Interview with Chad from Time and Tide (book) by Kristen Terrette:
Kristen: Tell me about your childhood.
Chad: I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. My dad traveled all the time, growing his real estate business, so it was just my mom and me most of the time. I played a lot of sports when I was young but focused on basketball in high school. After I graduated, I went to Washington University in downtown Atlanta, but that was there most of my problems started.
Kristen: What kind of problems?
Chad: My parents had moved to Savannah when I started college, so even though I lived forty minutes away from my childhood home, I couldn’t actually go home anymore. Then, my dad passed away suddenly my sophomore year, and… after a bunch of therapy… I’ve realized that event sent me into a spiral. I wasn’t given the chance to reconcile our relationship (me and my dad) so I turned to drugs to cope.
Kristen: That’s hard to hear. But you’re doing good now. What changed?
Chad: A ton of things. But my road to redemption truly began when I drove from the swanky Atlanta home I’d bought after my dad died, to a party. I was very out of it on drugs and didn’t make it to the shindig. I caused a car accident that almost killed another driver, as well as myself. I should have died and suffered a major leg injury, which placed me in the hospital for a while. That hospital stay helped to kick-start my sobriety. It was a reality check.
Kristen: I bet. Well, how’d you end up on Moanna Island?
Chad: I mentioned my mom moved to Savannah, and my family’s business main hub is based out of there now. So after my rehab, and physical therapy, I decided I needed to be closer to her, and realized I’d never be ready to take over the business unless I knew all the ins and outs. We have a family home on Moanna, which is only forty-five minutes away. I decided to move there and adjust to the area for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, then start my new job at our Savannah office. I’m very glad I did.
Kristen: And why’s that?
Chad: Because God was chasing after me and planned on using a beautiful woman to show me what love is, and through her love, show me who He is.
Kristen: Tell me about this!
Chad: I met my wife, Ryan, on the island. It wasn’t the first time I’d laid eyes on her, but that part of the story is for another time. But our first interaction was at the Moanna General Store, where she worked. I was buying dog food for a stray I’d come across, and though I was immediately struck by how hot…I mean beautiful…she was, I made a terrible first impression. But she was gracious after a bit of prodding and let me make up for my fumble.
God continued to place us in each other’s path, and she ended up showing me around the island on what she called adventures. I watched Ryan have joy through the chaos of life. I wanted to know how she was able to do it. She’s dealt with some tragedies in her past, but unlike me, she turned to God to get her through them. That was her secret, what made her, her. First, I fell in love with Ryan, but my love for Jesus soon followed. He used her to help me find Him.
Kristen: Wow. So tell us about your newlywed life. How has it changed?
Chad: My life is very different from what it was a few years ago. Ryan and I married and decided to make Moanna our home forever. It’s our place, and we couldn’t stand the thought of leaving it. I help my mom run our real estate firm which has me traveling some. Ryan doesn’t seem to mind because she keeps busy too. She still takes shifts at the General Store and is back in school online to finish her degree, a dream she had to give up when her brother got sick. But I think the craziest thing to rock my world is the fact I help run a Wednesday night worship service at the Savannah Mental Health and Rehabilitation Center. I help recovering addicts, like me, learn about Jesus and His great love for us.
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Author Bio: Kristen has a Master's degree in Theological Studies and was on staff as a Children's Ministry Director for over five years. She cherishes her Southern roots and currently lives forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. With the support of her husband and two children, she stays at home writing Christian fiction, making up fantasy places and characters, allowing God to take the story where He needs it to go.
She serves on the women's leadership and teaching team at her church and writes for Wholly Loved ministries at WhollyLoved.com, as well as Crosswalk.com. To see her blog and current novels, check out her website at www.kristenterrette.com.
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Book Blurb for Time and Tide: Addictions destroy lives. Chad Cusher’s own dependencies change everything he thought he knew about his future.
After almost killing himself and someone else, Chad’s legal problems, addiction recovery therapy, and physical therapy if he ever wants to walk normally again, are a part of his everyday life. He believes there is no chance at true happiness, certainly not love, and only hopes to become a better man than he was, to find redemption somehow.
Chad moves to Moanna Island, a small island close to Savannah off the Atlantic coast, to begin a job with his family’s real estate empire, a job he was supposed to have taken years ago.
Free-spirited Ryan Mason is a Moanna local girl from a blue-collar family. She’s dropped her own dreams to help her father care for her schizophrenic brother.
Their paths first cross at a Rehabilitation Center where Chad attends therapy and Ryan’s brother lives. Chad can’t believe his luck when he finds her on Moanna Island, forty-five minutes away from the Center, only days later.
Chad is drawn to Ryan’s joy, even through the pain and grief life tries to throw her way. His lonely void begins to dissipate with every island adventure spent with her. He soon finds out what her secret is. But is it possible to start over and be restored? Even so, can Ryan except Chad’s horrible, even criminal past? Can their crazy worlds ever fit together once she finds out he is the sole heir to the Cusher Empire?
Chad moves to Moanna Island, a small island close to Savannah off the Atlantic coast, to begin a job with his family’s real estate empire, a job he was supposed to have taken years ago.
Free-spirited Ryan Mason is a Moanna local girl from a blue-collar family. She’s dropped her own dreams to help her father care for her schizophrenic brother.
Their paths first cross at a Rehabilitation Center where Chad attends therapy and Ryan’s brother lives. Chad can’t believe his luck when he finds her on Moanna Island, forty-five minutes away from the Center, only days later.
Chad is drawn to Ryan’s joy, even through the pain and grief life tries to throw her way. His lonely void begins to dissipate with every island adventure spent with her. He soon finds out what her secret is. But is it possible to start over and be restored? Even so, can Ryan except Chad’s horrible, even criminal past? Can their crazy worlds ever fit together once she finds out he is the sole heir to the Cusher Empire?
~*~
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What I love most about Chad is how, in this interview, he sees his need for Jesus, and can see how God was working in His life, and then turns around and helps recovering addicts learn about Jesus and His great love for them. Great interview, Alexis!
ReplyDeleteI love how Chad want to be a better man than he was and how he did not give up. I appreciated how he chose to fall in love with Jesus and Kristen
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies! I always say there's a love story happening behind my characters and God too- Chad paints this picture well! God's pursuit is never-ending!
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