Another Q&A with Tom Davis

An excerpt from the Author's Interview at the end of Priceless by Tom Davis ...

What real-life experiences prompted this novel?

Several things. First, Russia was the place where my heart was broken for orphans. In 1997, I took my wife and eight-month-old son to run a camp for 150 orphans in the Vladimir region. I was never the same after that experience. We met a little orphan girl named Anya who was ten. She became our daughter one year later. When I returned to her orphanage to tell her she was going to be our daughter, a hundred other kids were staring at me with empty looks in their eyes. They were longing for something, something I wasn't sure I could give them. Two little girls burst out of the crowd and hugged my legs as they looked into my eyes and said, "Papa. Papa." I knew they wanted a family. That day I made the decision not to turn my back on the rest of those orphans. Instead, I started asking different questions. What could I do to help their lives be different than what the statistics showed?


How much of what you wrote in Priceless is true?

I would say 80 percent. Marina's story is the story for thousands and thousands of girls in our world. They become trapped in predicaments like this because they have absolutely no one to look after them. Nobeody loves them; they are forgotten. Can you imagine what it would be like to believe with certainty that there is no other human being who truly loves you? The hopelessness would be overwhelming.

The pattern is the same for girls coming out of orphanages. They have no place to live, they can't find jobs, and they are easy targets for sexual predators. It's easy to see how they get caught up in this industry. I've done a lot of studying in this area, and once girls are in, it's almost impossible for them to get free without some kind of help. They find themselves in foreign countries where they don't speak the language, their passports are taken from them, they have no money, no way to make phone calls, and they don't personally know anyone in their surroundings. Most are scared to death because they are told if they run away they'll be found and killed, or if they have living relatives, their relatives will be killed.


What sort of reactions do you expect from people who read Priceless? What do you hope the book accomplishes?

I want people to be educated, shocked, and motivated to get involved and make a difference. This is a bit harder of an issue to get involved in than, say, children starving or needing clean water. So if reading Priceless has disturbed you enough to do something, we've made it easy to get involved.

Go to www.SheIsPriceless.com. We are helping rehabilitate girls who have been rescued by providing safe places for them to live where they are loved and cared for. These are long-term homes run by professional counselors and staff who help these priceless girls rebuild their lives. You can be a part of that. Also on the site is information about projects we have in Russia and Africa that keep girls from becoming victims of the sex trade.


Where do you go next with your fiction?

Right now, the third book in the Novel on the Edge of the World series looks like it will be a book set in Haiti. Stuart decides to take an assignment with the United Nations on the water crisis, because so many people die in that country from water-borne diseases. He is in Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010, when a devastating earthquake strikes and he's caught in the rubble of his hotel. I can't wait to write this book!

Pricless by Tom Davis

Update: Congratulations to Rachel Webb, the winner of the book giveaway!

One word: Amazing.

Priceless is Tom Davis's second novel. He picks up with Stuart Daniels again, a photojournalist whose world has been rocked by his encounter with an orphan in Swaziland (in the first novel, Scared) and by God bringing him to his knees. Stuart is now on assignment to do a story about HIV/AIDS in Russia and how it is affecting orphans in that country. However, everything takes a huge twist and he ends up learning more than he wanted to know about a child prostitution ring.

Again, the style of writing is what I would call "realistic fiction." These specific events didn't happen to this specific person, but it's all based on truth. It's not that it could happen ... it's that it does happen. Over and over. To lots of girls and boys. All over the world. It's both hard to read (because it's real) and hard to put down (because it's so fascinating). A great novel with biblical truths packed in. I pray that people who read this book will find themselves aware of realities that they absolutely cannot ignore. This isn't make-believe, people!

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Parents, you might want to use a little caution with teenagers, but read it with them!

If you're interested in articles and different things about actual child prostitution, human trafficking, etc., check out the book's website. Lots of great articles and a free 5-day devotional too!

AND ... because I liked it so much ... There's a GIVEAWAY copy up for grabs. All you have to do is go to the book's website and post a comment telling me one fact about human trafficking or child prostitution that you didn't know before now. I'll randomly choose a winner on Monday, July 12 @ noon.

5 stars (out of 5)

The author graciously provided me with a free copy of this book.

About the Book: Priceless by Tom Davis

I'm reading Priceless by Tom Davis right now and wanted to give you a little teaser. The review and some more good stuff is coming soon ... promise!

About the Book:
American photojournalist Stuart Daniels has found purpose in life. After enduring the fallout of a tragic assignment, Daniels has rediscovered his faith while helping a young African orphan. Now his photo work carries a greater mission: to educate the people about social injustice happening around the world.

Daniels' next assignment carries him back overseas and into the heart of Russia, where an old friend persuades him to help save two girls from a desperate situation involving the Russian mafia. Soon, he becomes a key player in a dangerous campaign to rescue helpless girls trapped in the sex-slave industry. What Daniels encounters during his journey will shake his faith, test his courage, and even threaten his life. Yet as Daniels travels deeper and the stakes become higher, he discovers that hope can be found in even the darkest of places.

About the Author:
Tom Davis is the president and CEO of Children's HopeChest, a global ministry that empowers individuals, churches, and businesses to care for orphans in Africa, Russia, India, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. He has authored four books, including the first in this series, Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World. Tom and his wife, Emily, live in Colorado with their seven children, two of whom they adopted from Russia.

Video Trailer:


If you still want more, check out the website where you can download the first chapter for FREE.

No Greater Love by Kathi Macias

No Greater Love by Kathi Macias was a total surprise from beginning to end. I hesitate to tell too much about the plot because I don't want to give anything away. I'll give you just a little taste.

The story takes place in South Africa during the height of apartheid in 1989. Chioma, a "colored" girl, lost her parents to the struggle of apartheid. After losing her brother and a friend at the hands of white men who have no regard for her "kind," she runs away from the life she has working on a white man's farm and joins the rebels fighting for justice. She struggles between her hatred of white people and her fear of the rebels. But more than that, she struggles to reconcile the God of the Bible with the sermons preached by her white boss and the life she has experienced under apartheid.

The author does a great job of evoking a wide range of emotions - anger, fear, despair, hope, joy. I really felt like I was a part of the story, rather than just an outsider looking in. I enjoyed the introduction of new characters throughout the novel, and really related to the young couple who showed up later on. Overall, Kathi did a great job of bringing me in and worked in life lessons throughout. (I also appreciated just how different Chioma is from me. Very eye-opening!)

I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.

Q&A With Tom Davis

Excerpt from a Q&A with author Tom Davis at the conclusion of the book Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World.

What was your inspiration for this story?

Adanna's story is based on a real story. The first time I went to Africa, I was constantly confronted with tragic real-life stories of beautiful children. It was unbearable. There was one little girl I met outside of the capital city of Swaziland; she had the most precious, innocent face I'd ever seen. She was happy and filled with joy. Then the director of the orphanage told me her story. He said she was rescued from an abusive situation, although at first they didn't know how badly.

They took her in and loved her as their own. She had the typical signs of neglect: filthy from head to toe; ratty, shredded clothes hanging from her body; and bruises and cuts from being hit with sticks and hands. The first day she was there, all the kids met together in a group to play a game. When the game started, this little girl was unable to hold her bladder and had an "episode" in front of everyone. At first the teachers believed that she had never been potty trained. Day after day, the same thing occurred. They took her to a doctor and realized that the abuse was much more severe than they assumed.

Both of her parents died from AIDS, then a distant uncle took her in. Her life was reduced to the life of a slae. She was forced to work fifteen hours a day, and her uncle sold her body to men in the community so he could have money for alcohol. Then he began violently raping her on a daily basis. Thus the reason for her incontinence.

Her story became the story of many little girls I met throughout Africa. It was more than I could handle. It still is.

I was compelled to act and had to tell their story. I have to believe that as people read Scared, they will be moved with compassion and also compelled to act.


What do you hope readers will walk away with after spending time in Adanna's world?

I hope through Adanna's voice and life, readers are moved on such a deep level about the plight of orphans like her that they are compelled to act. There's one startling truth I've discovered in helping the poor in our world, and it's this: The difference between life and death for widows and orphans in our world is me and you. Seriously! As I've said, five dollars can be the difference between life-saving malaria medicine and death; it's the cost to provide clean water to someone for a year; and it also can provide one hundred meals to orphans in Africa. Every single person reading this can do that.

I think it's also healthy to walk in other people's shoes. Scared provides the opportunity to do that. To see the world through the life of an orphan growing up in Africa, in the midst of complete destruction is alarming. I can't help but to ask the question, what if it was me or my kids? What if we were the ones born in a different place? This is more than just being thankful to live in America. It's about identifying with someone else's pain and being moved with compassion.

It's my firm belief that God has already sent the answers to solve the world's most difficult issues, and the answer is people like us getting involved. So take a step to help, just one, and it will change your life forever!


Are there plans for more novels? Nonfiction works? What's on the drawing board for the future?

Scared is actually the first book of a series I'm writing. The next book finds Stuart Daniels in Russia exposing one of the most villainous and evil industries on the face of the earth, the child sex-slave trade. This book is a thriller, keeping you on the edge of your seat from the very first chapter. It is a headfirst dive into the culture and history of Russia and includes a dangerous confrontation with the mafia in an attempt to free girls who are sex slaves. Stuart will be stretched more than ever. He goes underground in hiding at an orphanage and meets a little boy who is an artist and changes his life.

I'm also working on a non-fiction book that focuses on merging ancient Christian practices into our lives in a way that reveals the kingdom of God through everything we do. I'm very excited about both of these projects. Stay tuned to my blog to find out more about when these will release along with special contests I'll be running and information about videos of Africa and Russia that helped inspire these books.


Check out these video interviews of Tom talking more about the book Scared.

Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World by Tom Davis

Several years ago, I read Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis. I had just returned from months on the mission field and the book reinforced much of what I had seen and experienced firsthand. Needless to say, I was stoked to hear that Davis published a novel. A friend loaned it to me and I read it from cover to cover in about 3 days.

Scared is what I would call realistic fiction. The entire book (characters, places, events) is based on the reality of life in Swaziland, a small country in Africa where almost 50% of the people suffer from HIV/AIDS. It's hard to read ... or maybe I should say, it's hard to stomach what you're reading. It's hard to read about children who fill the role of head of household, men who rape girls in their family, drought, flood, famine, an AIDS crisis that could cause an entire country to become extinct if things don't change. If it was pure fiction, it would just roll off. But it's not. It's true. These things really happen. And it's tough to take in.

The best part of the book, though, is not even the story. It's how it makes you feel. The characters and the things that happen to them evoke emotion. You feel like you are THERE, like you KNOW these people. I pray this book will open peoples' eyes to what is really going on in the world. And not just open their eyes but make them get up and do something about it.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. If you've been to Africa, if you haven't, if you care about the world, if you don't (especially if you don't!) ... This is a unique work of fiction in that it really moves you to action.

5 stars (out of 5)

NOTE: There are some "mature" scenes in this book. Parents might want to read this book before or with their teenage kids. It would make for great discussion!

About the Book: Scared by Tom Davis

About the Book:

Stuart Daniels has hit bottom. Once a celebrated and award-winning photojournalist, he is now reeling from debt, a broken marriage, and crippling depression. The source of Stuart's grief is his most famous photo: a snapshot of brutality in the dangerous Congo. A haunting image that indicts him as a passive witness to gross injustice.

Stuart is given one last chance to redeem his career: a make-or-break assignment covering the AIDS crisis in a small African country. It is here that Stuart meets Adanna, a young orphan fighting for survival in a community ravaged by tragedy and disease. But in the face of overwhelming odds, Adanna finds hope in a special dream, where she is visited by an illuminated man and given a precious gift.

Now, in a dark place that's a world away from home, Stuart will once again confront the harsh reality of a suffering people in a forgotten land. And as a chance encounter becomes divine providence, two very different people will find their lives forever changed.


About the Author:

Tom Davis is the accomplished author of Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless. He holds a business and pastoral ministry degree from Dallas Baptist University and a master's degree in theology from The Criswell College. He is the president and CEO of Children's HopeChest, a Christian-based child-advocacy organization helping orphans in Eastern Europe and Africa. Tom and his wife, Emily, have seven children, including two adopted from Russia.

(Information taken from the back of the book.)

Video Trailer for the Book:


And if this is STILL not enough for you ... check out the website. Or read the first chapter FREE.

Happy reading!

God and Football: Pre-Order Contest

My friend Chad Gibbs has been writing a book called God and Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the SEC over the past year. Zondervan (!!!) is publishing the book and the plan is for it to be released this August. Crazy, right?!

Chad is hosting a contest on his website and the winner will get 2 FREE tickets to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta this year. All you have to do is pre-order a copy of Chad's book here and post on Chad's website that you ordered it . That's it! Easy enough, right?

I haven't read the book yet, but I KNOW it's going to be hilarious ... because Chad is hilarious!

Here's a synopsis of the book in case you need more than my recommendation or the chance to win tickets to the SEC Championship game before ordering ...

In 2008 over six million people attended an SEC football game. They spent thousands on season tickets, donated millions to athletic departments, and for three months a year ordered their entire lives around the schedule of their favorite team. As a Christian, Gibbs knows he cannot serve two masters, but at times his faith is overwhelmed by his fanaticism. He is not alone. Gibbs and his six million friends do not live in a spiritually void land where such borderline idol worship would normally be accepted. They live in the American South, where according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 84 percent identify themselves as Christians. This apparent contradiction that Gibbs sees in his own life, and in millions of others', has led him to journey to each of the twelve schools to spend time with rabid Christian fans of various ages and denominations. Through his journey, he learns how others are able to balance their passion for their team with their devotion to God.