Book Review for Fighter by Manafest

"The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul." David McKay

Christopher Greenwood, aka Manafest, is a Christian rap/rock artist originally from Canada. His loud voice of inspiration is for anyone who has a dream.

Chris' story tells of the pain of his childhood from his father's suicide, the frustrations of his growing up years from not fitting in and into his young adult years of how an injury tossed all his hopes and dreams away. Chris is a fighter and he managed to take the steps necessary to truly make lemonade out of his lemons.

If you have a dream, either one you have never pursued or one that is tainted by failure you should read this inspirational story. Fighter lays out five concrete steps for moving towards your goals and overcoming the emotional tidal waves that often come our way. Chris uses his life story as examples as well as famous quotes, inspiration from the Bible, and the lives of others who inspired him. Each of the chapters defining the five steps also concludes with a journal page for the reader to put down their thoughts. This translates each particular step into action.

I've seen Manafest perform live and gotten a glimpse into Chris' heart for encouragement. He is a very hands-on artist, trying to interact with the teens that file in and out of his concerts. I believe God is using the stage he's placed Chris on to change and mold many lives. His book will be no different. And as of yesterday Chris has entered the world of fatherhood - I am certain more gems are on the way soon. (Congrats Chris and Melanie!)

The book is a very easy read. The language is very simple; I passed the book onto to my kids.

Check it out! Fighter is a powerful reminder that giving up on our dreams isn't an option.

"I don't know about you, but I love books," said Christopher Greenwood aka Manafest in a press release. "I could point to different books in my library and tell you how they've changed my life. With music I only have a few minutes in a song to share my heart and sometimes even less after a show interacting with fans. So with the book 'Fighter,' I thought I could really give my fans more of me - to hear where I've come from, and how I've become a fighter." Taken from an article at Christian Post

Also check out this video of Chris Greenwood talking about his new book.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Chris Greenwood, Manafest Productions Inc. and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller. 

I moved a wall!

What kind of walls have you encountered in your life?

Walls come in all shapes and sizes, really. Some are so big we can't see over top of them. Others allow us a peek at where we could be if the wall wasn't in our way. Either way ... walls are frustrating.

I'd reached a wall in writing my latest story. Now, that was nothing new. In fact, it was becoming the norm. Somewhere around 2/3 of the novel I'd hit a wall and - until this time - I'd give up. (Sound familiar? Check out this blog post from Write to Done.)

I remember my first wall. I had written five complete stories. Not that it had been easy but it had definitely been a consistent flow for those early novels. I'd get the story idea. I'd write for two months. Then I was done. 

Then my sixth story was a little different for me. It had come from an idea I'd had in a dream. (Which meant it was a little hazy at times.) I started out good. I wrote steady for a long time until I came to a wall.

An invisible wall.

Do you know what kind of wall that is? 

This picture is of two of my kids when we visited California many years ago. As you can tell from the hats we were at Disneyland. (Actually, if my memory is right, this photo is from California Adventures.)

You can't tell from the photo exactly but my kids are standing flush against a painted wall.

An invisible wall.

A wall where you think you know where you are going but for some (concrete) reason you can't get there. An optical illusion.

Many times my stories have become optical illusions. I know where they are going but I can't seem to get there. I have written more than eleven stories now, but several sit incomplete at that same marker of 2/3 finished. It seems like I hit an invisible wall, change directions and then get way off track.

I need to learn how to move a wall - to push past that place and get back to the good ol' days of finished manuscripts.

I think I may have done it. (I really hope I don't jinx it by celebrating too soon.) For the last two weeks I have been stuck at the place at the wall. I had written up to a point but then felt a hard surface behind the next words. Instead of tossing the story aside and working on another one I decided to sit at the wall for a while. I pushed.  But to no avail. It was immovable.

I prayed.

And then I pushed some more.  This went on for quite awhile, but this time I was determined not to change course. I know writing is hard. I know in my heart those early manuscripts aren't realistic and practical of the the life of a writer. So if I'm serious about this I needed to learn how to move walls.

So I pushed some more.

Last night, when I desperately needed to be sleeping because of my early morning today, I found myself shifting cement.

Just a little.  But I promise you it moved.

I still have a long way to go to get this story finished all the way to THE END. Yet, I can't help celebrate a little today.

Have you ever moved a wall? Tell me about it and be my inspiration.

Book Review of The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry

The Beloved Daughter, an inspirational suspense novel by award-winning author Alana Terry, is a story of persecution and triumph set in the oppressive North Korean regime.

The Beloved Daughter

Synopsis: In a small North Korean village, a young girl struggles to survive. It is her father's faith, not the famine of North Hamyong Province, that most threatens Chung-Cha's well-being. The Beloved Daughter follows Chung-Cha into one of the most notorious prison camps the contemporary free world has known. Her crime? Being the daughter of a Christian.

The Beloved Daughter has won awards from Women of Faith and the Book Club Network. It was also a #1 amazon bestseller in Christian suspense and is the top-rated ebook in several different kindle categories. The Beloved Daughter is available in kindle or paperback. You can also get the audiobook narrated by four-time Audie award-winner Kathy Garver.

My Thoughts: 
This book inspired my heart in a way that no other book has. It is not the kind I typically read, but I'm thankful it came my way anyway. Alana Terry has written a wonderfully gripping and intense story about a young woman's years in a prison camp and her journey of faith through it and beyond it. It challenged my faith and opened my heart to questions I don't often explore.
Her characters are vivid and powerfully written. Her story is easy to follow and pulls you in to the slow but steady drama.
The tension of the violent camp and the persecution written throughout the story was not graphic as I might have thought. Instead it is written through the perception of the main character, in a first person point of view. I enjoyed this format. It made the story alive and vibrant in my mind without being graphic and gory.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in powerful, emotion stories that read as inviting and personal as a biography.
Excellent!

The Beloved Daughter has non-graphic violence and adult situations handled in a PG-13 way. It is not recommended for young teens because of its intensity.

Thank you to the author for a free audio copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.  


Order your own copy of The Beloved Daughter.

Alana Terry is getting ready to release her next novel, Slave Again, about a North Korean refugee who escapes prison camp only to get trafficked across the border.

Alana is giving away free copies of her next release to anyone who makes a donation to Liberty in North Korea, an organization dedicated to rescuing refugees who escape North Korea. She's also giving away a mini kobo e-reader and several copies of Slave Again, so be sure to enter the giveaway below!



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