and changes things up for me, but yeah, I was like I love how he does that. When he stops giving me the ideas and when he stops allowing me to do this, then I'm done. I'm just so grateful I have a three book series in the work that will come next, and then I have another three book series. I thought it was going to be a two book series. It's a very different concept and I was talking to my oldest about it the other day and he goes Mom, you need to do a third book with this angle and I'm like oh my gosh, you're brilliant. So now that's another three book series that I'm going to be working on.

Speaker 2: 26:43

So, yeah, it's really fun. But you're right, I never I never thought I could write Young Adult. I never thought that I would be able to write Young Adult. And yet that's. God just had me focus on that more than I thought he would, because book one is Young Adult, book four and five are Young Adult, and then book two, three and six are everybody.

Speaker 1: 27:03

Right, right, and it's speaking of Young Adult and book six, full Circle. You mentioned her briefly earlier, but will Chloe be? Will we get a wrap up on her?

Speaker 2: 27:22

You know I was thinking about that, and her and Noah play a much smaller role in this book. But yeah, you're still visiting. This book is mainly mainly about Sean but Logan. Logan plays a bigger role than he has in any of the other books, but it's mainly about Sean and it's about Officer Dave befriending Sean because at the end of book five, sean and Annie and their family move to Green Pine.

Speaker 2: 27:55

Right this is an answer to Holly's prayer, because she wants her whole family there and she's been praying for that ever since she moved there. So, yeah, so, so it's mainly about Sean, but it really wraps up everything. There's there's a couple of weddings in there and there's a lot of different people to choose from that could get married. So I'm not giving spoilers away. There's some exciting announcements. There's just it's just basically them living life and and rallying around Sean in the community to help them heal from what happened at the very beginning. So I hope that it's as encouraging and I hope that people are excited to read it and they feel the closure that a person needs at the end of a series.

Speaker 1: 28:47

So, oh, good and well, that was my last question, since book six is you know it's titled is full circle book six of the redemption series, and so it's kind of just all the way back. You know it wraps everything up basically with a lot of new exciting plots and storylines and twists at the same time. So is there anything else you want to add before we wrap up this episode?

Speaker 2: 29:20

No, just. I have had so much fun this month of January just sharing about my books, hearing more about the little behind the scenes things with your books, and I am excited to read Eve, I'm excited to read Mary and I'm kind of excited to see what God's going to do this year. So next week starts our new series, love versus lust. I'm excited to start that series too. I think that's going to be a ton of fun to talk about. Again, I love marriage, family, parenting, all of those things. So it's going to be. It's going to be fun.

Speaker 2: 29:58

If you need prayer or encouragement, please email us at cheeruppodcastgmailcom. If you have an idea for us for another classic or long book or a long, that Christian theme book for us to do this summer, whether three months, one month, whatever three different books that go in a series, we're open for that too. Send us an email at cheeruppodcastgmailcom. Give us your suggestions. We'll pray on them, we'll see what God says and where he leads us and we'll keep you posted and join our community Facebook group Cheer Up Podcast, if you haven't already, and head over to Kara's website karaahuntcom, and you can learn more about the Habakkuk series over there. She has some videos for you to watch, and also come over and hang out at cheerysquallwellcom.

Speaker 2: 30:53

You can learn about the podcast. You can learn about the monthly membership. That is a way for you to grow closer to God. You can figure out how to buy the books they're all on Amazon nonfiction and fiction and we have resources that will help you start a relationship with God, if you do not have one already, but you are searching. So John 1633 reminds us that in me you may have peace In the world. You will have tribulation, but be a good cheer. I, jesus Christ, have overcome the world. We are so glad that you're here. We're so glad that you have joined us, celebrating our fourth year, our third, wrapping up our third season, and we have lots more of good things to come. Have a great rest of your day and have a fabulous week.