It Always Rains on Wednesday, Book Three: The Promised Land

In the final book of the trilogy, It Always Rains on Wednesday, Monte Scott enters a season where helping others forces him to confront hard truths in his own life. As a vocational rehabilitation counselor serving as liaison to a residential school for the blind, Monte continues guiding students toward independence—but tragedy and change bring unique challenges.
His relationship with Clare deepens as she wrestles with decisions that could reshape their futures. Lifelong friendships with Arthur, now a teacher at the school, and Vernon, a police sergeant, continue to offer Monte both nurture and candid counsel.
At the center of the story is Benjamin Booker, Monte’s closest colleague and friend. Born blind into poverty in an Appalachian coal town, Benjamin’s journey to becoming a devoted father, gifted teacher, and fierce advocate for his students is both inspiring and profoundly human.
Through moments of sorrow and joy, readers will come to know the students—laughing at petty arguments, cheering at a talent show, and sharing pride during a community band competition.
It Always Rains on Wednesday, Book Three: The Promised Land is a heartfelt conclusion about friendship, purpose, and finding hope—even as it keeps raining both challenges and blessings.

R. Douglas Hackney draws from his experiences working at a residential school for the blind as a vocational rehabilitation counselor. He has been writing poems and stories since childhood, publishing in high school and college journals and agency newsletters, and has recorded an album of original songs, A Single Essence. The It Always Rains on Wednesday trilogy is his first work of fiction. His varied work experience as a grocery clerk, carpenter, vineyard manager, minister, and truck driver provides a rich background for his writing. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, he went on to earn degrees from University of Richmond, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and a master's of rehabilitation counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. Married with five children, he enjoys reading, hiking, canoeing, camping, folk music, and tinkering with his 1933 Dodge.