The Book proposal that Got the Contract!

My Time with Sola is primarily aimed at women but I hope men will find it of immense value, particularly as it deals in part with the issue of paternal rights in abortion cases. The novel is loosely based on the book of Job and the parable of the prodigal son. It is a call out to people who’ve turned their back on their faith and also for practising Christians who are struggling with sin. It is a novel of encouragement, hope and redemption in Christ. I hope the novel will encourage people to live with their eyes focused on Him in spite of their many struggles.

 

The novel will be about 63,000 words.

 

My Time with Sola is written diary style and follows the 18 month adventures of Sola, a marketing executive experiencing a real crisis of faith. Between her mixed race parents, engaged best friend and wonderful but not Christian ex-boyfriend, Zack and demanding job, her life is pretty much packed. The novel chronicles 18 months of her life in which she succumbs to sin, gets pregnant and considers something she never thought she would do; abortion. Then she considers abandoning her faith because she fears God’s condemnation at the choices she’s made. However, God draws her to Himself and uses the most unlikely person to bring her back to Himself; Zack, her live in lover.

 

The plot development reads like a drama but it’s not-honestly! I prefer to call it a dramatic comedy. It will have strong biblical messages through its use of Bible verses (see sample chapter). And it is these Bible verses that the Holy Spirit uses to draw her back to Himself during her self-imposed spiritual exile.

 

You’ll also notice an attached article, Sins Many Pleasures. It is currently on www.yah-weh.com, one of my websites. I wrote that article after a particularly gruelling battle between my flesh and what I knew to be right. I came away unscathed but I do wonder about the Christians who lose the battle and thereafter, choose to live as though they never knew Christ (Hebrews 6:6). Sola’s character was moulded from the experience I wrote about in the article. She indulges in a night of passion with Zack, promises herself it wouldn’t happen again but then finds herself doing the same thing again and again. She’s wracked with guilt and unable to receive God’s forgiveness because she cannot forgive herself. At the same time, she’s unwilling to give up her emotional and sexual attachment to Zack. She wants to have both God and Zack although she knows she cannot serve both. Then she falls pregnant. What is she to do? Zack proposes to her but he doesn’t share her faith. She doesn’t want to be unequally yoked but at the same time, he’s the father of her baby so it makes sense for them to be married. The alternative is life as a single mother with all its negative connotations. Not an appealing choice either. At the centre of all these is the daunting realisation that she doesn’t want to be a mother-yet. So she does the previously unthinkable; she considers abortion. It appears to be the answer to all her problems. Nobody at the church would know she was ever pregnant, the baby would go to heaven anyway so it’s not like she’s really killing her baby. And anyway, she rationalises, it’s her body and her right. God isn’t really pleased with her anyway so her choice wouldn’t be of any consequence to Him. It’s not like she’s been living like a Christian in the first place.

 

Sola faces pressure on all fronts; from Zack who doesn’t support abortion and wants them to live together if she doesn’t want to marry him. She faces pressure from her parents regarding what to do, herself, her friends but most of all, she has to fight a spiritual and emotional battle of faith. Should she abandon her faith and Saviour or should she soldier on and fight? Like Job, a spiritual battle is being waged on her behalf. Who will win?

 

In My Time with Sola, I wanted to show the gradual erosion of a woman’s faith as a result of the choices she’s made. Sometimes when we hear stories about people, we ask, “How could she do that?” In Sola, I wanted to show the fallibility of human nature. Sola reads her Bible, goes to church and is to all intents and purposes, a “good” Christian. Then she succumbs to sin and keeps on succumbing until she’s faced with the consequences of her actions. Then she considers the unthinkable. It’s like the single Christian women who scour the internet for sperm donors because they want to have children but are not married. Convinced their biological clock is on shutdown, they take matters into their own hands and they rationalise their actions. I know these women never once thought they would stoop to such levels but this is the reality of Christianity today. Sola’s just like those women i.e. like you and me.

 

Why the abortion issue? Personal reasons mainly. In this politically correct world, a father’s view on pregnancies is not of consequence. I remember a male friend still grieving for his aborted child two years after it happened because his girlfriend didn’t want a baby. He did but she didn’t so she aborted their child and there was nothing he could do about it. I hope to get across (in a sensitive way) the upheaval unplanned pregnancies affect the people involved. In Sola’s case, it causes a rift between her parents. One encourages her to do what’s best for herself while the other expressly forbids her to have it. I haven’t decided on which yet. My Time with Sola deals with the so-called reasons people consider abortion and the trauma involved in such a decision. It wouldn’t be done in a preachy way neither would it court controversy. In fact, regarding this particular issue, the novel would focus rather unusually on Zack. I want him to represent every male that’s ever had a baby only to have it aborted because the mother didn’t want it. I wanted the novel to focus on someone whose side isn’t usually heard although his part in the abortion discussion is no less important; the father of the baby. There are many resources available for women dealing with the abortion process/discussion but hardly any for the men involved. What about them? I thought one of Sola’s and Zack’s discussion scenes would go like this;

 

Zack tried to hug me but I shrank away. I didn’t want him touching me. What does he know? I’m the one that has to deal with this not him. We stood in the kitchen looking at each other and then he said it.

 

“Sola, please I’m begging you. Don’t hurt my baby. Please don’t hurt my baby. I don’t think I can deal with this a second time. We’ll manage. I promise we’ll be okay. I’ll do whatever you want me to do but let my child live”, and he started crying like a fool. Then we both started crying like fools. It wasn’t meant to happen. God, how did I get here? 

 

In fact, I’m not sure I succeeded but in the scene above, I wanted to show Zack’s de ja vu. He’s been here before. An ex girlfriend aborted their child without telling him and there was nothing he could about it. And now, he’s about to go through the same thing again. He’s a broken man. When he has nowhere else to turn, he turns to the only person who can help; Jesus.

 

Sola doesn’t have the abortion. From the moment she wakes up on the scheduled day, her mind is literally bombarded with verses from psalm 139:13-6. Angry, confused and convicted, she resolves to have the abortion despite her doubts the previous night. When she gets to the operating table, one Bible verse comes to her, “why are you persecuting me?” She gets up from the operating table and calls Zack to come and pick her up.   

 

One of the by-lines of the novel involves a guy that Sola regularly meets on the bus. He’s introduced in the chapters attached. I wanted to use this guy to show how God uses the simplest ways to bring people to Himself. In the novel, Sola sometimes reads her Bible on the bus. One day, they start talking about her faith and as she gets up to leave the bus, she tells him, “choose ye this day whom you will serve.” She wasn’t to know the verse would plant a seed in the man’s heart to the extent he makes a commitment to Christ. Months later, they meet again on the bus only by this time, Sola’s left the church albeit temporarily. Here’s the scene as I envision it happening:

 

I recognised him the minute he came on the bus. I looked for somewhere to hide but couldn’t get up anyway. I was wedged between an amplified Nigerian and his equally amplified wife. Suddenly the littered bus floor metamorphed itself as a brillant work of art and I examined it for dear life. Like that would stop him. What is it with people? You have one conversation with them, a random one I might add, and it’s like you’re best friends for life. From the corner of my eye, I saw him approach me. I refused to look up and then I heard him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to use this scene to show Sola that God was trying to get her attention but she’s too angry and too condemned and too hurt to see. That begs the question; why does Sola believe she’s beyond forgiveness? In fact, why do people leave the church?

 

In Sola, I wanted to show a character that to all intents and purposes is a good Christian. The samples I’ve given you show how she’s trying to live her faith as best as she knows how. But then one day, she gives in to temptation and keeps on giving in until she gives herself over completely to her sin. She continues ‘doing’ all the Christian stuff; attending church and ‘doing’ church but is so overcome by guilt and the situation she finds herself that it seems the only right thing to do would be to turn her back on Christ completely. Her best friend, Vanessa, tries drawing her back to the Lord with remonstrations and pleadings but she only succeeds in driving her away.

 

I wanted to use Sola’s and Vanessa’s friendship to show the resultant conflict between friends when one has a crisis of faith. Vanessa faces a tough decision; should she love Sola back into the fold or should she deal with her sternly? In the end, she does both but fails miserably. I think many people will identify with Vanessa e.g. parents whose children have deserted their faith etc.

 

As you can see from the sample chapters, Sola starts each day with a Bible verse as part of her devotional. They are a great source of encouragement to her and she draws on them during her spiritual exile. She uses the devotional verses ironically because they provide a link to Christ although she finds them condemning not convicting. I find that many backslidden Christians and those struggling with sin tend to feel like this. Ironically, God uses the devotional verses to bring Zack to Himself. Zack is a broken man; he’s the father of a baby whose mother wants to abort. It’s not the first time it’s happened to him and he wants to prevent it happening again but he’s powerless because ‘it’s the woman’s body/choice’. At the same time, he’s in love with Sola who wouldn’t marry him because he’s not Christian not that he understands her faith anyway. In his search for answers, he starts reading Sola’s devotionals who for some reason resents him doing it. He gives his life to Christ and through him God brings Sola back to Himself.

 

About Zack. As you can see from the attached sample, Zack is a thoroughly lovely fellow. He is in love with Sola but he doesn’t understand her faith. ‘One love’ is his personal philosophy and he really cannot comprehend Sola’s insistence that they cannot be together. The fact that he’s so involved with her life by virtue of her parents makes it difficult for the two of them to let go of each other. Not that they want to anyway. I hope I’ve shown his quiet strength in the samples. I wanted to present him as a sturdy, stable fellow who is in love with a confused person.

 

I have to say that I do indulge myself with the novel’s epilogue. I don’t know any Christian that does not desire to see Jesus in the flesh. Sola does (see first page of sample chapter) although the desire is not expressed outwardly. She sees Him when she gives birth to her son (some months after recommits her life to Christ). I envision the novel ending something like this;

 

Oh Jesus, he’s beautiful, I whispered inwardly as I handed him to Zack. I looked up and there He was at the foot of my bed. And then, He was gone.

 

I’m quite aware of the cheesability rating on this but I hope this sample is realistic and believable enough.

 

I’ve been thinking about the name of the novel. I quite understand that you might need to change it and that’s okay with me. I also know that Sola’s character is rather different from the one we discussed at lunch but I think this is better. But I’m always welcomed to ideas from you.

 

My Time with Sola draws on the Pentecostal/Charismatic church tradition. The novel is not finished. In fact, it’s barely written.

 

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