“A Piece of the Moon” by Chris Fabry … and a GIVEAWAY!

Welcome to Takeover Tuesday!

 

 

You can enter to win a print copy of A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry, courtesy of the publisher. (US ONLY). You can enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of this post. (Contest ends June 1, 2021.) Click To Tweet If you’re the chosen winner, I’ll contact you for your information. 

 

About the book…

 

An inspiring Southern fiction story from the bestselling author of War Room.

When eccentric millionaire Gideon Quidley receives a divine revelation to hide his earthly treasure somewhere in the hills, he sets out to find a fitting hiding spot, choosing only a few Bible verses as clues leading to untold riches of gold, silver, cash, and one very unexpected—and very costly—item. 

Treasure hunters descend upon the hills of West Virginia, including those surrounding the small town of Emmaus, where TD Lovett and Waite Evers provide the latest updates and the beating heart of the community on radio station Country 16. Neither man is much interested in a wild-goose chase for Quidley’s treasure, though. Waite is busy keeping the station afloat and caring for the bruised
souls who have landed there. Meanwhile, TD’s more intent on winning over local
junkyard owner Pidge Bledsoe, who has taken in a shy, wounded boy to raise.
But after an estranged friend goes missing searching for the treasure, TD is
unexpectedly drawn into the hunt. As TD joins the race to find Quidley’s wealth, he
discovers where his own real treasure lies, and he begins to suspect there’s a hidden
piece to Gideon Quidley’s treasure that no one could’ve expected.

 

Q&A with Chris…

Q: Is there anything in our culture today that inspired this story and its themes?

A: The original catalyst was the story of Forrest Fenn, who hid a fortune somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and gave clues to its whereabouts in a poem. He said the reason he did that was to make people go out and enjoy nature. I took that idea and wondered what would happen if a quirky, rich fellow hid a fortune with the desire to encourage people to read the Bible. That prospect engaged me as a fiction writer.

Q: This story takes place in Emmaus, West Virginia. What inspired this setting for your novel?

A: I find my writing becomes more vivid when I set it in my home state of West Virginia, and I chose the fictional town of Emmaus since it has such rich, biblical meaning. The real treasure in West Virginia is its people, who often are caricatured and marginalized as “simpletons.” But the people I write about are complex people with lots of hurt and pain and struggle as well as grit and determination. I love writing about this area and the people who are part of me, even though I live a “fur piece” from there now.

Q: In this story, the main characters come together in search of a treasure. Without giving too much away, can you give us a sense of what they are searching for?

A: Treasure is the right word. The man who hid it, Gideon Quidley, has never revealed exactly what is inside the treasure chest (which is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant). But conjecture runs wild up and down hollers. What would people do with a million dollars or more? How would that change their lives?

Q: What key lessons or themes permeate this story?

A: One of the biggest themes is the “second chance.” The little radio station in town, Country 16, is populated with people who have been given another chance by the manager, Waite Evers. Waite is a kindly soul who has his own hurts and struggles, so he knows the value of a second chance. There’s also a theme of forgiveness and the power of that act in your own life as well as the lives of others. Of course, there’s a love story in town and I follow that trail with a person who doesn’t believe she’s worthy of love.

Q: Who is your favorite character in this story and why?

A: Her name is Pidge Bledsoe. Pidge is her nickname because years earlier she adopted a wounded pigeon that hit a guy wire at the radio station and she brought the bird into the office at the junkyard where she works and lives. Pidge has had so many obstacles in life and little hope of finding lasting love. Because of her good heart, she’s also taken responsibility for her nephew. I love Pidge’s outlook on life and how it changes throughout the story.

Q: What character was the most fun to write?

A: Gideon Quidley was the most fun because he’s a brilliant guy. He grew up in the hills and made his way to help in the space program. When he came to faith, he went whole hog. So I wed the brilliance of his mind with the faith of a child and I think readers will enjoy the outcome.

Q: What character was the most challenging to write?

A: Antagonists/villains are always most difficult for me because it’s easy to paint an opposing force as only evil and not well-rounded. In this story, the character who opposes the treasure hunt is someone who believes he’s really the hero and is doing everyone a favor.

Q: Did the story unfold in any way that surprised you?

A: Every story I write catches me off guard. With A Piece of the Moon, I began writing about Gideon and his desire to do something good and I knew the people at Country 16 would play a pivotal role in the unfolding. I didn’t know the depth of the backstories of those people, so as it came to me, I realized some of the complexities of the lives they led and the hurts they had experienced. Rick Bragg said the best stories are about people in trouble. And I was surprised by all the trouble these people had encountered. I’m hoping readers will see some of their own troubles represented in the story.

Q: Could you relate to this story? How so?

A: I was surprised at how much I wrote about my own heart. One theme I didn’t mention is that struggle is a sign of life, not failure. So the struggle in this little town and at the little radio station is what propels people into real life. And I’ve seen that at work in my own heart through the years. I equate things going “smoothly” and “well” as success. But most of the really good things that have happened have come through a wilderness journey at some point. So I think anyone who reads it will find the same concept at work in their own lives.

Q: How do you hope this story will resonate with your readers?

A: First, I hope it will draw you in and make you laugh at the faults and foibles in Emmaus. I also hope it grabs you so deep in the heart that you will shed a tear at some of the real struggles you encounter. But mostly I think the takeaway I received is that faith is allowing God to be who he is and letting him work in our lives at his own pace rather than making him conform to my idea of how he should act. Real faith in God hangs on to him in the flood instead of taking us out of the deep water. And then we’ll see that we weren’t really hanging on as tightly as he was hanging on to us.

 

Excerpt…

 

PROLOGUE
Love, like treasure, stays buried until somebody decides to dig. That’s what this story is about, along with life and death and a stammering tongue and a little radio station. It’s also about the power of an old country song. Mostly it’s about events that occurred in the summer of 1981, set in motion by a fellow named Gideon Quidley, who was, in my opinion at the time, several bales short of a full loft.

The whole thing started a few years earlier, the year his wife, Opal, died, which was the same year the Nixon administration came apart at the seams and Sam Ervin talked about being an “old country lawyer” in the Senate Caucus Room. That was the year Gideon said he heard the Lord speak.

“Get thee up and gather thy fortune and fashion an ark. Hide thou the treasure in the hills where thou art from and fashion thee a map using my Word as a compass. I will use thee to turn many toward truth.”

The Almighty spoke in King James, Gideon said, and though Gideon didn’t understand all he heard, he was the type to fling himself full bore at life, as he had done when he was involved with the space program. So he gathered his gold and silver and withdrew stacks of hundred-dollar bills he secured with rubber bands, and using specifications from the book of Exodus, he drew a schematic of the Ark of the Covenant. But since he was an engineer and not a carpenter, he spent considerable time creating something only a craftsman should attempt. And by the time that truth dawned on him, there was a peanut farmer in the White House.

Gideon eventually contracted with a company in Gallipolis, Ohio, that specialized in “unique, handcrafted furniture,” and drew up a legal document that forced the company’s silence in perpetuity. Then he got busy with the Almighty’s second directive.

The map conundrum—“fashion thee a map using my Word as a compass”—vexed Gideon, but the upside was he was able to focus on something other than Opal’s death. And that was a grace to him. He thought of Opal every day, of course, and felt an ache at night as he stared at her empty pillow. The truth was, Gideon not only heard the Lord, he also heard Opal say, “Gid, you have lost your marbles.” That made him smile and he fell asleep with tears and dreams so real he was sad to wake from them.

One summer night, as the moon rose high and bright and peeked into his bedroom window like a star of wonder, Gideon sat straight up in bed.

“That’s it!”

His voice startled his dog, Jubal, who barked outside as Gideon raced to his desk where he kept his Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and his Bible dictionary, as well as his underlined and dog-eared red-letter edition of the KJV. In a frenzy, he wrote
chapter and verse, Scriptures flowing like the river Jordan. His theme was true treasure, and he presented biblical clues for eternal life.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

When he’d transcribed the eternal-treasure clues, he then searched for verses that might pinpoint coordinates of a specific hiding place in the hills. But that’s when he came up empty. Being a man of faith who was content with all he knew and didn’t know, Gideon gave thanks for the moonlight flash of inspiration and went outside to feed Jubal. And as he poured the Alpo, he glanced at the sky and saw the fading orb that had awakened him, and in that moment he decided to place his most valuable possession in the ark, a priceless treasure only Gideon and Opal and one other
man on the planet knew he owned.

In celebration, he dressed and drove into town to his favorite diner and sat with his Bible in front of him. When the waitress brought eggs and hash browns and toast, no butter, he folded his hands and thanked the Lord for his kindness and beseeched him again for wisdom.

“Show it to me, Lord. I’ve put the map to eternal life together. Now I need your help to know where to hide the treasure.” 

After the prayer, he poured a copious amount of ketchup, salt, and pepper on his eggs and hash browns, took a bite, then flipped open the Bible as if it were a wet fleece. And it came to pass that verily the pages fell open to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, and there it was, staring at him. The word jumped off the page twice
in the same chapter, telling him exactly what to do. He’d found the oxcart, as it were, that would transport his ark.

“Thank you, Lord,” Gideon whispered. “I’ll put the ark inside. But where do I hide it? What spot are you calling me to?”

He pinched the pages, like you would pick up a Communion wafer,  closed his eyes, and flipped again and the pages fell open to Luke 24. His eyes tracked down the page until he stopped, unable to breathe. The location could not have been any clearer if the Almighty had spoken aloud.

After breakfast, he left a modest tip for Wilma, the waitress who always took his order, and he got in his half-ton Chevy C10 and drove directly to a car dealer in town and set his plan in motion.

In the end, that plan would lead to division and death, as well as riches untold and a search for love and forgiveness. Whether he actually heard from the Lord, I’ll let you decide.

Amazon purchase link

About Chris…

 

 

Chris Fabry is an award-winning author and radio personality who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live on Moody Radio. A graduate of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University and a native of West Virginia, Chris and his wife, Andrea, now live in Arizona and are the parents of nine children.

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