A personal story of honest truth

Community – Stan Ashbee – Cochrane Times

Word of mouth is an exceptional marketing tool when used to spread the news about Cochrane author Lynn Dove and her two books that offer an uplifting and spiritual message.

Heal the Wounded is the second installment of a trilogy of teen books. Dove believes the books give teenagers an option to the many series collections and stories available through the mainstream literary market. The author stated that originally the first book, Shoot the Wounded, was put into the hands of Cochrane youth and it grew exponentially.

“The trilogy is written for teenagers and young adults. As I started the process I had a lot of young people that read the first book saying ‘when are you going to come out with the next one’ and I realized that working with youth all my life, they really liked sequels like Twilight and Harry Potter and all those kinds of books and I wanted an alternative to that genre. My books deal with bullying, gossip, and issues that teenagers face and they are written from a Christian world view. Every teenager faces these kinds of trials and tribulations in their lives,” said Dove.  According to Dove, the Internet has become a unique way in which to connect and communicate with her faithful fans.  Social networking and social media related websites have been an invaluable resource, in regards to reaching youth and communicating the ills of bullying, cyber-bullying, and other issues facing teens today.

“My books are all about reaching young people and reaching the youth and anyone who has worked a long time with youth, I have worked over thirty years with them, that’s the way they relate to one another. They’re always texting, they’re always on Facebook, they do My Space, they do Twitter or anything like that.  So if I can put myself out there so they communicate with me in that way, that just gets my books and gets the message out to them a lot quicker.

“I find that with the youth they are very comfortable in talking through that media rather than face to face. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it’s a way to communicate with them so they don’t feel threatened.

“We want this to be a safe and caring environment for them. That they get positive feedback, that they are built up rather than put down and I’m hopeful that my being on the web and being on social networking sites, that that’s the message I’m putting out to them.”

Dove embraces technology, while creating a niche for herself in the writing world, with a strong and supportive online presence. Fellow Christian authors are interviewed and their books reviewed on a blog written by Dove.

The inspirational writer admits that being an author and writing a personal blog can be a tad bit nerve-racking at times.  “I’ve always written journals. I think I was probably blogging before it was actually called blogging. I want to make sure the content I put out there is personal and interesting and I try to be a little humorous and a little serious. I also try to incorporate and encourage some other writers that are just kind of starting out in this industry and encouraging them by previewing and reviewing their books,” said Dove.

Word Alive Press is a Christian company, with paid-on-demand publishing which allows Dove to print as many copies of her latest book that are needed. Interestingly, the Christian book market continues to turn a profit, providing a distinct voice outside of an oversaturated pop culture literary scene. Families, from all walks of life, are beginning to look towards this bustling book market for family friendly fare.

“I find that the Christian market is growing by leaps and bounds because people are looking for family friendly material and they’re looking for alternatives to what is out there right now. There are a lot of families that are not Christian that are buying Christian novels because the books don’t have the sexual themes, the occult themes like vampires, ghosts, goblins, and werewolves. The books don’t have that and a lot of families just don’t want their kids exposed to that,” said Dove.

The Heal the Wounded author will be a grandmother in the upcoming year and hopes to write what could be the final chapter in a trilogy. The third book is a work in progress. Dove will also continue to visit schools, offering book discussions on bullying and other teen related issues.

Both books are available for sale locally at Bentley’s Books and Mountain View Christian Book Store with an official book launch at Bow Valley Baptist Church on Jan. 25 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.