HearthLand is a serial novel released in episodes. Volume Five is a compilation of Episodes 25-30 Taking a step back in time–deliberately. After a trip to Walden Farm and an afternoon talking to Chad and Willow Tesdall, Ralph Myner caught a vision for what life could be like. Against the advice of his nephew, Ralph sinks his entire retirement account into an incredibly risky venture. Harlan Walker thinks his uncle has gone crazy. With the project in motion, all he can do is try to find people to invest their time, money, and even their lives into Ralph’s project before the man ends up broke and without means to survive. People come from all walks of life as they embrace a new world–the world of HearthLand. In Volume 5, Annie's gone and everyone from Rory to Ralph is feeling the loss. The fallout from the Paisley Duncan show turns surprising, and Ralph can't keep up with all the food processing waiting for him. Why did The Agency have to take her before it was done? Susannah decides to move in with Delores to help guard against temptation she seems unable to resist, and a new family moves into the Community Center, while Ralph wrestles with the decision to hand Annie over to strangers for her "safety." What was he thinking? And Kim finds work more threatening than rewarding these days. Justin wrestles with the fear of giving into temptation in the wake of others' moral failures, and it puts a definite strain on his relationship with Kim. But when Stefan arrives from Romania, everything at HearthLand changes. Romance blossoms in marriages and out of them. Friendships forge and teeter on the brink of disruption. But everything seems wonderful when all of HearthLand's residents come together for the grand opening of Market Square. Until a couple of boys decide to go at it, that is. For more about Annie, see "A Forgotten Truth"
Author
**fingers skittle across the keyboard. Stop. Eyelids blink over the top** Oh, was this bio day? Oops! I forgot. I was lost in my latest manuscript. Umm... bio. Yeah. Hi! I’m Chautona Havig. (for those who care, that’s Shuh-TONE-uh HAVE-ig). Yeah. Just work with me here. I should have used a pseudonym, but when you grow up with a name like Chautona, it kind of sticks. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. ~ Hebrews 10: 23–25 Those aren’t just words on a page for me–they’re why I write. I write to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ. The stories I create are to make people laugh, cry, question, consider. They’re for you. When the world screams for hope, I try to point you to the true Source of hope–Jesus. Sometimes life in the church no longer seems a refuge from the pain of a self-serving world around us, but through my stories, I try to point you to the only Refuge that can truly help–the Father’s Everlasting Arms. And sometimes we just need an escape from the monotony, the emptiness we see around us. We need joy, laughter–what I like to call “just the write escape.” Christian fiction without apology or pretense–lived, not preached. What does that even mean? It means I care–about you. About your walk with Jesus. I care about the words you put before your eyes, the mental pictures those words conjure. It’s difficult to express just how much I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s difficult to share just how much I love you. But I do. And I write for you. I sit in my little house in California’s Mojave Desert and I write to show you why one sister believes one thing, why a brother believes another. I write to show you how some Christians handle trials or triumphs–for you. So when you’re faced with something–good or bad, it doesn’t matter–maybe it’ll spark a memory. Maybe that memory will smolder until you pull out your Bible and see what the Lord said about it–about His great love for you. For YOU! And maybe, just maybe, you’ll share that love with another hurting, confused, or blessed-with-more-than-she-knows-what-to-do-with soul. I just happen to think that’s the most blessed giving anyone could hope to receive.
