ASK THE AUTHOR: Pamela Binnings Ewen
LATEST PROJECT: An Accidental Life (9780805464320, $14.99, Sept. 1).
PUBLISHER: B&H Books.

How would you briefly describe An Accidental Life to Christian retailers?

New Orleans. 1982. She’s a new partner in a prestigious law firm. He’s a prosecutor facing the trial of a lifetime. They’re married and their jet-set lives are about to change. The question they must answer: What happens to infants born alive during an abortion? And why? This courtroom drama exposes one of the best-kept secrets in the world.

What inspired this novel?

The story was first inspired by testimony during a hearing before Congress in 2001. Witnesses testified that at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., and around the country, medical assistance was being withheld from infants born alive during abortions. The testimony resulted in federal law protecting such babies, but not state law. I learned about this for the first time in 2011 and then and there resolved to write this book. 

Your 25 years of experience as an attorney qualifies you to write a courtroom drama. What research did you do for this project?

Besides the usual newspapers, online and other reading, I interviewed
prosecutors and sat in on murder trials, taking detailed notes. I interviewed our
Louisiana Parish coroner (the equivalent of other states’ medical examiners) and a nurse who testified at the 2001 hearings. I interviewed Melissa Ohden, an “accidental life” herself (as she puts it). I read the detailed Congressional Report on the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and studies and cases cited in that report, and interviewed doctors and other pediatric nurses to check my conclusions. Dorinda Bordley, a decades-long legal, pro-life advocate assisted in digging into the development of case law following Roe v. Wade, as did Robert Winn, founder of Louisiana Right to Life and a former partner in a major New Orleans law firm. I also read numerous briefs and pleadings, both pro-life and pro-choice, filed in real cases.

Was it challenging to write both sides of the trial arguments?

When I began writing, I was determined to let the chips fall where they may in the verdict. So that was very difficult, because morally I believed the murder charge was justified. But the law doesn’t always take us where we want to go, and my primary goal was to tell it like it is. I wanted readers to know what’s happening. So it wasn’t until I actually began writing the closing arguments in the trial and put all the evidence together that I knew the verdict. Here’s something new: I came across an odd statement by the Supremes in Roe v. Wade, and by linking that with reasoning from other cases and new understandings of how medical advances have changed the concept of viability, I realized that a murder conviction of the doctor would really stand up in court.

How is this novel similar to or different from your previous works of fiction?

This was the most difficult to write. I am passionate about getting the word out that this is really happening—that infants are sometimes born alive, and some are left to die. All of my novels are what some might call issue-driven stories, but I think this one is most important. More detail was required to show that the evidence is real and that it’s still going on—tough to do without crossing the line and boring readers. I hope that I’ve succeeded!  

An Accidental Life is also about Rebecca’s faith journey. What type of character is she? 

In the beginning, ambitious Rebecca is a secular humanist who, thinking this life is all there is, gets on that treadmill and starts to run. Her Christian faith evolves during the story through the power of the Holy Spirit. First, as she comes to understand the beauty and complexity of God’s creation, especially human life. And second, through the sanctification of love for her husband, who is a man of faith.  

What do you hope readers take away from this story?

My prayer is that when a reader finishes An Accidental Life, he or she will understand that human life is not determined by mankind’s definitions and timelines, regardless of emotions or politics. I pray that readers will understand that the horrors recently unveiled in the Kermit Gosnell trial are not an aberration, and that this is real.

What other information should Christian retailers know about An Accidental Life?

Those who have read my earlier novels Dancing on Glass and Chasing the Wind will recognize Rebecca. All three books are related through the characters and the time period, although each can be read on a stand-alone basis. All describe what it was like for young women in those days (the 1970s and early ’80s) struggling to find success in what was then a man’s world, while maintaining balance between families and careers. 

‘For Love’s Sake’ addresses issues of mental health in the wake of a father’s sudden death

In the new inspirational film For Love’s Sake (727985015088, $19.99), a family torn apart by tragedy turns to faith in Christ to be restored. 

Releasing this month from Vision Video, the film tells the story of the Walkers—Peter and Mary with sons Paul and James.  When Peter’s life ends in a tragic auto accident, Mary then finds herself overcome with suicidal depression, leading British human services to remove the boys from her home. The film details the sons’ perspective as they cope with their new lives. At the same time, Mary begins to recover through an encounter with a Christian therapist, Dr. Clement Lloyd, played by actor Bruce Marchiano. 

Known for his portrayal in the 1994 film The Gospel According to Matthew as “the smiling Jesus,” Marchiano said that playing a nonbiblical character was a refreshing experience. 

“I have acted in several films as Jesus and was in danger of being typecast for Jesus parts,” he said. “I am honored and blessed by that, and I hope I get to do it many more times! But to play the part of a modern and everyday person was a blessing for me, in that there was so much less pressure.” 

For Love’s Sake was written and directed by Andrew Walkington and is based on the events of his own childhood. He founded True Films, which co-produced the film with Vision Video, to promote Christian values. 

“The film is based on my own life experience and is offered in hopes that it inspires others to trust in Jesus,” he said. 

Walkington’s wife, Claire, a trained actress, plays the part of Mary. William Wenlock and Luke Foxall make their film debuts as Mary’s sons. Additionally, the film includes veterans of British television and film, such as Ray Lonnen, Tara Ward, Nina Stratford, Christopher Lee-Power and Richard Brimblecombe, who co-wrote the screenplay. 

The film is releasing simultaneously in retail shops in the United States and the United Kingdom and is scheduled to air on Britain’s United Christian Broadcasting in the near future. 

To order, call Vision Video at 800-523-0226 or visit www.visionvideo.com. 

Jonny Lang returns with Fight for My Soul (Concord Publishing/Capital Christian Distribution), his first full-length release in seven years. The artist, who first made headlines as a 16-year-old blues prodigy, delivers 11 new songs, such as first single “Blew Up (the House)” and “Breakin In,” in his signature blues-rock style tackling topics such as faith, hope, personal transformation and social justice. Lang will support the new release with full North American and European tours. 

The Pledge, releasing Sept. 3 from Bridgestone Multimedia Group ($19.95), is a family drama centering on 16-year-old Tory Hedderman and the lessons he learns from a group of veterans. When he is caught vandalizing a statue of a military hero, Tory is ordered to perform community service at the local veteran’s home where he is changed by learning about patriotism and sacrifice. The film stars Barrett Carnahan, Terry Kiser, Emily Capehart, Michael Guy Allen and Claudie Esposito. 

BEC Recordings will release the new project from rock group 7eventh Time Down, Just Say Jesus, through New Day Christian Distributors, Sept. 3. The group recently joined KJ-52, Shine Bright Baby and Manafest on the Air1 Tour, which drew more than 10,000 attendees and raised money for medical care for children internationally.

Band poised to release its ‘most pop-driven’ record 

The Newsboys are hitting Restart (5099997925729) with a new collection of pop-flavored tracks releasing Sept. 10 from Sparrow Records (Capital Christian Distribution). 

Although a Christian music staple for decades, the band is receiving fresh attention and accolades after the addition of Michael Tait on lead vocals and a string of successful releases, including Born Again and God’s Not Dead. 

For longtime drummer Duncan Phillips, the title of the new record carries a double meaning for the band and its listeners, who are living in a world of economic struggle. 

“In the last few years, people have been reevaluating their lives,” Phillips said. “The bigger house is not all they thought it would be, and they’ve realized that some of the stuff they’ve chased after does not matter. They’re focusing more on the things that are really important.”

As a band, Phillips said, members feel like they’ve “hit the restart button and are getting going again.” 

Part of the new emphasis is bringing more people into the creation process, such as producers Seth Mosely and Christopher Stevens, who has “great pop sensibilities,” Phillips said. 

“If you like pop music, you’re going to freak out over this record,” he said. “You tend to gravitate back to your first love in music and I really loved the ’80s music. This record is the most pop-driven record Newsboys has ever done.”

The collaborative process has helped the band improve with time, Phillips said.

“We have had a certain amount of success (when we produced and wrote our songs), but we realized we weren’t the best at it,” he said. “Now we’re getting the best songwriters to co-write with us and ultimately we’re getting a better record because of it.”

The first single, “Live With Abandon,” released to Christian radio during the summer and carries a challenge for listeners to re-engage the culture. 

“People are feeling isolated and insulted, and our culture is getting crazier,” Phillips said. “Our natural reaction is to recoil into our subculture, but as Christians, we’re supposed to be in the world, but not of it. We need to jump back in and show them what Christianity is all about.”

Following that same thought process, the song “Love Like You Mean It” also encourages Christians to change their world by showing love to others. When Christians re-engage the culture, Phillips said, it models the love of Christ, who often reached out to those that society deemed unlovable. 

“I just want to love people,” he said. “I want to show them the love of Christ that He showed them.”

Order Restart by calling 800-877-4443 or visit the distributor’s website, www.capitolchristiandistribution.com.

Stasi Eldredge encourages readers to realize who God created them to be—‘embracing God’s dream of you’

Stasi Eldredge has felt like a failure many a time—in her past, in her struggles with weight, in her role as a mother. And she’s not alone. She believes that many women see themselves as failures in some area of life.

But she now understands that while she fails, she is not a failure. This freeing revelation is rooted in a biblical understanding of her identity and God’s love. In Becoming Myself: Embracing God’s Dream of You, Eldredge guides women toward becoming who God always wanted them to be.

The best-selling author, who teamed up with her husband, John, to write the best-seller Captivating, is also leader of the women’s ministry at Ransomed Heart. In Becoming Myself, she shares personal stories of pain and joy—her mother’s pressuring her to lose weight, mistakes she made in relationships, abuse she suffered from a stranger. With a personal touch, she addresses the reader as “my sister.”

With God’s help, people can truly change, Eldredge says, but it’s not a matter of shaming or disciplining ourselves into it. Rather, it’s a process God invites us to, one that requires time and surrender, but which results in a “beautiful paradox.”

“The more God’s we become,” she writes, “the more ourselves we become—the ‘self’ he had in mind when he thought of you before the creation of the world.”

Eldredge emphasizes the importance of honestly reflecting on the past in order to heal and move forward. Her own past included tension and alcohol in her childhood home, plus the pressure to be athletic. She writes that at her core she felt “the tangible ache of wanting to be accepted, approved of, and enjoyed.”

She believes healing begins with God’s view of women, who are image-bearers of God and co-heirs with Christ, who are “valued, worthy, powerful, and needed.”

Two chapters address the effects of a woman’s mother on her life. Others urge women to not only accept themselves, but also to embrace who they are and to become women of faith and worship. 

“Love is always the highest goal,” Eldredge writes, referring to a love of God, of others and of “the woman God has created us to be.”

For more information, visit www.davidccook.com. To order, call at 800-743-2514.

When Lynn and Mike Wilder moved to Utah in 1999, they thought they had arrived in Zion on Earth. Now, after 30 years, the Wilders have left the Mormon church and their old life behind.

Lynn was a tenured professor at Brigham Young University (BYU), and Mike was a high priest co-chairing the redeem-the-dead committee. Their four children served as youth leaders and on foreign missions. While still in Utah, God began showing them the truth, and in 2006, a simple request by their youngest son changed everything.

Lynn shares her family’s journey out of Mormonism and into biblical Christianity in Unveiling Grace: The True Story of How We Found Our Way Out of the Mormon Church (9780310331124, $15.99), which Zondervan releases this month.

Lynn and Mike were raised in Protestant homes, but neither had much Bible knowledge. When Mormons knocked on their door in 1977, they were a young married couple without children and hungry for mentorship and family. They listened to the missionaries and consented to more meetings. Ten weeks later, the Wilders accepted the gospel according to Joseph Smith and were baptized as Latter-Day Saints. 

They grew to love their church and plunged right in to doing what they thought was right, believing that they pleased their heavenly Father with “our callings and our works,” Lynn writes.

However, they saw problems in Mormon culture, including racism and polygamy. They determined to stay and be part of the solution, but God used events to change their minds.

The turning point happened on their youngest son’s two-year obligatory Mormon mission, where two Christian pastors he tried to convert introduced him to biblical faith. Their son gave his life to Jesus and urged his family to study the New Testament, which they did.

Within two years, Lynn and Mike accepted the gospel of grace. Lynn resigned from BYU, and she and Mike resigned from the church. The process of untangling themselves from the church they had loved and served was difficult, but they are grateful God sent their family searching for truth.

Looking back, Lynn sees glimpses of God drawing her. 

“God allured me, drew me, unveiled portions of his grace at crucial moments,” she writes.

To help others, the Wilders have formed an organization called Ex-Mormon Christians United for Jesus, and their children are involved with the Adam’s Road ministry. 

To order, call 800-727-1309.