Nine Days: Uncertainty, Passion and Destiny in the Crucible of Americas Culture War. a Novel.

Three people are thrown into the crucible of America's culture war...Nine Days is the story of an accidental friendship of three disparate characters-a questioning evangelical Christian, a jaded and skeptical art historian, and a beautiful professor with eccentric, metaphysical ideas. Their friendship deepens into a humorous but gut-wrenching collision of beliefs and desires. Helen Parker, wife of a bestselling author and charismatic megachurch pastor, has embarked on her first-ever separate vacation. Her safe and comfortable world is shaken by events at a resort on the Oregon coast, and even further when she meets two people her husband would describe as enemies of everything she believes in. One is Sam Anderson, a discouraged but good-hearted art historian who takes himself far too seriously. The other is Greta Hunt, Sam's friend and fellow professor, who both tantalizes and irritates him with her flirting, histrionic personality and insistence that Sam is the reincarnation of a tragic historical figure. These three flawed people argue, flirt, and laugh with one another as they battle through their conflicting beliefs, fears, and hidden desires, and-with a hint of destiny-confront an angry and polarizing culture. Eric Pflum's debut novel addresses a core dilemma of our times: the inability of people on various sides of moral, theological, and political issues to rise above their differences. "Nine Days is a robust and compelling first novel and would be a great shot if it were his third. It's a fabulous journey." -Philip F. Deaver, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and author of Silent Retreats.

Eric Pflum is a graduate of the University of Illinois and lives in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.