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• Hearts Set Free: An epic tale of love, faith, and the glory of God's grace - 2019 Independently published ,

• Jess Lederman website - https://www.jesslederman.com/

  After I graduated with a degree in music from Columbia University, a lust for expensive pianos drew me into an unexpected career in finance. It turned out that I had a knack for business; I gained much that the world had to offer and became a hedonist, a gambler who haunted the poker rooms of Las Vegas, and an arrogant atheist. I’ve written fiction for most of my life, and at one point I quit work to devote myself to writing a novel. During that time, my late first wife, Teri, and I lived in Paris, down the street from where Hemingway once lived, and later in the mountains of Idaho. But the novel was never published, for I was a man whose soul had not yet awakened, who did not yet have anything important to say. So I went back to the business world.
  One day, when we were living in Dallas, Teri heard a radio interview with Francis Collins, an eminent scientist who wrote The Language of God, which tells the story of his journey from atheism to becoming a disciple of Christ. Collins’ book led us to the writings of C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald*, who became the midwives of our rebirth from above.
  There’s no hiding from the Hound of Heaven, once He’s on your trail!
  Several years later, Teri was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and we left Dallas and the business world behind and moved to a small town in Alaska. There we looked out on the glory of God’s creation and read to our heart’s content during the last two years of her life. Faced with tragedy, we learned to trust utterly in Him, and He blessed us with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
  It was after Teri’s death, while I was still living in the far north, that the idea for Hearts Set Free—which opens in the Alaska Territory in 1925—was born. People who know that the novel contains autobiographical elements (and several historical characters) sometimes ask me, “How much of the story is true?’ And I answer, “Perhaps twenty percent—and the rest is even more true!” What drives my writing is the desire to convey truths that transform lives. Truths of the heart.
  In 2013, I met a wonderful woman—my current wife, Ling—and soon we began talking about having children. “Impossible!” said our doctors. “According to your test results, there’s no chance at all, even using the latest techniques.” Of course, within two months of that pronouncement, Ling was pregnant with little David, who just turned three, and we subsequently adopted Daniel, who’s now twelve.
  After David’s birth, we moved to southwest Washington. I’m currently at work on a novel set in Las Vegas in 1955, and, when I’m not writing or chasing my sons around, can usually be found at the piano playing Chopin nocturnes for Ling.
  ***************************************************************
  *MacDonald was a 19th century Scottish novelist, poet, and minister, of whom C.S. Lewis remarked, “I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.” He’s not nearly as well known as he should be, although MacDonald was not only a major influence on Lewis but on G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L'Engle, to name only a few. In gratitude for his influence, I manage a website, The Works of George MacDonald, which includes much that is by, about, or inspired by the Scotsman.

• Amazon -

  Jess Lederman, founder of the website The Works of George MacDonald, is well-known worldwide to fans of the Scottish novelist and minister whom C.S. Lewis referred to as his "master."

  "When my first wife was diagnosed with ALS, we moved to a small town in Alaska, where we spent the last two years of her life. It was after her death, while I was still living in the far north, that the idea for Hearts Set Free--which opens in the Alaska Territory in 1925--was born. People who know that the novel contains autobiographical elements (and several historical characters) sometimes ask me, 'How much of the story is true?' And I answer, 'Perhaps twenty percent--and the rest is even more true!' What drives my writing is the desire to convey truths that transform lives. Truths of the heart."

  Jess is currently at work on a Christian-themed novel set in Las Vegas in 1955. He remarried several years ago and lives with his wife and two young sons in the Pacific Northwest. When not writing, he's likely playing Chopin and Beethoven on the piano. For more information on Hearts Set Free, and to read Jess' blog posts, visit jesslederman.com.

• Many Books - https://manybooks.net/featured-authors/jess-lederman-conveying-truths-that-transform-lives

  Jess Lederman - Conveying Truths That Transform Lives

  Posted on 1st of July, 2019 by Naomi Bolton

  Jess Lederman, founder of the website The Works of George MacDonald, is well-known worldwide to fans of the Scottish novelist and minister whom C.S. Lewis referred to as his "master." Jess is currently at work on a Christian-themed novel set in Las Vegas in 1955. He remarried several years ago and lives with his wife and two young sons in the Pacific Northwest. When not writing, he's likely playing Chopin and Beethoven on the piano. As our Author of the Day, Lederman tells us all about his book, Hearts Set Free.
  Please give us a short introduction to what Hearts Set Free is about.
  Hearts Set Free is a novel which weaves together three plot lines--two set in the first half of the 1900s, and the third in the present day--which at first seem unrelated, but which all come together in surprising and powerful ways. It's a story of love, faith, and the glory of God's grace. An erstwhile hero of the Far North abandons his wife and son, and they set out on a quest to bring him home; a burned-out Bible-school dropout turned boxer finds he has a remarkable chance for redemption; and two Science TV producers--an ardent atheist determined toprove that mankind has no need of God, and his lover, who is trying to recover the lost faith of her youth--set out to find a 99-year-old man who holds the secret to a mystery they're trying to solve.
  What inspired you to write this story?
  The novel explores how people come to faith and deal with doubt--or, put another way, how God relentlessly pursues us, and will not rest until His last lost lamb is found. That is a subject that thrills me, and I wanted to share my passion for it with the world.
  Why did you pick 1925 Alaska as a backdrop for your book?
  In 2011, my late first wife was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease), and given two years to live. We decided to move from Dallas to a small town in Alaska where we could look out on the beauty of God's creation, read our favorite authors, and just be together in peace. The idea for the novel came to me not long after she passed away; we'd been living near the headquarters of the Iditarod, the iconic thousand-mile dogsled race, and I chose the historical event which inspired the Iditarod for the story's opening scene. That was the Great Race of Mercy, the desperate effort to bring diptheria serum to Nome by dogsled in the darkness of the Alaska winter, with the wind-chill falling to sixty below amid gale-force winds.
  The novel contains some autobiographical elements. Tell us more about this.
  People who know that Hearts Set Free has such elements, and that it also features a number of historical characters, sometimes ask me, "How much of the story is true?" I answer, about twenty percent--and the rest is even more true. I like to write about truths that change people's lives, truths of the heart. I put aspects of myself into several of the characters; for example, I was an arrogant atheist for much of my life, before coming to Christ, much like the character of TV producer Tim Faber. Much of the novel takes place in Las Vegas--half back when it was only a small town, and the Hoover Dam was just being built, and half the way it is today--and back in my pagan days, I haunted the poker tables of the Vegas casinos, so I know it well.
  Do you have a favorite line from the book, and can you explain what that line means to you?
  At one point, two lovers are discussing the Book of Revelation, and one says, "I think what Jesus revealed to John is that forgiveness and love aren’t always gentle and sweet, that they can be terrible, they can come like a trumpet blast that shatters the heavens, they can cut like a double-edged sword…” People sometimes have a hard time understanding some of the violent imagery in both the Old and New Testaments. I happen to think that when the Apostle John said "God is love," he was making a profound truth statement about God, a lens through which we need to read all of Scripture, especially when we try to distinguish between the literal and metaphorical, or try to interpret difficult passages. Every other attribute of God is an aspect of His love. Therefore, his punishments are restorative, never merely retributive--but they can be terrible, nonetheless.

  Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?
  I was a music major back in college, and when I'm not writing or chasing after my two sons, I'm probably playing Chopin or Brahms for my wife, Ling. And I make pretty decent omelettes.
  In which way is Hearts Set Free a coming-of-age story?
  One of the novel's major characters is Luke, a native Alaskan who narrates close to half the book. He's thirteen years old when the story begins, with the sudden disappearance of his father, and we see him grow into a brave, compassionate--and passionate!-- young man during the episodes which take place in the last century, as well as meet him as a very old and very wise man in the portions that take place in 2011.
  The book explores the theme of redemption stretching across generations. Why did you take this approach?
  I'm fascinated with how patiently God works with us; over the course of a lifetime we discover more and more about His ways, and sometimes only at the end of life do some things become clear. That's certainly one of the themes in Hearts Set Free!
  Were any of the characters in this book based on real people?
  There are several historical characters who play an important role in Hearts Set Free. One of the most important is Jack Johnson, the first black, heavyweight champion of the world. He was a fascinating figure, a self-educated man, a fighter familiar with Shakespeare and who could perform Bach on his bass viol. He was an arrogant narcissist--that was his fatal flaw--but at the same time had a big heart. Needless to say, he was much maligned by the racist culture which prevailed in the U.S. during his lifetime. Georges Lemaitre is one of my favorite characters, and one of my personal heroes. He was one of the greatest scientists of all time, yet most people have never heard of him! Lemaitre was a Belgian who became both a physicist and a Roman Catholic priest. As a young man, fresh off the battlefields of WWI, he challenged Einstein's view of the universe, and though at first Einstein called his ideas nonsense, within ten years he acknowledged that the young priest had been right! Other historical characters include Amelia Earhart and gangster Bugsy Siegel.
  Readers say that this book keeps them thinking - long after they have finished it. Was this intentional? How did you pull this off?
  I'm pleased but not surprised that people often tell me that. The reason, I think, is that I'm writing about matters of such terrible importance to all of us, subjects that I care about passionately. The characters engage in conversations about what some might call "theological questions," but not in an abstract way--they do so out of an urgent desire to love God with all their heart, strength, and mind. They wrestle with how to apply Scripture to their daily lives--how to forgive and love their enemies, for example! When you ask questions like that in the context of a story that has romance and adventure as well, you've given a reader lots to think about. Certainly they are issues that occupy my mind as well!
  How did you go from atheism to faith in Christ?
  One day, when we were living in Dallas, my late first wife heard a radio interview with Francis Collins, an eminent scientist who wrote The Language of God, which tells the story of his journey from atheism to becoming a disciple of Christ. Collins’ book led us to the writings of C.S. Lewis, and George MacDonald, who became the midwives of our rebirth from above. MacDonald was a 19th century Scottish novelist, poet, and minister, of whom C.S. Lewis remarked, “I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.” He’s not nearly as well known as he should be, although MacDonald was not only a major influence on Lewis but on G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L'Engle, to name only a few. In gratitude for his influence, I manage a website, The Works of George MacDonald, which includes much that is by, about, or inspired by the Scotsman.
  Tell us more about your family
  In 2013, I met a wonderful woman—my current wife, Ling—and soon we began talking about having children. “Impossible!” said our doctors. “According to your test results, there’s no chance at all, even using the latest techniques.” Of course, within two months of that pronouncement, Ling was pregnant with little David, three and a half, and we subsequently adopted Daniel, who’s now twelve.

  Do you have any interesting writing habits? Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?
  I start out with an outline, and I knew early on exactly what some of the most climactic moments would be in the closing sections of Hearts Set Free. But outlines change once the writing begins! Sometimes characters just have their own ideas about what ought to happen. One character who was supposed to have only a bit part pretty much demanded a larger role, and he was just so compelling and charismatic I couldn't say no!
  What are you working on right now?
  These days I'm hard at work on a Christian-themed novel entitled The Church on Misfit Row, set in Las Vegas in 1955.
  Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?
  My website is jesslederman.com. I've got a dozen blog posts on there now, excerpts from reviews of and articles about Hearts Set Free. People can receive the first three chapters by filling out an online form, and can also listen to an audio recording of Chapter One. At the moment, it's a recording of me reading the first chapter, but I'm excited to announce that the Audible edition of the novel is in the works, with an expected release date in September. So I'll soon feature the new recording of the first chapter! And, speaking of first chapters, I'll likely begin to post excerpts from The Church on Misfit Row as well.
  There’s no hiding from the Hound of Heaven, once He’s on your trail!

• Tripfiction.com - https://www.tripfiction.com/talking-location-with-author-jess-lederman-alaska-and-nevada/

  Talking Location With author Jess Lederman – Alaska and Nevada
  9th March 2019
  #TalkingLocationWith… Jess Lederman, Author of Hearts Set Free: Alaska and Nevada
  Did you ever wonder what you would do and where you would go if given only a short time to live? My late first wife and I were faced with just that question when she was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). We’d been living in Dallas and decided to do perhaps the least practical thing imaginable: leave the big city behind and head for Alaska, the Last Frontier.
  We wanted to spend our time looking out at the glory of God’s creation and reading books that would bring us closer to Him. So we bought a house in Southcentral Alaska over the internet, inspired by the view purported to be had from the living room window. As it turned out, the pictures in the real-estate listing were for real! Here’s what I saw through that window at daybreak one October morning:

  The idea for my novel Hearts Set Free was born during this time, when we lived in Wasilla, Alaska (yes, of Sarah Palin fame, and no, I could not quite see Russia from my back porch). It’s about forty miles north of Anchorage, in the Mat-Su Valley, an area the size of West Virginia which boasts a handful of towns and a total population of about 90,000.
  The story begins in the Alaska Territory in 1925, with these lines, written by Luke, who narrates many of the chapters:
  My father deserted my mother and me when I was thirteen years old. He had become famous that winter on the Great Race of Mercy, one of the Athabascan mushers who brought diphtheria serum to Nome and saved ten thousand lives. He’d done the impossible, a blind run in the howling darkness, crossing the open ice of the Norton Sound, the temperature falling to sixty below, the sun a distant dream…
  The population of Nome was doomed unless serum could reach them in time, but in mid-winter that would only be possible—if at all!—by dogsled. The Great Race of Mercy was followed breathlessly nationwide, and became the inspiration for the annual Iditarod dogsled race that takes place in early March. It’s a test of endurance and skill in which teams consisting of a single musher and sixteen dogs cover nearly a thousand miles, from the Willow in the Mat-Su Valley (after a ceremonial start in Anchorage) to Nome, often battling blizzards and gale-force winds. It’s hardly a coincidence that the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters (and museum) is located in Wasilla just a few miles from my Alaska home. The museum is well worth a visit!
  In my novel, Luke’s father, Victor, has abandoned his family for a beautiful woman his mother vows to kill, and the two soon set off on a quest to bring him home. After a thousand-mile journey to Skagway, they set sail for Seattle, and their last sight of Alaska might not have been too different from the grand, frozen vista shown below. I took this picture at the Matanuska Glacier, about an hour northeast of Wasilla, (ironically, not long after I’d waited in line with a small army of adolescents to see Disney’s Frozen). It’s the largest glacier reachable by car in the United States. Alaska’s glaciers can have a surreal beauty and should be one of the highlights of anyone’s travels to the far north.

  From the Far North to the Nevada Desert
  Over the next several years, Luke and Yura’s quest takes them across the USA, to New York City, Louisiana, and then, in 1930, to New Orleans, where they discover that Victor might be working in one of Nevada’s many silver mines—places fraught with terrible danger:
  In the New Orleans library, I had paged through one story after another about silver mining in Nevada. I didn’t share them with my mother, for they made me sick at heart. Hundreds had perished, hundreds more maimed. Some mines plunged thousands of feet below the surface, where underground hot springs drove the temperatures unbearably high. Men had been blown to bits by premature explosions, tumbled down shafts to their deaths, or been crushed by runaway ore cars; but most terrible in my mind were the cave-ins, burying men alive. What would a man’s last thoughts be, trapped in the suffocating darkness? What thoughts would my father have?
  Two of the best places to get a feel for what those mines were like are Virginia City (which baby boomers might remember as the setting for the iconic TV series Bonanza), just half an hour from Reno, and Tonopah, located three hours northwest of Las Vegas. I chose Tonopah as the site for a dramatic mine rescue in Hearts Set Free.
  Back in 1930, Las Vegas was a minor railway stop with a population of 5,000. But, as the Great Depression deepened, the project that would one day be called the Hoover Dam became the only place in the country that was hiring thousands of men. Then, in 1931, Nevada legalized gambling, and the stage was set for Las Vegas to be utterly transformed.
  The early days of Las Vegas, and the construction of the great colossus in the desert—more than twice as tall as any dam that had been built before—provide the background for much of the novel. Many scenes take place in the tent cities, dubbed Ragtown and McKeeversville, that sprang up near the dam site, as men arrived by the thousands, desperate for work. They often brought their wives and children, little realizing what they were getting themselves into. In the summer, heat would bounce off the canyon walls and concentrate in Black Canyon, where the job seekers had set up camp, sending temperatures to 120 degrees. Luke relates a bit of what it was like in this passage from Hearts Set Free:
  I’d return to McKeeversville each night after dinner. You could see its fires from miles away, for each family burned its own trash. There was no running water; it had to be hauled in, or else you’d have to filter water from the Colorado, which was thick with silt. There were two outhouses that everyone shared. One of the county workers put slaked lime in them once or twice a week.
  Small kids ran about in dirty diapers, screaming; the wind blew sand in my clothes, my eyes, and my nose; and men came home with pale, scared faces, for there were thousands more men than jobs.
  While any visit to the Las Vegas area should take in the Hoover Dam, the best place to find out more about this fascinating time and place should visit the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum in Boulder City. It’s small but packed with history.
  Thank you so much to Jess for such an insightful journey.
  You can connect with him via his website and you can of course buy his book through TripFiction from your favourite bookseller.
  Come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

• A Writer of History - https://awriterofhistory.com/2019/04/23/in-flanders-fields/

  In Flanders Fields by Jess Lederman
  23
  Tuesday
  Apr 2019
  Posted by M.K. Tod in Historical Fiction, Writing about WWI
  ≈ Leave a comment
  Tags
  author Jess Lederman, Hearts Set Free by Jess Lederman, novels set in Alaska, novels with WWI settings, writing with Christian themes
  I’m welcoming Jess Lederman to the blog today. After his wife’s was diagnosed with ALS, Jess left the business world behind and moved with her to Alaska. “There we looked out on the glory of God’s creation and read to our heart’s content during the last two years of her life.” This tragedy led to Hearts Set Free which opens in the Alaska Territory in 1925.
  In Flanders Fields by Jess Lederman
  We writers of historical fiction have wonderful opportunities to incorporate settings that provide instant drama and to feature fascinating real-life characters. I love to see the ways in which writers use those opportunities and I try to make the most of them in my own writing. For example, a horrific historical event on the killing fields of the First World War provides a dramatic backdrop to introduce and explore important themes in my novel Hearts Set Free.
  One of the story’s historical characters, Georges Lemaître, who was both a physicist and a Roman Catholic priest, is not very well known to the general public (even though, as the father of the Big Bang theory, he was one of the greatest scientists of all time!). What would be the most compelling way to introduce him to readers?
  Well, it so happens that Lemaître fought on the front lines of Flanders Fields during World War I and witnessed one of the first uses of poison gas in combat. What’s more dramatic than that? I employed some literary license to have the young Lemaître injure his leg, so that he needs to be rescued by one of my fictional heroes, Bible-school dropout David Gold. We get to know the two characters as they talk in an abandoned trench, waiting for the cover of darkness to rejoin their unit and hoping that the Germans will not again unleash their dreaded chlorine gas.
  The horror of chemical warfare provides an opportunity for the characters to discuss matters close to both of their hearts—God’s sovereignty, and how His goodness can be reconciled with the existence of abject evil—important topics in the novel:
  We came to reinforce the French position after the slaughter,” said Lemaître. “They say over five thousand French and Canadian died; I think closer to ten. You could see that men had clawed their own faces, trying to breathe; some had shot themselves to escape the agony. Nothing had survived; not the horses, chickens, rabbits, or rats. Everywhere I looked there was only death. And the strange scent of the chlorine gas, like pineapple and pepper, lingering on the few bushes that were left.
  “What drives me to my wits end,” said David, “is how to reconcile something so evil with the sovereignty of God. Those men who were gassed—did He dream their tortured deaths before the beginning of the world?
  “Nothing evil is of God. He gave us the gift of free will, that we might love—love each other and love Him. This gift came with an incalculable cost; for it allowed sin, our sin, and that could be dealt with only by the Cross. Yet will He bring about good from every act of evil, even from all of this—” Lemaître gestured to the devastated landscape that lay beyond their trench— “and there, David, you find the sovereignty of God. Most of all, He is Emmanuel, He is with us; He is the fourth in the furnace. He is right here, with you and me, even now.
  I always look for first-person accounts when I’m doing historical research, and the passage above is a good example of how useful this can be. It’s the details which Lemaître provides about the aftermath of the gas attack—details I found from the tales of soldiers who had witnessed this infamous episode–that make this passage particularly compelling.
  One of the themes of Hearts Set Free is how passages from Scripture—especially the Psalms–can be used as prayer in response to life’s challenges, great and small. In Flanders Fields, while they’re waiting for nightfall, David and Georges at first deal with stress by fantasizing about their favorite foods. But after they discover their shared passion for Scripture, the two begin exchanging passages from the Psalms:
  “The cords of the grave entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.”David felt himself filling with a strange joy as he gave voice to the ancient words. “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him, reached his ears.”
  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”Lemaître, too, seemed joyful. “The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
  “Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” How grateful he was, David thought, that the Lord has led him to commit these words to his memory, to his heart. “Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge.”
  “Indeed, our lives are hidden with Christ in God,” said Lemaître. “But listen. Something has changed.”
  From the French and Belgian lines came the sounds of distant shouting. David peered over the top of the trench; from the German lines, against the clear blue April sky, were coming billowing clouds of green-gray death.
  The intensity of trench warfare and the drama of a poison gas attack are captivating in and of themselves, but in this case also serve the purpose of introducing two of the novel’s themes in what I hope is a convincing and compelling manner.
  Many thanks, Jess. World War One is a topic of great importance to me. I’m sure many, many soldiers drew strength from their faiths during that horrific war.
  Hearts Set Free by Jess Lederman weaves together three tales of men and women who journey from the darkness of doubt to triumphant faith and from the ache of loneliness to everlasting love.
  In 1930, the rag-tag riffraff of a railway stop called Las Vegas need a fighting man to shepherd their tiny church after their pastor is murdered. Might David Gold, a washed-up boxer and Bible-school dropout who fights as the Pummelin’ Preacher, be the answer to their prayers?
  At the same time, Luke, a native Alaskan boy, is on a quest to find his father, who has abandoned his family for a beautiful woman his mother vows to kill. Little do mother or son imagine that their journey will take them to a small town in Nevada where demons and angels walk among men.
  In 2011,Science Cable T.V. producer Tim Faber is determined to prove that mankind has no need of God, while his lover, Joan Reed, strives to regain the faith of her youth. They’re bound for Las Vegas to meet with 99-year-old Luke,who holds the key to a mystery they must solve–and answers that will forever change their lives.
  FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

  M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.

• To Be A Person - https://mautobeaperson.com/2019/07/26/author-scoop-interview-with-jess-lederman/

  Published on July 26, 2019
  Author Scoop ~ Interview With Jess Lederman
  written by Miranda A. Uyeh
  Jess Lederman is the author of over forty books on financial marketing and recently debuted his first fiction book, Hearts Set Free (read the TBAP review here), a Historical General Fiction that is sure to delight and intrigue any lover of excellent Christian Fiction. Jess took the time to answer some questions about his personal life, his walk with Christ, and offered some advice to new fiction writers in this TBAP interview. Take a look!

  Miranda ~ Hello Jess! Glad to have you visit TBAP today. Please tell us a bit about yourself that we don’t already know.
  Jess: The Secret Life of Jess Lederman. I’ve been writing stories and poems ever since I was ten years old, when my older sister read me a passage from John Dos Passos that set my imagination on fire. A few years later, I also developed a passion for music, and ended up majoring in music history and theory at Columbia University. These days, when I’m not chasing after my young sons or writing, I’m probably playing Chopin, Beethoven, or Brahms for my wife, Ling, at the piano. I’ve always got lots of strong ideas about the background music I’d like to hear if any of my novels are made into movies!
  And speaking of my sons: when Ling and I were married, doctors told us that it would be medically impossible for us to have children—don’t even think about paying them for IVF or any other procedure, nothing could ever work. Well, I imagine some angel overheard that and suggested this just might be a good opportunity to show how for God, nothing is impossible! So about ten months after getting that report from the doctors, little David Elginbrod Lederman was born. He’s now almost four, and I brought home Daniel, almost thirteen, from an orphanage in China a couple of years ago. How good is the Lord!
  Finally, while I admit that Ling does most of the cooking at our home, I do make a mean matzo brei from time to time. That’s an old Eastern European Jewish traditional breakfast, a recipe I learned from my father. If you’re not familiar with it, think cardboard with eggs, onions, and cheese—but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
  Miranda ~ How did you come to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior?
  Jess: I spent the first fifty years of my life as an arrogant atheist—not unlike the character of Tim Faber in Hearts Set Free. Then one day, my late first wife, Teri, heard an interview on the radio with Francis Collins, who had just published a book called The Language of God. He’s an eminent scientist who was instrumental in decoding the human genome, and his book is about both that experience and his own journey from atheism to becoming a devout disciple of Christ.
  It’s a wonderful book, and in it Collins quotes extensively from C.S. Lewis, whose writings were important in his own conversion. Teri and I were so impressed with those quotes that we bought and eagerly read many of Lewis’ books. C.S. Lewis in turn pointed us to the man whom he called the greatest influence in his life (next to Christ!), the 19th-century Scottish writer and minister, George MacDonald. Well, if Lewis was the mind that pointed us to Christ, MacDonald revealed the glorious, loving Father-heart of God.
  Lewis and MacDonald were the midwives of our rebirth from above. I have a hard time talking about that period of time without shedding many tears of thanks to the Lord, who relentlessly pursues us, who will never rest until every soul has come to Him. I can’t say that I’m yet a slave of Christ, but I’ll tell you this, Miranda, to be like Paul, the Lord’s utterly obedient slave, is my highest and grandest ambition.
  Miranda ~ At what point in your walk with Jesus did you realize that He was more than a Savior and that you were friends?
  Jess: One of the beautiful things about coming to Christ with George MacDonald as my guide was that, from the hour I first believed, I never thought of Him in any other way (and that’s one of the reasons I run a website, worksofmacdonald.com, devoted to works about or inspired by MacDonald, who has helped so many to come to the Lord!). I realized that I was one of the sinners with whom Jesus eagerly sat down to eat and drink, that He offered the loving friendship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to me just as He did to Zacchaeus. And, you know, most of the time, Jesus sat down at table with many, not just with one; His is a friendship that ought to draw us into closer friendship with our neighbors, with fellow believers and with those who are not yet part of the Body of Christ.
  Miranda ~ You clearly have much knowledge of Scripture (especially the Psalms!); when did this start to happen for you, and, what season of your life first made you hungry for God’s Word?
  Jess: My love of God’s Word has grown steadily since I came to Christ thirteen years ago. At first, there was much in Scripture that puzzled, frustrated, or even depressed me! I’m not alone in this, and the way people sometimes struggle with understanding the Bible is an important theme in Hearts Set Free. While the beautiful story set forth in the Gospels attracted me from the start, at first many of Paul’s letters left me cold—or worse. Then a wonderfully wise pastor in Alaska suggested that I paraphrase every verse in Paul’s major epistles, beginning with Ephesians. I balked, came up with all sorts of excuses, and tried to stall, but when I finally buckled down and obeyed, it was a life-changing experience!
  We often have a tendency to read Scripture too quickly, thinking we “get it,” but when I had to restate every verse in my own words, I slowed WAY down. I found myself meditating on each line, researching the meaning of words, comparing Reformed and Anglican and Orthodox commentaries, and it was utterly amazing. Before long, Paul was my all-time hero!
  There’s just no substitute for immersing oneself in Scripture. God freely gives us His amazing grace, but He doesn’t always make things easy for us! His Word will endlessly reveal layers of meaning if we are willing to do the work. I strongly encourage readers to look beyond the writings of contemporary theologians from their own denomination, and benefit from the wisdom of Christians from multiple parts of His Kingdom throughout the centuries. Personally, I’m looking forward to delving deeper into the writings of the early Church Fathers.
  Miranda ~ You’re not afraid to admit fierce trials and battles are present in the lives of God’s children—whether in their walk or in purpose. When did you embrace this truth in your personal walk, and what has led you to be particular about presenting this in your fiction writing?
  Jess: The trials we go through can test our faith; they can break us, or shape and prepare us for tougher battles yet to come. But any pat answers as to “why” we’re going through them can enrage us! I think often we’re too quick to want to explain away mysteries. I’m not one who says that every affliction is sent from God as part of His plan; nothing evil is of God. The rape and torture of children is not part of His plan. The nature of His sovereignty is not that He is controlling everything that happens, but that He will, in the end, wipe the tears from every eye, that He has, despite all appearances to the contrary, defeated evil and death, and that our current sufferings will not be worth comparing to the future glory that awaits.
  This is far more than abstract theology for me. My first wife was in perfect health, at the peak of her life with her new-found faith in God, when she was diagnosed with ALS and given two years to live. Such is the reality of living in a cosmos ruined by the Fall, in a world under the sway of the Prince of This World. She knew that if He wished, God could heal her in a moment, “incurable disease” or no. But her faith never wavered, and the memory of that serves to strengthen me.
  By bearing up under the worst that Satan can do, we are picking up our Cross and following Him. What better way to honor God, what more worthy theme for a novelist to explore in his writing?
  Miranda ~ Your profession, which is closer to business and finance, has led you to publish much books on financial marketing. What then drew you in this season to write fiction?
  Jess: During my business career, I published over forty anthologies on the global markets. I left the world of finance five years after coming to Christ. While I’ve written fiction and poetry since the age of ten, leaving the business world has enabled me to focus on writing Christian-themed fiction (and publishing books by other Christian authors as well). A few years ago, however, I decided to round up fifty high-level bankers and brokers, get them all to work for free as part of a project for charity, and publish a three-volume set of books for financial professionals which I’m thrilled to say has raised over $150k for several great causes. I wrote one chapter myself, at the end of which I included a section entitled “The REAL Secrets of Success.” As you can guess, that consisted of quotes from Scripture!
  Miranda ~ What would you say is your greatest desire that readers of your fiction book, Hearts Set Free, walk away with?
  Jess: While I hope that readers enjoy a good story and come to love the heroes in Hearts Set Free, I do have an even higher hope. There are several episodes where the characters are discussing difficult passages in Scripture. They do this not out of any sort of academic interest in theology, but out of an urgent desire to love the Lord their God with all their heart and strength and soul and mind! My highest hope is that readers will be invigorated by this searching, and have yet greater fervor to devote themselves to the study of His Word.
  Miranda ~ What word of advice would you offer to someone looking to break into fiction writing but with a career at the opposite end of the spectrum?
  Jess: The most important word of advice to aspiring writers: Write. Even when I was still in the thick of a very hectic career, I made time to write. Next, recognize it’s a long, often lonely, road, upon which you’ll encounter endless rejection. I quit the business world in my mid-thirties to devote myself to writing for five years but was too young and too addicted to the instant-gratification of business to bear up under the weight of rejection. That right there is the snare to be aware of—you’re undoubtedly far more successful in your day job than in your writing, at least for a long time. Finally, start to network in the writing world, even while you’re still doing something else! Take a few days off and attend a Christian Writer’s Conference, for example—there’s no better way to interact with other writers, agents, and publishers.
  THIS or THAT
  Coffee or Tea? Coffee
  Gym or Outdoors? Outdoors
  Sneakers or Boots? Sneakers
  Running or Walking? Walking
  Cereal or Fruits? Huh? Cereal or Fruit is an Either-Or????? Well, if you mean for breakfast, okay, I guess Cereal!
  Music or Books? Music or Books?????? Why not just ask me to choose between Persons of the Holy Trinity, while you’re at it????? 🤔😀
  About Jess Lederman

  Jess Lederman, founder of the website, The Works of George MacDonald, is well known worldwide to fans of the Scottish novelist and minister whom C.S. Lewis referred to as his “master.” While Hearts Set Free is his first work of fiction, he has published over forty books on the global financial markets and is currently at work on a Christian-themed novel set in Las Vegas in 1955. When he’s not writing, Jess is apt to be playing Chopin nocturnes on the piano. He lives with his wife and two young sons in a small town in the Pacific Northwest.

Hearts Set Free
Jess Lederman. Azure Star, $14.95 trade paper (398p) ISBN 978-0-9986-0301-8

Lederman's powerful debut interlaces three stories that span nearly a century and are tied together by a church of outcasts in Las Vegas. Luke Noongwook and his mother, Yura, leave the Alaskan territory in 1925 to search for Luke's father, who left his family for a beautiful woman that Yura vows to kill. Earlier, during the height of WWI, boxer and bible school dropout David Gold struggles with deep questions about God and about what God wants of him. After a bout, he is recruited by a prostitute to be the head pastor of the Church of the Heart Set Free in Las Vegas. In that position he preaches to a diverse cast of repenrant sinners and, years later, meets Luke and Yura and offers to teach them about God. In 2011, television producer Tim Faber and his lover, Joan Reed, head to Las Vegas to interview the elderly Luke for a story. Tim puts his faith in science rather than God, but his search for pleasure in sin city leaves him questioning matters of the soul. Meanwhile, Joan rediscovers the faith of her youth after speaking with Luke. While it can be a challenge to keep track of the many supporting characters, Lederman smoothly weds each of the three plotlines through the Church of the Heart Set Free. Readers of inspirational fiction will love this moving story that affirms the power of God's mercy. (Self-published.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Hearts Set Free." Publishers Weekly, 14 Oct. 2019, p. 53. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A603319003/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d4d4d6e4. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A603319003

Jess Lederman; HEARTS SET FREE; Azure Star (Fiction: Christian) 9.95 ISBN: 9780998603018
Byline: Edith Wairimu
With its focus on the presence of God in human lives, Hearts Set Free is a powerful and inspiring novel.
Jess Lederman's uplifting and compelling Christian novel Hearts Set Free is about hearts that come to Jesus in unexpected ways.
In the 1920s in Alaskan territory, Yura learns that her husband is not coming back. She packs her and her son's belongings and heads for Manhattan on a quest fueled by her desire for revenge. She and her son cross paths with David, a boxer turned pastor. Through his words, their transformation begins.
Yura and David settle in Las Vegas, then a small town ruled by coldhearted gangs. It serves as the optimal background for testing their faith. Descriptions of the terrain paint it as unforgiving under the scorching sun. It is a place with few opportunities for work, and where those in power prove willing to kill any converts that stand in the way of their goals. Even through hostile moments, Yura, David, and those around them gain a deeper understanding of the grace of God.
Paralleled to Yura's story is Joan and Tim's, set in Las Vegas in 2011. They follow the research theories of a Catholic priest who was also a scientist. The two storylines converge to demonstrate transformation through faith, though shifts between them do not move chronologically and can be confusing.
As characters, Yura is drawn as distant; David is friendly. Other characters are loving and flawed, including Joan. Tim, Joan's brother, is an addict, but he does not hesitate to help others in times of trouble. These likable characters give the book its flavor -- that of a community bound together by a strong cord of loyalty and deep love.
The tone is religious, enhancing the text's impactfulness as it focuses on pointing toward the grace of God. The characters meet God through ordinary and sometimes painful circumstances in which their intentions clash with God's unrelenting love and after which they experience slow but lifelong transformations. The book is held together by these powerful connections, with each character moving from despair (camouflaged by external optimism) toward faith. God is portrayed as unfazed by human imperfections.
Gripping scenes, including some where the characters' lives are at risk, make the story feel even more genuine. Christianity is not glamorized. The story does not evade real, hard questions such as about the rationale of suffering in the presence of a loving God.
Reflecting upon the presence of a God who seeks a personal relationship with human beings, Hearts Set Free is a powerful and inspiring novel.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 ForeWord
https://www.forewordmagazine.net/clarion/reviews.aspx
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Wairimu, Edith. "Hearts Set Free." Clarion Reviews, 1 Feb. 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A572432457/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=eeafec6e. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A572432457

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition) "Hearts Set Free." Publishers Weekly, 14 Oct. 2019, p. 53. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A603319003/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d4d4d6e4. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019. Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition) Wairimu, Edith. "Hearts Set Free." Clarion Reviews, 1 Feb. 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A572432457/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=eeafec6e. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.

• To Be A Person
  https://mautobeaperson.com/2019/04/10/book-review-hearts-set-free-by-jess-lederman/
  Word count: 529

  Published on April 10, 2019
  Book Review ~ Hearts Set Free By Jess Lederman
  written by Miranda A. Uyeh
  About the Book

  In 1930, the rag-tag riffraff stop called Las Vegas need a fighting man to shepherd their tiny church after their pastor is murdered. Might David Gold, a washed-up boxer and Bible-school dropout who fights as the Pummelin’ Preacher, be the answer to their prayers?
  At the same time, Luke, a native Alaskan boy, is on quest to find his father, who has abandoned his family for a beautiful woman whom his mother vows to kill. Little do mother or son know that their journey will take them to a small town in Nevada where demons and angels walk among men.
  In 2011, Science Cable TV producer Tim Faber is determined to prove that mankind has no need of God, while his lover, Joan Reed, strives to regain the faith of her youth. They’re bound for Las Vegas to meet 99-year-old Luke, who holds the key to a mystery they must solve—and answers that will forever change their lives.
  Hearts Set Free weaves together these three tales of men and women who journey from the darkness of doubt to triumphant faith and from the ache of loneliness to everlasting love.
  Category
  Christian/Fiction/Adult
  Genre
  General/Speculative
  Rating
  5 Stars
  Review

  Jess Lederman exhibits bold and forthright writing that would set any heart on fire. He moves along the plot confidently, carrying the reader along a thrilling and fiery ride that is as sure as his faith in God. It is [nearly] impossible to read Hearts Set Free and not believe that there is a God. This is the kind of story that separates the grain from the chaff both in plot and in the heart of a reader, chasing away any doubt that the utmost joy is possible even in the midst of the worst suffering—there is such a thing called the [Joyful] Fellowship of Suffering that not only draws one closer to Jesus, but puts one in a position where they can stand in awe of the Cross and its power. Stories like this remind us that the cross indeed does set hearts free!
  *Though I offer this review to the public, it is my opinion and simply that. A ‘thank you’ to JKS Communications for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
  About the Author

  Jess Lederman, founder of the website, The Works of George MacDonald, is well known worldwide to fans of the Scottish novelist and minister whom C.S. Lewis referred to as his “master.” While Hearts Set Free is his first work of fiction, he has published over forty books on the global financial markets and is currently at work on a Christian-themed novel set in Las Vegas in 1955. When he’s not writing, Jess is apt to be playing Chopin nocturnes on the piano. He lives with his wife and two young sons in a small town in the Pacific Northwest and can be reached at jess@jesslederman.com

• Fpreword Reviews
  https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/hearts-set-free/
  Word count: 488

  Hearts Set Free
  An Epic Tale of Love, Faith, and the Glory of God's Grace
  Jess Lederman
  Azure Star (Mar 12, 2019)
  Softcover $9.95 (398pp)
  978-0-9986030-1-8
  Clarion Rating: 4 out of 5
  With its focus on the presence of God in human lives, Hearts Set Free is a powerful and inspiring novel.
  Jess Lederman’s uplifting and compelling Christian novel Hearts Set Free is about hearts that come to Jesus in unexpected ways.
  In the 1920s in Alaskan territory, Yura learns that her husband is not coming back. She packs her and her son’s belongings and heads for Manhattan on a quest fueled by her desire for revenge. She and her son cross paths with David, a boxer turned pastor. Through his words, their transformation begins.
  Yura and David settle in Las Vegas, then a small town ruled by coldhearted gangs. It serves as the optimal background for testing their faith. Descriptions of the terrain paint it as unforgiving under the scorching sun. It is a place with few opportunities for work, and where those in power prove willing to kill any converts that stand in the way of their goals. Even through hostile moments, Yura, David, and those around them gain a deeper understanding of the grace of God.
  Paralleled to Yura’s story is Joan and Tim’s, set in Las Vegas in 2011. They follow the research theories of a Catholic priest who was also a scientist. The two storylines converge to demonstrate transformation through faith, though shifts between them do not move chronologically and can be confusing.
  As characters, Yura is drawn as distant; David is friendly. Other characters are loving and flawed, including Joan. Tim, Joan’s brother, is an addict, but he does not hesitate to help others in times of trouble. These likable characters give the book its flavor—that of a community bound together by a strong cord of loyalty and deep love.
  The tone is religious, enhancing the text’s impactfulness as it focuses on pointing toward the grace of God. The characters meet God through ordinary and sometimes painful circumstances in which their intentions clash with God’s unrelenting love and after which they experience slow but lifelong transformations. The book is held together by these powerful connections, with each character moving from despair (camouflaged by external optimism) toward faith. God is portrayed as unfazed by human imperfections.
  Gripping scenes, including some where the characters’ lives are at risk, make the story feel even more genuine. Christianity is not glamorized. The story does not evade real, hard questions such as about the rationale of suffering in the presence of a loving God.
  Reflecting upon the presence of a God who seeks a personal relationship with human beings, Hearts Set Free is a powerful and inspiring novel.
  Reviewed by Edith Wairimu
  February 1, 2019

Word Count