Monday, September 21, 2009

Terri Blackstock opens the metaphorical vein . . .






I forget who said it . . . but some wise writer once said that writing was easy. You simply sat down and opened a vein. I never really knew what that saying meant until I wrote THE NOVELIST, in which I took a painful situation from my own life and superimposed it onto a story.

Terri Blackstock is a dear friend of mine--and one of the intrepid souls who went with me to Ireland last year. At the time, I knew she had some personal struggles, and I kept telling her that I honestly believe that God sends trials to writers so we will write about them, and thereby help someone else in the same or a similar situation. (Not the most comforting thought, perhaps, but I can't tell you how it has cheered me in the past).

Anyway, Terri finally did it. Her new book is INTERVENTION, and I'm thrilled to tell you about it.


Terri's new book Intervention was inspired by her personal experiences with her daughter's addictions. Six years ago she became aware that her daughter (then in her early twenties) had a severe prescription pill addiction that was killing her, and she hired an interventionist to convince her daughter to go to treatment. After a grueling few hours, her daughter agreed to go. As Terri put her on the plane with the interventionist, she was hit with the crushing feeling that her daughter was in the hands of a stranger, and anything could happen. That's when this book was born.

Over the past few years, Terri's family has been in a tornado of relapses and rehabs, with one emergency after another, and grace upon grace. But through all this, God has taught her to pray as never before, and he's shown her how many other families are experiencing the same thing. He's also shown her that many blessings can come from crises such as this. Terri has tried to fold all of those experiences into this suspense novel of desperation and hope. She's also added a page to her web site: "Hope for Families of Addicts," (http://www.terriblackstock.com/hope-for-families-of-addicts/ ) which has tips on dealing with a loved one who has addictions.

Though the book is fiction, Terri poured much of herself into Barbara, the mother who's desperate to save her daughter. And Terri's own daughter has given her blessings for Terri to talk about this, in hopes of helping other hurting families and raise awareness about the perils of addiction. To see/hear Terri share her personal story about Intervention, don't miss her interviews on American Family Radio's "Today's Issues" on September 24, Moody Radio's "Chris Fabry Live on September 25, and "The 700 Club" on September 29.

In Stores Everywhere September 22nd--
It was her last hope—and the beginning of a new nightmare.
Barbara Covington has one more chance to save her daughter from a devastating addiction, by staging an intervention. But when eighteen-year-old Emily disappears on the way to drug treatment—and her interventionist is found dead at the airport—Barbara enters her darkest nightmare of all.
Barbara and her son set out to find Emily before Detective Kent Harlan arrests her for a crime he is sure she committed. Fearing for Emily’s life, Barbara maintains her daughter’s innocence. But does she really know her anymore? Meanwhile, Kent has questions of his own. His gut tells him that this is a case of an addict killing for drugs, but as he gets to know Barbara, he begins to hope he’s wrong about Emily.
The mysteries intensify as everyone’s panic grows: Did Emily’s obsession with drugs lead her to commit murder—or is she another victim of a cold-blooded killer?
In this gripping novel of intrigue and suspense, bestselling author Terri Blackstock delivers the page-turning drama that readers around the world have come to expect from her.
Watch the Intervention video trailer at www.youtube.com/terriblackstock
Terri is a wonderful writer, and I know you'll enjoy this book! I'm sooo looking forward to it!

~~Angie

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having lost a nephew last year to drug-related health problems, I fear this one's too late for our family, or is it? Reading it may also be like opening a vein for some of us, but, like the moth being drawn to the flame, I expect I will ... if only to be more knowledgeable should it ever happen again to someone I love. Clyde

Mocha with Linda said...

This looks like an incredible book. I'm grateful to Terri Blackstock for allowing God to use her painful experience to help others.

Kathy Cassel said...

I had no idea she was going through that in her family. God's blessings to her.

Peggy Blann Phifer said...

I'm looking forward to this one, too, Angie. I love Terri's books and have quite a Blackstock collection. She has never disappointed me.

And blessings to her for all she's been through. God is so Awesome!