I hate surprises, procrastination, and not knowing how things will work out. So I plan for every contingency and emergency, and STILL God finds the one (or likely millions) of scenarios I didn’t anticipate and throws that one at me leaving me to think, “Why didn’t I see that coming?!”
And that sums up life, I’ve realized.
How many of you are living exactly as you expected you would? With all your family, financial, and employment goals achieved?
Yeah, same here.
Yet how many of you, if given the opportunity, would go back and reverse all the unexpected twists in your life?
I used to think I would, but now I realize I wouldn’t. Everything good and bad and perplexing has worked to shape me into the person I am right now, and I like who I might finally become.
The unexpected is good, in a long, roundabout way.
Speaking of the unexpected, I’ve heard back from a lot of you about the ending of Book 8. So far no one has said, “That’s exactly what I thought would happen.” (Which is a huge relief because I did NOT want to write a predictable story!)
To be honest, a lot of how the story went caught me off-guard as well. Trying to avoid a spoiler here, but about Lemuel and Perrin? That smacked me upside the head and added an unexpected layer of insight and depth that I didn’t know was coming. I didn’t set out to write the story that way, and that’s why writing this has been so darn fun.
Nor did I expect how eagerly you snatched up the book when it came out. You threw The Last Day to “Bestseller” status–thank you!
I’m also happy to report that The Last Day is now available in paperback for $16.65, and for free on Smashwords. In fact, the ENTIRE SERIES is on Smashwords and for free!
I never expected to write this series, never expected to find so many new friends as readers, and never expected to have a little bit of success.
I guess being surprised every now and then is acceptable.
Forestedgebooks.com 
Yeah, that Perrin and Lemuel thing. I still can’t believe that. That was a total and complete surprise to me. I never expected that.
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I didn’t either, until I realized I’d foreshadowed it throughout the series! The story knew itself better than I did.
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I was pretty sure about the Defender part and all the spirits of the deceased coming back with him.
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Bethany, I love your insights, that God uses our mistakes to our advantages! That last scene you mentioned also gave me good chills and goosebumps.
Bob, I agree that Bethany and her husband need to do the music for the screen adaptions! And you should likely help with those adaptions, since you’ve read the series so often.
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The Lemuel and Perrin thing is one of my favourite parts of the whole ending (and subsequently the entire series now)! What a remarkable instance of God using our own poor judgment to teach us something totally different and necessary. I had a lump in my throat as someone watched three people sitting on Mahrree’s steps [if you know what I mean :)].
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That is very true… too bad so many don’t always learn from their own mistakes, let alone the mistakes of others. The hardest part I have found to this entire series is to put it down long enough to take the much needed breaks… I have read the last 3 books of this series about 7 to 9 times each now, and I am planning on rereading the entire series again.. I think this series would make a great set of movies. On that note and on a post a from a few months ago, if these books do become movies, I do hope that Bethany and her husband get the music contract for them. Then the music will be of the same quality of the series in that it will be with out the things that the world sees as “must haves” in it, just as this series exceeds the lowered standards of the world by leaving those “must haves” out…
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