A Modern Day Fairy Tale

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With Me in the Storm: Q & A with Karen E. Ingle + Enter to Win

 

With Me in the Storm JustRead Blog Tour 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for With Me in the Storm by Karen E. Ingle, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

With Me in the Storm Title: With Me in the Storm 
Author: Karen E. Ingle 
Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing 
Release Date: September 19, 2022 
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

If she escapes her past, can she survive the storm to come?

Maddie's California dream-turned-nightmare is a perfect storm of abuse, trafficking, and unwanted pregnancy. She sees only one way out, until a network of strangers offers a solution that could save her life and her baby's. 

But escaping back to Minnesota hinges on Chris, the fiancé she rejected for the drug dealer who now owns her. After all she's done, is it too much to hope Chris will perform this generous act of love? 

And what if love isn't enough to protect Maddie when a deadlier storm closes in? 

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound

About the Author

Karen E. Ingle

Karen Ingle admires women’s resilience and courage that emerge when faced with a pregnancy that rocks their world. As a freelance writer, she has interviewed such women, met them, and served them. She’s also rubbed elbows with the gutsy people who care deeply enough to support women in their journeys out of dark despair into bright hope. Now Karen is weaving those true stories into the compelling novel, With Me in the Storm, and others still to come in her Rumors of Light series.

Connect with Karen by visiting kareningleauthor.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.


Author Interview


Welcome, Karen! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and allowing my readers a chance to get to know you and your new book With Me In the Storm

Thank you for introducing me to your readers!

I like to start these interviews the same way, with something fun to break the ice. Can you share 5 random facts about you that we will not find in your bio?

I have climbed up Half Dome in Yosemite and camped on top overnight. (No, I didn’t climb the sheer face!)

I raise chickens. (Yes, really.)

While doing an electricity demonstration as a studentteacherI blew out the power in an entire wing of the high school. (I did get hired eventually. Not at that school…)

Between them, my five children came from two mothers and four fathers. I gave birth to three of them and adopted two. (If you solve this, please give your answer in gallons.)

My favorite novel is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte. (I love the movie adaptation with Timothy Dalton as Edward Rochester.)


When did you first discover you had a passion for writing?

Even in childhood, my favorite playthings were words. I loved writing for my high school yearbook, for my college newspaper and alumni magazine, and just for myself.Even though my earliest jobs were in science and education, writing always made its way into my job descriptionAt last, as a freelance writer and author, writing became my job description!

What drew you to romantic suspense? 

The real-life story that inspired With Me in the Storm struck me with its mingling of an enduring romantic love withunconditional, Christ-like love, and the danger that can accompany daring to love a hurting personSo, you could say the story drew me into the genre.

This is your first published novel. What was it like to see your words in print for the first time?

Most of what I’ve written before this was nonfiction for online publicationEverything appeared on a screen.

Then came the UPS truck delivering boxes of books to our home on the farm.  My sweet husband grabbed one box and drove it into town so I could open it at work with friends around. They all cheered; I could hardly speakThere in my hands was the fruit of my imagination,transformed into a tangible, printed BOOK! With a real cover. With my name on it. It was totally surreal.

My only regret: My mother, to whom the book is dedicated, died just a few months before the book came out.

With Me in the Storm takes on the difficult subject of human trafficking. Why was that an important story for you to tell? 

Human trafficking is a horrific crimemore prevalent than most of us realizeFew of us know how to respond in meaningful ways to this crime or, more importantly, to itsvictims. But I have met some incredibly selfless peoplewho are pouring themselves out to do just that.

So, I wanted to draw readers into this world so they mightsee themselves in these true-to-life characters. Whether they resonate with the victim or one of her helpers, I want them to see the beautiful light that truly is out there, being shone into very dark places and bringing dramatic transformation.

Can you tell us a little bit more about With Me in the Storm?

As the cover says, the story is inspired by several people’strue stories—and that goes for the protagonist as well asthe supporting characters. It’s the story of Maddie, young woman who feels trapped and irreparably broken by her bad choices. Then an unwanted pregnancy connects herwith people that help her find the courage to escape. From there, a series of compassionate people open the way for her to rediscover her worth and her resilience.

At the same time, her former fiancé must come to grips with both the romantic love he still harbors for her, and the risks of loving Maddie unconditionally. A trafficker doesn’t just let go of his source of income and his sense of power, you know. He has a lot riding on getting her back and making her pay.


What was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life? The most rewarding?

My life has been nothing like Maddie’s. The challenge: How could I accurately portray her experiences? An advocate for domestic violence victims, after whom I modeled my character Avery Caine, spent hours walking me through what it’s like to be and to serve women like Maddie. A trauma-informed care coach explained to methe trauma responses Maddie would probably haveAnd my relativepeace officer in California, provided crucial insights on the law enforcement aspects. With their help, I hope I’ve crafted a story that is both accurate and carefully constructed so even sensitive readers won’t be undulyupset by Maddie’s painful past.

By far the most rewarding part was hearing from readers who have experienced trauma similar to Maddie’sThey said that rather than re-traumatizing them, the book brought them a whole new level of healing from their past.Only God could make that happen!

What do you hope readers will take away from the book? 

I want readers to be moved to a new place in their lives. I want to see some moved to action (hence the appendix of places where they can plug in and make a difference). I want to see some moved from despair or discouragementto hope, some moved to love others better, and somemoved to faith—the kind that turned Maddie’s life around.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go, are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?

My next book in the Rumors of Light series will center on a woman whose unexpected pregnancy threatens her withhomelessnessDesperately seeking a safe place to “put down roots,” she comes face to face with the tangle of her true roots—a family history of ugly secrets that no one has dared to bring into the light. Until now. Will this revelation bring freedom or only deeper pain when it threatens herbudding romance?

Watch for some of the characters from With Me in the Storm to make a cameo in Book Two, which currently bears the working title, When I Escape Your Secrets.

A great way to follow the series’ development is to subscribe to my newsletter over at https://kareningleauthor.com. I would love to hear readers’ thoughts on the second book idea and the rest of the series described there!

Plus, on the book page for With Me in the Storm(https://kareningleauthor.com/books/with-me-in-the-storm/) there are free downloadable Book Club Kits. The two versions will be perfect for either a secular or faith-focused book group. Readers can have fun discussing the story and its message while enjoying recipes from the book. The kits even include a link to email me so we could meet up by Zoom for an author talk. That would be so much fun!


 

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a signed paperback copy of With Me in the Storm, $10 Amazon gift card, notecard, sticker, handmade bookmark, and a packet of "Maddie's favorite hot cocoa mix"!

With Me in the Storm JustRead Giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight February 20, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on February 27, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway


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10 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading With Me in the Storm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Randi, thanks for the fun interview. And thanks for writing to promote "faith, family, fiction, and fun"!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Author did a great job helping show a lifestyle most of us don't know about. Keep writing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This book sounds like an exciting read!

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  5. It sounds interesting, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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