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It's very true that authors incorporate real-world problems into their stories. My friend J. L. Burrows had a book release last week that is a Dystopian thriller. In it, her main character is a teacher, just like her. She's here today to tell us how she used some real-life experiences in her classroom to strengthen her story. See what you think.  “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”—John 8:32 (NIV) As a public school teacher, I work with students who struggle with very real-world problems, but in that capacity, I can’t share with students the real solution and Truth that God loves them and has a plan for their lives—that they matter and are loved more than they’ll ever know. I can’t tell them about the scriptures that hold me together in my worst moments and drive me to do better in my best moments. So, I write. Serenity, a teacher and the main character of FreeFalling, isn’t a Christian and under the dome religions and history do not exist, so weaving in scriptures as the backbone of this story had to be done carefully through a still small whisper that speaks to Serenity, guiding and teaching her just as the Holy Spirit guides and teaches me. After a terrible fight between two girls, Serenity risks everything to try and save her favorite students from reconditioning–a chemical brain washing procedure that rectifies the argumentative part of the brain. By stepping out and fighting for these two girls, Serenity risks everything: her future potential, her place in society, even her sense of self if she gets reconditioned. About four years ago, at the end of a tough school year at a school I wasn’t returning to, a student of mine brought a gun to school, and we were in code red, lockdown. I turned the lights off, and the students cowered in the least visible corner of the room with textbooks covering their chest, and we waited. Would my student round the corner and fire on us? My nerves were on fire. I didn’t want to leave my family motherless. But no matter what, I knew I wasn’t going to let any of the students in my room get hurt if I had the power to stop it. If the shooter came through that door, I chose to stand between him and the students. Training didn’t touch the truth at that moment. Nothing hits like knowing the kid carrying the gun. What if I’d done something to trigger him? Swallowing back fear and choosing to stand in a courage that simply wasn’t there. Time slowed. It felt like hours passed. I don’t know how long it took for them to apprehend the student, but I know I learned something about myself that day. In the soul-searching, mettle-testing darkness of that classroom, I imagined myself between a bullet and my students. I’ve thought about shootings, especially after those that happen close to home. I still held the firm belief that it would never happen to me, my classroom, or my students. After that situation, I learned I’d fight for the students under my responsibility. Since moving schools, I’ve had the honor of teaching Advanced Honors and Honors English II to sophomores at our local magnet school. So, God has blessed me to spend the daylight hours teaching others to write and explore the writing of great authors, and then I come home in the evenings, and tell the stories God writes on my heart. The students love to have a teacher who's actively using what she teaches. They are so curious about what I write and about how to become writers. I’m the Creative Writing Club Sponsor at the high school, and I’m mentor to a couple of aspiring writers that are doing great. One of my students, Lynnea Mileusnich published her first middle-grade, Christian Fantasy book, Heir of Promise. I’m so proud of her and excited to see where God takes her next. God gave me a gift, and it is my responsibility as a member of God’s kingdom to give that gift back to God. For every book I write, I pray it reaches the readers that will be most impacted, edified, and encouraged by it. I pray readers feel seen and inspired to keep hoping when it seems all hope is lost, to keep walking when it seems all is futile, to keep loving when it seems the world is full of hate and loss. There is a beautiful hope and joy despite the difficult world we live in, and we have a heavenly father that loves us more than we will ever be able to understand. I want to help others remain focused on God’s love for them. God has a great plan for the books he gives us, and I’m thrilled to be writing the next part of The Reconditioned Series journey.  FreeFalling Under the Dome, peace reigns ... forcefully. One hundred and eighty years in the future, the U.S. government eradicates warfare and violence. Serenity should feel safe, but she doesn’t. Serenity Knowles knows two things for certain. Finishing her government assigned community service as a teacher is mandatory in order to start her adult life. And stopping those in power from reconditioning two of her favorite students will ruin her chances at a future and a life. Everything she thought she once knew to be true, suddenly is now in question after her typically peaceful girls fight in plain view of everyone at school. The Federal Bureau of Acceptance storms in and collects them both for reconditioning—chemical brain washing. With no one to help, Serenity is driven into a wild rescue and escape plan. The girls can’t be made into shadow children, brainwashed and limited to a menial future. All that stands between the overreaching government and her girls is Serenity’s budding faith, a furry beast companion, her modified illegal AI, and a ragtag group of men and women set against the use of cutting edge technology and genetically modified bio-weapons on citizens under the Dome. If any of them get caught, they will be reconditioned. If they don’t move fast enough, the girls will be lost. If she doesn’t become a hero, any hope of a real future will be forfeit. In her transformation from a teacher with a broken family to a radical defector leading a team of rebels, Sere discovers America’s deadliest threat—its own government.  Jennifer Burrows has a message in her heart about God’s love, and she’s shared that when she was a musician in her father’s church, as a missionary to underprivileged children in a third world country, and as a wife who stood by her husband through terminal brain cancer that God miraculously healed.
Now, she’s sharing God’s powerful love through the art of fiction, pouring herself into edifying and helping other writers, and teaching others how to use faith in the face of adversity. Jennifer teaches in the greater Nashville area where she lives with her husband and their two children. Get to know Jennifer better at jlburrows.com, or connect with her on social media. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlynnburrows Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferlynnburrows Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlburrowsauthor Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenniferlynnburrows/freefalling-book-1-in-the-reconditioned-series/ (This is the board for FreeFalling and it includes the inspiration photos for the world and the key characters in the story.) Website: www.jlburrows.com BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/freefalling-the-reconditioned-book-1-by-j-l-burrows LINK FOR JOINING J. L. BURROWS NEWSLETTER : https://BookHip.com/TTZQCBA - Includes a freebie Prequel Anthology - Invading Darkness the origin stories to my Balance Keepers main characters.
1 Comment
Michael Hendrickson
1/20/2025 08:29:16 am
Wonderful insight on why you wrote the book. That story about the student at school says volumes about your faith, values, and really who you are as a person. Leave a Reply. |
This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
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