For the past several months, Jason Sloan has kept his nose to the grindstone, watching his mother’s cancer treatments dwindle away his savings. When he learns the inheritance he counted on has been left to Tia and her shelter, he’s torn. With his mother and him having been forced to flee an abusive situation themselves, Tia’s cause hits too close to home. All disagreements take a back seat, though, when he and Tia find themselves working together to fight an unseen foe. But which one of them is the target?
Book Interview with author Carol J. Post
In the first book in the series, Flee the Darkness, I have a very minor character who runs a domestic violence shelter. I thought that this character would make a good heroine, with the shelter an interesting setting for a romantic suspense novel. Thus, Shatter the Silence was born.
From the start of plotting to the final edits, right about four months. Research is always an important part of the writing process, and it’s always helpful when I have needed “experts” within my circle of acquaintances. While I was working on Shatter the Silence, I found out that one of the young ladies in my sister’s church had done extensive work with domestic violence shelters in Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. I asked her if she would mind answering questions about domestic abuse and the shelters where she has worked, and she was more than willing. Throughout a series of phone calls, she probably spent a total of three hours patiently answering all of my questions. This gave me an inside glimpse into the challenges these women (and sometimes men) face.
#3. Do you have favorite character(s) in this book? My favorite characters are the hero and heroine, Jason Sloan and Tia Jordan. They were both victims of domestic abuse and have deep scars. Their similar experiences, as well as their shared faith, create an invisible bond, but events pit them against one another when Jason’s grandmother leaves the inheritance he had counted on to Tia and her shelter. |
No one is too damaged to receive healing.
The series is set in a fictional town in Central Florida, where I’ve lived for most of my life. An earlier, shorter version of three of the books in this series are the first ones I had published with Love Inspired Suspense back in 2013 and 2014. I’m rewriting and expanding those three and adding two new stories to the series. (Shatter the Silence is one of those new books.) As a newbie author back then, I went with the advice “Write what you know.” While Florida didn’t feel like an exotic location since I’d lived here for so many years, it required very little research. Besides, I figured people living in other parts of the country or world might find Florida interesting, maybe even a little exotic.
#6. How did you name your characters? Every so often, I meet someone with a cool name and think, “That would make a great hero/heroine name.” For example, sometime back, a young man named Coulton came to work at my bank as a teller. I changed the spelling a little and Colton is the hero in Bodyguard for Christmas. More often, though, I come up with character names by googling “boys/girls names popular in the 1990s” |
I don’t know about funny, sad or embarrassing, so I’m categorizing this under “whatever.” Domestic violence awareness is a cause that is dear to me. I have two close friends who were in abusive relationships and eventually escaped. These are two of the strongest women I know. Both of them have children, so they haven’t been able to completely cut ties with their abuser, although one friend got a restraining order after her ex tried to kill her.
I’ve been with my other friend on several occasions when she’s had to call her ex-husband regarding their kids. Although the physical abuse has stopped, the name-calling and other verbal abuse hasn’t. I could hear his raised voice coming through the line, could make out the cruel comments. But my friend doesn’t let anything rattle her or get a rise out of her. Each response was calm, unemotional, and no longer than necessary. After one such conversation, I told her, “You’re better at grey rocking than anybody I know.” She didn’t know what I meant. She had perfected the technique for interacting with manipulative and abusive people without having ever heard of it.
Escaping domestic violence is never easy. My expert said victims return to their abusers an average of seven times before embracing healing. Both of my friends are free only because someone paid enough attention to see the signs, then put in the effort to help them get out of their abusive situations.
Two related verses -
From medical secretary to court reporter to property manager to owner of a special events decorating company, Carol’s resume reads as if she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. But one thing that has remained constant through the years is her love for writing. She currently pens fun and fast-paced inspirational romance and romantic suspense stories. Her books have won several awards and been nominated for two RITA® awards and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. Carol splits her time between sunshiny Central Florida and the mountains of North Carolina. She’s also a popular speaker, presenting workshops on a variety of craft topics. |
Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano. She also enjoys sailing, hiking, camping—almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of two sassy black cats. |