Seaside: A Novella

Life is a gift too precious to be unwrapped in haste. Neither of Maggie Rivers' adult daughters realizes how their frantic drive for achievement is speeding them headlong past the things that matter most in life. So when Maggie purchases plane tickets for them to join her in a vacation on the Gulf of Mexico, they almost decline the offer. Circumstances force the issue, and the sisters find themselves first thrown together, then ultimately drawn together, in one memorable week in a cabin called Seaside. As Maggie sets out to photograph the faces and moods of her overachieving daughters, more than photos develop. A picture emerges of possibilities that come only by slowing down and savoring the simple treasures of the moment. It takes a mother's love and honesty to teach hers daughters a wiser, uncluttered way of life---one that can bring peace to their hearts and healing to their relationships. And though the lesson comes on wings of grief, the sadness is tempered with faith, restoration, and a joy that comes from the hand of God. "Blackstock, queen of the Christian suspense novel (Presumption of Guilt, Evidence of Mercy, etc.), departs from the thrills-and-chills genre to pen this agreeable, but never syrupy, story of a family reunion ... the dialogue is wonderfully natural and the strong female characters surprisingly well-developed for a novel this brief. The novella's themes of forgiveness and eternal life undergird the plot and characters, but in an unobtrusive, nondidactic way... Christian readers who enjoy believable women characters will be drawn to this story, particularly as thoughtful vacation reading, relishing Maggie's message that "time wasted is not always a waste of time."-Publisher's Weekly


About the Author
Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She is the winner of two Carol Awards, a Christian Retailers Choice Award, and a Romantic Times Book Reviews Career Achievement Award, among others. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual "new kid," her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since. In 1994 Terri was writing romance novels under two pseudonyms for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening prompted her to switch gears. At the time, she was reading more suspense than romance, and felt drawn to write thrillers about ordinary people in grave danger. Her newly awakened faith wove its way into the tapestry of her suspense novels, offering hope instead of despair. Her goal is to entertain with page-turning plots, while challenging her readers to think and grow. She hopes to remind them that they're not alone, and that their trials have a purpose. Terri has appeared on national television programs such as "The 700 Club" and "Home Life," and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.