The Light Through the Pouring Rain
by James Ruvalcaba
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GENRE: Love & Loss
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BLURB:
An emotional page turner that gives a first hand look into the lives of a young couple madly in love and eager to start their lives together, only to have it all halted by a cancer diagnosis. With no clear road map on how to navigate their new normal, James and Anabel proceed into uncharted territory, hand-in-hand, with the love of their families and their faith in God to guide them.
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EXCERPT ONE:
It was April, and a couple months had passed by. At this point, everybody knew. Our friends and family knew and had been brainstorming on our game plan. Her first chemo session was April 2. Unfortunately, her family was not equipped to handle taking care of her. They had no experience with cancer and the pain that was upcoming. Unfortunately, my family and I had experience. Not that we wished we had, but it was an asset for this upcoming challenge. Cancer runs in our family. We’d lost our fair share of members, and the best place Anabel could recover was at our home. I had to talk to my family about the situation, and they agreed. My mom was the best man for the job. I couldn’t be more thankful for her. Mom was ready for the task at hand in a moment’s notice, without hesitation; she was the only one I could truly turn to in these times.
Anabel had gotten situated in our home. She stayed in my room with my brother and me. Which was a challenge in itself, due to him enjoying his senior year of high school, coming in and out of the house, partying it up, and having his friends over. We managed to make the best of it. At times it could be unbearable and make Anabel and me crazy, but the care and love that my brother had for her made it easier for us. He would be a pain in the ass, but had a soft spot for Anabel and would regulate things when Anabel needed some time. This was a challenge for Anabel and me as well. This cancer had rushed a huge step in our relationship: we had finally moved in together. It wasn’t the circumstances that we had imagined or planned for, but we had to make it work.
We had spoken on what location we would like to live in and how Anabel didn’t care much for where and how much, but only if she could decorate for each holiday. That was her only stipulation. “James, I don’t care what you say, I’m gonna go all out every holiday, and you can’t say a damn thing to me.” It was adorable. It would put a smile to my face, because she made a point to say that as if it would be a deal breaker.
We had established our routine. She would wake up early, around eight a.m., have coffee with my grandma and her dog in the backyard, and reminisce about my grandma’s glory days as a caretaker. Then I would wake up around ten a.m. to “Good morning, Meez!” Anabel called me Meez because my little brother would call me Jamies, and if you say the second syllable of Jamies, it sounds like “Meez.” So she ran with it. We would eat breakfast together and follow that up with some episodes of The Office. Then I would go to the gym for a couple of hours then return to her to relax, watch TV or movies with her on her phone, then eat dinner. My Mom would make, and repeat. A very simple routine, but effective due to the fatigue she would be experiencing from chemotherapy.
It
may seem like a very bland routine for a normal person, but it was what she
wanted. April 2 was fast approaching. After a couple of weeks, it was finally
here.
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GUEST POST:
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Light Through the Pouring Rain
Hello, I’m James Ruvalcaba the Author of The Light Through the Pouring Rain and I’m here today to tell you 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Light Through the Pouring Rain. My story is an emotional story that details the trials and tribulations of a couple battling a cancer diagnosis. So, now I want to give you a “behind the scenes” look of the top 10 things you didn’t know about my book.
1.) I wrote this book in one month.
During the covid lockdown I found myself stuffing my face with oreos’ and washing it down with pop-tarts I found noticed i gain some weight and needed a change, so began to establish a routine. Where I would walk and then write. With a clear mind, the ideas flooded the pages as I wrote. Next thing you know the book was complete in a month.
2.) There is a longer version of the book.
I originally wrote a 400-page version of The Light Through the Pouring Rain, but after sampling the book to the younger generation and they informed me that “400-pages is too long.” I decided to trim the book to what it is now 150-pages.
3.) Tik Tok & SportsCenter inspired me for the new length of the book.
After sampling it I thought I shouldn’t worry about others’ thoughts of the book, but then I thought of the length of Tiktok and highlights on SportsCenter is what people are accustomed to. The shorter the better, so I made sure to cover the highlights of our story and made sure it stayed true to the message.
4.) Kobe Bryant inspired the book cover.
When it was time to come up with a direction for my book cover I had communicated that I was looking for something that was artistically similar to the animation that was used for Kobe Bryant’s live poem “Dear Basketball”. After one simple conversation, my illustrator got it right on the first try.
5.) All included in the story declined to be named.
Out of respect to all involved in my story, I asked if they would like to be named, but all unselfishly thought it would be best for my name and my Fiancée Anabel’s name to be the only ones included so readers would walk away only remembering our two names.
6.) The story told is very true but was originally going to be taken in a different direction.
Throughout our process, My fiancée Anabel and I attempted to document as much as possible with hopes to use our story to inspire others to continue to push forward in their battles and appreciate their loved ones. Unfortunately, that story didn’t get told but was planned throughout the cancer process.
7.) The story is out because of a friend.
After completing my story I had no direction where to go or what was next, so on one particular day I was followed on social media by an Author ( that will remain nameless) or I should say my friend and one direct message later on social media the rest was history. It’s due to her that my book is out and available. Without her, my book may still be sitting on my computer waiting to be released. I will be forever grateful to her.
8.) My book was fully completed within a week.
I was very blessed to be connected to a very amazing group of individuals that had a quick turnaround on my book. From the editor to the book cover illustrated they had my book up and ready for release within a week.
9.) I released my book with no marketing.
Due to excitement on just being able to come through on my promise I made to my Fiancée in our last moments, I book the book out as soon as I could. I only made one Instagram post about it and released it immediately afterward.
10.) My book came out on December 21st in honor of my Mom.
My mom was the MVP of the entire story and without her, I wouldn’t be here today. So as an honor to show my Mom my token of appreciation I wanted to tell our story on her birthday. Mom if you reading this thank you for everything!
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AUTHOR BIO:
Hello, I'm James Ruvalcaba. I am the author of “The Light Through the Pouring Rain.”
I am a family man and hold them near and dear to me. I am a down-to-earth person that loves creating conversations. I believe the more we communicate the more we see the beauty of God's previous workings. In pursuit of my God-given mission, I began writing because of a promise I made to my Fiancé on her last day. I wanted to honor my fiancé’s legacy and to be a testimony of God's goodness. I continue to tell stories and hope to achieve telling stories that uplift others, give some perspective on life, and to walk away with a sense of inspiration. If they can take lessons and perspectives given in my words to their own lives then I feel I accomplished what I set out to do.
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CONNECT WITH JAMES:
Website:
https://thelightthroughthepouringrain.com
Social media:
@JamesMRuvalcaba
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20998695.James_Ruvalcaba
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56380930-the-light-through-the-pouring-rain
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Through-Pouring-Rain-ebook/dp/B08PF23TF1
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Through-Pouring-Rain/dp/B08P8HWGVB
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
James will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.**This post contains
affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small
commission to help support this blog.
This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those fabulous
community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I enjoyed learning more about the book.
ReplyDelete