By By Chuck Bodiford
On Thursday of last week the Atmore Public Library hosted a book signing. The book, Living in the River, we are a people hungry and thirsty for your presence Lord, was written by two people with ties to Atmore. Atmore resident, Rev. H. Gene Cotton co-authored the book with his daughter, Rev. Melanie Cotton-Beahm, a 1991 graduate of Escambia County High School.
"We wanted this to book to be simple, like we are, right here sitting face to face talking," Beahm said as she began to describe their book. "This is something that we are passionate about. It's not just about living a life for God, but an extraordinary life him."
The book is one that has been in the making for the last two years and provides answers and encouragement to those people that are thirsting more for God, feeling a spiritual dryness or tired of being down. "I wanted to do a project with Gene and this is what developed," Beahm said. "In fact this the second time we wrote this book. Previously we lost the complete book from our computer. At first I felt devastated but we started at it again, and it turned out to be a much better project than I could have ever envisioned. God gave me awesome material."
Cotton and Beahm worked by telephone, letters and visited each other whenever possible. "It's an honor to write with my dad," Beahm said. "I thought that if I was going to write a book, we would be my number one choice. God teamed us for a purpose."
At round 1:30 that afternoon 40 to 50 people had already come by to purchase the book and a number of supplemental materials such as a study guide and bookmark.
The book is broken down in a couple of chapters, which will each turn into a book of its own according to the duo's plan. Also Beahm is working on a children's book about her daughter, Rachel, and her stuffed bunny named Mr. Bunny. The book is scheduled to publish in December. If that wasn't keeping Beahm busy she also has a book in the works this time co-authored by her mom, JoAnn Cotton. This book will be based on worship.
"We have heard that people have gotten saved after reading the book, which was the real thrill. If nothing comes of this book anymore, it was worth it. We just want to present Jesus," Cotton said.