About the Book

Book: Shattered Guilt

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Release date: June 15, 2021

When they told her about Southern hospitality, no one mentioned human trafficking.

The move to Bay Town, Mississippi was supposed to be a fresh start for single-mom Melanie and her daughter, Lacy. The quiet Southern town offers a nice relief after the frenetic-paced life of Los Angeles, but something sinister lurks beneath the surface.

Her bridal business struggles to take off, and instead of turning to the Lord, Melanie makes a desperate plea for help–from her ex-husband. Lacey is attacked, and while she is hospitalized, her friend goes missing—a victim of human trafficking out of New Orleans.

With her ex-husband showing true signs of repentance, the pastor she’d begun to fall for is taking a step back, and her daughter’s friend lost to the animals who stole her, Melanie goes on a desperate, dangerous mission to rescue the girl and get their lives back.

And she’ll do it with or without the Lord’s help.

How can Melanie find the girls and rescue them without getting caught herself?  Why can’t she trust the Lord to keep them all safe, and which man in her life is the right one–if either?

Read this heart-gripping, pulse-racing novel and see how the Lord’s hand is on us, even when He seems so very far away.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Kathleen J. Robison is an Okinawan-American. Born in Okinawa, raised in California, Florida, Mississippi, and Singapore. Her travels are the inspirational settings for her stories. She and her Pastor husband have eight adult children. Seven are married, blessing them with fourteen grandchildren and counting. The diversity of their 31 family members provide the inspiration for more lively characters than can be imagined. Her husband grew up in the streets of Los Angeles raised by a single working mom, and that life provides fodder for many of the conflicts of her characters.

Tackling difficult life’s trials with God’s strength are the central theme of Kathleen’s stories. She hopes to inspire her readers to trust God and with His strength, weather through and rise above trials and tragedies. If you like suspenseful stories with a thread of romance, you will enjoy Kathleen’s Bay Town Series!

More from Kathleen

Guilt comes from within. Shame comes from without ~ Voddie Bouchman

I homeschooled my eight children, and they all attended a conservative Christian university. My husband is a pastor. So, when I started writing Shattered Guilt, the running joke in the family was, “Mom wrote a book, and it has no bad language, no sex, and no graphic violence, but it’s about human trafficking.” And they were right, but God gave me the words to depict a passionate stance against sin, a pure romance, and horrific tragedy…hopefully, all without offending my readers.

The story begins with Melanie. A delightful single mom and her teenage daughter living in a charming little town on the gulf coast of Mississippi. I love their relationship and their faith, but Melanie’s past mistakes linger in the back of her mind, and she somehow thinks herself not worthy. The theme of guilt runs throughout this book in both the lives of those trafficked and those not. When young girls are targeted for human trafficking, Melanie lays aside the self-imposed shame of her past and fights to save those who will suffer far worse feelings of guilt and shame, for which they had no control.

My heart breaks for those whose lives are paralyzed by their pasts. While writing Shattered Guilt, I didn’t realize the connection between Melanie’s shame and the victims of trafficking. The latter suffer guilt and shame through no fault of their own. Yet, all of us carry baggage; if it’s something that needs forgiveness and confession, and we’ve done that, it’s a done deal. We shouldn’t let the past paralyze us from living a life of fullness in Christ. Melanie and even Pastor Desmond come to realize this in their lives. We need to be the best that God desires for us to be, and to be effective in His work, we must experience his love and forgiveness.

Years ago, when I was first writing the rough draft of this novel, human trafficking was finally getting recognition in the world, and the horrors of who was being trafficked were shocking. That’s what gripped my heart, and I was embarrassed that I didn’t have a clue about the scope of this morally reprehensible practice.  Enslavement of human beings by another has been on this earth forever, and that’s why awareness and action are so important today. In addition, there are so many facets as to how one becomes a victim in this tragedy. I now try never to assume how someone’s life takes the path it does, but I only care that they find a way to hear God’s voice calling them. Every Christian story is about God’s love.

Although I love writing a suspense story, I love creating my characters too. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know the people of Bay Town as much as I enjoyed writing about them. I look forward to sharing more about these endearing characters and the trials they face. Please come back and visit the charming community of Bay Town in the continuing series.

Author Interview

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

              I have many hobbies when not writing, but my large family gets most of my time. I love gardening with my grandkids, and we’re waiting to harvest radishes, zucchini, and onions right now. I love sewing and am way behind in sewing quilts for my 16 (2 more on the way) grandchildren. I’m a multi-tasker, so my hands have to keep busy. I love to crochet little things and am a novice knitter, too. My husband and I exercise together every morning via video and have fun dancing to the oldies. Walking is mandatory to get our steps in every day, as well. We also do a meditative stretch that is so relaxing and allows me extra time to pray at the same time. My bible/prayer journal is an outlet for art, sketching, and junk journaling. My married children and grandkids are over almost every day, so we barbecue a lot in the summer. Making soup has become a hobby in itself to feed the crowd that gathers often. Most of all, praying with my family brings the greatest joy and is what I love the most when not writing—worshipping the Lord together. Nothing is more humbling or satisfying than Him.

What’s your most interesting writing quirk?

              It’s really quirky! I rise early (4:00 am) for quiet time, first, then begin writing at 6:00. I do 20-minute writing sprints to improve my writing speed, and for that, I use an online alarm clock. I set the ‘randomizer’ sound, so I never know who or what will go off when my 20 minutes is up. The other morning, I was writing a very harrowing scene with a sociopathic ex-boyfriend and an encroaching crocodile, of all things, and just as my heroine was about to escape, a woman started screaming through my earbuds! I jumped off my seat and ripped them out of my ears.  So, I guess my quirk is, I like to scare myself into stopping a writing sprint. My husband often catches me laughing hysterically after the end of a sprint.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I want to preface this childhood dream of mine. I wasn’t a Christian, but because I was raised in a moral home with traditional values, if my own child had my dream, I’d be disheartened. I wanted to be a go-go dancer! I’ve always loved dancing. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were my favorites, and my mother and I would swoon as they graced across the floor. When the ’60s hit, I watched women in mini-skirts and white go-go boots dance on the variety shows, and my simple mind thought, ‘That’s it!’ Fortunately, a 5 ft. tall woman was disqualified from any dance professional dance career back in the day, and I didn’t pursue it. I still love to dance, but after I got saved as an adult and began a family, God enlightened me. He gave me purpose and a desire to live for Jesus. As a new mom, I had a deep desire to become a missionary. Well, God had other plans, and blessing us with eight children didn’t exactly make that dream come true for me personally, but I’m thrilled that two of my children felt called and are missionaries in Japan today.

Do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they? 

Oh yes! I have learned so much. Not coming from a literary background of any kind, the only books I remember reading in High School were Morte d’ Arthur (Camelot) and Wuthering Heights. And that was only because I loved the movies and fell in love with Lancelot and Heathcliff! So, I knew absolutely nothing about writing. I would first suggest to a new writer to learn as much as you can about the craft of writing—anything ‘how to.’ Ask any writer, and they’ll give you a list of names of good books or courses. Second, join a critique group. I’m in two, and it’s been life-changing. I learned more about writing, publishing, and becoming an author because of them. I’m still with both groups, and I love them all. And lastly, just write. Set a time, set a word count, and strive for it every day. If it’s God’s timing for you to be a writer, you’ll find the time to write. Just do it. Like everything in life, surrender it to Him. When life gets in the way, adjust. With more grandbabies coming every year, I constantly have to find time to write.

What project are you working on now, and how do we find your books?

Lots of projects! I’m waiting for “Revived Hope” to come back from my publisher for another draft. It’s the prelude to my Bay Town Series and will be released in November 2021. I’m finishing up the first draft of “Shadowed Joy,” Book 3 in my Bay Town Series; release date, June 2023. It’s about a battered woman, who her abuser is pursuing, and her journey back to the Lord. Book 2, “Restored Grace,” release date June 2022, is in edits now. I think it’s my favorite in the series so far. It’s about an older free-spirited woman who realizes her freedom has wreaked much havoc in others’ lives, as well as her own. She finally gets it and endangers her own life to help someone else. Another favorite is Bay Town Christmas Fruitcake, a fun novella due to release in the fall of 2022. The entire series is romantic suspense, so there is a component of ongoing tension that’s so fun. Of course, the faith element where I seek to inspire readers to surrender to Christ in all aspects of their lives, in both blessings and trials, give purpose and meaning to all my books.

I’m also working on another series. “Mistletoe Village,” the first in a sequence of Christmas novel, is about to go my beta readers. I have four other finished manuscripts waiting in the lists, as well! “Essential Ingredients,” my first little self-published paperback novelette, is on Amazon, as well as a free download of the same on my website, www.KathleenJRobison.com. I hope my readers enjoy them, as much as I have writing them!  I chronicle my writing journey on two Facebook sites. My reader’s group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3108667785916519/

My author page: https://www.facebook.com/kathleenjrobisonauthor

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 2

Texas Book-aholic, July 3

Blogging With Carol, July 3

Simple Harvest Reads, July 4 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 5

Inklings and notions, July 6

For Him and My Family, July 7

deb’s Book Review, July 8

Locks, Hooks and Books, July 9

Stories By Gina, July 10 (Author Interview)

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, July 10

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, July 11

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, July 12

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, July 13

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 14

Cats in the Cradle Blog, July 15

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/10e74/shattered-guilt-celebration-tour-giveaway