The Miracle Chase

It all started with a friendly get together at Terzetto for three Moraga friends, Joan Luise Hill, Katie Mahon and Mary Beth "Meb" Phillips. At their second random coffee date the conversation turned toward extraordinary events in each of their lives. Meb's daughter Liz was shaken by a neighbor's nanny when she was only six months old and blinded. Katie had a strange encounter - thankfully cut short - in San Francisco with serial killer Ted Bundy, and Joan's son had a very rare cardiac abnormality that required risky surgery.

"Initially, we thought it would take six months - but it took ten years," said Phillips, "the journey itself became important." The trio was curious and determined to research miracles and in the process deepened their friendship - sharing insights and feelings along the way. All agreed from the get-go that they weren't experts, but were serious about the project. They met weekly at Hill's house, "Miracle Central," and created a business plan, wrote a mission statement and divided up investigation tasks. Thus began a collaborative effort that produced, "The Miracle Chase."

Early on, Hill somehow arranged to "borrow" a meeting room at the Orinda Country Club so the three could have their own retreat as they discussed their vision for a book. The end result is a warm, engaging, easy to read chronicle of their spiritual quest across history, different cultures and wonderful coincidences in their lives.

Phillips jokes that the real miracle was that they found a publisher. They didn't have an agent, instead reading "Publishing for Dummies" and following the instructions. After sending query letters to thirty publishers, they heard back from Sterling Ethos, an imprint of Sterling Publishing - a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, just three weeks later that their manuscript was selected to be published. Now in its second printing, "The Miracle Chase" has sold approximately 10,000 copies.

For more information and pictures, visit

www.themiraclechase.com.