Tour and Author Interview No Longer A Captive by Carol James

About the Book

Book: No Longer A Captive

Author: Carol James

Genre: Christian Fiction

Release date: October, 2021

When Ethne O’Connor’s brother tells her of father’s unexpected death, Sean asks her to do something she promised herself she’d never do. Come back home.

A victim of childhood abuse, Ethne left her father and the small Texas town of Crescent Bluff ten years ago on the night of her high school graduation. She’s determined to end the cycle of abuse and believes the only way to do that is remain single. If she has no husband, she’ll never have children that can be abused.

Then she meets Daniel Spenser, a handsome doctor with chocolate-kiss eyes. Daniel understands her past in a way no one else does. He’s lived it.

Will Daniel be able to help Ethne break the chains of captivity around her heart?

And will God release her from her past, to be free to trust the man she comes to love?

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AND NOW JOIN ME FOR THIS INTERESTING AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CAROL JAMES

How long did it take you to publish your first novel?

It’s a bit of a story, but I love telling it.

I began my writing journey later than many other authors do. I’d never aspired to write, but I did, and do, love to read. God led me there after a family health crisis forced me into a job change. I knew in the midst of this, God was calling me to a new work in my life.

My new boss was a writer and prodded me to try it. I’d always loved well-written stories. Writing my own was a huge challenge. But feeling called, I stuck with it. I began writing in 2010 and my first novel was published in 2014. And that in itself is such a God story.

My daughter took me to a Karen Kingsbury book signing. While I waited in line, I struggled with what to say to let her know how much her books had ministered to me. So when my time came, I blurted out something like, “I love your books. In fact they’ve inspired me to write. But I’m sure you hear that all the time.”

She looked at me and said, “No one has ever told me that before.” And she began asking me questions about my work and my memberships to professional organizations. Then she handed me a card and said, “Tell them Karen told you to call.” From this contact, I received my first publishing contract.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories? Family? Friends? Yourself?

Yes… Ideas are all around us, but I find I get most of mine from a Christian song, a scripture, or a sermon. I love walking in the park, listening to Christian music and an idea strikes me.

No Longer a Captive was born from a statement our pastor made during a sermon. In his folksy manner, he said, “Unforgiveness is a prison.” My English-major-self knew unforgiveness was not a word, but the meaning of the statement was more moving than any grammatically correct sentence might be. Later on, in another service, we read Galatians 3:26, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”

And the idea for No Longer a Captive, a story of finding freedom through forgiveness, was born.

How did you go about developing the setting(s) for this story?

My family lived in Fort Worth, Texas during my last year of high school and all of my college years. I met and married my husband there, so Texas holds a special place in my heart. It’s a big state, so it allows me a vast variety of settings. All of my novels are set in the same fictional Texas city, Crescent Bluff. It’s located about two hours south of Dallas and Fort Worth, and about 30 minutes from Waco. In one of my novels, The Waiting, the hero and heroine visit a canyon area based on Dinosaur State Park near Glenrose, Texas. In No Longer a Captive, the most important setting in the story is a waterfall. The fictional waterfall becomes a symbol of salvation and surrender.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?

One of my favorite activities is taking my dog for a walk in our local park. I know where our walk begins and ends. I know a few of the steps along the way, but she’ll often lead me off the path to see things I would have never seen if I hadn’t followed her. Plotting for me is very similar. When I begin writing, I know the beginning, ending, and a couple of points in between. But as my characters develop, they lead me into the land of the unplanned. The waterfall was one of those places, and yet, it became central to the plot and meaning of No Longer a Captive.

Tell us a little about your plans for the future. Where do you see yourself as a writer in five years?

I plan to continue writing until God stops giving me ideas. I hope that in five years, I’ll have at least five more works published. I have a new novel, A Time for Singing, releasing in 2022 and a Christmas novella entitled Choosing Christmas for December 2022. I’m currently working on a novel entitled Always and Only You that I hope will be published in 2023.

Which character was most challenging to create? Why?

Ethne, the heroine, was the most difficult character for me to write. She grew up in a home with a secretly abusive father who was also unfaithful to her mother. But, as the town doctor, he was admired as a pillar of the community. My father was a godly man who loved his family and was faithful to my mother and us. So, I had no frame of reference other than what I read or heard from people who grew up under conditions similar to Ethne’s. But one thing I could understand was Ethne’s inability or lack of desire to forgive her father. We have all been in situations where people have wronged us and we found it difficult to forgive them. And yet, forgiveness is as much for the forgiver as the forgiven.

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Carol James is an author of inspirational fiction. She loves creating Redemptive Romance. She lives in Lilburn, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta, with her husband Jim, and a perky Jack Russell Terrier, Zoe.

Having always loved intriguing stories with happy endings, she was moved to begin writing to encourage others as she’d been encouraged by the works of other authors of inspirational fiction.

Her debut novel, Rescuing Faith, was an Amazon number one best-seller. Visit her website to sign up for her newsletter to be the first to learn about new releases: www.carol-james.com

Just recently, Carol allowed Zoe to start Instagram and Facebook pages with two of her dog friends. Follow them at Instagram: 3DogsandtheirAuthorsIG or Facebook: 3DogsandtheirAuthorsFB to learn the behind the scenes info about being a writer.

Carol enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, traveling with friends, and serving in the production department at her church. And most days, in the late hours of the night or the wee hours of the morning, she can be found bringing her newest novel to life.

More from Carol

One question people always ask me is, “Where do you get the ideas for your books?” Oh, ideas hover all around us. We need only open our eyes and see the common and everyday through the lenses of our faith.

Several years ago, my husband and I began attending a large church near our home. We’d heard people talk about the inspiring sermons their pastor, Buddy Hoffman, preached.

Buddy was unlike any preacher I had ever heard. He had a folksy manner, and he absolutely delighted in tripping all over the English language. Once he told us about a recent mission trip to Asia where he saw Kubotas (i.e. pagodas) dotting the landscape. A picture of a hill covered with riding mowers and tractors popped into my mind.

One Sunday morning, he preached about forgiveness. Ten years later, I don’t remember the major points of the sermon. I remember only one statement he made. “Unforgiveness is a prison.” My English-major self tensed, knowing unforgiveness wasn’t even a word. My husband would have called it a Buddy-ism. But it didn’t matter that unforgiveness wasn’t listed in the dictionary or that spell-check would underline it. That brief statement carried a depth of meaning that entire books might not. Later, in the same service, our worship pastor led us in the song “No Longer Slaves.” And from this service, the idea for No Longer a Captive was born.