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Childhood sweethearts Kinna and Jimmy had dreams---marriage, children, a house by the sea. What they didn't foresee was infertility. When Kinna rescues an elderly woman, threads of past, present, and future weave into one final chance to follow not their plan---but God's! Can they embrace the power of love before it's too late? 352 pages, softcover from Multnomah.

Kinna and Jimmy Henley had simple dreams of marriage and children. What they didn't plan on was years of infertility. After Kinna rescues an elderly woman, the threads of the past, present, and future weave together to reveal the wonder of one final hope.

Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University, Marlo also has a masters of theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California.

“If Tomorrow Never Comes is a touching story of hope through surrender. Marlo Schalesky weaves a poignant story with a unique twist, touching the heart of those who struggle with unfulfilled dreams, reminding us things are not always as they seem.”
–Rachel Hauck, bestselling, award winning author of Sweet Caroline and Love Starts With Elle

“If Tomorrow Never Comes is another beautiful, outside-the-box story from Marlo Schalesky. At times painful and joyful, it was inspiring to see God work in the lives of two people who are so in love and yet so broken by infertility and the shadows of the past. Highly recommended!”
–Tamara Leigh, author of Faking Grace and Splitting Harriet

“Marlo Schalesly is one of my favorite authors. Within just a few pages of If Tomorrow Never Comes I was drawn into a world that is hauntingly beautiful, and yet real-life all the same. I was swept away in this enchanting story about a mysterious locket, and as with all Schalesky’s books, I wasn’t disappointed. What a heart-filled, powerful, and well-told story!”
–Tricia Goyer, author of ACFW Book of the Year winners Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights

“If Tomorrow Never Comes is a beautiful and bittersweet story of dreams crushed, but not destroyed. Of first love dying, but not yet dead. And of a merciful God who holds all our fates in his hands. Marlo Schalesky has woven a magical tale you'll have to read twice: once quickly because you have to know what happens next, and once slowly so you can savor the evocative poetry of her writing.”
–Rick Acker, author of Blood Brothers and Dead Man's Rule

“Kinna’s mom had always led her to believe that fulfillment in womanhood is achieved most fully through motherhood. But when Kinna’s can-do determination collides with the devastating desperation of infertility, her heart and life feel as barren as her womb. Through surprising plot twists reminiscent of Angela Hunt’s style, Marlo Schalesky keeps readers guessing as she offers a challenging new perspective on God’s possibilities.”
–Jennifer Saake, author of Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss

“This story gripped my heart from the first page right through to the triumphant conclusion and beyond. Marlo Schalesky has penned a masterful tale about wrestling with both God and shadows from the past, with glimpses of the miraculous woven through. You won’t be able to put this one down!”
–Janelle Clare Schneider, author

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Author: Marlo Schalesky
Located in: Salinas, California
Submitted: February 16, 2009

    Tell us a little about yourself.  I'm the author of seven books, including my latest novel, If Tomorrow Never Comes, which combines a love story with a surprise ending twist to create a new type of novel that I hope will impact readers at their deepest levels. My other books include Beyond the Night, Veil of Fire, and Empty Womb, Aching Heart- Hope and Help for Those Struggling with Infertility. I've had over 600 articles published in various Christian magazines, including Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman, Decision, Moody Magazine, and Discipleship Journal. I've contributed to Dr. Dobson’s Night Light Devotional for Couples, Tyndale’s Book of Devotions for Kids #3, and Discipleship Journal’s 101 Small Group Ideas. I'm a speaker and a regular columnist for Power for Living. I'm also a California native, a small business owner, and a graduate of Stanford University (with a B.S. in Chemistry!). In addition, I've earned my masters in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, from Fuller Theological Seminary. I live with my husband and five young children in a log home in Central California. When I'm not changing diapers, doing laundry, or writing books, I love sipping Starbucks white mochas, reading the New Testament in Greek, and talking about finding the deep places of God in the disappointments of life.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  Perhaps the best way to answer that is to talk about the book's title. The idea behind the title is that the choices and decisions we make today dramatically impact our future, our “tomorrows,” and not only ours but the tomorrows of others as well. Choosing to love, choosing to do right despite pain, disappointment, and sorrow, allows tomorrow to come. But choices made out of desperation, fear, and clinging to our own desires can cut off the future God wants for us. We don’t know, we can’t see, what tomorrow holds. So all we can do is do what’s right now, love now, trust now. Because God sees the whole of our lives and weaves all things together, even those hard and painful things, in a way that will make a beautiful masterpiece in the Kingdom of God. So, really, the title means that if we choose love today, if we choose sacrificial love, God will hold our tomorrows in His hand. That’s what’s at the heart of If Tomorrow Never Comes . . .the choice to love, the choice to believe, the choice to let go of our dreams in order to embrace His. To do it today, for the sake of all our tomorrows.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  Our culture tells us that we can do anything we set our minds to, we can accomplish any dream . . . and we should. “Reach for your dreams,” we say, as if that is the highest goal of humankind. Success posters (and platitudes) abound. But 15 years of infertility and miscarriage have taught me that we are not the gods of our lives. There are things we cannot control, no matter how hard we try. Perhaps that is why God calls us not to the pursuit of our dreams, but to love. “Love one another,” Jesus exhorts in John 13:34-35, and also gives, as the second greatest commandment, the exhortation to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18, and all 3 Synoptics) So, in our Grasp-Your-Dreams culture, I hope this book will stand against the tide, calling people instead to the way of love – to the way of laying down their lives for others instead of clutching their own dreams and plans. I hope readers will be inspired to fight for their marriages with sacrificial love, and will be challenged to look to the future for the rewards of loving sacrificially, and to the past to remember the seeds of real love.

    How were you personally impacted by working on this project?  In If Tomorrow Never Comes, the main characters are struggling with the fall-out from infertility. I’ve spent most of my adult life – 15 years – dealing with infertility and miscarriage. I’ve had some successes along the way, and whole lot of failure, disappointment and pain. So, as far as plot-line goes - what happens to the characters and how they’re changed and challenged through the book - that is uniquely Kinna & Jimmy’s story. But the emotions, the fears, the questions they face are things I drew from my own experience. The longing for a baby that seems like it will never be fulfilled. I’ve been there. Month after month of trying and failing. Turning into year after year. I’ve been there. Frustration. Doubt. Wondering how God could possibly love me in the midst of this. Been there. Having to pry my white-knuckled fingers off my own hopes and dreams. Been there. Choosing to love anyway. Choosing to believe anyway. Choosing to trust God anyway. Been there. It seems that just about every deep and meaningful thing I’ve learned about God, I can point to my journey through infertility and say, “Yeah, infertility taught me that.” It taught me that I’m not the god of my life. God is. It taught me there are things I cannot control, cannot achieve, no matter how hard I try. And sometimes we must choose to live the life God has given us, with love and hope, even when it’s not the life we dreamed. Because infertility taught me that God calls us not to the pursuit of our dreams, but to love. “Love one another,” Jesus says. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God taught me that through the journey of my own infertility. My hope is that If Tomorrow Never Comes will reveal the same truths to others as well.

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  In music, I love listening to Michael Card. Some of my old-time favorite books are Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Newer favorites are the Harry Potter series and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files books. Some other favorite authors are Francine Rivers, Cindy Martinusen, Rene Gutteridge, Tricia Goyer, Angela Hunt, Randall Ingermanson, Karen Ball … and I’m sure I’ve missed a few. I love to read!

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  I hope readers will visit my website at marloschalesky dot com and check out the audio interview, infertility resources, and other goodies there. And, I’d love for people to sign up for my e-newsletter, which I put out a few times a year (or whenever there’s exciting news like a book release!). You can sign up on the front page of my website. There’s a sign-up box there on the right hand column above the audio/video player. I hope readers will also visit my blog (marloschalesky dot blogspot dot com). About once a week I post news and hopefully helpful info on rekindling the wonder in our walks with God.

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