About the Book

Name of book: Hope Travels Through

Author: Loni Kemper Moore

Genre: Contemporary Lit

TeJae Smythe gave up on God and her hometown of Evansville, Indiana, ten years ago, but a deep personal loss requires her to return to both. Her life as a stewardess is going to be perfect. She has a plan. If only life would stick to it.

In Hope Travels Through, TeJae finds the biggest challenge comes from the conflict within herself. Will she hold it all together? Or will she fall apart and embrace the beauty in the midst of disaster?

Based on actual events of December 13, 1977, a date most people don’t remember, but one many living in the Ohio River Valley will never forget, the crash of the University of Evansville men’s basketball team plane.

About the Author

Loni Kemper Moore is a Denver-Broncos cheering, Diet-Pepsi sipping, Rocky Mountain adventure-seeking kind of girl. She’s passionate about God and wants to share His beautiful love through life’s ugliness with remarkable women around the globe. Her writing came alive seven years ago after she broke her ankle. The crazy time of being laid up forced her to flip through decades of diaries which inspired the story that became Hope Travels Through. When she’s not writing, she’s an entertainer, technical support analyst; mom of a teenager named Adam; traveler with Robert, her dear “Hugsband,” stepmom to University of Evansville alumna Becca and her husband, Anthony; and spender of way too much time on Facebook. With her experiences of learning to trust God through tragedy, being employed by travel agencies and Delta Air Lines, and attending University of Evansville graduate school, she’s the best person to tell this story.

I truly enjoyed reading this book – a snippet of moments during the year of an horrific plane crash. The plane in question was carrying the University of Evansville’s men’s basketball team. I’d only been living in Australia for six years at the time of this disaster, immigrating from New Zealand. I was only twenty years old, but now, another forty years on, I still remember this day in history vividly. The lives and dreams of so many beautiful people were snuffed out in an instant.

This book is Loni Kemper Moore’s debut novel. I love to read books written by new authors because I too am a writer, with much to learn. Loni has produced a wonderful story, based on fact, with interesting characters, and an easy to follow storyline. I really loved the description of the seventies era, as I did a lot of my own growing up in the 1970’s. Oh and of course, I too was drinking TAB 

Evansville University Memorial with Weeping Basketball in the background.

I felt deep sorrow for TeJae as she faced her internal battle with, Who to trust with her life.

“Flowers in window boxes showed Mum’s meticulous care. I wished she cared as much about me.”

Themes of love, hope, sadness, betrayal, jealousy, and joy moved within the pages, but above all, there was an important reminder to be understanding and forgiving of others especially of family, as we never know when we will be seeing someone for the final time upon this earth. There is probably nothing more devastating than living with regrets.

“Good thoughts are no better than good dreams unless they are executed.”        ~ Mikel

“What else could I have done?” I whispered. “What else?” ~ TeJae

I loved the conclusion to this story – no matter what incidents occur in life, through Love there will be joy in the end. I look forward to reading whatever Loni writes next.

“I’m well aware the odds of my little novel being successful, without the industry connections Margaret had, are low, but it’s been a fun journey even if no one buys a copy!”  ~ Loni Kemper Moore

‘Dear Loni, I am certain many people will want to buy your wonderful book!’

I received a free copy of this book from the author via CelebrateLit. I am under no obligation to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

♥ Click here to purchase your copy ♥

Guest Post from Loni Moore

What Made Me Write Hope Travels Through?

The weathered orthopedic surgeon shook his head and stared at the x-rays. Without making eye-contact, he said, “I usually work on Olympians and professional athletes. This doesn’t look good. She’s going to have arthritis and limp for the rest of her life.”

I hadn’t had anything stronger than Tylenol since the entire weight of my 128 (at the time) pounds crunched my left ankle, 24 hours earlier.

Robert, aka Dear Hugsband, had told me, so very graciously, when we arrived at Skate City, “Once you’re over 50, you shouldn’t roller skate.” But our son, Adam was 10 and I wondered how many more years he’d want me to hang out with him, so I’d strapped on the skates and joined the crowd of skaters. I avoided landing on the body of the five-year-old who cut me off. Didn’t that count for something?

However, none of that mattered at that moment. I needed drugs, and Robert agreed to whatever that surgeon said to get my prescriptions.

One afternoon, my stomach growled on a gurney as I waited in the surgery center with IVs in my hands until a perky nurse announced, “The doctor will need to reschedule because something came up.”

REALLY? After waiting 10 days, he no-shows?

I’ve never loved Robert’s New York attitude more than the next day when by 7 pm that evening I was at Red Robin, post-surgery, eating a celebratory French Onion soup. Thanks to a nerve blocker the new, cute surgeon had provided after rebreaking bones and inserting pins.

Adam was able to complete his homeschool work with little interference from my drug-infested brain and I occupied my time by flipping through decades of accumulated diaries. The story of a woman surviving tough times percolated in my brain and I remembered my mother saying, “Everyone has a Great American Novel in her. You just need to take time to write it.”

As my leg healed leaving no arthritis nor limp, I returned to the million things life demands, including a visit to our Becca at the University of Evansville, where I’d done my graduate work. As she showed us the Weeping Basketball, my protagonist informed me the story began in 1976, not 2011. The story climaxed when the university’s men’s basketball team plane crashed, but I was too busy to spend much time on it.

Three days before Christmas that year, my younger sister passed away from Lyme complications, I could barely breathe. I’ve seen it a dozen times someone’s busy life prevents her from taking care of herself until something stops them in their tracks and they cannot move on. That happened to me.

At the time, Dear Hugsband programmed Coca-Cola’s Freestyle machine (you’re welcome), so Adam and I joined him in Atlanta for several months. During that time without the cooking-cleaning-requirements and Adam insisting he preferred the independence of his homeschool curriculum with minimal input from me, I processed my grief by putting the story that became Hope Travels Through on my computer.

“In a weak moment, I have written a book.” Margaret Mitchell – Gone With The Wind

Dear Hugsband loved his project with Coca-Cola and enjoyed everything about working in Atlanta except the humidity, the traffic, and the commute. Typically, he worked in Georgia every other week and was home every weekend.

But occasionally, he’d be forced to stay in Atlanta over the weekend and tried to find something to entertain himself. One weekend, after seeing every movie running, he decided to go to the Margaret Mitchell House Museum where one of my favorite books, Gone With The Wind, was written.

He bought me a mug with the above quote on it which he said was to encourage me in my writing, along with several commonalities between myself and the famous author.

1. She was short—I am 5 feet tall if I stretch;
2. Her husband was over 6 feet tall—mine is 6’3 1/2”;
3. She started writing her novel, after an ankle injury– I started writing after I a similar injury;
4. She used a typewriter—I use a computer;
5. Her mother gave her the quotes she used about how to survive in an upside-down world – my mom had a Bible verse for every occasion. I think her favorite was Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind, Loni to whomever…”;
6. It took Margaret ten years to complete her novel – I’m not far behind, at nearly eight years.

Obviously, I don’t have one commonality with Margaret, in that she died at the age of 48 in a traffic accident, but his conclusions are precious.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Loni is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon Card!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c5be

Blog Stops

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Carpe Diem, December 21

Avid Reader Book Reviews, December 21

A Reader’s Brain, December 22

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