Take Home Tuesday Hosted by Author David Mack!

UPDATE: The winner of an autographed copy of THE CALLING by David Mack is heidi2524! Please send your physical addy to contests @ knightagency.net (remove spaces). Big thanks to everyone who participated and especially David for writing such a fabulous post!

At first glance, my new urban fantasy THE CALLING might look like yet another "good vs. evil" showdown of super-powered people. I don't deny it has those elements, but this isn't merely a book (and, I hope, a series) about mystical heroes and villains who face off just to put the hurt on each other. THE CALLING is about a need I think many of us share: a desire to find something good in ourselves and in other people.

Several years ago when I first began working on THE CALLING, I knew I wanted to write a supernatural thriller about a protagonist whose "job" involves helping people in dire need. The challenge I faced was how to involve my main character in people's lives. I thought about some mainstream TV series that had solved this problem in simple ways. Should my hero, Tom Nash, place classified ads as on The A-Team or The Equalizer? Should he wander from place to place getting into adventures, as on The Incredible Hulk or Kung Fu? How was my hero to know who really needed his assistance? Then the answer came to me: he hears them pray for help. Once that "hook" was in place, I realized this needed to be the story of people who are called to take action in the world, to get involved when others turn away.

As peculiar a notion as my hero's "calling" might have seemed at first, I soon saw it as not all that different from the way some people feel their purpose in life is to put themselves at risk for others by serving as police officers, firefighters, or soldiers; or the way some people are drawn to professions in which they care for others, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, psychologists, or the clergy. That became my touchstone as I considered my tale's "big picture." Behind its action, grit, and mystery, THE CALLING is about people struggling to bring out the best in each other as well as in themselves. So how about it, readers? Do you feel your profession is your calling? Or is your calling one you have yet to answer? Share your thoughts in the comments and leave your name for a chance to win a free copy of THE CALLING, personalized and autographed by yours truly! (U.S. and Canada residents only) Thanks for reading!

-- David Mack (Want a sneak peek at THE CALLING? Read Chapter One and Chapters Two & Three on my official site!)