NORTHERN DECEPTION is my first published novel but I’ve written three others which will never “see the light of day”, as the cliché goes. The recurring theme of what I write is loss and forgiveness and every novel has dealt with it in various ways. NORTHERN DECEPTION is no different.

A theme is like the background melody that floats along pinging a few high notes throughout the story. And while it winds its way through the story, there’s also the counterpoint of the forgiveness I mentioned as well. The forgiveness of self. The forgiveness of the other person.

Forgiveness takes time. It takes exploration of the event, the emotions, and a deep dive into the pain. Anything else is too cheap and doesn’t count as real forgiveness.

Sometimes we can’t forgive or forget without the help of trained professionals for the unspeakable wrongs that might have been done to us in the past. And that’s all right. It doesn’t make our forgiveness any less because we needed help to reach that place.

There is plenty of action and suspense in NORTHERN DECEPTION. I happen to love both of those in books I read and want to write my books with plenty of them. There’s also plenty of love and romance between my characters – at least, I hope you agree with me on that! I’ve done my best to convey love with emotion not physicality.

To go along with those recurring themes, I love a great reunion romance because a couple brings all their baggage to a second chance. I love second chances because our God is the God of second chances, isn’t He? And when the kernel of the idea for NORTHERN DECEPTION entered my head, about a couple on the cusp of starting their lives together but something from her past was already holding them back – I knew I had a “second chance” story on my hands.

I hope you enjoy NORTHERN DECEPTION. It is truly the book of my heart.