Deciding to walk away from God did not come easily or quickly. Nor did the decision to return. These kinds of tumultuous events feel as if they happen impulsively, spontaneously. But, if we take the time to look back at patterns, we find the seeds of the decision sown years before the actual action. This was not a book medical fiction writer Lin Wilder planned to write. Ever. Until she remembered a promise made to a friend years before. Author Wilder explains: Exactly how much of my personal life should be included in this book has been a tough decision to make. This is, after all, the story of conversion, not an autobiography. Many of my choices, judgments, and their consequences remain painful, even humiliating to revisit, writing them down, even more so. Initially, I questioned the relevance of describing elements of my career, education, and relationships with men- in short, my pre-Catholic world in detail. Since I did not convert until midlife, there are a lot of territories to cover. But I realize that my use of the term 'lost years' makes no sense unless I place them squarely in the context of the person I was then. Without the details of my early life, unpleasant as they are to recall, much less write, this sense of drifting and of aimlessness are merely words which lack substance. They are unidimensional. In talks to church groups about life with and without my faith, I frequently used 'ground' while I stomped the floor I stood on, forcefully, as I worked to convey what is gained and lost with and without faith. Faith and all which accompanies religion like regular church attendance and a belief that there is something greater here, someone present, inform our decisions and choices, even our goals. Just so, its absence widens all boundaries. More and more is acceptable. This, at times, brutally honest story of the reasons for Wilder's walk away from God, then years later, return, cannot fail to provoke and challenge.
Lin Wilder holds a Doctorate in Public Health and has published extensively in fields like cardiac physiology, institutional ethics, and hospital management. In 2007, she switched from non-fiction to fiction. Her series of the medical thrillers include many references to the Texas Medical Center where Lin worked for over twenty-three years. Her first novel, The Fragrance Shed By A Violet: Murder in the Medical Center was a winner in the 2017 IAN 2017 Book of the Year Awards, a finalist in the category of mystery. Malthus Revisited: The Cup of Wrath, the fourth in the Dr.Lindsey McCall medical mystery series, won Silver/2nd Place award in the 2018 Feathered Quill Book Awards Program for the Women's Fiction category. Finding the Narrow Path is the true story of why she walked away from -then back to God. All her books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at her website, linwilder.com where she writes weekly articles.
