Kristen Heitzmann: Betrayal, Redemption, and a Shocking Twist

The Edge of
Recall, follows in her heart-stopping, romantic tradition readers love.

1. Labyrinths play a key role in your new release, The Edge of Recall. Can you tell us why
you chose that element?
I found the idea of a prayer walk intriguing. Labyrinths, unlike mazes, have a single
winding path that leads to the center and back out the same way.Walked meditatively it
symbolizes a pilgrimage toward God and a return, bringing the peace and insight gained
along the way.My lead, Tessa Young, creates labyrinths in her desire to make sense of the
nightmares that have terrified her since her dad’s disappearance, and also to access God’s
wisdom without risking a personal relationship with the Father.

2.Monsters are also a key element, especially within the labyrinth. Can you discuss that
theme?
Many cultures have had a labyrinth myth in which a monster impedes and threatens the
life of the sojourner. Satan operates in this way against Christians seeking deeper
understanding, relationship, and fruitful service to God. In the Greek myth mentioned in
this story, Theseus is given a clew, or ball of yarn, that shows him the way to freedom after
defeating the monster and rescuing the innocents given as sacrifice to the Minotaur. In my
mind, Jesus is the clew showing the way out of darkness, out of bondage into the light of
truth.

3. There are several monsters in this story.Why did you choose to tell it with more than
one antagonist?
In life we’re faced with different kinds of obstacles and pitfalls. Tessa’s struggle has an
allegorical underpinning similar to Pilgrim’s Progress as she tries to find peace and resolution
in her walk and in her life. The different antagonists created a more complicated and
interesting plot as each one is worse than the last.

4.Why does Tessa have such a hard time trusting God, and how does this affect her
relationships?
Her father disappeared when she was six. Several years later her mother died. Her aunt gave
her as a young teen into the care of a psychiatrist who attempted to unlock the trauma
behind the nightmares.While she believes in God as the creator and source of wisdom, she
doesn’t believe prayers are answered because He has let her down every time, taking the
ones she loved and needed. Her loss and emotional fragility caused her to overreact when
Smith Chandler seemingly turned against her while both were acquiring degrees in
architecture. In taking the position he offers six years later, she hopes to heal the wound he
caused and find closure. But closure is not all that God desires for her.

5. To Tessa, bright, successful, and popular Smith Chandler seems to have led a charmed life.No wonder God answers
his prayers.How can those of us who have struggled understand God’s apparent favoritism?
I’m reminded of what Jesus said to his apostles when they asked about John. “What is it to you if he remains?” We all
have different gifts, different failings and challenges.My hope is to run the course the Lord has laid out for me and not
question why someone else’s race has fewer hurdles. I have been blessed beyond measure and tried in the furnace. Both
have been according to God’s purpose for my life. Another truth that applies is that from those to whom much has been
given, much is required.We are called to glorify Him in all circumstances. Only in aligning our will with His choices for
us can we find the contentment Paul urges us to.

6.You touch upon a time in American Colonial history in which religious freedom was not practiced.Why did you
feel this was an important element to include?
In researching the Maryland area where the story in set, I was intrigued by the fact that Maryland was the first colony to
even consider an environment in which all followers of Christ would worship in freedom and respect one another in
words and actions. Their Toleration Act was a precursor to those rights in our Constitution. I included this because the
historical information provided the background for the burned out monastery where Smith discovers the labyrinth, and
because my heart longs for the body to find unity, not sniping at a hand because it isn’t a foot, or an ear for not being an
eye.

7.What do you want a reader to take away from this story?
I want people to know that our God is a loving Father who does hear and answer our prayers, even if it doesn’t always
look the way we wanted it to.We can have all the head knowledge of God in the world, but He longs to have relationship
with each of us, and for that we have to trust even when the risk seems to outweigh the hope.