Naomi Dawn Musch

     Today on Write Reason I'm pleased to post a special episode of Secrets Sunday, welcoming as my a special guest, Mark Roth, the protagonist in Lisa Lickel's Meander Scar from Black Lyon Publishing. I love the title of this book as well as its concept. Here's what it's about:

You can go home again. But facing the consequences may leave a forever scar.

     

Ann Ballard’s husband, Gene, has tobe dead. After seven years of no word, no clues, she is more than ready to gether stagnant life flowing again in a positive direction. When former neighborMark Roth, now a respected attorney, shows up and wants to help with the legalaspects, she wonders if she can accept his attractive offer.

    

Mark has loved Ann forever. She wasthe only one who supported him when his own family was unavailable. Throughgentle wooing, Mark convinces Ann that his dream of happiness for them can cometrue. Together they face disapproving family members and the legal maneuveringsof Gene’s elite family. In a bizarre twist of fate, Ann learns whathappened to her husband. How can she tell the truth when it may ruin morelives--hers included?

Just when Ann and Mark overcome thelast hurdle, their lives hit the hardest rock of all. Now it's Mark's turnto be truthful to Ann, himself, and thefaith he professes.

     Welcome to Write Reason's Secrets Sunday, Mark. In hoping to get to know a little more about you today, can you please tell us your name and something about yourself, about your past; maybe something we won’t learn about you in the book?

     Hi, thank you for letting me speak today. I'm Attorney Mark E. Roth, lately from Virginia. Although I've lived many places, I've always identified the most with Wisconsin, probably due to my wife. You want to know something about me that Ann didn't already tell you? I'd love to buy a little place up north on a lake. Get a boat. Yeah, after I make partner, we'll be able to take more time to get away. Work's pretty crazy, you know?

     I sure do! So if you don't mind my asking, do you have any profound regrets in your past that you wouldn’t mind sharing with those who might read your story?

     You do realize you're talking to a lawyer, don't you? I'm not sure that divulging that type of information would be in my best interest. However, it's no secret that I wish things had been different in my family. I’m not saying I wish my parents hadn't divorced, just that…things had been different, especially between my stepmom and me, and between me and Trey. I'll always miss him.

     What compelled you to want to tell your story to Ms. Lickel?

     Naturally we'd prefer privacy, but our situation is so unique, so special that it would be wrong not to share it. Have you ever been so sure of something, so blessed by a calling that, no matter what anyone else said, you knew that what you were doing was the right thing? I knew there was something wrong about Gene Ballard's family. I just didn't expect Ann to get so shook. I used the situation, I know, I know…but it was the only way I could figure getting back into her life. She was the whole reason I came back, and no. No, loving someone isn't wrong. The difference in our ages isn't anyone's business but ours. Love is ageless. That's the point. That's the reason we want to share our story.

     Wow! I appreciate your candor. When you put it that way, yes, I can understand. I think most of us have felt certainties in our lives that others didn't support. So, what was it like working with Ms.Lickel? Do the two of you have anything in common?

     Not really. She was very open to calling in some experts—interpreters, if you will. Between us, Attorney Williams and Attorney Wells, we worked things out. It's hard enough to get anyone to understand what it's like, with all the lawyer jokes and all. Yeah, I laugh at 'em too, but sometimes you're glad someone understands and wants to show the good side of your life work. And Ms. Lickel had a real soft spot for my Annie. Things could have gone very badly…very badly indeed if anyone else had been telling our story. Ann could have come out looking like a…well, let's just say, it worked out.

     Tell us about someone in the story whom you felt, or still feel conflicted with? Why do you think that is?

     You forgive, you know; try to forget. The obvious answer would be my parents—dad and stepmother, that is. But you know…they are who they are. Nothing is going to change that. I suppose the person I felt the most hurt by was Pastor St. Clare. I couldn't believe how much he'd changed, going from the little church where I gave my teenaged heart to Christ, to that megachurch campus outreach years later when I came back. He was supportive of me and Annie, don't get me wrong. He helped me see that righ toff even if he came down a little harsh. He just didn't have the answers when everything hit the fan. Maybe that's not his fault. I had him on a pedestal, Isuppose. No one but God knows how to handle everything, you know? But he's a good guy and I trust him with my life.

     Yes, it's easy to expect more from people than they're seemingly capable of doing at times. Thankfully, we always can rely on our Heavenly Father.

     Without giving anything away, Mark, can you give us a hint at something you learned in the course of living out your story? Or--if possible without spilling the beans--can you tell us anything about how you felt, or what led to the darkest moment you recall?

     Well, maybe I would never have admitted this, not even to myself, but I read some other of Ms. Lickel's interviews, and she's right. I'm not really much of a Plan B guy. I'm pretty meticulous in gathering and laying out the facts. In my business, you have to be. People's lives literally depend on it. I thought I'd been in some tough situations – my mom died when I was eight, I lost my little brother in an accident, I thought I was going to get married once, then called it off. That's not counting the job, either. But when Annie…when that happened, I just walked and walked. Didn't know how I was going to take my next breath. If it hadn't been for Elle, I'd be fish food. You know, I could have walked right away. Gone anywhere, tried to forget the whole thing or treat it like a dream…a nightmare. A man does some soul-searching, it's true. I don't know any betterway to say it. You look inside and you either come up empty, or you take what you have in both hands and don't let go, no matter how bumpy the ride.

     That's very thought-provoking. Was there a point in your life that you felt God had deserted you, or that He was never there in the first place?

     Definitely, yeah. When Pastor St. Clare stood there, looking at Annie so helpless—he didn't have the answers, then. It seemed no one did. How could God call me back, grant me all the desires of my heart, then yank the rug out that like? That just was too cruel. Too cruel. 

     What do you hope that readers will take away with them after hearing about your life?

     I know it's so cliché, but there's always HOPE. Always. For those who are in Christ, nothing, nothing, nothing can make you less of a child of God. He makes promises, gives you so much goodness, but you have to reach out and grab it. He can't force you to accept what he holds out to you, so never forget that.

     If you could say one more thing to someone in the story, someone whom you don’t know if or when you’ll meet again, to whom would it be and what would you like them to know?

     You really reach for the jugular, don't you? Tiffany, I will never call you or make an effort to see you again. I will not be the one to throw myself begging at your feet again for any scrap of kindness. But I hope with all my heart that you will some day know Christ and live for Him. I don't want even you to miss eternity.

     Do you think you’ll ever collaborate with Ms. Lickel on another book in the future? What about anyone else in the story…have they implied that they’d be willing to tell more about their lives?

     I heard that Maeve's father has begun to stalk Ms. Lickel. I never pried, of course, about who he was, although of course I was curious. Naturally. Maeve just never talked about it. None of them did. I even wondered if Rachel, Annie's sister, had been married, or attacked, or what. I can help Ms. Lickel with a restraining order if push comes to shove, but I don't think that will be necessary.

     Well, thank you for the wonderful interview, Mark, and for sharing your powerful and moving story with my readers on Write Reason.

     Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives with her husband in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include mystery and romance, all with a twist of grace. She has penned dozens of feature newspaper stories, short stories, magazine articles and radio theater. She is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin Magazine and loves to encourage new authors. Find her at http://www.LisaLickel.com.