Beyond Prejudice Now Available for Pre-order!

Beyond Prejudice is now available for pre-order from http://www.Amazon.com and http://www.BarnesandNoble.com!  The official release date is July 5.  To find the book, simply visit the site of one of these booksellers and type in Beyond Prejudice, Raschelle Wurzer, or the ISBN # 978-1-935986-11-9 into the search box.  You can also order directly from your favorite bookseller.

This week and next week, Sharlene MacLaren is featuring Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://sharlenemaclaren.blogspot.com .  She endorsed the novel, and also has a new release coming out July 5.  You can find out more at www.sharlenemaclaren.com .

Don’t forget to visit Diane Estrella’s blog at http://www.dianeestrella.com on Friday, June 24 to read her official review of the book.  Enter for a chance to win a copy of Beyond Prejudice July 11 when she features an author interview.  Take a look at her rating of the novel on http://www.goodreads.com.

Award-winning author, Margaret Daley, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com the week of July 4.

After you’ve read Beyond Prejudice, let me know if you’d like to see a sequel or if you’d be more interested in reading another stand-alone title.  You can contact me at raschellewurzer@juno.com.  My goal as an author is to #1 please God with my writing and #2 please you as my readers.

For now, though, happy reading!

Character Diaries

David Mitsuko, Male Protagonist

Entry #3

     I never dreamed I’d feel like the animals I saw caged in at the zoo when I was a young boy.  At least not here in America.  Maybe one could expect adverse reactions such as these to a missionary on the field, as I may, should God permit it, but not here where things are supposed to be safe and “civilized” for ordinary citizens, even if they do look like the enemy. 

     Barbed wire fences and guard towers should be reserved for crazed prisoners of war, if they should be used to incarcerate human beings at all.  But for women, children, the sick, and the elderly?  May God forbid it to ever happen again.

     Being a Christian and a strong young man, I thought I was exempt from despair.  How wrong I was!  A few months of interment confinement and my spirits waned with the hope I once had of marrying Elizabeth.  She seemed so far away, even if we were both in California.  It would have been just as well, had I been in Japan, for we couldn’t hope to be together at a time like this.  I told her she couldn’t come with us to the internment camp, and when I got here I realized why.  However, my love for her still made me long for her to be here, though it was a selfish wish.  She was much better off not being classified as “one of us”.

     The claim of being a strong Christian young man not only deteriorated with despair, but also with the common weakness of every man, should he be wise enough to admit it.  Joy’s beauty wasn’t just physical.  She looked at the world and life through the beauty she found in everything, and that made me hope again.  A hope for the future—with her.

Projected Timeline to Beyond Prejudice Release!

Thanks to the hard work of staff at Liberty University (LU) Press, Beyond Prejudice is projected to be released in approximately four weeks!  I would like to acknowledge my editor, designer, and business manager at LU Press for their persistence and dedication to this project.  They have taken my vision for my debut novel and brought reality to that vision through the business side of writing.  I am blessed to work with individuals who not only are professional in their work, but also have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the ultimate Reason for writing and publishing.

Post yourself a reminder to visit Diane Estrella’s blog on June 24 at http://www.dianeestrella.com/ to read her review of Beyond Prejudice before you can buy it.  A copy of the novel will be given away that day or shortly thereafter on her blog.  I’ll be giving you more information here, too, closer to the release date, so keep following!

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) will be featuring Beyond Prejudice in the July issue of their alumni e-newsletter, Connection Point.  More information on that later this month.

Again, a listing of upcoming blog features for Beyond Prejudice:

• June 24: Christian fiction reviewer, Diane Estrella, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://www.dianeestrella.com/
• Week of June 27:  Christian author, Sharlene MacLaren, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://sharlenemaclaren.blogspot.com/ .  She also endorsed the novel, and has a new release coming out July 7.  You can find out more at http://www.sharlenemaclaren.com/ .
• Week of July 4:  Award-winning author, Margaret Daley, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com/ .

Character Diaries

Caleb Phelps, Antagonist, Beyond Prejudice

Entry #2

     Well, if you were a guy with age, looks, and education in your favor, wouldn’t you try to get the girl you wanted?  Not that I didn't have lots of other choices, but let’s be honest, not every girl is like Elizabeth Tyler.  Some are better looking, better educated, and better acquainted with the world’s pleasures (not unlike myself), but somehow, Elizabeth caught my attention in ways that no other girl has ever done.  Even now, I can’t quite identify what it was. 

     David Mitsuko is one lucky guy.  I mean, who else but Elizabeth would cherish love for someone for two and a half years while he’s interned for being the same race as the enemy in war?  She kept saying it was because God had put them together.  How does God put two people together, anyway?  Don’t humans put themselves together?  Who said, if God even exists as omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient (yes, I know those terms!), that He would care enough about one person to intervene to the point of restructuring the possible outcomes of an executive order to reunite the two?

As I told Elizabeth, I’m a conformist, so I buy into the more popular view of dictating my own destiny.

All I know is, David found someone else at Manzanar.

Follow Beyond Prejudice in Print Publications and Online

Hello, all.  Spring is finally here!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the promotional drawing for Beyond Prejudice.  The complimentary copy of the novel goes to Derek.  Congratulations!

Thanks also to those who answered the survey question.  Many of you will be pleased to know that Beyond Prejudice is written in the single viewpoint of the main character, Elizabeth Tyler.  The greatest advantage of this viewpoint is that you, as the reader, can understand the main character with greater insight than in any other viewpoint.  It can be limiting, however, as the author is confined by what that specific character feels, thinks, acts out.  This character has to be in every scene, and in some cases, this limitation can shorten the length of the story to avoid padded prose.  What’s your answer for the new survey question?

If you haven’t read the feature article by the Fayette County Newspapers, check it out at  http://www.newspapersoffayettecounty.com/ .  It was printed in the Elgin Echo the week of April 25 and in the Fayette County Union and Ossian Bee the week of May 2. 

Look for blog features of Beyond Prejudice on these dates at the following blogs:

• June 24:  Christian fiction reviewer, Diane Estrella, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://www.dianeestrella.com/ .
• Week of June 27:  Christian author, Sharlene MacLaren, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://sharlenemaclaren.blogspot.com/ .  She also endorsed the novel, and has a new release coming out July 7.  You can find out more at http://www.sharlenemaclaren.com/ .
• Week of July 4: Award-winning author, Margaret Daley, will feature Beyond Prejudice on her blog at http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com/ .

Get involved in a chance to win a complimentary copy of Beyond Prejudice when you participate on Margaret Daley’s and Dianne Estrella’s features.

Character Diaries

Elizabeth Tyler, Main Character, Beyond Prejudice

Entry #1

     Going to Poston changed my life.  It wasn’t just because I had stepped out on my own, out from the shelter of my parents’ home, though.  God used my experiences there to challenge everything I had claimed I believed about Him, from trust to the essence of salvation and obedience to His word.  I realized, too, how weak I am apart from God’s will and walking in the blessings of His council.

     I didn’t intend to lead Caleb on the way I did.  It wasn’t fair to him or David or God or even me.  Maybe I hurt myself the worst.  Caleb was enticing.  Flattery and infatuation can blind in an instant, or in this case, slowly, whittling away at scarred emotions and reluctant surrender to a will higher than my own.

     Seeing the prejudice tendencies of my nation solidified my love for others in many ways.  It caused me to look past what spectators thought and care for what God thinks of me instead.  I still grieve over what conditions David and his parents, Midori, Hannah, and Toyo lived in for over two years.  But even through the memories and pain I know they must still harbor somewhere deep inside, I am assured of the healing power of His grace that has taken an evil situation and used it to produce faith and the promise of eternal life for those involved.

     I can only trust that He uses my weaknesses to magnify His strength, just as He promised.

Beyond Prejudice

Welcome to my blog!  Thanks for stopping by.  I’m excited to inform you about my first book publication, coming soon from Liberty University Press.

Beyond Prejudice

In Beyond Prejudice, Elizabeth Tyler’s Japanese American fiancé is interned with the rest of the West Coast Japanese in response to Executive Order 9066 after Pearl Harbor.  Elizabeth questions her country, her love, and her God as her faith is tried and refined. 

Beyond Prejudice is unique in its interracial twist on relationships among characters.  Readers get to experience the effects of Pearl Harbor two-fold as Elizabeth faces the challenges associated with “loving the enemy” and David overcomes the obstacle of remaining loyal to his country and his God while being denied the basic freedoms of being an American.  Women will especially enjoy Beyond Prejudice, as the challenges Elizabeth faces are those women often deal with as they pursue God’s will for their lives. 

My purpose in writing this novel is to encourage other believers to trust the Creator with their lives, hearts, minds, and ambitions, and to evoke a longing in those who have yet to believe.

Ordering information coming soon!

New blog entries will appear frequently after the release of the tile.  You’ll get to read my personal thoughts along with character and themed diaries, subject-related facts, quiz questions, surveys, promotions, and blog features.  Don’t miss it!

Know someone who loves Christian fiction?  Send them the link to my blog, http://raschellewurzer.blogspot.com/.  I’d love to hear from you.  E-mail me at raschellewurzer@juno.com.