Westhaven is like any small Southern town. A place where everybody knows everybody else's business. Journalist Stephanie McAllister isn't in the mood-especially since she's on her way to find out the results of her tests at Dr. Ward's clinic. What if she has cancer-the same thing that killed both of her parents?

As Stephanie begins to walk toward the doors of her hometown clinic, housed in an antebellum mansion, she has no idea just how much her life-and her heart-will be changed. Or that the startling secrets revealed could transform all of Westhaven.

DAVID T. DOCKERY III, who has a Ph.D. in paleontology, an M.S. in geology, and a B.S. in petroleum geology, has published over 160 scientific papers, including seven books. His first work of fiction, The Time Tunneler, was a finalist in the novel division of the Eudora Welty Film and Fiction Festival. Look for his next novel, Ground Zero, soon.

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Author: David T. Dockery III
Located in: Clinton, Mississippi
Submitted: December 12, 2008

    Tell us a little about yourself.  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my life is that I'm a born-again Christian and a scientist who works in the fields of geology and paleontology. I've had an interest in the natural sciences since the age of six when I filled my drawers full of rocks, leaving only one drawer for clothes. I look forward to my job every day. My wife Mary shares my interests in geology, and I find her work with children, as a public school teacher and as a Bible Club director, fascinating. My first work of fiction, a Christian science-fiction novel, was inspired by the book "Jurassic Park" and was a finalist in the novel division of the Eudora Welty Film and Fiction Festival in 1995. Mary was a big help in editing my most recent novel "A Scent of Jasmine," which is a story of adoption and abortion in a small Mississippi town. I was greatly encouraged when I overheard Mary telling her sister about editing the manuscript. She stated that the characters had become so real to her that she expected them to walk in the door at any minute. Mary and I live in the country north of Clinton, Mississippi, on 29 acres with two lakes. She is an avid animal lover.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  "A Scent of Jasmine" is a story based on my interest in how Christians present their pro-life message to a culture with different values. In the novel, this debate is made personal when Stephanie McAllister is befriended by a fourteen-year-old adopted girl named Libby. Libby learns that Stephanie aborted a child who would have been her age. Stephanie is a journalist and a harden pro-choice proponent, but Libby's charm and steady friendship through the time of Stephanie's illness give her a unique platform to speak her mind and her values. Eventually, unforeseen circumstances overwhelm Stephanie and Libby's pro-life/pro-choice stalemate and bring the value of life into sharp focus.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  We never fully recognize the importance of just one person or the potential of just one child. I hope that the reader will see that importance in this story.

    How were you personally impacted by working on this project?  In writing this book, I realized of the value of my wife's edits and found how much fun it was to work on a book together and with the publisher/editor Ramona Tucker.

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  I have another book under contract entitled "Ground Zero." It is a Christian science-fiction novel concerning the buried volcano beneath Jackson, Mississippi. No other large city has the throat of an extinct volcano buried just half a mile below its downtown sector. The title hints to the outcome, but will the city heed the warnings of the coming disaster?

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