Interview With the Author   Why did you write this novel? I see the students and young adults every day that have no spiritual basis in their homes.  They are now faced with difficulties and pressures in their lives and feel they have no place to go; no hope.  I wanted to write a story that would capture their attention by including many of the same difficulties and issues they face and yet, offer them hope through Jesus Christ. Are you saying that you have touched every issue they face? No, but it is interesting that in many conversations I have had in the past few months with students and parents, I find many of them addressed in the novel.   What makes you think the novel will appeal to a wide range of readers?   The story deals with a young man’s teenage years and the relationship with his widowed father and estranged grandfather.  In addition, it deals with finding the plan and purpose of your life.  The main character, J.R. Steele, is a high school quarterback. Though he now plays second string for the first time in his life, much to his father’s dismay, the starting quarterback (Seth Cutler) and J.R., become good friends.  As this relationship progresses J.R. finds that there is more to Seth than football.   Overall, it is a very entertaining story, set in a small Kansas town, and built around high school football.  It delivers a message applicable to everyone who reads it.   If you could give a summary of the novel, what would it be?   Struggling with football, relationships, temptations, love, and God, young J.R. Steele searches for the plan and purpose for his life.  His demanding father, Maynard, hates God, blaming Him for his own lonely childhood, as well as the death of his wife, and conveys this misery upon J.R. through demands of nothing less than perfection on the football field.  To make matters worse, Maynard has long harbored anger toward his own father, who abandoned him as a child, thus denying J.R. a relationship with his grandfather.  Near tragic situations involving J.R.’s friends, Seth Cutler and Monica Sims, force J.R. to look to God for answers.  Through strong friendships, J.R. begins his journey of faith, discovering a gift of speaking and connecting with people that result in the eventual recognition of God’s plan and purpose for him.     It is a readable, inspirational story that is applicable to every person and gives them reason to hope!