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Abridged deals with two topics I feel very strongly about: free speech and women’s rights. As an author and a book lover, I stand against censorship. Like O’Brien, the editor Kennedy works with on Harvard’s student newspaper, I would much rather read books by people who believe differently than I do and be challenged by their viewpoints than restrict myself to authors who share my exact same opinions.
Unfortunately, college campuses are notorious for limiting the free speech of their students in the name of tolerance. It might sound far-fetched, but students have been censored for “crimes” even less threatening than Kennedy’s column in the paper.
The question of a woman’s roll in the church and society is quite touchy, which is why it was a topic I wanted to highlight and address in Abridged. I especially stand by Sandy’s comments when she’s in the car with Dawn, that women should never pit themselves against one another based on differences in lifestyles. Additionally, no matter what your stance is on the role of women in the church, I think we can all use a reminder to be praying for girls and women in other cultures who are barred from the most basic educational and vocational opportunities because of their gender.
One of my favorite parts about the more recent Kennedy books is watching Woong grow and mature. If you didn’t know already, Woong has his own novel that tells about his life in Korea before his adoption. His book is called Flower Swallow, which has won both an Illumination Book Award and a Moonbeam Book Award.
I’m so thankful for my prayer team for praying another novel into existence, and I’d like to publicly thank God for giving me the physical and emotional strength to put out another book.
My husband is so supportive, and as a pastor and something of a politics junkie, he has really helped me flesh out some of my own convictions regarding both free speech and women’s rights.
A big thanks to my friend Tamara for fielding some medical questions and to my editors for catching so many of my messy mistakes.
I hope you enjoyed this novel, and I look forward to sharing Kennedy’s next adventure with you soon!
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