Green Light Red Light Giveaway

Interview with Audrey Hebbert

Audrey Hebbert is the author of many published articles, devotionals and short stories. Her first YA novel, Green Light Red Light, was published in November 2007. Her second manuscript, Motocross Mania, a tweener novel, is in the development process.

Hebbert has been a published freelance writer for forty years—because she had no choice. She had to write. The former columnist, teacher, and business owner draws material for novels, children’s stories, short stories, devotionals and nonfiction articles from her broad base of experience. She is a native Nebraskan, having grown up in the Sandhills.
Hebbert blogs at her website, http://www.audreyhebbert.com/

RAD: Welcome to our blog, Audrey. We're looking forward to your interview. What book would you like to tell us about today?

AH: Thank you, Ruth Ann! I count it a real privilege to be interviewed by you. I would like to talk about my YA novel, Green Light, Red Light.

Green Light Red Light is a novel based on Monica Moore’s work as a volunteer English teacher in China. The entire manuscript is reality-based, but every name and some circumstances have been changed to protect characters from the Communist authorities.
Monica’s young friend, 16-year-old Erika Slade, boards the plane for China with her and trades hamburgers, cell phones and the company of her twin brother Billy for swarms of people speaking a strange language. Miracles abound, including a child who is healed after he fell downstairs in his wheelchair. Late each evening, Monica and the team will baptize converts in her hotel room bathtub.
The two Americans climb the Great Wall and get lost in the Forbidden City. They eat unusual foods. Unpleasant smells and pollution never go away. Erika’s new friends in China include pretty Amelia Cao and the team joker, 16-year-old Jesse Carter. The beautiful redhead wrestles with forgiving her abusive mother and her father’s killers in Iraq. Her world-view is first rocked and then obliterated as a new vision rises from the dust of an unfamiliar culture.
Find more information and a free download of discussion questions and devotionals at http://www.audreyhebbert.com/

RAD: Where is your book available for purchase?
AH: You can always buy it from me ($12.95 through PayPal, or with a check or money order), and I pay the postage. Send me your snail mail address at audrey4j@cox.net Green Light Red Light is available at online book sellers - Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and most of the others. Put my name in the search, too, because it’s such a common title. Any bookstore or library can order it, including Divine Truth Bookstore in Omaha, Nebraska, and Omaha Borders Bookstores.
RAD: Tell us how you came to be a writer.
AH: I have always been a writer. I didn’t attend kindergarten because our country school 40 miles from Gordon, Nebraska, didn’t have one. Before I started first grade at five years old, I wrote down the letters and words I knew and assembled them into “stories.” I came from a family of storytellers, and writing stories was a natural fit.
RAD: Green Light Red Light is set in China. How did you go about researching this interesting setting? Have you ever visited China?
AH: Many kind people, especially Monica Moore’s team members and Chinese she knew from her missions brought China to me here in the U.S. and took time to answer questions and recall their personal experiences in China. Monica herself took time between short term missions all over the world (69 countries since 1993) to spend hours answering my questions and recalling her memories. I have material for at least four more books, including another one about China.
RAD: Did you have any Bible verses running through your mind as you wrote?
AH: I had Bible verses and prayers running through my mind as I wrote. I averaged two hours of prayer for every one hour of writing. A lot of Monica’s success can be credited to the powerful intercessors who uphold her. I had intercessors, but I wasn’t prepared for the warfare of writing such a book. I had three surgeries in three years and became almost totally disabled with mostly misdiagnosed pain. I experienced many other difficulties, but I was sustained in many ways, too. I’ve learned a lot about spiritual warfare and sticking to the job, regardless.
RAD: How did you weave in a spiritual thread to make it relevant to the teens who read your book without being preachy?
AH: With Green Light Red Light, Monica’s story is the spiritual thread. The story allowed lots of room for sharing Monica’s passion without being preachy, and I receive lots of compliments from people ages 12-99. They say the book is readable, fascinating, and they cannot put it down.
RAD: What do you hope your readers will take away from your book?
AH: Monica’s primary purpose was to persuade young and old alike, but especially the young people, to do as she does and follow Jesus’ example of evangelism with the help of the Holy Spirit. She loves young people although she is 75 years old. She doesn’t look or think like a 75-year-old, though, and just being around her is an inspiration
RAD: Tell us about your current book/projects? Is there going to be a sequel to Green Light Red Light?
AH: We are waiting for the Lord to supply the money needed to publish another book. In the meantime I’m blogging, selling short stories, devotionals and other articles, and writing Motocross Mania.
RAD: Do you enjoy reading books with a foreign setting?
AH: I enjoy people from other countries, and some become my best friends. I’ve read many biographies about godly people from the past, including Gladys Aylward, praying Hyde, Hudson and others. I developed one scene in Green Light Red Light after reading Randy Alcorn’s Safely Home.
RAD: If you were given an all expenses paid holiday anywhere in the world to research a novel, where would you choose to go?
AH: First, I’d like to make a two-three month stopover in China. Then I’d like to do research for the next books in the Monica Moore series. We’re thinking Pakistan and Africa. It would be fun to visit Monica’s hometown in Canada, because I could develop a great story about how her unique childhood equipped her for her powerful ministry.
RAD: Thank you, Audrey. I hope that one day you get to visit those countries.
AH: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share about Monica’s powerful ministry.

Audrey has kindly offered to give away a copy of Green Light Red Light, which tells the fascinating story of a small woman who is passionate about making sure everyone hears the gospel. Miracles, signs and wonders abound as Monica spreads the love of God in China.
To enter the draw for Audrey’s book, leave a comment before midday on Saturday 12th December telling us, in not more that four sentences, about a miracle that God has done in your life or that you have seen. Please include your email address to be eligible for the drawing. The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday 13th December. Sorry, but this giveaway is restricted to US residents.
The giveaway is void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws. US residents only.