Robin Caroll!!!

I know I said this was going to be a Heather-fest this week, but my very dear friend Robin Miller... writing as Robin Caroll has her first book out this month and I encourage you to go... (after you read this post!) out and buy it, heck buy five copies and hand them out to your friends. Speaking of five copies... I'm giving away three. (we were talking about five, but heck I have to keep two for myself!) Everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing to win her book. I took great pleasure in critting this book while Robin wrote it. Robin has been a very good friend for several years now. She's been beside me through some rough stuff and encouraged me, loved me and kicked my butt the whole way through. I thank God for the day He blessed me with Robin's friendship.

She is guest blogging today... I'll be back tomorrow with more about me... because you know... IT'S ALL ABOUT ME! LOL

Enjoy!

Heather asked me to share a little of my spiritual journey and how the lessons I’ve learned show up in my books. Personally, I’ve always been a Christian. Sorry, no big salvation scene to share. Not of my own anyway. Sure, after high school I didn’t walk as close to God as I should have—did some things I later confessed and repented for—but deep down, my heart always belonged to Christ. But there are always issues God deals with us on…

Everyone who knows me well knows I’m not big on the “p” word. Yeah, it’s a virtue, but I’ve never been keen on it. Ever. Period. But about a year ago, God began dealing with me on my lack of patience. (There, I said the word. See, that’s growth, right? LOL) Slowly but surely, I came to understand that EVERYTHING is in God’s timing and not according to my personal timetable. Thus, this lesson became the basic theme for the first book in the bayou series, Bayou Justice. In the book, while there’s voodoo, family vendettas, generations-old secrets, and murder abounding, the heroine, CoCo LeBlanc must learn the vital lesson I learned—God’s timing is perfect, even if it doesn’t match up with our own.

About 3 years ago, the Holy Spirit nudged me toward a closer relationship with Jesus, where worship was more essential. Having been raised in a conservative church, some of the praise and worship that filled my heart felt very foreign to me. Yet, when God starts dealing with us, I’ve learned it’s easier to pay close attention and not fight because He’s gonna win! LOL And thus the theme for book 2, Bayou Corruption, was born. Amid smuggling, political corruption, and of course, murder, the heroine, Alyssa LeBlanc, is called to have a personal relationship with Christ, which at first seems very strange to her.

Last year, God showed me I was too quick to pass judgment, even when I didn’t realize I was doing it. You know the drill—once God began dealing with me about having no right to judge others, there was no going back. Things happened in my life that let me see the “other side” and how it feels to be judged when the facts are skewed. So the theme for book 3, Bayou Judgment, is about trusting God for judgment, not other people.

Book 4 in the series, Bayou Paradox, is the book I’m working on completing right now. It’s the first book in the series that the theme isn’t a personal lesson-claiming salvation. But what a powerful lesson to be learned. I got the nudge to actually write a salvation scene into fiction after talking with many people and hearing their salvation stories. I pray I’ll do it justice.

The last proposed book in the series will deal with forgiveness and God’s grace, something God continually ministers to me about. Now, if I can just get the proposal on it turned in. LOL

Thank you, Heather, for allowing me to share part of my spiritual journey and tell how it’s influenced my books. Blessings to you and all your blog readers!