Sometimes, those who have the most profound effect on us are the ones in the background cheering us on, supporting us, and loving us through good and bad. Those with QUIET FAITH, like my mom and my grandma (when she was alive). Always on their knees praying, lifting others up.

In May 2018, seventeen-year-old Taylor Bennett released her first novel, Porch Swing Girl, which quickly reached number one on Amazon’s young adult Christian fiction. There are not many authors who write as authentic as Taylor, perhaps because she not much older than her characters. Yet Taylor tackled tough topics, including crisis of faith and what to do when God disappoints.

Porch Swing Girl was not just any story for Taylor, it was personal. Between a blog tour and interviews, I caught up with Taylor to ask about her more about the character Gamma, whose faith inspires all of us to believe. Here’s what Taylor had to say…

“My main character, Olive, forms a special relationship with her grandma throughout the course of the story. My grandma died while I was writing the first draft of Porch Swing Girl, and it breaks my heart that she’s not here to read the final product. I want I’d like to share a bit of her story with you—introduce you to the amazing woman who I was so blessed to be able to call Grandma.

My grandma was a certified book nerd—she studied English in college, until she met the man who became my grandpa and dropped out to begin a life with him. Even though she never became an English teacher like she’d planned, Grandma always had her nose stuck in a book. She and my mom traded books, discussed books, and bought books. The three of us used to go to the city, where we would all spend hours perusing the shelves at Barnes&Noble.

By the time I began writing Porch Swing Girl, my grandma’s health had begun to fail. I was barely halfway through the first draft when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Only a few days later, she fell and broke her hip, and her health began its downward spiral. As Grandma began to slip from this world into the next, my family gathered around her bedside. Before she slipped away from us all, she called me into her room. I was purely terrified by the situation, and the thought of being alone with my grandma when she was in so much pain nearly held me back. But I had to go in—say goodbye, tell her I loved her.

Taking my hands between her own, Grandma—the cool, quiet woman who never had a sentimental bone in her body—told me how proud she was of me. How much she loved me. Tears streamed down my face, but Grandma begged me not to cry. Even in her last hours, she cared first and foremost about others. She grumbled about my cold hands and told me to go warm up—not a single mention of the excruciating pain she was in.

After that day, I visited many more times, but she was already slipping away. A coma overpowered her old, withered body, and she never opened her eyes again. The last time I saw her awake, she was too weak to say anything, but she still managed to quirk her lips into a smile when I stepped into her line of sight—and that was my grandma. Always kind, sweet, gentle. Always loving. Caring. There for me.

I can only hope that God has allowed her to open the door to heaven, to creep out and peek over someone’s shoulder as they read Porch Swing Girl. I can only hope she would be as proud of me as I am of her: the sweet, scrappy little lady with a love for great books—and for family.”

Thank you, Taylor, for sharing your personal journey and thank you to all those with QUIET FAITH, who kneel in the background, cheering us on and lifting us up!

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About Taylor: Homeschooled since kindergarten, Taylor Bennett is the seventeen-year-old author of Porch Swing Girl. When she’s not reading or writing, Taylor can be found playing her violin or taking walks in the beautiful Oregon countryside. She loves to connect with readers via her author website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads. Contact Taylor at http://taylor–bennett.com/

Order your copy of Porch Swing Girl at https://www.amazon.com/Porch-Swing-Girl-Tradewinds-Book-ebook/dp/B079QM574Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518563702&sr=8-1&keywords=taylor+bennett+porch+swing+girl