ASIN: B06XQDPTT1
ISBN-10: 9769581550
ISBN-13: 978-9769581555
About The Author
M. A. Malcolm, a native of Jamaica, is a wife, mother, stepmother, daughter, sister and aunt. She is a freelance copy editor, administrative service provider and self-publishing consultant who also works part-time as an educator. With a passion for enhancing the work of Christian writers, she is certified in copy editing and is the founder of Nitpicking with a Purpose (NitpickingwithaPurpose.com). Over the years, she has worked with a host of local and international authors and authors-to-be.
When she published her first book, "His Last Hope:
A Contemporary Christian Romance" in July, 2015, she fully expected it to
be ‘one and done.’ She had no intention of writing another book of any kind;
however, readers have demanded more, and the Lord has made it possible for her
to comply. Not only has He allowed her more time to write; He has also given
her more messages to share.
With the anticipated publication of "His Last
Resort," the first part of her relatively recent vision of turning
"His Last Hope" into a series has come true. She is currently working
on two more manuscripts in the series, and has plans for a third.
In 2016, she also became a children’s author with the
publication of her first children’s book, "So very… Max!"—a
modern-day response to Hans Christian Andersen’s "The Ugly Duckling."
Mrs. Malcolm has been a part of Faith in Christ
Ministries in Westmoreland, Jamaica, for more than ten years. She divides her
time among her family; work and writing projects; dogs; to-be-read list, and catching
up on much-needed sleep.
Excerpt
“Do you go out of your way to be offensive to everyone?
Or am I special?” She folded her arms and looked crossly at Robert. Chaz stood
alert, as if he was aware of his owner’s mood.
“Excuse me?” He wondered if he’d heard her right.
“I’ve wracked my brain, Mr. Marsden. I’ve gone over
every minute of every conversation we’ve ever had, and the only time I remember
being even a little bit rude to you was that day at your church. Clearly, my
defensiveness that day made more of an impact than I thought, so please let me
apologize. I’m sorry for my behavior that afternoon. I was annoyed that you had
so easily forgotten me, although I obviously remembered meeting you. It was
childish, and if I was rude or out of line, I’m really sorry. Now, if you don’t
mind, I need to go.”
She stepped away from him, but Robert moved in front of
her and stood with his legs wide apart and his hands on his hips, effectively
blocking her path. It was amazing how attractive she was with her face free of
makeup and covered in perspiration. If circumstances were different, he might
be tempted to lean forward and kiss the bead of sweat from just above her top
lip and then maybe he’d—
He caught himself mid-thought and tried to remember
what she had just said.
As if she were aware of the direction his thoughts had
taken, she retrieved a small towel that had been tucked into the waistband of
her pants and mopped her face.
“Thank you for the apology, as unnecessary as it was.
Exactly how have I ever been offensive to you?”
She gave a wry laugh. “I guess the word is not so much
offensive as it is judgmental.” She moved towards the nearby park bench, but
remained standing.
“Me? Judgmental?” He was quite confused. Was he hearing
right?
“You. Judgmental...."
About The Book
Driven and focused, business owner and future pastor
Robert Marsden knows exactly what he wants… and what he doesn’t. The Do Not
Disturb sign he’s placed on his heart is his way of discouraging the ‘wanna-be
first ladies’ who’ve set their sights on him... ladies like Claire Foxwood. The
way he sees it, Claire and others like her are clearly more focused on
impressing others than on their eternal souls.
Claire can’t help her attraction to Robert, but his
decision to make a public spectacle of her hurts to the core. Part of her wants
to give him a piece of her mind, but the rest of her remains infatuated with
the man who’s too attractive for his – and her – own good. If only she didn’t
feel like he has a role to play in her destiny!
Can Ruby “Aunt Ruby” Crawford’s words of godly wisdom
peppered with a hint of humor help the misguided pair look deep within
themselves and discover God’s plan for their lives?
Connect Socially
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1217027499
A Day in
the Life of M. A. Malcolm
One
of the things that amuses me the most is that people think I’m much more
organized than I actually am. I operate in a system of chaos that spills out of
my mind, onto my desk, and into the lives of my immediate family members.
I
have the attention span of a newt, but for some reason, I find that I’m gifted
in all sorts of ways. And part of me wants to use every last gift every single
day. As a result, I’m always trying to get several things done at once, and
often failing in the effort. Here’s a sneak peek into my life:
I
wake up late as a matter of routine. I’ve come to expect it, so I now set two
alarms twenty-five minutes apart. The first alarm lets me know that I have
twenty-five more minutes of sleep. Even then, I often hit the snooze button on
the second alarm and get up… late. Sigh.
I
refer to my mornings as “Manic Mornings,” and they are characterized by a quick
visit to the bathroom, where I try to do my morning devotions, followed by a
beeline for the coffee machine. Most days, I don’t actually get to drink the
coffee for several hours.
I
may or may not make breakfast, since my son is likely to say he doesn’t want
what I’ve made and it makes more sense to wait till he wakes up so he can tell
me what he’ll condescend to have. I take a few sips of hot coffee before waking
the rest of the family.
Among
the usual protests of, “Why do I have to eat?” “Why do I have to brush my teeth
every morning?” “Why do I have to go to school?” “Six hours is a long time!”
etc., I try to get him ready for school within a reasonable time. Did I mention
he’s five years old? Uh-huh.
I
wish my husband well and drop my son off at school.
I
return home, where I sip re-heated coffee and work for a couple of hours
online. I have two university degrees, but I spend my days doing data entry
work part-time. Since I live in rural Jamaica, it’s hard to find a full-time
job that I’m well-qualified for (most recently, I was an assistant college
professor), but I like the fact that my part-time JOBS pay the bills and allow
me to spend a lot of time with my son in these formative years. In the
afternoons, I pick him up at school and then we usually visit my parents’ house
for an hour or two.
At
home, we do homework, argue about things like taking a shower, and I sometimes
prepare dinner for my family. I’m not ashamed to say that my mother, who lives
a mile or two away from me, cooks for my family three days per week. She
offered before my son was even born. Who am I to disappoint her by declining?
I
serve as an adjunct professor with two separate colleges, and I teach until
8:30 a couple of nights per week. If I don’t have a class, I spend some time working
on other projects (I’m also a copy editor and self-publishing consultant). If
I’m not too busy, I’ll relax on social media. If my husband comes home early,
we may watch television for a while before my son and I go to bed. I get up
around midnight and head back to my desk, where I return to work online for
another two or three hours. Although this component of my job is with the same
company as the data entry component, the tasks are different and I have a
nightly deadline of 3:00 a.m.
When
I hit the ‘submit’ button at work, I usually spend another hour or so writing
or creating graphics for my existing books before falling into bed at around
4:00 a.m. My first alarm goes off at 6:00.
I’m
exhausted just writing about it.
People
often ask when I get the time to write fiction… well, to be honest, I don’t
“get” the time, I have to find it. And
when I feel the ‘unction’ to write… find the time, I do!
I
find it in the doctor’s waiting room… in the line at the ATM… in the car while
waiting to pick up my son from school… in my parents’ kitchen while my son is
playing some made-up game with them. In those minutes, I use my smartphone to
write emails I will eventually send to myself. A paragraph here, a couple of
sentences there: it all adds up.
Unfortunately,
everything I’ve described also adds up to a very tiring lifestyle. I miss lazy
Saturday afternoons watching Hallmark.
I miss leaving my work at work. I miss sleeping till afternoons on Saturdays. I
miss reading for the fun of it. In fact, I just celebrated my birthday a few
days ago, and the main thing I intend to do this year is … less.
Of
just about everything.
