This year’s Frasier Contest has come to a close. The finalists and semi-finalists have been announced, and we are all eagerly awaiting the Pizza Party to find out who the winner is. In the mean time, lets meet one of the Judges that made it all possible: Beth Goddard, with her new book Riptide.
Q: Beth, give us a tag line and a little blurb about your story.
A: Two surprises await high-stakes repo man Jake Jacobson on his latest job. First, old flame Kelsey Chambers. Second, gunfire! Seizing the luxury yacht should have been easy, but he hadn’t planned on Kelsey’s appearance. Or that smugglers would hijack the vessel to find an antique map hidden on board. The map is Jake and Kelsey’s only leverage…but it carries a price. Without it, they’re as good as dead. With it, they’re the target of a relentless hunt. Their failed relationship has Kelsey afraid to rely on Jake again. Can she count on him with their lives on the line?
Q: Beth, what do you want readers to learn/take away from this story.
A: Jake is a man who has lost his way in his relationship with God and it affects every part of his life, the story itself a metaphor, reflecting his loss of direction. In addition, Jake and Kelsey are hardly prepared to face the challenges they meet in the wilderness. Two key scriptures are woven throughout the story. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2 Life can be a riptide sometimes, sweeping us away. When it seems like there’s nothing we can do, we can lean on Him because if we trust in Him, He will lead us by still waters where surely goodness and loving kindness will follow us all the days of our lives.(from Psalm 23). I hope Riptide will be a powerful emotional experience for readers and when they finish the story, they have a sense of redemption and that all is right with the world in His hands.
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Elizabeth Goddard is an award-winning author with well over a dozen romance and romantic suspense novels, including the romantic mystery, The Camera Never Lies—winner of the prestigious Carol Award in 2011. After acquiring her computer science degree, she worked at a software firm before eventually retiring to raise her four children and become a professional writer. A member of several writing organizations, she judges numerous contests and mentors new writers. In addition to writing, she home schools her children and serves with her husband as he pastors a church in Louisiana.
