NORTHBROOK, Ill. (RNS) — For someone who was at death’s door a year ago, Brendan Slocumb is remarkably chipper.
A classical musician turned bestselling author at age 50, Slocumb is just a year out from a kidney transplant that saved his life. He credits the Christian faith he learned growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the love of friends with saving his life, making him grateful for every new day.
“I should not be here,” Slocumb said. “I am well aware of that.”
The past five years have been a whirlwind for Slocumb. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown brought his life as a music teacher and performing violinist to a halt, leaving him with no source of income and just enough money in the bank to pay his rent for six months. While sitting on the couch, eating Doritos, doomscrolling and feeling sorry for himself, Slocumb said he came across an article about how to get a book deal. He dug out an old sci-fi novel he’d written years earlier and sent it to an agent.
The response: “This book is terrible.”
But the agent liked Slocumb’s writing style and told him to keep at it. By the end of the year, he’d finished a new book, “The Violin Consp …