How I Met Robert Whitlow

The List By Robert Whitlow / Thomas Nelson / W As a struggling young attorney fresh out of law school, Renny Jacobson is pining for the day he can afford the luxuries of the partners in his Charlotte firm. And with news of his father's death and a secret inheritance, Renny's life is sure to change forever. But the clandestine society that provides the inheritance soon threatens to change him in more ways than one. Renny's life--and the life of the woman he loves--depend on supernatural deliverance from the curse of The List.

I heard an interview last week on Family Radio 90.5FM by Jim Stevens with Robert Whitlow (go to www.familyradio.to for an audio of the interview). Having read all six of Whitlow's novels, and being a book reviewer, I was pleased to know that a movie was being made of The List. The film is in pre-production, even now as I'm typing, not far from my town of Wilmington, NC.

I e-mailed Mr. Whitlow to express my congratulations to him and inquired about additional filming. So far, they've filmed a lot at Orton Plantation. He e-mailed me back and said they would be at Fort Jackson today doing some open filming of a Civil War battle re-enactment being held there. So I pack up my coat and umbrella and headed down there today.

After an hour or two of meandering the rolling hills of the Fort grounds, I finally spied a group gathered in the old ruins of an Anglican church there, and stepped in to find Mr. Whitlow and his entourage, and Gary Wheeler, producer of the film having a meeting of sorts about the movie. Then they had a wonderful prayer time, submitting every detail to the Father's control.

After the crowd disbursed, I got one of the group to call over Mr. Whitlow for me so I could shake his hand. He was so kind, and remembered my e-mail, too. I'm quite an introvert, so I didn't inundate him with questions, but at least I did meet him. I plan on tagging along next week with a friend of mine who does hair and makeup for productions here in Wilmington while she's on the set of The List. If this happens, I'll be sure to add an update.

Look for the movie (limited release) the end of this year or early 2007.
Also, visit Mr. Whitlow's cool website, and buy one of his fantastic legal thrillers!

(Photos-Above: Robert and friends talk just outside the Anglican church ruins - he's got on a yellow cap. Below: Crew filming the battle re-enactment.)

Web of Lies

Woohoo! Here it is, suspense lovers. The long-awaited fourth book in the Hidden Faces series. Never having met before, Chelsea Adams and Annie Kingston finally get together to solve not one, but two mysteries that plague them.

Chelsea has a disturbing vision of hostages within an eerie room full of spiders. Annie accidentally stumbles across a murder at a convenience store. Can these events be related? And if so, how? The two nationally acclaimed ladies get together, using their expertise to catch a killer and save innocent victims.

“Nothing left to do for me but pray.” Annie’s thoughts echo in my mind, reminding me that God often allows things in our lives to coerce our dependence on Him. Obedience to God’s guidance and reliance on Him in prayer is sometimes our only recourse. This theme reigns supreme throughout the book.

Never has Brandilyn Collins disappointed me with a novel, and this one is no exception. The buildup of suspense in the second half of the book and the twists and turns near the end thrilled me. I love to shiver and bite my nails while reading. My only wish is that the beginning of the book plunged me into a free fall as the rest of it did. But that’s just me – no fault of the author. I realize I’m not normal. Most readers need to breathe.

Bad tooth or bad book?

Thursday I had a root canal on one of my bicuspids. Let me express my abhorrence for this procedure - those of you who share this experience no doubt will agree. The pain was minimal during the procedure (extreme discomfort not withstanding), but afterwards...

The endodontist said, "You shouldn't have any pain at all after this. It wil go away."

Yeah, right.

The next day, it was all I could do to remain sane. I called him, paged him, etc. All he said was, "Go get the antibiotic refilled and call me tomorrow if it's worse." Humph! Who does he think he is?

I can pleasantly report that the crisis is over now. Apparently, the drugs worked, and I reside back in the land of the living.

However, this fiasco made me think about reading. (Things usually do.) If I had to compare the pain of a root canal to the pain of reading an awfully written novel, which would be worse? I should start a poll. I mean, think about it. How many of us can actually even get through two chapters of tripe and drivel before we slam the book down on the ground and stomp on it, while reciting a tirading diatribe about stinky published authors? I daresay, few of us.

So, the next time you're at the dentist, be thankful you haven't been forced to read a horrible book. It's a torture I personally never want to go through. Give me good novels, or give me death!