Palin book in the works

September

11

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 6:06 pm by Barbara Nackman.
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One Response to “Palin book in the works”

1. dan September 14th, 2008 at 6:28 am

   s Joe Hilley? Palin’s new biographer, that’s who!

   The Alabama-Alaska Connection: Legal Thriller Author Joe Hilley of Alabama Penning Much-Awaited Bio of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

   The announcement last month in Lunch Weekly’s online book news site in
   New York, run by veteran publishing industry observer Michel Cader,
   read very simply:

   Biography:
   Novelist Joe Hilley’s “Sarah Palin: New Kind of Leader”, exploring
   themes from her career in politics, her life as a hockey mom, and her
   strongly-held Christian faith, explaining how they influence her new
   style of leadership and align with our changing economy in the
   information age, to Zondervan, for publication on October 10th.

   Turns out that Hilley and his wife of 20 years, Joy, live in southern
   Alabama with their teenage daughter and a younger son. Almost ten
   years ago, in 1999 to be exact, Hilley—who always had a hankering
   to be a writer of fiction—left a nice career in law and walked out
   the door to write thrillers. Fulltime. He just got up and said goodbye
   to a lucrative and rewarding law career and said: “Bookworld, here I
   come!” or something like that. He has never looked back.

   And now he’s got a ringside seat at the travelling media circus known
   as the Sarah Palin show. As the Republican Vice Presidential
   candidate’s chosen rush-job biographer, he’s at the top of his game.

   After the Christian book publisher Zondervan asked Hilley to write the
   upcoming Palin bio, it put out a press release saying, among other
   things:

   “Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s nomination as vice presidential
   candidate by John McCain not only changed the landscape of the current
   election, but also marks a shift in leadership style across our
   country. Her acceptance speech during the Republican National
   Convention showcased her personal brand of intelligence, passion,
   vigor, and hope, and explained why she is the most talked-about woman
   in America.
   A new biography….by Joe Hilley ….will explore themes from her career…”

   So who is Joe Hilley and how did he get this gig?

   On his own website, http://www.joehilley.com, Hilley explains himself
   in detail, and it’s an interesting backstory.

   The narrator, perhaps Hilley himself, begins: “Some said it wasn’t
   much of a change, from defending criminals to making up legal
   thrillers. And they may be right. But the living of it has been quite
   an adventure and a walk of faith—not only for Joe but for his
   entire family. When he walked out the door of the law firm and went
   home to write, he didn’t have a publishing contract. In fact, all he
   had was an idea for a character and the bare outline of a story. With
   that, he went home to write…”

   “Had he merely written a hard-edged novel with
   earthy language, he would have been picked up
   by a traditional publisher,” the website narrator continues. “If he
   had written a softer novel with a more explicit message, he would have
   found a Christian publisher years ago. But Joe wanted to write a novel
   with a hard edge
   without an explicit language. And he wanted any
   message the book might have to come from the
   experience of reading the book, not from telling
   the reader the point.”

   “Writing a story like that was exhilarating. Finding
   a publisher proved a challenge,” the narrator says. “Then, Joe found
   Jeff Dunn, an editor with RiverOak Publishing, an
   imprint of Cook Communications Ministries.”

   Now Hilley speaks up: “Jeff
   was looking for well-written fiction with a realistic
   edge that didn’t beat the reader over the head
   with the message. I was sure I had the book he
   wanted.”

   The narrator continues: “RiverOak soon purchased Joe’s first novel,
   ‘Sober Justice’, and struck a deal for a follow-up book. In September
   2004, ‘Sober Justice’ introduced readers to Mike Connolly, a
   down-and-out, 50-something attorney, battling alcoholism and a
   disintegrating life. It also introduced the world to a new type of
   Christian fiction. One that wasn’t afraid to tackle spiritual
   issues,and didn’t soft-sell the story or water down the writing.”

   Joe explains: “I want to write like Ernest Hemingway, tell a
   story like Mark Twain, and produce books that
   grab the reader by the collar. To do that, you have to keep the story
   razor sharp. [My wife, Joy, sees to that.] She’s my first and best
   editor. She keeps the story from going too far.”

   Both books did well. More were soon to appear.

   A new book, “Double Take” continued the story of Mike
   Connolly, and “Electric Beach”, the third in the series, was
   released in May of 2006. Then came “Night Rain” in April 2007, and the
   fifth book in the
   series, “The Deposition”, in August of 2007.

   “These novels have been a vehicle for addressing such topics as
   judicial and political corruption, trafficking in women, and the
   scourge of meth labs on rural America,” the website notes, adding:
   “Recently Joe’s work has expanded to non-fiction. He ghost-authored
   ‘Reign Down’ which was released in April 2008. He’s now finishing
   ‘Sarah Palin’ [on a tight deadline].

   Exactly how the prolific author of a series of legal thrillers landed
   the plum assignment of writing Sarah Palin’s biography is still
   something of a publishing industry mystery. Perhaps Zondervan’s
   editors knew Hilley from previous talks, or perhaps Hilley’s book
   agent set the deal up, or perhaps it was all meant to be and God had a
   hand in this, too. We shall find out soon enough.

   Meanwhile, in case any reporter out there is thinking about writing a
   feature on Hilley, here’s a few items from his resume. He holds a
   college degree from Asbury College, a theology degree from Asbury
   Theological Seminary and a doctorate in law degree from Cumberland
   School of Law at Samford University.

   Asbury College? I confess I had never heard of it. It’s in Kentucky.
   Its website says that with “a commitment to academic excellence and
   spiritual vitality, Asbury College encourages more than 1,300 students
   to study, worship and serve together on a campus located 20 minutes
   southwest of Lexington in Wilmore, Kentucky.”

   Asbury Theological Seminary? I had not heard of this school before
   either. Also located in Kentucky, it was founded in 1923 “to prepare
   and send forth a well-trained, sanctified, Spirit-filled, evangelistic
   ministry” to spread scriptural holiness around the world” and is
   “committed to a vital evangelical Christian faith, rooted in the
   Wesleyan-Arminian theological tradition.

   Now even some of my Christian readers might not know what the
   Wesleyan-Arminian theological tradition is all about, so let me tell
   you: ”[It] stresses the free grace of God in two ways: First, the
   grace of God is free in all—not dependent on merit nor on works.
   [And] second, the grace of God is free for all—all may be saved.
   [Jesus] died for the whole world. People are lost, [therefore], not
   because they cannot be saved, but because they will not be saved.”

   While the media usually describes Zondervan as a Christian publisher—and, of course, it is—it is also a subsidary of the
   non-religious HarperCollins book company in New York, which publishes
   just about anything about everything.

   So get ready for Joe Hilley’s take on Sarah Palin. While it will be
   very different from his fast-paced page-turned novels, it will be sure
   to capture the attention of readers in both blue and red states—on
   both sides of the church aisles—some looking for affirmation and
   others looking for a few cracks in the mirror. Expect the former. This
   is will God’s book, with some human-powered editing allowed. And sure
   to be a nationwide bestseller by October 11th.

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