GUEST POST + INTERVIEW: Jesseca Wheaton, author of UNTITLED!

 

Hey everyone!  Today I have the honor of sharing a guest post and interview with Jesseca Wheaton, historical fiction author.  Her new book, Untitled, is coming out on the perfect date -- November 11th!  I'm so excited to read this one!  Thanks so much to Jesseca for taking the time to write this guest post and do an interview too!  Before we get started, though, here's some information about the book -- and you'll definitely want to stick around, because there's a giveaway with this blog tour, too...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jesseca is a daughter, sister, and a child of God. When she’s not busy at her full time job as a first responder, her days are spent reading, spending time with siblings, watching movies that make her cry, and playing piano. Oh, and writing, of course! At an early age words fascinated her, and her love for the printed page has only grown. She lives with her parents and seven siblings in the sunny state of Kansas, and she’s convinced there’s no place like home.

BLOG |GOODREADS

BLURB

Okinawa, 1945

Two brothers. Two Separate Paths.

A Navy corpsman assigned to the Marines, Jess Walker’s world is shaken as he struggles to aid the men around him. But the battlefield isn’t his hardest challenge. The nagging memory of how he lost his brother weighs on him, serving as a constant reminder of his failure. War has no mercy for anyone and Jess isn’t sure he can survive the war inside. As his world comes crashing down around him, he struggles to believe there is a future beyond the pain. 

Clay Walker has moved on from the life he once lived. A successful Marine pilot, he wants nothing to do with his family and the God he left behind. Japan is on the brink of surrender when his unit is shipped off to Okinawa, and it’s there that Clay is forced to realize his past is not as deeply buried as he thought. Faced with heavy losses and questions without answers, Clay has a choice to make. Is he willing to step back and let God take the controls? Or is it too late for a second chance? 

As WWII rages, the two brothers must face their demons — or be lost to the burning world around them.

Coming November 11th

GOODREADS

GUEST POST

Hey guys! My name is Jess, I’m the author of Untitled, a YA historical fiction book releasing this week! Michaela asked me to talk a little bit about the themes of Untitled and their importance, so I’m going to attempt to do that a bit. While the book has many themes, I’ve decided to focus on three of them.

Trusting God with the future isn’t easy. Definitely speaking from experience here. I dislike not having control of every little thing. I want to know what’s happening, and I want to know how it’s going to play out. I like knowing what I want in life, at least to an extent. And I don’t want anyone interfering. 

But one of the amazing things about life with Christ is that it’s an adventure with the Lord of the universe. He takes us down paths we never would have chosen, and only later can we look back and see how His infinite wisdom was so much better than our misguided attempts. God’s plan for the future may be vastly different from what we’ve had in mind — but He’s in control. He’s on the throne. He still has a plan even when we can’t see it. All we need do is trust. 

This thread is woven throughout the book in a way I hope can rly encourage the reader. Especially right now when life is absolutely crazy and we don’t really know what’s going to happen next. But the amazing thing about the Bible is that the words that were true in 1945 are still true today. God has a plan. Always. And in the end, God wins. We can be content knowing it’s not up to us — This is God’s show. 

Is it easy? Not in the least. But we don't gain anything by worrying about events we can’t control. When we trust Him, Christ gives us peace to face whatever’s ahead. 

*Coughs* Okay, I got a little carried away there. Let’s get back to the book. One of the other overarching but more subtle messages of the book is being a witness for Christ wherever you are. Living your life like you know Christ is real. Because people are watching. They’ll see the difference. In Untitled one of the main characters is surprised when a minor character comes to him and says in essence, You’re not like other guys. You’re different even than the religious people I know. 

As followers of Christ, that’s what we need to strive for. A difference. Not just in what we say we believe, but how we act. How we treat others. How we live our lives. 

People are watching. If we say we’re different, we need to act differently. We don’t need to have all the answers. We don’t need to know what to say. But we need to know Who to point them to. But we’ll never get that chance if they don’t see that we’re different. 

PTSD is a subject that’s only lightly touched on in the book. There are so many different forms of it that a book alone doesn’t do it justice. PTSD can manifest itself many different ways from nightmares to self-destructive behaviour and many other things in between. Back in WWII not much was known about it. In fact it’s only been in the last 50 years that we’ve made progress on diagnosing and treating it. Often those with the symptoms were seen as cowards. They were thought to have a nervous breakdown, and they were labeled as weak and unable to handle the stress of war. It breaks my heart to think of all the men who suffered from it alone, and those who still continue to do so today. The price paid for our freedom wasn’t always a loss of life; sometimes to those who survived, it was far worse. 

Like many other mental illnesses today it isn’t widely talked about and many people aren’t aware of the struggles people go through. My hope is to at least shine some light, no matter how small, on the subject and get people to think. These aren’t problems that are going to go away. 

Well, at this point I think I’ve rambled quite long enough. Hopefully that’s peaked your interest in the book and made you want to try it. ;) Thanks so much for having me, Michaela! 

Thanks so much for stopping by, Jesseca!  What a great guest post -- and it makes me want to read this book even more.  Now, make sure you read the interview below!

1. What inspired you to write Untitled?

I really wanted to write a book dealing with the subjects Untitled handled because it was something I wasn’t seeing in any Christian fiction. Originally I had attempted to do it through a present-day timeline and that … never got over 6k. I know I tend to write best when I’m dealing with history so I decided to do some research and see if homosexuality was something relevant during WWII. And I was really surprised by just how much info there was on it. So I prayed about it and decided to give it a go. And on a slightly less important note I always have a soft spot in my heart for estranged brother stories and It’d been too long since I’d written one. 

2. What character was your favorite to write about?

I feel like this isn’t a fair question because I love them all … xD Each was special and different in their own way. I do have to admit though that I loved writing Jess and his corpsman buddies. I love anything medical and being able to put it in a story and have my characters share my passion was pretty awesome. 

3. What is one thing you hope readers gain from reading your book?

Ahh, so many things! First off, I hope they come away feeling better equipped to handle difficult situations with unbelievers. And I hope they realize that just because you don’t see the results immediately or see the person saved doesn’t mean you failed — God is still working. 

I hope they realize that God never leaves you. No matter how dark and hopeless, He’s still there. Still on the throne. He still has a plan even when we can’t see it. 

I hope they realize how much so many have suffered in the service of our country. I hope they realize how priceless our freedom is and I pray they never take it for granted. 

4. What’s the story behind the title?

I think the best answer for this is a quote from the book. “They were the Untitled ones. The ones whose names no one would know; the faces no one will remember. After the war they’d go back home and become a statistic. A bunch of numbers, their names forgotten to history.” The book honors all those whose names we don’t know. .The countless numbers that have given their lives for our freedom — and we don’t even know their names. But we have a responsibility to remember their sacrifice. 

5. What is your favorite thing about writing the WWII fiction era?

Again, so many things! There are so many amazing stories that need to be told and there’s no lack of material. From the Pacific to the European front to the plains of Africa, it really was a war that spanned the whole world. (We had troops in Australia as well, which is one of my favorite fun facts most people aren’t aware of.) No matter what you like writing, there’s no shortage of material. And there’s so many lessons to be learned in re-visiting that area of history. One of my favorite things is the fact that unlike the Civil War and WWII, we still have survivors alive today. You can get firsthand information and learn history from the people who lived it. It’s an incredible privilege and one I don’t take lightly. They’ve entrusted their stories to us - it’s our job to make sure those stories are told. 

Thanks so much for stopping by, Jesseca!  I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope you snag a copy of Untitled once it's released!  But for now, I think I mentioned a giveaway at the beginning...so check it out!

Enter below!  This looks like an absolutely awesome giveaway -- one U.S. winner will receive....

• Paperback copy of Untitled 

• Box of compass cards

• God Bless America Wooden Sign

• Bookmark 

• USMC keychain 

• U.S. Navy Medallion

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY LINK!