Shannon here: Tara Johnson shares her inspiration for her latest Historical Romance, To Speak His Name (releasing in January). Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing. U.S. only. Deadline: Dec 23rd, 11:59 pm central. Here’s Tara:
The Story Behind To Speak His Name:
Who doesn’t love a toe-curling romance? I confess, when I began writing my upcoming story To Speak His Name, romance was the farthest thing from my mind.
This novel was prompted by two unique nuggets. First, I have always been fascinated with how those who have never heard of Jesus come to a saving knowledge of Him. How does the Holy Spirit reveal such marvelous truths to a soul who knows nothing of the spiritual world?
I began meditating on Psalm 19: 1-3: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” At the same time, I picked up a small nonfiction book about the Irish slave trade, and what I learned was astonishing.
The Irish slave trade began when King James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart and 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and neighboring islands.
My imagination quickly took flight. I pictured a young Irish girl named Avalina, stolen away from her home, shipwrecked and found wandering on a sandy beach in Barbados.
Oh, one other thing…Avalina is mute.
She is taken in by a cruel man and forced to work as a slave on his plantation, surrounded by strange people in a strange world who are steeped in polytheism and superstition. The years pass and, with her voice locked away in silence, she wonders if there isn’t something more to life than mere existence.
Enter Josiah Holland.
I never conceived having the son of a slave trader as my hero, but once I wrote the first scene with Josiah, I knew he would be the one to set Avalina’s heart on a path toward freedom. Just as the famed hymnist and former slave trader John Newton found redemption in the arms of Jesus, so Josiah turns away from the world he knows to embrace a broken woman and an uncertain future.
Is Josiah perfect? No. He struggles to please his demanding family. He grapples with his motives and his stained past, yet he is beautifully vulnerable.
When I finished penning the final scene, it hit me: Josiah is a picture of Christ. He redeems Avalina and carries her from the Land of Darkness into a kingdom of Light. He shows her kindness and compassion when all others treat her with disdain. What a lovely picture of grace.
Excerpt from To Speak His Name by Tara Johnson:
“We are departing soon, in only another day. I—I have something to give you.”
A deep melancholy pervaded my heart at the news. How short a time he had been here yet I felt something—like a silken thread—that bound his heart to mine.
I glanced away. Foolishness. I was naught but a slave girl, forever tied to Azaka Mede. And he? He would become a powerful land owner like his father. Our destinies were not to be entwined.
He reached for me, his firm fingers grazing the inside of my wrist as he dropped the cool metal into my outstretched hand. My skin warmed at his touch but he pulled away quickly. My thumb rubbed the engraved circle, noting the etched flowers and leaves branded into the metal.
“It’s a compass.” He showed me how to open it with a small press of a button near the lock. The lid sprang open and a needle quivered in the center. I smiled and turned in a slow circle, watching the spindle shift and twirl. I looked into his face and he was smiling.
“Do you like it?”
I nodded and bit my lip. No one had ever been so kind to me. Why did he care?
“I wish there was something I could do to ease your suffering here. Something I could say …” He swallowed and looked away before angling his body closer and gazing up at the night sky, scattered with stars. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
I nodded, unsure what might be going through his mind. He glanced back and met my eyes. “Do you know how to find the North Star?”
I shook my head no and he cupped my hand holding the compass, guiding it carefully in a small arc. “It’s one of the brightest stars, always due north.” My gaze bounced between the wobbling compass needle and the diamonds twinkling overhead. After studying the compass for a moment, he pointed overhead. “There it is.”
My focus landed on a single star burning brighter than all the others. Entrancing. Whether it was from the heavenly body or the man at my side, I couldn’t say. He glanced down into my upturned face, expression unreadable.
“The same God who made the stars is watching over you. He knows your name, Avalina.” Josiah exhaled a tremulous breath, his gaze fixed on mine. “And though we may be far apart, know that when you’re looking up at the stars, seeking that same God, I will be too.”
I swallowed as he reached up and stroked my jaw with his thumb. How I longed to lean into his touch, to drink in the sensation, but he dropped his hand.
And then he was gone.
Question for Readers: What is the best romance you’ve read in the past year? What made that story unique?
About Tara: Tara Johnson is an author and speaker, and loves to write stories that help people break free from the lies they believe about themselves.
Tara’s debut novel Engraved on the Heart (Tyndale) earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and was a finalist in the Carol and Christy awards. Tara has been published by Tyndale House, Annie’s, and Guideposts. In addition to being published in a variety of digital and print magazines, she is a certified body language expert and has been on radio, television and podcasts. She is a history nerd, especially the Civil War, and adores making people laugh. She, her husband, and children live in Arkansas.
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About the book – To Speak His Name Blurb:
Avalina is a woman trapped in silence. Stolen from her home in Ireland and sold as a slave to a Barbados plantation owner, the trauma of her past has left her mute, wrapped in a prison of loneliness and isolation amid an island of beauty. Though she longs to be free from the cruelty of her overseer, her heart yearns for a greater freedom…something just beyond her grasp.
Josiah Holland has been born into a South Carolina slave-holding family but all it takes is one trip to the island of Barbados to open his eyes to the ugly cruelty that abounds beyond the confines of his plantation. With the aid of fiery abolitionist Benjamin McGee, Josiah forges a new future, fighting the very ideals he was once a part of.
When Avalina and Josiah’s lives entwine, will their spark engulf them in destruction, or ignite a revolution?
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I have a winner! Kim Hampton won the drawing. I appreciate Tara for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.