Sep 8, 20215 min read

A Review of Daylight + An Interview with August Moreno

Heyy everyone!

First of all, I know what you're thinking. And no, my blog hiatus is not over—not yet, anyway. But for now, I'm super excited to aid in the launch of a lovely short story—Daylight by Grace A. Johnson!

Grace is a fellow teen author and I was so honored to join her launch team and read her beautiful story. She's worked so hard on it and I'm so excited to see it into the world. 😊

About the book

It was too late.

The whole world knew it, the nations shaking their heads at the fallen United States, our beautiful country of hope and freedom covered in blood and ashes.

Only the devil could’ve planned something so disastrous.

Only God could save us now.

Only God could save August.

It was all my fault that he nearly lost his life, dashing back into the hailstorm of debris to save a man who was already dead. I can only hope that he’ll recover—that we will recover.

Because some things will never be forgotten.

My thoughts

Daylight is a story filled with potent beauty and sunlight. A story that doesn’t shy from the horrors of 9/11, but yet gives hope to the aftermath of anything terrible, a distant reminder that there is always hope. A reminder that we can rise from our ashes and embrace every sunrise God has given us.

Johnson twists together beautiful prose, and potent imagery to create a story that, while short, is enough to pack a solid punch and remain in the confines of your mind for moments long after that. It’s a story featuring characters who have such depth, even though it’s only hinted at.

In other words, this short story is beautiful and deep. And sad too, but that’s to be expected. In this short story, Johnson gives us developed characters that feel both memorable and realistic.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a clean, quick read that takes place in the aftermath of 9/11, seeped in beautiful prose and strong Christian themes.

Content warnings: Mentions of an abusive father, mentions of 9/11, not super detailed description of wounds

An interview with August Moreno

I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the characters in Daylight, August Moreno, and while he's not the main character of the story, he's quite an entertaining one nonetheless. Without further ado, here it is!

Hi, August! First of all, nice to have you here. Could you introduce yourself in one sentence?

Good to be here, Ms. Colton. This is a nice place. Cozy, too. Thanks for having me. Well...I guess if I had to sum myself up in a sentence… My name’s August Moreno, and I’m the witty and wildly good-looking main character of Daylight.

All right, I concede. I ain’t really the main character, but I think we can all agree I’m the hero of the story. *winks*

I know you’ve gone through a lot in your life. What would you say is the most important thing about keeping focused on God through it all?

Man, that’s a tough one. Keepin’ your focus on Him, especially through something like 9/11, well, it ain’t easy. You gotta stay in the Word and keep seekin’ Him, even when it feels like He’s left ya. ‘Cuz He’s still there. He’ll never leave ya. He promised that, and if you hold onto them promises, you’ll see Him fulfilling them all the time.

How would you describe your relationship with Sylvie? How did you both first meet?

How would I describe it? Well, I mean, it ain’t bad. We have a good relationship. Oh, wait, you mean… Oh, yeah, we’re friends, y’know? Have been since Day One, when I moved into her apartment building. She was this spunky little eight-year-old smacking Dubble Bubble and carting a skateboard down the stairs. I nearly ran into her going up, and she jammed the front end of that thing right in my stomach.

It hurt, but, hey, I got over it, and we just stuck by each other ever since. I’ve always loved her, y’know, but I don’ think it’s been ‘til recently that we’ve both realized that it ain’t just brotherly and sisterly affection—which is different, since we’ve been so close for so many years. There is kinda that awkwardness sometimes, transitioning into something more, but I’m holdin’ onto hope that it’ll turn out right.

Before 9/11, what was one thing you enjoyed doing in your spare time?

Drawin’. Heck, I still love drawin’ now. Might not can walk without a limp or man a jackhammer, but you betta believe I can hold a pencil. It’s, uh, architectural stuff, mainly. Buildings and houses and whatnot. Kind of a strange coincidence, I s’pose, that I’d be into architecture, with the towers falling and all. I guess that kinda pushed me into it a lot more, what happened that day.

What is one word you tend to overuse?

I wouldn’t say it’s a word—more of a phrase, really—but I say “y’know” a lot. And “I mean.” And I prolly say “yo” too much, but that comes with the territory. Literally.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I’ve always wanted to be an architect, actually. From before I could remember, but it’s always been a pipe dream, ‘cuz we could never afford the schoolin’. Wasn’t ‘til after 9/11 that I started really thinking about it as something I could start doin’ now, y’know?

What are your greatest aspirations for the future?

*rubs chin* I dunno. Right now, most I’m focused on is recovering. So, in some ways, I s’pose I wish I could get back to the physical state I was in... but that’s prolly not whatcha mean by future aspirations. I-I’d like to settle down, y’know? Start a family. Be an architect. Just keep following God’s will, really, whatever that is. I can’t really aspire to be anything more or less than the man God wants me to be.

Thanks for doing this, August! It was great to interview you.

Yo, like I said, my pleasure. This was fun. I like these things, y’know? Anyway, you have a great day, Ms. Colton. I betta get outta here before Sylvie starts worryin’.