Changing Tides by Sue A. Fairchild

Changing Tides by Sue A. Fairchild

As I come up on the one-year anniversary of the release of my first traditionally published book Changing Tides, I remember how the story all came about.

First, as my hubby and I walked one morning during our vacation in the Outer Banks, we noticed local people—kids got on school buses, and people opened their businesses for the day. I had never thought much about the people who live in vacation spots—how they work and relate just as I do in my normal setting. I guess when you’re on vacation, you just think everyone is on vacation! Soon, my mind started to wonder what it would be like to live at the beach. Would the allure of the fun stuff like soaking up the sun on the beach, strolling along the sand with your loved one, and visiting new and exciting spots fade over time? Or would those moments be little bits of refuge from the drudgery of everyday life?

Second, the main plot from Changing Tides stemmed from conversations my husband and I often have about who will die first. I know, I know … morbid. But we’ve talked about how I will die first because my family has a history of dying young (late seventies) while his ancestors tend to live well past their eighties. My husband has always asserted that if I did, indeed, die first he’d become a hermit and live out his life alone—go to work, eat, sleep, repeat. I doubt he would, however (he has all that living family!), but the thought of his assertion combined with this idea of living at the beach soon combined.

My two main characters quickly became me and my husband. Ellie dies at a very young age in her fifties and her husband Gabe is forced to decide how he will live out the rest of his life. I’ve always wanted to live at or near the beach so that became Ellie’s dream too. It becomes Gabe’s goal after she dies as he wrestles with his grief, wondering if he had been a good enough husband for her.

I also wanted to dig into the way grief affects people differently—not just my main character. We have several widows/widowers in our church, my father included, and I’ve noticed the differences in how they each cope. As I wrote, I noticed my other characters were also grieving and how a community emerged, like often happens in real life as friends, church family, and others surround a person during loss.

When I think about losing my husband—God forbid—I think I wouldn’t likely recover easily. He and I are so entwined that it would be hard to find a new way forward. But I pray I would have a community surround me like Gabe finds despite his best efforts to live that hermit lifestyle.

As we come to the one-year book anniversary for Changing Tides (it was released on my 50th birthday, March 13, 2024) I pray my imagined story helps others to work through their grief or to encourage them to find a community that might help them in some way too.

Back Cover Blurb:

The tide will come in no matter what you do. Eventually it’ll swallow you up if you don’t move with it.

Gabriel Pechman has finally fulfilled his wife’s greatest dream—he’s quit his finance job and moved to the Outer Banks to live out a life of peace and joy in the sun. Too bad his wife never lived to see it happen.

After Ellie’s untimely death at the age of fifty-two, Gabe seeks to fulfill her wishes. Doing so does not erase his grief, however, but sometimes increases his loneliness as he struggles to create a new life without his beloved wife. The more he tries to fight the overwhelming grief he feels, the more it seems to haunt him. He soon discovers grief has no set end date and no set location—it follows you everywhere you go.

Living in paradise also doesn’t protect Gabe from fresh sorrow. When a new friend suffers a fatal heart attack and Gabe has the urge to run away from his pain, can he overcome the constantly changing tides of grief to be the friend the new widow needs or will he succumb to the waves?

Sue A. Fairchild is an editor, writer, and speaker. In 2024, Sue traditionally published two Christian Contemporary novels, one of which, Changing Tides, won honorable mention in the AWSA Golden Scrolls awards. When she is not writing her own books for God’s kingdom, Sue loves working with clients who are working toward the greater good of sharing God’s message in this world. Learn more about Sue on her website sueafairchild.wordpress.com
or on Instagram
@suefairchildedits
or email her to talk about working together sueafairchild74@gmail.com.

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