Shannon here: Alyssa Roat shares the inspiration behind her latest Contemporary Romance, Finding Harmony, with co-author Hope Bolinger. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for an ebook copy. Deadline: July 16th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Alyssa:
Finding Harmony came from a personal place for co-author Hope Bolinger and me.
Hope and I are both people pleasers. We’ve struggled with trying to do everything possible to make everyone happy. “No” was a word infrequently used in our vocabulary. Pair that with the fact that in our college writing program, we were taught that if we said no to any opportunities, we would lose our place in publishing and fail, and we were…a bit on edge.
In Finding Harmony, main characters Liv and Elijah also have a hard time saying no—to jobs, to volunteering, to requests and favors. They’re running themselves ragged.
But the Lord doesn’t require us to do everything. There’s a reason we are a body of Christ.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” – Romans 12:4-8
All parts of a body work together. We don’t expect the eye to also smell and taste, or the nose to hear and see.
Hope and I are still learning to use discernment to seek and follow where God wants us, and where we should draw boundaries. We are finite humans and can’t do everything. Jesus Himself took time to rest, time to be alone, time to pray. We can’t very well expect to do better than Jesus.
At the same time, we’re learning to say “yes” to things that might be scary. When God opens a door, we’re learning to walk through. It’s all about balancing the pursuit of what God wants us to do, not what others want us to do. Sometimes those align…and sometimes they don’t.
Will Liv and Elijah learn the same in Finding Harmony, and find love in the process? Or will their dreams be put on hold once again—this time for good?
Question for Readers: What about you, reader? What do you find more difficult—saying no to opportunities, or stepping out in faith when they are presented?
About Alyssa: Alyssa Roat is a multi-published author and has worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as an agent, editor, writer, and publicist. Her name is a pun, which means you can learn more about her at www.alyssawrote.com. Learn more & connect:
Alyssa’s Bookbub Alyssa’s Instagram Alyssa’s Twitter
Alyssa’s Facebook Alyssa’s Newsletter Alyssa’s Goodreads
About the book – Finding Harmony: 
Can two people-pleasing musicians win the grand prize, or will they be forced to give up music for good?
Newly hired worship leader Elijah Peterson can’t seem to catch a break with his church’s congregation. With conflicting demands from congregants, he struggles to find a way to make everyone happy, especially Don, a man who’s rumored to have driven out the last worship leader.
Music teacher Olivia “Liv” Wilson says yes to everything—piano lessons, church volunteering, extra shifts—all while struggling to help pay her dad’s medical bills. As jobs fall through, she’s hit with even worse news—with bills piling up, they could lose her childhood home.
When their meddling roommates force Elijah and Liv into a cooking class together, the two come up with a plan. They’ll enter an indie songwriting competition—with a cash prize that could be enough to save Liv’s house. And maybe if Elijah can win, his musical family and congregation will finally take him seriously.
But winning the competition might mean losing themselves in the process. Can they find a way to strike harmony between writing songs they love and songs the audience wants to hear?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Alyssa’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
Finding Harmony Alyssa’s books
Come back July 12th for Betty Woods!
Sometimes it’s saying no to opportunities; other times, it’s stepping out in faith. It really depends on the situations 🙂
Glad to have you here, Alyssa. I’m bad to say no to opportunities that take me out of my comfort zone, but I try to step out on faith.
I find it very hard to say no to requests and to opportunities. By requests, I’m referring to when people ask me to do something for them or a church project. Of course, since I’m a “doer”, I get asked to do more. I need to learn to balance my yes and no responses to better serve others and maintain my own well-being. Congratulations of your upcoming book! Wishing you much joy and success.
I have a winner! Katherine Pasour won the drawing. I appreciate Alyssa for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.