A reader emailed me recently because she had picked up a rather rare first edition of A Vow to Cherish, first published by Bethany House in 1996. She was confused by the fact that my protagonist in that edition is named "Jake," while in all other editions, his name is "John." I thought other readers might be interested in my response:
When my novel was made into a movie by World Wide Pictures in 1998, my publisher went back to press with the book, giving it a new movie tie-in cover. The screenwriters/movie director changed the name of my character from Jake to John (we don't know why). My publisher felt that most people picking up this new addition would be doing so because they had seen the movie (which has aired on national TV and been shown in thousands of churches across the country). So we decided to change Jake's name to John in this new edition of the book. I also added or changed a few minor character descriptions to match the actors from the film.
"No motion picture could ever define
the power behind the Billy Graham ministry
more effectively. I have not been so moved
by any movie, maybe ever. Not just entertainment."
~Paul Harvey
The DVD cover is at left. The movie is available in seven languages and has a lovely, haunting score by John Campbell. (If you want to be even more confused, watch the film, which was beautifully done and won several film awards, but which changed many of the details from my novel, as often happens when a book is translated to the screen.) Ten years after the first release of my novel, it was out of print, when another publisher, Steeple Hill, purchased the rights to reissue it, and asked me to write a sequel as well.
A Vow to Cherish is available in trade size as well as mass market, while the sequel, Within This Circle, is only available in mass market size.
I should also note that this newest version of A Vow to Cherish has been updated to reflect current medical information about Alzheimer's disease, and hopefully, to reflect how much I've learned about the craft of writing since penning that first version. To my surprise, as I was working on the rewrite, I realized that I also needed to move my story into the 21st century and give my characters cell phones and computers! The newest edition has about 7000 more words than the original and is much improved, in my humble opinion.
A Vow to Cherish has also been translated into Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch (see Toeverlaat, the Dutch edition, right).So, now you know the rest of the story. Watch the movie trailer below:
