Renette Steele, Zac Weikal and Sheila Holman. You are my volunteer test team! It always amazes me, the typos you catch at the final hour. Thank you for loving my work, and thanks for your availability to read my novels first and fast.
Also, my books only happen with the help of my family, especially my amazing husband, Donald. Honey, thank you for your spiritual wisdom and leadership in our home, and thanks for talking through books like this one from outline to the editing. The countless ways you help me when I’m on deadline make all the difference. I love you!
And over all this, thanks to a man who has believed in my career for two decades, my amazing agent, Rick Christian of Alive Literary Agency. From the beginning, Rick, you’ve told me to dream big, set my sights high. Movies, TV series, worldwide reach. All for God and through Him. You imagined it, believed it and prayed for it alongside me and my family. You saw it. You still do! While I write, you work behind the scenes on film projects and my future books, the Baxter family TV series, and details regarding every word I’ve ever written. You are brilliant and driven, compassionate and dedicated. I used to dream of having you as my agent. Now Tyler and I are the only authors who do. God is amazing. Thank you, Rick, and thank you for praying for me and my family. That most of all.
Finally, my greatest thanks to God Almighty, who is First and Last and all things in between. I write for You, through You and because of You. Thank you with my whole being.
Dear Reader Friend,
It seems so often when I write a book, real life is turning similar pages in the story of my life. That was the case with Truly, Madly, Deeply. As I was breathing the story of Tommy onto the pages, my youngest son, Austin, was talking more seriously about being a police officer.
Yes, I watched a thousand episodes of Cops with that boy and yes, I do think high school kids should have to watch a full season before they graduate. If for nothing more than to help them make good choices and appreciate the role of law enforcement in our cities and towns. So they can see that police officers have one of the toughest jobs around.
Also as in the book you just read, Austin was told by our local department that he should finish college before applying. If he applies.
People often ask me how I get my ideas. Well, there you have it! Life has a way of making some novels a little easier to write. Which is why Truly, Madly, Deeply is as much about love as it is about something we all battle.
Fear.
Each of us knows all too well the late nights worrying about a loved one, or the fallout after that fateful phone call. Anxiety creeps in and we sometimes become paralyzed. Yes, I loved the story of Tommy and Annalee. I laughed with them and cried with them.
But given my situation in life with Austin, my favorite part was this: It let me work through my fears and let them go. Jesus told us to think about today. That’s all we’re promised, and of course we all know that. But it’s so easy to borrow trouble from tomorrow. Most often that trouble never materializes, and we have wasted a perfectly good today being afraid for nothing.
I feel more at peace for the journey of Truly, Madly, Deeply, and I hope you do, too.
As you close the cover on this book, do me a favor. Think about who you can share it with. A friend or a sister. Your mother or a coworker. The librarian at your child’s school. Someone struggling to make sense of a loss or someone who needs encouragement, hope or simply a good love story. Maybe just a person who loves to read.
Remember, a story dies if it is left on the shelf. So please pass this one on.
By now you may have heard about the TV series—The Baxters. This was something I only dreamed about back when God gave me those very special characters. The series has the material to go on for a very long time, so look for it soon. I know you’ll love it like the rest of us do.
To find out more about The Baxters on TV or any of my other books, television series, or