A Beautiful Fall (35 page)

Robert Adler, the firm’s senior partner, sat in the fifth row of the courtroom watching the woman he’d hired eight years earlier. He’d then mentored, apprenticed, and groomed her to the full extent of legal and business maturity.

Had he been twenty years younger, maybe. Maybe he would have acted not as senior partner, or as senior anything, but as someone else in her life. Robert Adler observed Emma presenting a case before the judge and jury that was as solid as stainless steel, yet as warm as a woman’s touch.

Hollywood calls that something extra the “it” that defines a person. Intelligence, humor, vulnerability, self-reliance—Adler saw those qualities in Emma the minute she’d taken her seat for the first of two interviews. When she’d told him the story of where she was from, down south, the Carolinas. And how far she’d come to Harvard law school, passing the Massachusetts state bar exam. Yet she’d retained so much of wherever it was she’d come from. That day he wondered if McCormick & Adler was a brilliant opportunity for Emma. Today in the courtroom he wondered if the firm was merely a stepping-stone on her inevitable journey into the stratosphere of practicing law.

Author Interview

Q: What’s the story behind
A Beautiful Fall?

A:
A Beautiful Fall
tells the story of Emma Madison, a woman who grew up in a small, idyllic Southern town called Juneberry, South Carolina. Her mother passes away when Emma is young, and when Emma turns eighteen, she leaves Juneberry. Sixteen years later she’s a successful law partner in Boston. The day she wins her biggest court case, Emma gets a phone call that her father has suffered a heart attack. She goes back for the first time in years and the experience is life-changing.

Q: What do you like best about the stories and characters in
A Beautiful Fall?

A: I like the three love stories about three couples in very different situations. I think readers will identify with at least one of the stories, but probably there are aspects of each love story that will resonate.

Q:
A Beautiful Fall
is set in the fictional town of Juneberry, South Carolina. Did you grow up in a small town?

A: Yes, I grew up in the small town of Leslie, Michigan, which has a population of about two thousand. I also live in a small town today, so things like going to a barn dance or walking at night through a historic Southern town are real experiences for me. I’ve always valued the experience of growing up in a small town because I think it gives a person a unique perspective on the world. You know just about everybody. My graduating class was just over a hundred people and many of them I’d gone to school with since kindergarten. Life in a small town also affords you the time and space to be alone, to carve out a place in the world for yourself, and to develop an individual identity.

Q: In
A Beautiful Fall
, your writing again centers on the issues of singleness. This is obviously something close to home for you. Would you like to elaborate?

A: My first two novels have dealt with the realities of living life as a single, i.e., missing someone you love, reaching for a partner who feels just out of grasp, and recovering from painful breakups that can stunt us from growing into what God may desire for us. In
A Beautiful Fall
, I wanted to show single life from several perspectives. Christina loves Bo, but she lives with the tension of not being able to have what she wants. Michael is committed to Emma, a woman who has moved on with her life. Emma has so invested herself in career and in running from the past that she doesn’t really know what love in her life should look like. Bo’s been shredded by his marriage and doesn’t think he can go through anything that painful again. I think readers will identify with these situations because they’re real-life experiences.

Q: What’s your approach to writing a novel?

A: I start with a basic premise and let the story grow organically. I’m like a reader turning pages to find out what will happen in the story, so my first draft moves along quickly. I always pray before each writing session, and I like working without a predetermined direction or plot.

Q: What is it like being a man writing contemporary romantic fiction?

A: I like to think the stories I write are about people more than they’re about falling in love. Just as love and partnership are important to people, likewise it’s important to my characters. The greater number of layers there are in the story, the more it becomes something larger than just a love story. Readers are savvy, and I think they want to read a story that’s original and involving for their emotions, mind, and spirit.

Q:
A Beautiful Fall
is your second novel. What made you want to try writing a novel in just twelve weeks?

A: Twelve weeks went by a lot faster than what I thought it would, but I think having such a tight deadline helped shape me as a novelist. I just had time to focus on the points that really mattered. However, I don’t think I’ll do it again. I’m writing my next novel right now, and knowing there are many months until it’s due feels great.

Q: How can readers learn more about your work and ministry?

A: My Web site is chriscoppernoll.com. Readers will find my bio, info on my books, interviews, photos, speaking, and information on the Providence Cares Foundation. Or they can write me at [email protected] and get in touch with me that way.

About the Author

Photo by Allen Clark

Chris Coppernoll is the author of five books, including 2008’s David C Cook release,
A Beautiful Fall
, and his 2007 novel,
Providence
. He is the founder and host of the internationally syndicated radio program,
Soul2Soul
, a national speaker on issues of importance to singles, and an acclaimed interviewer of people of faith, including Amy Grant, Billy Ray Cyrus, Randy Travis, Frank Peretti, Max Lucado, Point of Grace, Ce Ce Winans, MercyMe, Sheila Walsh, Third Day, Casting Crowns, Natalie Grant, Brennan Manning, and Michael W. Smith. Chris holds a master’s of ministry leadership degree from Rockbridge Seminary, and serves as a deacon at The People’s Church outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Books by Chris Coppernoll:

A Beautiful Fall

Providence

God’s Calling: Searching for Your Purpose in Life

Secrets of a Faith Well Lived

Soul2Soul

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for more great reads.

A BEAUTIFUL FALL

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, resold, or distributed by or through any print or electronic medium without written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed solely for the personal and noncommercial use of the original authorized purchaser, subject to the terms of use under which it was purchased. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are

the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance

to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

LCCN 2008933682

ISBN 978-1-4347-6852-0

eISBN 978-0-7814-0714-4

© 2008 Chris Coppernoll

The author is represented by MacGregor Literary.

The Team: Andrea Christian, Stephen Parolini, Amy Kiechlin,

Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman

Cover Design: David Uttley, The DesignWorks Group

Cover Photos: Getty Images (woman in swing);

Steve Gardner, PixelWorks Studios (cowboy)

First Edition 2008

www.DavidCCook.com