Went to the library yesterday, and got a book called "Thirsty" by Tracey Bateman. Published by WaterBrook Press, a Christian publishing company. I grabbed it because, shocker of all shockers, it's a novel with vampires in it. A Christian novel with vampires in it. Wondering how in the world the author did that, I decided to read it.
And couldn't put it down. I just finished it.
The story is about Nina, a woman who started drinking as a child, because her father was an alcoholic and left booze all over the house. Curious, she would take drinks here and there, and by the age of ten, she was a steady drinker. By her teens, she was an alcoholic. This led to a wild graduation party, an unfortunate incident with sex after a lot of alcohol, leaving town the next day, a pregnancy, a daughter, eventually a husband and another child, staying sober for years, then falling off the wagon and ending up divorced, without custody, and in court ordered rehab in her late 30's. In a nutshell.
The vampire is in the story, but not the center of the story, although he deals with his own addictions, one being (obvious) blood, two being Nina. He found her the night of the graduation party, and instead of feeding on her, he left her where the cops would find her, so that she would be ok. He stayed in that town for 17 years waiting for her to return.
After rehab, she returns, to start over. They strike up a friendship, he never harms her, and ends up sacrificing his own life to save hers when an evil vodoo witch vampire comes looking to reclaim him as her long lost love. End the vampire part of the story. (sorry to spoil the ending)
The book really is about addiction. And there are some thoughts in it that I wanted to write down, so am doing this to share.
"One thing she'd learned - she could stand alone. She battled her demons daily, and so far, every day she was winning. It wasn't easy to make good choices when she'd been making poor ones for so long, but with each right decision, she gained the strength to forge ahead to the next right decision. And even though sometimes the path twisted and she took a step or two in the wrong direction, getting back on track was becoming easier and easier. She'd made the decision to be strong and confident and to find serenity."
That's the last few paragraph of the book, with some mushy reconciling with the ex husband stuff taken out. It resonates with me.
And the author's words after the end of the book:
"With so many inside and outside the four church walls addicted to prescription medicines, street drugs, and alcohol, I knew I would find a readership that understood what I was trying to accomplish. To show that we have power inside of us to overcome. To rise up and say, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4 KJV). Addiction is awful and hard to overcome. But there is a truth that in my own clumsy, imperfect, human way I tried to show. Perhaps the Veggie Tales characters sing it best: "God is bigger than the Boogeyman." What is your "I can't"? Whatever it is, I hope you will dive deep, all the way to the real you - perhaps even to depths you didn't know existed - and pull out a strength you didn't know you possessed."
Hmmmm. Makes ya think. The part I bolded...especially. Who is the real me? Will I ever find all of her? I've scratched the surface...but will have to go - as the author states - to depths I didn't know existed to find all of her.
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