A best-selling author right from the get-go, Gina Holmes has just released her fourth novel, Driftwood Tides, which deals with a young woman searching for the birth mother that did not raise her. The book is set on the beach at Nags Head, where she doesn’t find her mother – but perhaps someone who could be her birth father. She also learns more about who she is, and about how to forgive.
Holmes, a nurse by trade, writes books with a Christian theme, but she goes easy on the pedal there. The official release date was September 1; it’s available at online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Holmes will sign copies at the Lifeway bookstore across from Valley View Mall on September 20th from 1 to 3pm.
Holmes writes about what she knows, like in her previous novel, Wings of Glass, which dealt with domestic abuse. She was not raised for the most part by her birth mother and therefore could relate to the main character (Libby) in Driftwood Tides – a lighter read than the darker tale that Wings of Glass told. “That was a tough book [to write],” said Holmes about Wings of Glass.
“There was always a little bit of a hole there,” said Holmes about not having her birth mother around. Driftwood Tides ponders the question: “What makes family, family?” asks Holmes, “or is blood more important than love or commitment?”
It’s a story about learning how to forgive, and learning how to be forgiven,” said Holmes of Driftwood Tides. It’s an issue Holmes said she has raised in all of her four novels to date. “All of us are capable of great sin and great transgression – we need to be forgiven so much. I’m not sure why some people have a hard time forgiving others.”
Holmes is okay with being labeled as a Christian novelist, calling that her “world view.” Even if she doesn’t always write for a Christian publisher she believes that viewpoint would eventually come through her words. Right out of the box, Crossing Oceans made it onto bestseller lists and all of her works so far, including the second novel, Dry As Rain, have been bestsellers and/or have been nominated or won awards.
“Every ship has its high tide and that success could end tomorrow. I know that,” said Holmes, who strives to stay humble. She’s developing a following and hears from readers waiting for the Roanoker’s next novel. “That’s really nice – that’s how anybody builds their following. They want a Gina Holmes novel. Right now I’m very comfortable with that.”
Holmes’ novelrocket.com website has been widely praised as a go-to destination for new writers, offering tips and fresh articles daily on the art of writing. Her own website is GinaHolmes.com. “You can connect to other writers,” said Holmes, who encourages visitors to leave comments and questions at NovelRocket. “We really do read them.”
If it’s a passion “then take a chance and do it,” said Holmes about writing novels that are accepted and published, “just know that its really hard to do it. Read every how-to book you can and go to writer’s conferences. You need to learn the craft.” Holmes is already facing a deadline for her next book. Such is life for the best-selling novelist.
As for the lesson to take away from Driftwood Tides? Family can be whomever you surround yourself with “and if you want to be forgiven – the Bible tells us we need to learn how to forgive.”
By Gene Marrano
