Our Lady of the Drive In

About the Book

  Our Lady Of The Drive In is a novel about extremes. It is also a novel about people’s needs, and what they turn to in order to fulfill those needs.

  Galen Hardaway and Sarah Cutter are a rock’n’roll songwriting team and best friends. Galen has turned those songs into number one hits and is adored the world over. Both women coming from abusive backgrounds, find it almost impossible to trust anyone, but somehow they have managed to let their guard down enough to trust a few other people.

  They attend Our Lady Of The Drive In, the name the locals have given to the liberal church which speaks out on social issues in the very conservative town of Crystal City, Colorado. Together with the church, the two women have formed Heart’s Way, a community help center. They shelter and feed the homeless, give counseling and referrals to other agencies, and help anyone who comes to their door in need. They find they have to confront ignorance, anger and selfishness from many people around them. They refuse to turn anyone away, and they refuse to judge anyone based on their lifestyles or beleifs.

  This attitude rankles Jacob Tarwater and The Reverend William Creech, and their Christian Values Alliance. Galen and Mac, the pastor at Our Lady, fight a constant battle with the people of the CVA, who think they are unchristian. They argue back and forth about what being a Christian means in today’s world and get nothing settled.

  As they explore what it really means to be a Christian, they find themselves confronting the CVA and its own interpretation of the Gospel. Creech is luring children off the streets with the promise of a carnival, and taking them to his church and baptizing them. Galen and Mac confront him and he warns them to back off.

  Galen’s internal demons push her on, making her feel she has to save others where she could not save herself as a child growing up in an abusive home. She feels she cannot let others down, but in the process, lets herself down once again. When Daniel Lofton, the youth minister, forces her to confront her past and urges her to open up to him, she finds herself falling love with him: an emotion she has not allowed herself to feel for many years. Because he is married, she feels guilty about becoming involved with him, but because she desperately needs what he offers, she doesn’t have the strength to turn him away  For the first time, she allows herself to be loved and taken care of, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fact that she knows it must end before long.

  When Creech accuses Galen of being a murderer because of an abortion she had as a teenager, Daniel is there to help her. When she feels that she is going to fall apart because she admits to his youth group that she was abused as a child, Daniel comforts her. When she faces an angry CVA mob, Daniel, spirits her away to safety. She finds herself trusting him in spite of herself, and eventually trusting his opinion of her.

  Galen, being an international rock star, is fairly involved with the music scene and her every move is scrutinized by the press and public. Just as John Lennon once proclaimed that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, Galen finds herself having too much power over her fans. Whatever she says, they will do, to the point where some people actually claim she is the returned Messiah. They see in her efforts to be like Jesus, that she is Jesus. When she promises to pray for the health of a politician’s son and the boy recovers, the people see this as proof of their claim. She sees them as desperate people looking for a leader, and feels that she has to fill the void in an way she can, even though her actions and the mob reactions create more hatred from the CVA. They believe she is the devil and become intent on destroying her.

  Galen goes up into the mountains to be alone, and hears noises ar

About the Author

I am the Publisher/Editor of Contemporary Songwriter Magazine and have been a freelance writer for as long as I can remember. I have lived all over the United States and used to enjoy the grand adventure of just packing up my car and moving wherever the mood struck me. Ten years ago the mood struck to move to Colorado and I have been here ever since. The mountains inspire me, and though I still love to travel, I love even more being able to return to the shadow of Pike's Peak.