When Memories Fade (Victory Gospel Series, Book 2)
by Tyora Moody
Angel Roberts has embraced her new faith, but past memories remain fresh. When her beloved grandmother suffers a stroke, Angel sets out to investigate a mystery that has created family tensions and lingered since she was five years old. What happened to her mother? She teams up with investigative reporter, Wes Cade, a man obsessed with his Alzheimer stricken grandfather's remaining memories. As Angel lets her guard down with Wes, his determination to get the story could push her to the edge. Is his interest in her or the story? Angel must conquer her fears to find the truth. Unknown to her someone close is working feverishly to stop Angel from unlocking the truth of what really happened to her mother. Who will win?
Purchase When Memories Fade (Victory Gospel Series, Book 2)
The second installment of the Victory Gospel Series, When Memories Fade, by Tyora Moody does not disappoint. Just as I was intrigued with the first installment, When Rain Falls, I was equally intrigued and captivated by the storyline of When Memories Fade. What an engaging story from beginning to end. This is Christian mystery at its best; a welcomed and much needed genre incorporation across Christian fiction lines.
~ Shelia E. Lipsey, Award-winning author of What’s Blood Got To Do With It? and the My Son’s Wife series
Tyora Moody has masterfully created a sub-genre in Christian Fiction. When Memories Fade is an engaging tale of murder, mystery and suspense. The story also weaves in the dynamics of mental illness, and how if left untreated, can destroy the family.
~ Wanda B. Campbell, Bestselling & Award-winning author of Unresolved Issues and Liberation
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has all the twists, turns, drama, mystery and suspense as her first release. I could not put this book down. I had to keep reading to see what would happen next. If you loved her first book, When Memories Fade will not disappoint.
~ Janette Malcolm, Book Reviewer
About the Author
Tyora Moody is an author and entrepreneur. When Memories Fade is the second book in the Victory Gospel Series. When Rain Falls, Book One in the Victory Gospel Series, was released March 2012. Tyora is a member of Sisters in Crime and American Christian Fiction Writers. She owns and operates TywebbinCreations.com and DIYwithTy.com.
She gripped the steering wheel in fear as she calculated every move he made. For the last hour, he held the gun in her direction. What if she jerked the car off the road? No. She wanted to live. Still the car accident had to be better than what he would do to her. She had no idea where they were going.
"Pull over, right up here." He turned his hot breath on her. "Do it now."
With as much ease as her trembling body allowed, she slowed the car and pulled to the side of the road. There hadn't been another car for miles on this back road. The sun had disappeared as cloudy, dark gray skies loomed ahead.
He cocked the gun towards her chest. "Get out."
Her hands felt ice-cold as she struggled to grasp the door handle.
"Come on," he growled.
She yanked the door handle and scrambled out of the car to face her abductor.
The man waved the gun and yelled, "Start walking."
Sticks and leaves crunched as they walked into the mass of trees. From a distance, she saw lightning streak across the sky. A cool breeze whipped through the trees but it brought no comfort. Her heart raced as if she had just run a marathon. She choked back a sob. He was going to kill her.
To think how much she had trusted him. It never would have crossed her mind that he would hurt her. More lightning split the sky followed by an intense rumble of thunder. The trees shook their limbs as if taunting her for being so naïve.
"Stop."
She turned and noticed he'd cocked his head like he heard something. Was someone else out here?
He swung the gun an inch from her temple. "Get down."
"What?"
"Get on your knees," he snarled.
She fell on her knees, feeling the earth beneath her. Her heart lurched as the thunder roared like an angry lion above their heads. Big drops of rain began to crash around them. She shut her eyes tight not believing this was her fate.
"Please, God help me," she prayed fervently.
When she opened her eyes an answer laid near her, barely covered by leaves. She glanced up at him. His eyes had grown wilder as he paced around her. He seemed to be having a conversation, but she couldn't understand a word he was saying. The rain was falling harder now, soaking her clothes. She peered down at the ground again. Why not? What did she have to lose? She had to do something.
She scooped the smooth rock from the muddy ground. Her dormant softball skills kicked in as she zoned in on his hand. Not waiting another second, she swung the rock with all her might.
The rock smacked him square on the hand and he dropped the gun. "No, you ..."
She leapt forward like a track runner and headed into the trees. As she ran, the oddest memory of a Sunday School lesson entered her mind. The one about Lot's wife. God told her not to look back, but she did and lost her life.
His voice bellowed behind her.
"Don't look back," She told herself as she ran. "Don't. Look. Back."
CHAPTER ONE
Charlotte, North Carolina, 2011
"We both know she's dead." Angel Roberts tightened her grip around the steering wheel, realizing too late, she'd destroyed a beautiful evening. A harsh silence sucked the air from inside the car.
After a minute, her grandmother responded softly, but firm. "Angel, I can never give up hope."
Angel took her eyes off the road to peer at her grandmother's face. A warmth of shame washed over Angel as she witnessed the pain in Fredricka Robert's eyes. Why now? It was my birthday.
Less than fifteen minutes ago, Angel had driven away from Victory Gospel Church, still grateful for the love shown to her. A year ago, Angel would have never imagined herself regularly attending church, and definitely not Bible study. Tonight, the members of the Overcomers Women's Ministry presented Angel with a surprise twenty-fifth birthday celebration. Angel had loaded the almost-eaten butter cream cake and birthday gifts into the back seat, not realizing her joy would be short-lived.
Angel slowed the car down as she approached the red light. All was well until her grandmother said, "You look so much like your mother when she was twenty-five."
Despite confessing her faith in Christ nine months ago at Victory Gospel Church, Angel continued to struggle with resentment. It seemed like every year, Angel's birthday turned into more of a memorial for her mother. There was this gap between Angel and her grandmother, where her mother should have been. Angel barely remembered the woman who disappeared twenty years ago.
The question that haunted Angel the most was the same one that brought her grandmother hope. What if her mother were alive? To Angel that meant Elisa Roberts had abandoned her daughter. That night after Angel's fifth birthday party, her mother walked out and never returned. Elisa had provided no clue to where she was going or if she was going to meet someone. Just vanished. Foul play or on purpose. Surely, her grandmother didn't want to hope in finding the woman who did the latter.
As she drove through the green light, Angel chided herself for getting angry with her grandmother. It was just her and Grams now. She cleared her throat, "Grams, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blurt out we know my mother's dead. We don't really know."
No response.
She glanced at her grandmother. Fredricka's face was turned towards the passenger window. Not wanting to upset her grandmother anymore tonight, Angel became engrossed in her own thoughts. What Angel didn't want was for Grams to find out what she was doing. She was on a mission to find out what or who led to her mother's disappearance. Five years ago, she'd started working on a documentary of her mother's life, before various circumstances led her off track. Now she was determined to complete the project. Anything to bring attention to her mother's short-lived legacy.
Her grandparents had raised her, doing their best to keep memories of her mother alive. Even though she was young, Angel remembered her mother being sad all the time. Angel was born a few months after a devastating break-up between Angel's mother and father. It didn't help that her mother, a protégée, struggled to regain her footing in a once promising singing career while trying to raise Angel.
In many ways, Elisa showed signs of desperately wanting a new life or either ending the dismal life she had perceived she had. Reaching her own breaking point four years ago, Angel longed for a connection with her mother.
Angel maneuvered her grandfather's old Buick into the driveway of the only place she called home. Her grandmother shuffled behind her as they made their way down the cobblestone walkway towards the front door. Once inside, Angel headed toward the kitchen to find a spot for the leftover cake inside the refrigerator. She had an urge to leave the cake out and eat the rest of it, but weariness invaded her body. She slammed the fridge door shut and turned around. "Whoa, Grams-" Her grandmother had managed to sneak up behind her. Angel didn't remember hearing her walk in the kitchen.
Her grandmother sputtered, "Angel, we should have stopped by the store on the way home."
Angel frowned. Maybe she had agitated her grandmother too much with her outburst in the car. "I can go back out, Grams. It's not a problem. What do you need?"
"Aspirin." Fredricka held her hand to head. "I'm not feeling well."
Angel placed her hand on her grandmother's shoulder. "Why don't you lie down? I will bring you some aspirin. I'm sure we already have a bottle."
Angel walked across the kitchen to the cabinet where they kept a medicine supply. She searched among the orange and white labeled bottles. There were so many bottles. A lot of the labels bore her deceased grandfather's name. She really needed to work with Grams to throw away his old medicine. Finally, Angel saw a bottle of aspirin. "Here is the bottle."Angel flipped the bottle in her hand to check the expiration date.
A forceful thump startled her. Angel turned around. "Grams!" she cried out. She ran over and knelt beside her grandmother on the linoleum floor.
The right side of her grandmother's face twitched. "Ang..."
Before Angel could stop them, tears sprang to life, blurring her vision. "Grams, hang in there. You are going to be okay."
Angel sprinted to the phone on the wall and with trembling fingers, she dialed 9-1-1. Oh God, please don't take Grams yet.
Tyora Moody is an author and entrepreneur. Her debut novel, When Rain Falls, was released March 2012 (Urban Christian). This is the first book in the Victory Gospel series. The second book in the Victory Gospel Series, When Memories Fade, was released in April 2013 (Urban Christian).
Deep Fried Trouble, the first book in the Eugeena Patterson Mystery series will be released June 2013. Tyora has coined her books as Soul-Searching Suspense. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and American Christian Fiction Writers. She served as a judge for the Christy Awards for three years.
She owns and operates TywebbinCreations.com, a design and marketing company. For over twelve years, she has worked with authors, small business owners and non-profit organizations to develop their online presence. For free tips, how-to guides and ecourses, visit DIYwithTy.com.
When Tyora isn’t working for a client or doing something literary, she enjoys spending time with family, catching a movie on the big screen, traveling and when the mood hits her, baking cookies. Visit the author online at TyoraMoody.com.
Tyora Moody is the author Soul-Searching Suspense novels, When Rain Falls, When Memories Fade (April 2013) and Deep Fried Trouble (June 2013). She is a member of Sisters in Crime and American Christian Fiction Writers. As an literary-focused entrepreneur, she has assisted countless authors with developing an online presence via her company, TywebbinCreations.com. Popular services include virtual book tours, book trailers, customized WordPress websites and book covers for independent authors.
BPM: When did you get your first inkling to write, and how did you advance the call for writing?
I have always loved a good story and reading, but I probably had my first inkling to write when I received a journal in high school. I was 14 or 15 at the time. I poured my thoughts into that journal and have kept many over the years. It was in 2006, during journal writing time, characters were birthed. Out of curiosity, I continued to write and scenes turned into chapters. Soon I had written an entire novel. I'm currently getting ready to write my fourth novel and I really love the writing process, especially rewriting. Writing the first draft is great, but it's during rewrites, the story seems to come more alive.
BPM: Do you have anyone in your life that was heavily influential in your deciding to become an author?
I can't say one particular person influenced me to become an author, but I grew up with parents who encouraged creativity and motivated me to go after my passions.
BPM: Introduce us to your book and the main characters. What makes each one special? Do you have any favorites?
Angel Roberts has embraced her new faith, but past memories remain fresh. When her beloved grandmother suffers a stroke, Angel sets out to investigate a mystery that has created family tensions and lingered since she was five years old. What happened to her mother?
She teams up with investigative reporter, Wes Cade, a man obsessed with his Alzheimer stricken grandfather's remaining memories. As Angel lets her guard down with Wes, his determination to get the story could push her to the edge. Is his interest in her or the story?
Angel must conquer her fears to find the truth. Unknown to her someone close is working feverishly to stop Angel from unlocking the truth of what really happened to her mother. Who will win?
BPM: Which character or topic in the book can you identify with the most? Why?
Probably the main character, Angel Roberts. The more I wrote about her, the more I started to see similarities between this character and myself in my twenties. Angel discovers her faith at age 25 after much soul-searching and I did the same. She is a bit of an introvert who is passionate about creativity which I am also. I started to make her a graphic designer like myself, but thought it would be more interesting to make her a videographer.
BPM: What drew you to tackle the questions or topics in When Memories Fade?
I knew after writing the first book in the series, When Rain Falls, that I wanted the next novel to not be so much of who-dun-it story. I watch a lot of true crime shows and for a time period, I watched quite a few shows about missing persons.
An idea started to develop about how not knowing what happened to a loved one affected a family and even one's faith. What if the missing person left children behind? How does that child cope as she grows up not knowing what happened especially when there is such a mystery behind the disappearance. That's how the story from When Memories Fade started to grow.
BPM: What are your goals as a writer? Do you set out to educate? Entertain? Illuminate? Inspire?
I don't really set out with a goal other than to tell a really good story. I think my writing style is a combination of inspiration, education and entertainment. In When Memories Fade, I found it helpful to "educate" about Strokes and Alzheimer's as I incorporated these diseases into the lives of the main characters. The main plot of the story centers around a missing person case, so there were opportunites to share the process for searching for a person.
I also deal with forgiveness, so that's where the inspiration is woven into this novel. It's not easy to move forward when you have been betrayed or lied to. Most of us have had similar circumstances which I hope readers will be able to relate to as they read When Memories Fade.
BPM: Share with us your latest news or upcoming book releases. How may our readers follow you online?
I will be releasing Deep Fried Trouble, the first novella in the Eugeena Patterson Mystery series in June 2013. The novella is what is known as a cozy mystery. The main character, Eugeena, is a retired school teacher and grandmother who stumbles upon a murdered neighbor. Her curiosity and other personal circumstances lead her into a new career as an amateur sleuth. Great fun to write and very different writing from the Victory Gospel Series. I did a lot of laughing as I wrote and edited
Deep Fried Trouble.
BPM: Thank you for sharing a little bit about yourself, your journey and your book with our readers!
Thanks for having me, Ella! READERS, can contact me via my website or social media.
While some of us are still stuffed from holiday meals or running around to catch holiday deals, others are looking back on the year and feel the loss of a loved one even more than usual. There are many memories wrapped around the holiday season that can be painful.
Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
– Proverbs 18:24 The Message
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
– Proverbs 18:24 New King James Version
Grief and loss can come in various forms. It may be death, divorce, the loss of a job, a natural disaster, etc. We all grieve differently and it really helps to have someone there just to listen or provide a hug. In When Rain Falls, Candace lost two best friends. Two years ago it was her husband and now she has lost a friend she has known since junior high school. Both of these people died tragically. Could you blame her for asking the question. “Why does God keep taking away the people I love?” Have you ever asked a similar question to what Candace has asked? The scene below is an excerpt from what I call the “funeral” chapter.
“Like books suddenly without bookends, Candace felt as though she would topple over at any moment. The questions were killing her. Was there something she could have done? Should she have been more vigilant and nosed her way into Pamela’s business? Now she would never know.” – Excerpt from When Rain Falls
While Candace was struggling with bitterness and trying to cling to her faith, she wasn’t alone. First and foremost, God was right there with her. When Candace was really low, I felt compelled to write God’s word into the scene. His still quiet small voice penetrated her grief and lifted her spirits.
Secondly, God provided Candace with two mother figures. Interestingly enough, not until many edits later, did I realize how much these two women mirrored the older women who were mentors in my life. Beulah Samuels was a high-energetic character who played mother, matchmaker, prayer partner and comic relief. When a scene became really emotional, Beulah’s warmth made me, the writer, smile.
Seventy-six year old Fredricka Roberts brought a bit of humor herself. What she really brought to the story was her wisdom and a faith that had seen it all. Two of the most powerful scenes in When Rain Falls occur in Candace’s salon with Ms. Fredricka in her the salon chair. As a child growing up, I witnessed the extraordinary bond between a cosmetologist and her customer when I hung out in my mother’s beauty salon. It felt so appropriate to bring that bond to the pages of this novel.
NOTE TO MENTORS AND SISTERGIRLFRIENDS: If you are a girlfriend or mentor to someone who has experienced loss recently or this year, take the time to reach out, especially during the holidays.
PRAYER FOR THE BEREAVED: When you are feeling down and experiencing adversity, I pray you turn first and foremost to God. He is the only one that can provide that sweet “peace that surpasses all understanding.” I pray you have mentors or sistergirlfriends (brothers) that can lend a listening ear. Not so much offering you puffed-up empty advice, but a shoulder to lean on “when rain falls “in your life.
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