"Yesterday's Promise" by Delia Latham

Clash of the Titles, Where Authors Compete and Readers Judge

Delia Latham and her novel Destiny’s Dream

From medieval prince to 21st century man-eater, Clash of the Titles (www.clashofthetitles.com) saw a gamut of interesting characters pass through its arena in January. The first half of the month we celebrated new life in Christ. In the second half, we grieved with our characters in their moments of loss. No matter the genre or theme, there’s always something exciting going on at COTT.

Delia Latham (http://www.delialatham.net/ ) joined us during our Conversions Scenes week. Delia’s book Destiny’s Dream (http://www.amazon.com/Destinys-Dream-Delia-Latham/dp/1611160456/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297022048&sr=1-1) took home our cyber-laurel. Congratulations, Delia!

So, what exactly is heroine Destiny’s dream, and why should we root for her to achieve it?

Delia: When her mother dies, she leaves Destiny an awesome spiritual legacy, and Destiny is spurred to pursue the dream she’s fostered for so long – to open a Christian dating agency. Throughout the course of the book, Destiny faces enormous obstacles…and wonderful, spine-tingling miracles. Through it all, she maintains a steadfast faith in God’s calling. How can one help cheering her on?

Since the Clash’s theme was Conversion Scenes, I asked Delia what her character’s hold-up was for trusting Christ.

Delia: Destiny has no problem trusting Christ—she is completely in sync with Him and His will. Clay, however, has wandered from his childhood faith. He’s uncomfortable when Destiny talks about God as if He’s a dear, personal Friend. It was a great joy for me to bring Clay full circle back to Christ, and teach him that something deeper than he’d ever known was there for the asking.

Here a tiny peek at Delia’s excerpt:

As Pastor Paul Porter extended an altar invitation, Destiny sneaked a peek at Clay’s face. His hands had been fisted into white-knuckled balls for the past twenty minutes. Now a muscle worked in the strong line of his jaw as the familiar, sweet notes of “Softly and Tenderly” played in the background.

Miss Willard was consistent in her preference for the old hymns.

Right now, Destiny had no objection.

She laid a gentle hand over one of Clay’s hard fists. He opened his eyes and slanted a misty look her way even as he unfurled his fingers to wrap them around hers. Without a word, he nodded, and they stood. Destiny walked with him toward the front of the church, joyous tears dimming her vision.

For the full excerpt, click HERE. (http://www.clashofthetitles.com/2011/01/conversion-scenes-excerpts.html)

It was an amazing Clash as authors and readers shared their favorite scriptures and rejoiced in God’s mercy and grace. Join us this month as we turn the focus from God’s love toward man to that between hero and heroine during back-to-back Most Romantic Moment clashes.

April W Gardner (http://www.aprilgardner.com) is the senior editor of Clash of the Titles and best-selling author of Wounded Spirits. (http://www.amazon.com/Wounded-Spirits-April-W-Gardner/dp/0981989616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297021817&sr=1-1)