The Book I Almost Gave Up On (and a cover reveal)

When I turned in the first full draft of The Escape Game last September, I hated it.

Not in a playful, self-deprecating way. I really, truly hated it.

I had that awful, hollow feeling in my stomach. The one that whispers, This isn’t good enough. You aren’t good enough. Why did you ever think you could pull this off?

Honestly, I believed this book was beyond my abilities.

And it was.

But I forgot I have Someone on my side who can do all things.

Back in 2022, this story idea was supposed to be simple. A shorter novel inside a collection. I had a fun premise, a few intriguing characters, and a basic plot: a second chance romance with the two main characters locked in a deadly mansion.

Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

I realized the story needed space to breathe, so I wrote something else for the collection, and put this story back on the shelf until the right time.

Fast forward to 2025. The Escape Game was proposed as book 2 of The Game Master series.

I started writing. Characters pushed back. They wouldn’t talk. Inside my head, there was silence.

Some books flow. This one fought.

I wrestled with tone and pacing. I rewrote entire sections only to delete them again. Scenes that sparkled in my head fell flat on the page. I second-guessed everything.

My heroine was supposed to be the faithful Christian girl who wins the bad boy to the Lord.

She wasn’t.

And my hero? He was all wrong.

So, I did something terrifying.

I replaced him.

Completely.

I created an entirely new character—Liam Shepherd.

On the surface, Liam was perfect—kind, protective, devoted to the Lord, close to his family. Every Christian girl’s dream.

But fiction doesn’t work that way. Perfection isn’t compelling.

I asked God to show me Liam’s wound.

When it came, I cried.

No, I bawled like a baby.

Liam wasn’t abused. He didn’t come from a broken home. He had love and stability. Then tragedy struck, and he faced a choice.

He chose wrong.

And it haunted him.

But the troubles were far from over.

This wasn’t just a tricky plot or a stubborn manuscript.

This story touched some deep places in my own heart—places I didn’t expect to have to revisit. Writing it meant digging into tender, uncomfortable emotions, facing truths about fear, grief, and courage that I hadn’t fully confronted. It hit a little too close to home.

Some days it felt less like writing fiction and more like surgery.

And surgery is exhausting.

By the time I reached the end, I wasn’t excited. I was just tired. I turned it in because it was due, not because it felt finished.

Then the editing began.

If drafting this book was wandering through a dark forest, editing was finally being handed a flashlight. Sentences tightened. Motivations clarified. Scenes I thought were essential were cut, and others grew stronger. What felt hopeless started to feel possible.

Slowly—painfully at times—the story started to come into focus.

My editor asked hard questions. I rewrote the entire book. (Not completely, but it felt like it.)

Each round of edits chipped away at the parts I disliked and revealed the story underneath—the one I’d been trying to tell all along.

Somewhere along the way, something unexpected happened.

I stopped hating it.

More than that, I started to like it.

Everything clicked. The story finally had the depth—and the heart—it had been missing.

And now, sitting on the other side of the process, I can honestly say something I never imagined saying last fall:

I’m proud of The Escape Game.

Not because it’s perfect—no book ever is—but because it represents persistence. Growth. The courage to dig into hard places and stay long enough to find the heart of the story.

And that heart is what I hope you feel when you read it.

What started as a small, simple idea grew into something deeper than I expected. Something that required more from me than I thought I had to give.

 And in the end, it became something God and I built together.

This book reminded me of something important:

We’re all first drafts.

God is shaping us, molding us … and we fight back. We look at our lives and wish things were different. We replay our wrong choices. We feel regret, frustration, and fear.

Sometimes, we even hate what we see.

But hating your draft doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6 (KJV)

It just means God isn’t finished yet.

And sometimes, the stories we struggle with the most end up being the ones we’re proudest to hold in our hands.

Coming May 5, 2026! 

Keep your eyes out for the preorder available soon.

SUSPENSE SISTERS: FEBRUARY GIVEAWAY

Suspense Sisters: February Giveaway

Secrets, Stakes, and Why Every Great Suspense Story Starts with One Question: What’s at Risk?

 

Suspense isn’t just about what happens—it’s about what could be lost.

A life.
A relationship.
A truth someone worked hard to bury.

That’s why fictional danger works so well when it’s personal.

In Tangled Past, the danger is tangled—woven through memory, identity, and trust. Every step forward threatens to pull something apart. In Hunting Truth, the pursuit of justice brings characters face-to-face with the consequences of digging too deep.

As readers, we feel that tension because we understand the stakes. We lean in because the cost of failure feels real.

And maybe that’s why we love suspense so much—it lets us explore fear, courage, and resilience from the safety of our favorite reading spot.

Your turn. For a chance to win an e-book copy of either Tangled Past or Hunting Truth, tell me: 

• What makes a suspense novel unforgettable for you—the plot twists or the characters facing them?

Have you ever read a book where the truth was more dangerous than the lie?


I’ll announce the winner when we next meet.  Be sure to include your email address in your comment!

 Until next time… may your TBR be full and your suspense stories keep you guessing.

 Mary 

WHATS NEW IN INSPIRATIONAL SUSPENSE

Wondering what's HOT in inspirational suspense and mystery? Dana Mentink has a brand new mystery, Scent of Sabotage, recently released from Love Inspired Suspense. Here's a little bit about the story:

To track down the truth, they'll need to unravel the clues

Detective Beth Wolfe's reunion with investigative journalist Jack St. James is a matter of life or death--and when a masked assailant attacks them, a severe blow leaves Jack with amnesia. Beth and her K-9, Arthur, are determined to keep Jack safe while he regains his lost memories. Was he targeted due to a case he was working on...or does it have something to do with the son they placed for adoption decades ago? When their investigations lead them inside a booby-trapped amusement park, it's a race against the clock to put all the pieces together and uncover the park owners' nefarious plot...or die trying.

From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

Security Hounds Investigations

Book 1: Tracking the Truth
Book 2: Fugitive Search
Book 3: Hunted on the Trail
Book 4: Following the Clues
Book 5: Detecting Concealed Evidence
Book 6: Scent of Sabotage

You can buy Scent of Sabotage HERE from Christian book.com

Have a great week of reading, lovers of inspirational suspense.

Mary Ellis, Suspense Sisters

THIS WEEK ON THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

 

We have exciting things planned for you this week on the Suspense Sisters!

On Tuesday, Suspense Sister Mary Ellis will tell us what’s hot in inspirational suspense and mystery.

Wednesday, author Mary Alford talks about “Secrets, Stakes, and Why Every Great Suspense Story Starts with One Question: What’s at Risk?” She’s also giving away an ebook copy of either TANGLED PAST or HUNTING TRUTH. Your choice.

Here’s a little something about these great books:

TANGLED PAST

A murdered police chief. A missing truth. A witness who can’t remember.

Twenty-five years after his father’s unsolved murder, Asa Dutton returns to Hope Island determined to uncover the truth. His only lead is Maya Callahan—the little girl found hiding in the barn the night his father died.

Maya has no memory of that stormy night. But as fragments of her past resurface, so does danger. Someone is watching. Someone who will kill to keep the truth buried.

As Asa and Maya grow closer, the stakes turn deadly. Because remembering the past may be the only way to survive it.

ORDER IT HERE


HUNTING TRUTH

Deadly Showdown - Mary Alford
FBI Special Agent Ava Blake has spent years trying to outrun the past and the serial killer who nearly destroyed her. But when a woman’s body is found encased in wax near Glacier National Park, Ava knows the “Wax Saint” has returned. Teaming up with Shadow, a scarred military K-9 who is part of the FBI’s new Redeemed K-9 Unit, and Caleb Ward, the man she once loved, Ava must face her deepest fears to stop a predator who’s turned murder into ritual. As the killer’s twisted game closes in, Ava realizes his ultimate target isn’t just another victim…it’s her.

ORDER IT HERE 

Friday, we’ll hear from Suspense Sister Gina Holder. She’ll be talking about her upcoming book, THE ESCAPE GAME. She’s also giving away a copy of her exciting book, THE PUZZLE WITHIN.

FBI agent Arizona Powers, recovering from a nervous breakdown, isn’t ready to call it quits. Hoping to prove herself, she takes on a protection assignment for Bridgette Van Sloan, the spoiled teenage daughter of an ambassador.

Nick Trueheart, a former escape artist, joined DSS as a risk analyst after the tragic death of his wife. Consumed by his obsession to learn the identity of her killer, Nick lacks the time and patience to handle the unstable field agent.

When Bridgette disappears from an escape room, Nick and Arizona become entangled in a dangerous game and a race against time. The risks are high as they confront their own failures and unravel the secrets hidden within to save Bridgette— and themselves—from a sinister plot.

ORDER IT HERE 

Don’t forget to enter our monthly contest!

THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

WE LOVE BOOKS

From Whence do your People Hail?

Sharon Dunn here. At the end of February, my new book Montana Ranch Crime Ring releases. I am especially excited about this book because my source of inspiration was a little different this time, my own heritage as a person of Norwegian descent. Years ago, my older sister put together a book that traced our ancestry on both sides of the family. My great grandmother who came over from Norway as a child used to visit us when we were kids. The story in Montana Ranch Crime Ring is a modern suspense story so it wasn't like I got to write directly about my ancestors, but they served as the inspiration. I include a character in my book who is a great deal like how my great grandmother was. The reader letter at the end of book explains what's real and what's not. 

I've written over 45 books and I can't believe I didn't draw on this as a source for story ideas. The book my sister put together also contained an essay by one of my relatives on my father's side of the family who homesteaded in Montana. Maybe I'll use that in another book. It's my mother's side of the family that came from Norway. Interesting thing about my father's side of the family. My dad always said we were German when we asked him about our heritage but when the bloodlines are traced turns out we're not German at all but English. Funny how stories get passed down that aren't true or only partially true. 

How about you? What do you know about your family heritage? Was there anything you were told that turned out not to be true or only half true? Any outlaws or royalty or important people in your bloodline? Leave a comment down below along with your email address. I'll choose at random several people to receive a copy of Montana Ranch Crime Ring (USA only).