Looking Out the Window: Memories on the Heart

Tyora talks about her new book, When Rain Falls. She'll be giving away a copy. To enter to win leave a comment with your email address.
Mentors and Girlfriends
Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
– Proverbs 18:24 The Message
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
– Proverbs 18:24 New King James Version
In When Rain Falls, Candace lost two best friends. Two years ago it was her husband and now she has lost a friend she has known since junior high school. Both of these people died tragically. Could you blame her for asking the question. “Why does God keep taking away the people I love?” Have you ever asked a similar question to what Candace has asked? The scene below is an excerpt from what I call the “funeral” chapter.

"Like books suddenly without bookends, Candace felt as though she would topple over at any moment. The questions were killing her. Was there something she could have done? Should she have been more vigilant and nosed her way into Pamela’s business? Now she would never know.”

Excerpt from When Rain Falls
While Candace was struggling with bitterness and trying to cling to her faith, she wasn’t alone. First and foremost, God was right there with her. When Candace was really low, I felt compelled to write God’s word into the scene. His still quiet small voice penetrated her grief and lifted her spirits.
Secondly, God provided Candace with two mother figures. Interestingly enough, not until many edits later, did I realize how much these two women mirrored the older women who were mentors in my life. Beulah Samuels was a high-energetic character who played mother, matchmaker, prayer partner and comic relief. When a scene became really emotional, Beulah’s warmth made me, the writer, smile.
Seventy-six year old Fredricka Roberts brought a bit of humor herself. What she really brought to the story was her wisdom and a faith that had seen it all. Two of the most powerful scenes in When Rain Falls occur in Candace’s salon with Ms. Fredricka in her the salon chair. As a child growing up, I witnessed the extraordinary bond between a cosmetologist and her customer when I hung out in my mother’s beauty salon. It felt so appropriate to bring that bond to the pages of this novel.
When you are feeling down and experience adversity, I hope you turn first and foremost to God. He is the only one that can provide that sweet “peace that surpasses all understanding.” I also hope you have mentors or sistergirlfriends (brothers) that can lend a listening ear. Not so much offering you puffed-up empty advice, but a shoulder to lean on “when rain falls “in your life.

About When Rain Falls
Why does God keep taking away the people I love?”
This is the lamentation of widow CANDACE JOHNSON when her best friend is brutally murdered. Ensnared by a deep-rooted bitterness, seeping her faith day by day, Candace is determined to seek justice.
Detective Darnell Jackson is in need of clues fast. The police captain is coming down hard on him and his partner to find out who murdered Pamela Coleman, the daughter of a high profile judge. Darnell confers with Candace to get the inside track on events leading up to the murder. As the investigation heats up, his growing attraction for Candace plays havoc on Darnell’s judgment.
Little does she know, Candace’s quest to find the truth has led her straight to the killer. She’s already lost loved ones. Now Candace must choose to completely trust God with her own life.

Bio:
Tyora Moody is an author and entrepreneur. Her debut novel, When Rain Falls, was released March 1, 2012 (Urban Christian). She is a member of Sisters in Crime and American Christian Fiction Writers. She owns and operates TywebbinCreations.com and DIYwithTy.com. The second book in the Victory Gospel Series, When Memories Fade, will be released in March 2013 (Urban Christian). Visit the author online at http://www.TyoraMoody.com.