Horsfall, Missy

(Melissa Horsfall)

PERSONAL: Married; husband a pastor; children: three.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, WaterBrook Press, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Writer. Speaker at seminars.

WRITINGS:

(With Susan Stevens) Double Honor (Christian novel), WaterBrook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Missy Horsfall is coauthor, with Susan Stevens, of Double Honor, the story of the failing marriage of Mallory and Jake Carlisle. Mallory, an illustrator, is commissioned to work on a children's book about sexual abuse. The assignment refreshes her own memories, which she has suppressed for so long, but enables her to understand that her marriage is suffering because of her childhood trauma.

The authors write of the pain of living within a dysfunctional family and the faith that Mallory draws upon to help her heal and cope. "This is a book with a ministry casually woven through a wonderful work of fiction," commented Bev Huston for Romantic Times Book Club online. A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that "adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse will appreciate this story of Christian faith and emotional healing."

Romance Reader's Connection reviewer Tracy Farnsworth called the novel a "touching story." Farnsworth also interviewed the authors for the site. Horsfall said that both she and Stevens "have seen first hand the devastating results of child sexual abuse in the lives of those we have counseled, Susan through her pastoral ministry, and I in my role as pastor's wife. We have seen God take the worst of circumstances and use them in the most astounding ways to change lives. We desire this book to be a powerful tale of God's love and want our readers to know that there is hope, there is healing, and it is found in God."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, February 25, 2002, review of Double Honor, p. 39.

ONLINE

Romance Reader's Connection, http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/ (June 7, 2005), Tracy Farnsworth, review of Double Honor and interview with Horsfall and Stevens.

Romantic Times Book Club, http://www.romantictimes.com/ (June 7, 2005), Bev Huston, review of Double Honor.