My nieces Shannon Fairley, Melissa Viernes and Kristen Springer. Also Hope Burke, Donna Keene, 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 editing. The countless ways you help me when I’m on deadline make all the difference. I love you!
And a special thanks to a man who has believed in my career for two decades, my amazing agent, Rick Christian. From the beginning, Rick, you’ve told me to dream big, set my sights high. Movies, TV series, worldwide reach. All of it for God and through Him. You imagined this, believed it and prayed for it alongside me and my family. You saw it happening and 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,
Some books are deeper than others, grittier. This book was one of those. I can remember sitting on my back porch and imagining a scenario where a child is rescued on some distant shore. Only the little girl never wanted to be rescued.
Because she was trapped in an existence we can’t begin to imagine.
When I wrote Truly, Madly, Deeply—one of my recent books—I touched on the topic of trafficking. But the story only skimmed the surface. It never went beyond the doors and walls of places where children lose their lives and their innocence.
This book goes there. I did my best not to be terribly graphic, not to take you too intensely to places you would never want to go. But the truth is, the victims lost to trafficking don’t want to be there, either. Maybe there’s some way you can get involved in stopping this scourge. Check with your local law enforcement agencies and churches. They’ll have ideas for you, if you’re interested.
A Distant Shore is complex and unforgettable. A story just like this has certainly never happened, and for a while I wondered if it was too far-fetched to write about. But then the tale of Eliza and Jack became an allegory—like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Because the great Aslan still roams about today, fighting on our behalf. On behalf of Jack and Eliza.
And so I had to write this book. I couldn’t escape it.
I could read A Distant Shore again and again. The way God wove hope into the most hopeless story line I’ve ever written about. I hope you feel the same way.
There is one thing I pray you take away from A Distant Shore. No matter how broken your life, God is the giver of a new day, a second chance. He is the God of redemption and restoration. He can take your shattered pieces and make them into a beautiful creation. That’s the point of the cross. You can find new life. You can rise again. I’m praying for you.
As you close the cover on this book, do me a favor. Think about who you can share this with. A friend or a sister. Your mother or a co-worker. The librarian at your local high school. Someone struggling to make sense of a loss or someone who needs to believe they can find life again. Maybe just a person who loves to read. Please… give this book away when you finish it.
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