New pastor takes over a dying church in Asheville, NC (Book 2 in a Dying Church Series) |
The original entry ("remember who you are") is the deleted prologue for first book in this series. It is only available as background and should not be evaluated. These chapters are ROUGH. I am not looking for grammatical correction - that will come later. I need critique on overall writing style, tone, inevitability, character development, etc. The following is a synopsis of the first book for reference purposes. "A Good Boy," tells the story of Wesley Aames - a newly hired pastor of an aging, dying church in Asheville, North Carolina. During his first week, before he even delivers his first sermon, a teen aged member of his church commits suicide – after being bullied on Facebook by her mother. The suicide is captured on video and goes viral. Consequently, the mother is offered a reality tv show. Wesley moves between ministering to the needs of this mother, becoming adjusted to the rigors and demands of a new job, and diplomatically dealing with a faction of the church that wishes to expel the mother once they discover cameras may appear in the church. Wesley’s unwillingness to ban the mother from the church prompts this faction to schedule a vote to terminate his employment. On the day of the vote, the boyfriend of the deceased teenager stands during the voting, shoots and kills the mother, wounds Wesley, and commits suicide. Although Wesley loses the vote, there is no reason to continue with his termination. When not dealing with the rebellious church faction and the non-repentant mother, Wesley manages to adopt a three-legged dog named Lucky, conduct a funeral for a gay firefighter, and reconnect with a daughter he abandoned after his wife died in an auto accident. |