Treasuring Grace: March 2012

Again, we are just so proud to share our excitement over the success of our book. Our hope is that the inspiration and message of the book helps to heal those that have been touched by life changing events like the characters in the novel...

KINGSFORD - "Treasuring Grace," a fiction novel by Rob Plumley and Tracy Roberts, has been nominated by the Christian Small Publishers Association for Book of the Year for 2011.

Christian Small Publishers is located in Charlotte, N.C., and its mission is to represent, promote, and strengthen the small publisher in the Christian marketplace.

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year honors books produced by small publishers each year for outstanding contribution to Christian life.
A few years ago, Roberts awoke from a vivid dream.
After sharing the dream with several people, she became convinced that the dream needed to be published as a story.

"It's more than just a novel it's a story with a message," she said.
Roberts and her husband Doug, reside in Breitung Township with their children Tyler, Trevor, Renee and Grace.
They attend Queen of Peace Church in Kingsford.

A corroboration between Roberts and Plumley began in the spring of 2009.
Starting with Roberts' theme and main plot elements, Plumley added the details and conveyed it all to paper.
Plumley his wife, Linda, and their son Eddie are also of Breitung Township and attend Queen of peace Church in Kingsford.

The book is about a woman's secrets.

"Liz Swanson is a loving wife and mother," Plumley writes about the book.
"Her life isn't quite what she'd imagined, but she considers herself lucky. She has a good husband, beautiful children, and fulfillment outside of her home through volunteer work."

"On some days she doesn't even notice the dull ache in her heart," Plumley says.
"While she's preparing for the family's summer kickoff at Lake George, the ache disappears and her sudden happiness is mistaken for anticipation of their weekend. However, as the family heads north, there are clouds on the horizon that have nothing to do with the weather," he said.

"A careful observer might see the signs that something is wrong, but only Liz's daughter, who's found some hidden journals, has any idea," Plumley said. "By the end of the weekend, there will be no escaping the truth or its painful buried secrets, and it will take all of their strength to get through the storm together."
Christian Small Publishers Association was established in 2004 to fill a need for an association to represent, promote, and strengthen small publishers in the Christian marketplace.

During the past seven years, Christian Small Publishers Association has grown from its three original publisher members to 100 small publisher members.
Theresa Peterson's e-mail address is tpeterson@ironmountaindailynews.com.

Flickr image: License Some rights reserved by Thai Weber

Hi Friends,

We wanted to share some of the good buzz we have gotten about our Treasuring Grace book. It makes us feel so good that such a positive story is well-received. This is from the UP Catholic reprinted with permission.

by Carol Hollenbeck

It came to her in a dream. Literally. Tracy Roberts of Iron Mountain woke one morning from a particularly memorable dream. “I never dream like that,” she said. “It was so vivid, like watching a movie.”

Her mind kept returning to the dream, and she became convinced that this was a story that needed to be told. She discussed her conviction with her parish priest, Fr. Mike Woempner, and their deacon, Don Christy, as well as a psychiatrist. “This is of God,” Deacon Don told her. Both the psychiatrist and Fr. Paul assured her that God sometimes speaks to us through dreams.

With those assurances, Tracy resolved to put her dream into book form. But then she needed a writer. In only one of a series of amazing coincidences, she met her eventual co-author, Rob Plumley, who was an aspiring writer. “At the time, I had a manuscript completed, but the publishers I sent it to rejected it. I really wanted to have something published,” he said.

Tracy and Rob both attend St. Mary Queen of Peace Church in Kingsford, and one day after Mass, they discussed the book. “The dream was the basic idea,” Tracy explained. “Rob and I talked. Then he started writing, filling in the details. When he gave me the first few pages, it was perfect!”

The pro-life novel, “Treasuring Grace,” tells the story of a woman who has a secret that she has kept for years. It describes how the secret affects her and her relationships. While there are subtle hints throughout the book, the ending revelation is still a shock.

Tracy has been deeply involved in the pro-life effort for several years. “I saw the Precious Feet pins,” she said. “I thought about them, and then, about six years ago, started Birthright, a pregnancy service in Iron Mountain.”

While Rob is not directly involved in pro-life, he is a supporter. “That was Tracy’s precondition for writing this book,” he said. “The author had to be passionate about life as well as a writer.”

“My goal in writing the book is to open people to the truth, and open them to healing and forgiveness as well,” Tracy said.

“My purpose was to encourage people to avoid abortion and help them get beyond it if one had occurred,” Rob said. “The book talks about how trivially abortion can be treated, and how dramatic it becomes later on in life.”

The book is purely fiction, and neither Rob nor Tracy based their characters on anyone they have met. But Tracy noted that stories she’s heard from women who came to Birthright gave her insights as she and Rob wrote “Treasuring Grace.”

“Abortion is accepted in a lot of areas,” Tracy said. “But often, deep inside your conscience, a part of you does feel guilt and pain.”

“It’s the path of our society,” Rob agrees. “We haven’t gone in a direction that nurtures life. Just look at the school shootings, bullying, kids who have no respect. A while ago, when baby Jessica fell down a well, the whole country was concerned. Yet she was only a few months out of the womb. I can’t believe that concern for life hasn’t come down to kids at every level.”

Tracy and Rob agree that this is a book that was meant to be. The sequence of coincidences that occurred, starting from the day that Tracy had her dream, is just too much to discount.
“It makes me trust that God has a plan,” Tracy said.

“It certainly wasn’t our plan,” Rob agreed. “All the coincidences had us think there was a plan being carried out. But there were plenty of stumbling blocks that made us think it wasn’t God’s doing, too. Now, we want more people to know about it. I hope it touches thousands.”

The plan began to work soon after Tracy had her dream. She had decided it needed to be co-authored, but she didn’t know any writers. One day, Tracy was on her way with other women of her parish to a retreat at Marygrove. “I’m usually pretty private, but I told them about my dream and my hope to have it published,” she said. “I knew they’d pray about it at the retreat.”

One of the women in the car was Rob’s mother. She knew Rob was trying to get his manuscript published. In a misunderstanding, she told Rob that Tracy had had a book published and suggested he talk to Tracy about the process. Tracy and Rob met one day after Mass, straightened out the misunderstanding and met again a few days later.

“Things lined up after that,” Rob said. “I had just lost my job, so I had time to write. I started in the spring of 2009. I finished writing in August of 2009, just as I got an offer to go back to work.”
“I sent the manuscript out to different publishers,” Tracy continues. “But it wasn’t accepted. Then, in the summer of 2010, I felt I should go to a Bible study class. I was talking about the book to a woman I saw there and she asked me what I needed. I said, ‘A publisher.’ She said, ‘I have one for you.’ She introduced me to a man at the class. Once he heard the story and prayed about it, everything came together.”

“Treasuring Grace” was published in November 2010 by Healthy Life Press of Roseland, Fla.
Reaction to the novel has been positive, Tracy and Rob say. It was nominated as Book of the Year for 2011 by the Christian Small Publishers Association. Located in Charlotte, N.C., the association represents, promotes and strengthens small publishers in the Christian market.

Tracy and Rob are continuing to pursue the dream. “We want to make the story into a movie,” Rob said. “Now we need to find a producer.”

“I see it as a movie,” Tracy added. “The way it is written, a movie would portray it really well.”
“Treasuring Grace” is available at Sacred Heart Religious Good, Marquette; Bookworld, Escanaba; Bookworld and The Holy Store, Iron Mountain; Bishop Baraga Shrine and Bookstore, L’Anse; and Amazon.com online. Signed copies are available for $15 from Rob Plumley,
rplumley@chartermi.net.

Tracy Roberts lives with her husband, Doug, and four children, Tyler, Trevor, Renee and Grace, in Breitung Township near Iron Mountain. Rob Plumley and his wife, Linda, and son, Eddie, also reside in Breitung Township.

Image: flickr: License