About the Book

Book: Fleeing Egypt

Author: Jaycee Pierce

Genre: Women’s Fiction (Christian)

Release date: October 24, 2022

When Jennifer (Jen) Hoyt leaves for college, the word ecstatic feels like an understatement for how she feels. She can finally move away from the dysfunctional family who neglected and abused her to make a better life on her own. After being an overachieving outcast in school, Jen is confident of academic success, but what she wants most is to be a part of a loving family.

During her first year of college, Kyle, a friend of a friend, captures her heart, but her attempts to “make him love her back” have dire consequences. When Jen finds out she is pregnant, she knows one thing: she wants to keep her baby. Will Kyle decide to form the family she so desperately wants? If he doesn’t, how will Jen keep her baby safe from those who hurt her? Jen doesn’t know the Lord yet, but He’s already making a way for her.

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About the Author

No one is more surprised than I am to read the word author and know it applies to me. I had different dreams as a child, and this was not remotely on my radar. At three, I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer. When I was eight, I “ran for president,” telling people to vote for me in the election year when I would finally be thirty-five (I had calculated it precisely). In my teens, I had lowered the barand just wanted to be a lawyer. While those doors never opened, God has faithfully led me on a winding path to get me where I am today.

I have held a variety of jobs: customer service representative, loan processor, professional video game player, city councilwoman, church secretary, math teacher, and most importantly, mother. While I was training to be a teacher, God inspired me to write a yet-to-be-published children’s book. Not long after, I began this novel. I wrote a week each summer between school years while my son and his father were camping without me. Depending on how you want to count time, it either took me five weeks (of actual time in front of a computer screen) or three years (looking at a calendar) to finish. Then I spent several years editing and finding a publisher. I hope that you find as much pleasure from reading it as I got from writing it.

More from Jaycee

God works in mysterious ways. I honestly never intended to be a writer, and this entire endeavor started in a way that seemed almost accidental at the time. I had just finished my first year of teaching mathematics. That summer, the members of my immediate family went on a five-day “male bonding” camping trip.

Left home alone, I called friends and family members to reconnect and fill my need for social interaction. One conversation in particular left me with a lot of “what if” questions about how life would have been different for me without God in the picture. I wrestled with different scenarios and then decided I needed to organize my thoughts.

I started writing and thirteen hours later ended up with about 40 pages of text. I sent those to my cousin, Jill, who wanted to know what happened next. Her encouragement kept me writing until this novel was completed, two summer camping trips later.

My Interview:

What inspired you to start writing?

I somewhat stumbled into being a writer around 2011. While working on a master’s degree, I took a class on adolescent psychology. The teacher of the class began speaking about the effects of being abused on children. He discussed one case where people had decided the child involved had “no hope of being normal”. This verdict left me livid. I lived through abuse in my childhood and have found a path with God’s help to live a life which was much more than what the experts predicted for the girl he discussed with our class.

I wanted the girl involved and her family to know there is hope and not to give up on trying to create a “normal life”. I wished I had the opportunity to speak to them. I tossed and turned thinking about what I would say, but eventually fell asleep. In the middle of the night, God woke me up and wrote a children’s book through me. I felt the Holy Spirit as I wrote, and the process took less than 10 minutes. That book presents my story to children that are experiencing some or all of what I went through as a child to offer them the idea that they can find ways to live happy, healthy lives. Interestingly, it is not a particularly Christian book, but it is just the beginning of the conversation.

Not long after that experience, another conversation inspired me. One of my cousins and I were discussing the fact that my doctor told me in my late teens that I would never have children. God gifted me with a child in my thirties, but my cousin asked me how I thought my life would be different if I had gotten pregnant earlier. That question stuck with me and caused me to start writing. The result of that introspection was the novel I just published, Fleeing Egypt.

The main character has a background somewhat similar to my own. The book is the first part of a series that will show her difficult journey to faith. I wanted the opportunity to talk about the power of forgiveness and some of the obstacles that come when abuse is part of your background. Among them are anger at God and the feelings of being unloved and unlovable that come when your own family treats you poorly. My greatest hope is that as this character comes to eventually find faith in God that it will help others from my background also find healing and relationship with God.

What advice would you give a new writer or someone just starting out?

Be sure to plan ahead and research all of the steps in the process. I got funneled into the writing portion at the expense of thinking about how to market the book once it came out. I wish I had spent more time trying to learn about social media and how to use it effectively. Now that my book is out on the market, I do not have enough of a presence on-line to draw readers. I would tell people that if they want to publish, they should probably work on creating an online presence at the same time as they work on their book.

What is the definition of success as an author for you?

The biggest marker of success for me will be if my books are able to touch people’s hearts and bring them closer to God. As I sent my book into the publisher, I asked friends, family, and the members of my church to pray that God would touch people’s hearts and for my work to honor Him. I am not sure there will ever be an easy way for me to measure that kind of success, but to hear God say “well done” some day will be the ultimate proof.

In the meantime, I am hoping that He will bless my writing enough that I can support myself with the proceeds someday. That doesn’t have to be extravagant – just having enough to keep a roof over my head, food to eat, and my needs taken care of would be amazing. I guess I will have to wait and see what God has planned.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I have completed three books total, but only one is published:

• The first book I wrote was for children and is called A Seed Grew Within Me.
• The second book is the one that just got published, Fleeing Egypt
• The third is the sequel which will be called, Crossing the Desert (Expected to publish sometime in 2023).
• I am currently writing the last book in the trilogy, Entering the Promised Land.

Of those, I think Crossing the Desert is my favorite so far. I love some of the conversations between the characters. I want to write books that do not follow the “typical pattern” of romance books, and I think Crossing the Desert does that slightly better than Fleeing Egypt does. I think people will be shocked by some of what happens and surprised by the ending. Even I had a little surprise as I wrote the ending. I had intended for the book to go a completely different direction, but this result was the natural flow from the conversations that were happening.

I feel a little bit funny expressing that preference while trying to promote my current book. I do love Fleeing Egypt. I want people to buy it and enjoy it. I have tried to build layers into the story. Fleeing Egypt offers a Ruth theme, the beginnings of a prodigal son story, some American history, a villain you will love to hate, Christians living out their faith, and more than one love story. It is not the end of the main character’s faith journey, so it doesn’t tie everything up with a bow, but I think it is an enjoyable story. If I am honest, I just know that Crossing the Desert offers many of those same assets with a twist or two you won’t see coming.

Can you share a snippet that isn’t in the blurb or excerpt?

Staring out the peep hole at him (Kyle), Jen watched as he raised his arm to knock on the door and then lowered it several times. The whole time, she held her breath, hoping he would leave without any more drama. Her heart raced, and she felt as if she was going to throw up.

As Kyle got to the top of the stairs, she slowly exhaled. She could no longer see him, so she strained to hear his car. After the car door shut, a long moment of silence left her begging. “Leave. Please, just leave”. Finally, the car engine turned over, and the tires squealed as he pulled out of his parking spot.

Jen turned and sank with her back against the door. As the adrenaline rush began to ebb, a slow trickle of tears ran down her face. Poor baby. Your daddy doesn’t want you.  The tears started coming faster and her breathing became more labored. Well I guess you aren’t the first one. My parents didn’t love me either. Mom said men don’t want single moms, so I probably won’t have anyone to love me, but I promise baby, I will absolutely love you forever. Sobs wracked her body She couldn’t remember the last time she had cried this hard. She curled up holding her knees and put her head on them. She tried to stop but couldn’t.

Snowflake came out to check on Jen, mewing pitifully and petting himself against her. Even his attempts at comforting couldn’t stop the tears. After several minutes of being ignored, he snuggled in next to her and just looked up at her with concern in his eyes.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, February 2

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 3

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 4

Artistic Nobody, February 5 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, February 5

Cover Lover Book Review, February 6

For the Love of Literature, February 7 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, February 8

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 9

Susan K. Beatty, Author, February 10 (Author Interview)

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, February 11

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, February 12

Where Crisis & Christ Collide, February 13 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, February 14

Guild Master, February 15 (Author Interview)

Pause for Tales, February 15

 

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jaycee is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Celebration Tour Giveaway Link