Elaine Marie Cooper Author

Historical Fiction That Grabs Your Heart and Feeds Your Soul

Elaine Marie Cooper

The Joy of the Season

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Our best Christmas present in 1978 was our daughter, Bethany. She was only 7 pounds, 11 ounces, but our sweet newborn filled our home that year with immeasurable joy.

There was little else to celebrate that winter. Times were tough in the Cooper household and our personal economy had sunk deeper than the snowdrifts outside our door. Because of scarce resources, we had little in the way of gifts. But where the coins were limited, the creativity was limitless as our little tree took on festive yet simple decorations.

My mom visited and crocheted an ornament with the date spelled out in yarn. My husband, Steve, spent hours crafting a wooden truck for our two-year-old son.  My creative spouse spent more hours designing a wooden ornament that I still treasure to this day.  It was a memorable year in so many ways, with treasures abounding that money could not buy.

As I look back on that Christmas 36 years ago, I don’t regret the paucity of money nor the struggles we endured that taught us to be more compassionate Christians. What I do regret is that our sweet Bethany is no longer with us.

Bethanys Calendar Cover

Her life was a testimony of living life well, even when the years are few. In her twenty-four years, her life seemed to impact so many others who still can recall her smile, her laugh, her intelligence, and her compassion. Mostly, her legacy is one of faith fulfilled in living a Christian life that made a positive difference in the lives of others.

It was a life of joy despite circumstances that seemed to whisk her away to heaven far sooner than any of us wanted.  The joy in remembering Bethany reminds me that joy is not about the ever-changing circumstances that make us happy or sad. It is the realization that there is a promise for life eternal with God’s Son, whose birth we celebrate each Christmas.

That is truly the Joy of the season.

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 2 Corinthians 8:2 NIV 

 

Celebrating — One Hundred Reviews!

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Perhaps other more well-known authors are used to it. But this not-on-the-New-York-Times-Bestseller-List author is grateful beyond words. My one hundredth review of Fields of the Fatherless posted this week on Amazon. Even better, the reviews tally up to 4.8 out of 5 stars.

God is so gracious and has blessed Fields of the Fatherless beyond anything I might have hoped for. He is the one I give credit to for this milestone and for the awards this book has won.

I want to thank each of you who have read this young adult fiction and responded to the story. Your positive reflections about Fields of the Fatherless have touched me deeply. Some readers offered criticism and I am grateful for that as well. Authors who shut their ears to the voices of critics are not allowing themselves to grow in their craft. May I never be so caught up in “my own way” that I will not listen to input from others.

Thank you, thank you, readers and reviewers! I cherish you and am honored to write books that both entertain and teach something about the history of this great nation. And if you are inspired to grow stronger in your faith through the words that I write, I am truly blessed beyond measure.

Bethany’s Calendar

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Our lives changed forever eleven years ago today when my daughter’s “calendar” on earth ended. But her life in heaven had just began.

She was only 24 and my family never imagined that our bright, funny and faith-filled daughter would have such a short stay with us. But sometimes cancer interferes with our hopes and dreams. And sometimes, God has other plans.

My family has  been through so much in the ensuing years, yet we continue to be amazed at the life she shared with us, as well as the impact she had on so many others. We will always treasure her in our hearts, and look forward to seeing her again in eternity.

The most amazing thing about this eleventh year has been writing Bethany’s Calendar, the story of her final days on earth as she suffered from brain cancer. The fact that I had the strength to write it at all attests to the power of intercessory prayer as others raised me up in this difficult writing task. Although it was emotionally exhausting, the words and the story flowed.

Now Bethany’s Calendar is on the verge of being released in a few weeks. I am amazed at the smooth transition from writing first draft to now anticipating holding the final copy of the book. I can’t wait to share it with others and PRAY that it helps patients and their families who are in similar circumstances.

Bethanys Calendar Cover

I’ll be honest. Going through final edits this past weekend brought more than one tear. There is no loss like saying goodbye to your child.

Yet I am not bitter, nor do I repeat the often spoken phrase, “No parent should have to bury their child.” While that may be the human perspective, God’s perspective about life is that He is God, and He decides when our work on this earth is complete. Sometimes that is as soon as a child is birthed or it may be in old age. But “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:21 NIV

Here are some of the words from “God is God” by Steven Curtis Chapman. This song played on my car radio—seemingly every time I went driving during Bethany’s illness. The verses are a reminder to me that God is the creator, with his purposes for His creation:

 

God is God and I am not

I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting

God is God and I am man

So I’ll never understand it all

For only God is God.

 

Launch for Bethany’s Calendar is December 12, 2014. It would have been her 36th birthday.

 

 

 

 

Winners of “The Promise of Deer Run”

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On June 27, I posted about PTSD Awareness Day and offered three copies of The Promise of Deer Run to three commenters.

I am delighted to announce the three winners of my post Revolutionary War novel that deals with Post Traumatic Stress in veterans. They are:

 

Heidi Morrell

Debra Butterfield

Janet Grunst

Promise of Deer Run, The
Book 2 in the Deer Run Saga

Congrats to each of you! A signed copy is on the way!

If you missed the article about PTSD Awareness Day, I am reposting it. Click here.

Why the American Revolution is NOT the Civil War

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A recent review that I read for my latest novel, Fields of the Fatherless, made me groan.

Now please don’t get me wrong: I VERY MUCH appreciate folks who take the time to read and/or listen and then review my books.  Reviewers could spend their precious moments on any given day doing anything else in their busy lives. Instead, they have chosen to post their thoughts about a book that I wrote. I am so grateful to my reviewers.

What made me groan was yet another reminder of how often Americans confuse two crucial wars that occurred in our country: The American Revolution and the Civil War (also called the War Between the States). Each war significantly changed our country. Each conflict set our states on a new course. And each war should be duly remembered for its importance in our nation’s history.

Although my book is clearly labeled a Revolutionary War novel, the above-mentioned reviewer called it a book about the Civil War. The person even changed the clearly designated British soldier as a “Confederate” soldier. *SIGH*

Ok. Time for a brief history lesson:

DSCN5092

The American Revolution was the war that changed Colonial America into the United States of America. It was fought between the American colonists against Great Britain, the mother nation.

It began in 1775 and lasted eight years. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, for which we celebrate the 4th of July and the birth of our nation, occurred in 1776. So this year celebrates our 238th Birthday. Happy Birthday, America!

George Washington became the 1st president of the United States, starting after the first election in 1789.

 

The Civil War started on April 12, 1861 and was fought between the Northern states and the Southern states of this country. It ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered the last Confederate (Southern) Army to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 (although the last battle was actually fought in Texas on May 13, 1865).

The core conflict was the issue of slavery and states rights.

The war took place during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president.

 

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As you can see from this extremely brief history lesson, the wars occurred in completely different centuries and had conflicts born of varying concerns.

As a writer of historical fiction set in the American Revolution, I hope that my work brings to light the issues that led to the birth of the United States.

 

Winner, YA Fiction, 2014 Selah Award; Best Religious Fiction, 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Winner, YA Fiction, 2014 Selah Award; Best Religious Fiction, 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

And on this 4th of July weekend, please take a moment to thank God for the sacrifices that our forefathers and foremothers made in establishing this nation in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was an astonishing announcement—the concept of a free and independent country ruled by the people, of the people and for the people.

 

May that freedom continue to ring.

 

Huzzah!

 

You can purchase Fields of the Fatherless here.

PTSD Awareness Day – The Promise of Deer Run

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Today is PTSD Awareness Day. It is a day to remember and acknowledge the emotional wounds suffered by our military men and women after their service in the war has physically ended. Emotionally, the war still rages in their minds. Victims of post traumatic stress need encouragement, support and counseling. But ignoring these unseen wounds can only make them worse.

Years ago, the emotional distress of soldiers long after the battles had ended—the nightmares, the anxiety, the depression—were not discussed.

Most relatives of WWII veterans describe their post war loved ones as soldiers who would never speak about the war. One can only imagine the internal horrors plaguing their minds—the battle scenes they wanted to protect their families from knowing about. They suffered in terrible silence under the label of “Battle Fatigue.”

In wars prior to WWII, soldiers still suffered. Those in the Civil War carried the label of “Soldier’s Heart.” In the Revolutionary War, surviving warriors had to suffer their own nightmares of bloody battles long after the swords were turned into plows.

Promise of Deer Run, The
Book 2 in the Deer Run Saga

My protagonist, Nathaniel Stearns, in The Promise of Deer Run is a veteran of the American Revolution suffering from post traumatic stress. In doing my research for this character, I interviewed veterans from recent wars who suffered from this terrible aftereffect. I gently asked them about some of the details of their suffering in order to add realism to this fictional character. I interviewed two Army chaplains who shared stories of the emotional wounds of warriors who they had counseled. It was sobering research that still touches my heart.

In honor of all the soldiers who have suffered from this disorder, I am giving away three copies of The Promise of Deer Run to three readers who comment on this blog. Please leave me your email address so I can contact the winners.

The Promise of Deer Run won Best Romance at the 2012 Los Angeles Book Festival, and also was a finalist in Religious Fiction at the 2012 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year contest.

 

For further information on PTSD, you can read more here.

And thank you to all who have served in our military. I salute you.