A diva and a gentleman have shown up
for couples counseling, but now Sienna is the one in
She’s a sleuth. She’s a scorned wife. She’s a sista on a mission. Sienna St. James is more than a sharp-witted social worker. She’s a problem solver who keeps getting pulled into life-and-death mysteries that only complicate her already complex life. With a head-strong teenage son and a missing, estranged husband - who could be anywhere on the globe - Sienna has to figure out what gets her focus first: the questions she has about her own love and loss or the dangerous quirks and dark confusion of her current clients... And then there are the current eligible men around her who are jockeying for position, waiting for her to make up her mind about it all.
About the Author
Leslie
J. Sherrod, the recipient of the SORMAG Readers Choice Award for Christian
Author of the Year (2012), has a Masters in Social Work and has worked as a
therapist, just like her
current protagonist, Sienna St. James. Her novels,
Losing Hope, Secret Place, and Like Sheep Gone Astray have been featured in
Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library Writer’s LIVE! Series, as well as local
CBS and NBC affiliates, and on AOL’s Black Voices. She has received a starred
review from Booklist and is a contributor to the bestselling A Cup of Comfort
devotional series. A graduate of the University of Maryland, she also took
courses in writing at The Johns Hopkins University. Leslie lives in Baltimore,
Maryland with her husband and three children.
Excerpt
Sienna St. James is a woman
who is dedicated to following her instincts and getting answers, even when
doing so puts her own life and safety at risk. She is a social worker who keeps
getting mysteries on her caseload, all while trying to manage the complex
issues in her personal life.
As a social worker
myself, I was intrigued at the idea of having a helping professional who is
addressing harrowing situations while trying to maintain her own sense of
sanity and integrity. Writing about her is somewhat of a release for me as I am
frequently exposed to real life stories of pain, hurt, and devastation in my
line of work. With Sienna St. James, I can broach those same topics but offer hope.
I guess being able to control what happens and making sense out of the suffering
is my own form of therapy.
Did I just say I can
control what happens? That’s not entirely true. I have to follow my character’s
lead, listen to her voice and trust that the story will go the way it’s
supposed to. She’s different from me; dare I say braver? I try to insert myself
into her courage as I write, but in doing so I also see her flaws, her
questions, her doubts and her secret fears. The books are as much about the
mysteries to be solved as they are about her own emotional and spiritual
development. By the end of the story, a facet of her character has been exposed
and polished for the better.
Without Faith, my newest release is the second book of the
Sienna St. James series. Losing Hope
was the first. The series is lighter than my novel, Secret Place, which addresses mental illness, but weightier than my
first novel, Like Sheep Gone Astray,
because of the issues it addresses. Sienna is not afraid to tackle difficult
issues and challenges, so I had to step up my writing game to enter the action
scenes along with her and allow myself to feel the wide scope of emotions she
experiences. I am enjoying writing this series and watching my character grow
along with the page-turning plotlines. My hope is that readers find as much joy
delving into Sienna’s world as I did creating it – and also find hope,
encouragement, faith and courage along the way!
Purchase the Book Online at:
Amazon.comBarnesandNoble.com
Visit the author online at:http://www.lesliejsherrod.com/
View the blog tour schedule at:
Thank you for introducing your blog readers to Without Faith by Leslie Sherrod this week.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Ty