I\u2019ve been asked countless times over the past 16-months \u201cAre you crazy? Why are you writing a book about the affair and extortion attempt? Don\u2019t you want to forget everything that happened and hope everyone else forgets it too?\u201d But writers write, and I need to tell the parts of the story that the media didn\u2019t capture, or chose to leave out.<\/p>\n
Sure, there is the tawdry public story that everyone thinks they know – the story of an affair between a state senator and a staffer with the spice of extortion thrown in. The public details answered the \u201cwhat\u201d, but not the \u201cwhy.\u201d In fact, the story is much larger than even me.<\/p>\n
Between the covers of this manuscript I share my feelings and emotions as a fledgling politician and then the inflated expectations of myself riding the rising wave in state and possibly even national politics. But the rise and fall of my political career only makes sense when I go behind the scenes about my personal life: my two marriages, the birth of my two wonderful children and the tragic stillborn death of our third child. There were internal and external strains on my marriage that I have only recently come to understand \u2013 some of which I did not know until it was too late, but nonetheless, I used politics as an enticing escape from my real world.Ex<\/p>\n
Just as I have to share details of my personal life, I also have to explain to my readers what really happens within the walls of \u201cThe Plaza\u201d where the Tennessee Legislature conducts its business. It\u2019s a lot of wheeling and dealing and it\u2019s easy to fall into emotional and physical affairs when popularity or self-preservation is your false god. I\u2019ve got to explain how damaging it is to act on those emotions, hurting so many others along the way.<\/p>\n
Sure, I\u2019ll provide additional details about the extortion attempt and conviction as well as my resignation from the Senate. But that isn\u2019t the real story of the book.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m writing to share the truth about the forgiveness that I have received from God in His grace and mercy, as well as forgiveness from many whom I failed. Although some have denied me forgiveness, I\u2019ve learned a more important lesson: to forgive the people in my life who have hurt me. Only when I accepted God\u2019s forgiveness was I then able to forgive others. These past two years have been tough, but I have seen unconditional love and forgiveness through the eyes of my two wonderful children. They exhibit love and forgiveness in its purest form.<\/p>\n
Now that the case against Joel Watts is over, I\u2019ll concentrate on finishing up my book in the next few months so that I can start on my second one. There may be an epilogue to write in this first book, but that isn\u2019t up to me anymore. I\u2019ve been relieved from that burden by the forgiveness that I have received, forgiveness that I never deserved.<\/p>\n
I enjoy writing and am excited about the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been asked countless times over the past 16-months \u201cAre you crazy? Why are you writing a book about the affair and extortion attempt? Don\u2019t you want to forget everything that happened and hope everyone else forgets it too?\u201d But writers write, and I need to tell the parts of the story that the media didn\u2019t capture, or chose to leave out. Sure, there is the tawdry public story that everyone thinks they know – the story of an affair between a state senator and a staffer with the spice of extortion thrown in. The public details answered the \u201cwhat\u201d, but not the \u201cwhy.\u201d In fact, the story is much larger than even me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-paul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n