One of my favorite authors is back with another great tale about the Rev. Curtis Black.
About the book
The infamous Reverend Curtis Black's sinful past is certainly no secret, as his wife, Charlotte, is well aware. But, once again, their marriage is in serious trouble. The reason: Curtis's former mistress has just passed away, and Curtina (Curtis's illegitimate two-year-old daughter) must now move in with Curtis and Charlotte permanently. Of course, this might have worked out fine, except for the fact that Charlotte can't stand the sight of her toddler stepdaughter and wants her out—although, never mind, Charlotte once gave birth to her own illegitimate child and Curtis kindly accepted that child and loved her completely. Still, despite her best efforts to keep her feelings hidden, Charlotte sees Curtina as a constant reminder of her husband's infidelity and treats the child terribly. The result: Curtis and even their teenage son confront her about her behavior, and Charlotte begins spending lots of time away from home and ultimately with an ex-boyfriend. Curtis, on the other hand, appears to be devoting himself to his parish and the new church they are building, but is he really focusing his attention on the female parishioners who are trying to lure him into bed? Needless to say, as time continues, Curtis and Charlotte find themselves slipping into very dangerous territory and not even Curtis's seven-figure salary can prevent or fix heart-wrenching consequences.
On the outside, twelve-year-old Jillian Maxwell is the perfect child. She’s helpful with chores around the house, gets straight As in school, has plans for college, and stays out of trouble. She seems to have everything a girl could want: a big, beautiful new home, an adoring little sister, a mother who cares about her, and an attentive stepfather.
But inside, Jillian harbors a terrible secret. Too frightened to tell, convinced that her friends and loved ones, especially her mother, won’t understand—and worse, will blame her—Jillian endures her pain in silence, believing that things will get better. However, as time passes and her dilemma intensifies, the bright, hardworking girl becomes sullen and disinterested in her studies. Then, just when it seems she’s on the verge of losing everything, Jillian discovers she has more strength than she ever imagined…and the power to change her fate.
Kim Roby tells a poignant story of Jillian Matthews, a young girl struggling to survive sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. The character is at the heart of this novel, and the intensity of her emotions drives the story. Readers will weep with Jillian and bear the burden of the pain right along with her.
Roby does an excellent job focusing on all the areas of this problem including the development of shame, guilt and depression; the loss of self-esteem. Through subplots we learn how sexual abuse leads to domestic violence, promiscuity, and other psycho-social behaviors.
A Deep Dark Secret is an insightful, timely and necessary look at a growing problem that hides under the veil of manipulation and secrecy. I hope women and teens everywhere will read this story and begin discussions that will uncover the darkness.
Kim you are an author who perhaps needs no introduction, but tell readers a little about yourself?
I am a New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, two novellas and have a 14th book being released on January 19, 2010, entitled BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR. I began my career in 1995 when I wrote my first novel, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, and after being rejected by a plethora of literary agents and publishers, I started my own business in 1996 and self-published it. I then went on to sell just over 10,000 copies within the first six months of publication and before that, I signed with an agent and major publishing house for my second novel.
I’m a devoted fan, so I know A Deep Dark Secret is a very different novel for you. Tell us about it and what inspired the story?A DEEP DARK SECRET is a story about 12-year-old Jillian Maxwell who is a straight-A student, who does chores without being told and is basically the model child that any parent would be proud to have. But what no one knows, including her mother, is that she is harboring a devastating secret—what know one knows is that her stepfather, a beloved an upstanding deacon in the church, has been sexually molesting her for five years. I was inspired to write this story because while I didn’t experience exactly what Jillian experiences in the book, I do know full well what it is like to have an adult male touch me inappropriately when I was between the ages of six and eleven. I have also heard far too many similar stories from other women who were kind enough to share their histories with me.
Did you write the story with teenagers or adults in mind as the readers?Both. I wrote it for teenagers who may be current victims of sexual molestation but are afraid to tell and also for the 39 million adult Americans in this country who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
In your estimation or based on the research that you did for the novel, why do you think the secrecy of sexual abuse has so much power? It’s my belief that most children are afraid that no one will believe them if they tell what is happening to them, they sometimes blame themselves, and in many cases their abuser has lied and manipulated them on so many levels that they don’t see any other choice but to live with and deal with this horrible secret all alone.
When I closed A Deep Dark Secret I thought, “This is a very important book”, why is it important for you? It is important because not nearly enough people talk about it, and my hope is that Jillian’s story will bring about much more awareness and conversation, so that victims can finally get the help they need.
You’re writing two books a year now. How difficult is that with promotion?
Yes, this has been very different from when I was writing only one book a year! I don’t really feel that the promotional aspects are difficult, but it is very, very time-consuming. I’ve always been completely hands-on when it comes to marketing my work, but now my efforts have doubled. Interestingly enough, though, the promotion of my novels is something I really do enjoy being involved in daily.
Many authors aspire to make the New York Times Bestseller list, it’s not possible for all, but what are Kim Roby’s key marketing and promotion tools?Communicate with readers online and in person as much as you possibly can twelve months out of every year, build a street address mailing list, an online mailing list, interact and chat with your readers on Facebook regularly as well as on any other social network you might be a member of and do as many public signing and speaking events as you can—locally, regionally and nationally.
If you weren’t an author what would you be? Wow, that’s a good question! I would probably do something in the area of marketing or motivational consulting.
Any plans to tour with this book? What cities might readers find you in?
For A DEEP DARK SECRET, I’ll be visiting Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Schaumburg, IL, Nashville, and Norfolk, VA. Readers can also visit www.kimroby.com for more details and any updates.
Today I’m reposting an interview with author, Kimberla Lawson Roby. I will interview Roby personally about the release of her new book this fall, but I felt compelled to post this interview today because of a conversation I had with an author friend this earlier in the week.
There is much debate about what is Christian Fiction and what is not. It’s the age old argument that we have in the church – who’s church is more holier, who’s denominationhas it all right, who’s going to heaven and who’s not. In my opinion, all a bunch of stuff that really and truly gets in the way of effective ministry. While there certainly is a need to separate the wheat from the chaff, there’s too much of it, and with it has come the spirit of condemnation and judgment.
I’m a Kim Roby fan. Always have been since she self-published her first novel, Behind Closed Doors. Would I ever classify Kim as a Christian Fiction author? Up until about a year ago, absolutely not. Her books contained sex and cursing. That immediately eliminated her novels from what I deem to be Christian Fiction. But Roby has made a shift in her writing, certainly one that her fans and critics should take note of. I noticed it when I read her 2008 release Sin No More. I kept waiting for the big sex scene I would have to skip over (because I don’t read them) and it never happened. Then there was One In A Million and The Best Kept Secret and I thought well isn’t that something, she’s trending in a different direction. Like I said, I'm a fan, but I was pleased.
Back to the conversation I had with my author friend.We were discussing the National Book Club Conference and she talked about the Christian Fiction authors or those who in her opinion aren’t really writing Christian Fiction that are exploiting the genre for sales. Roby was one of them. (First of all I thought it was hysterical that she would think any of the authors she listed would exploit this genre for sales. Everyone knows that outside of a Karen Kingsbury or Ted Dekker and a few others if anyone is making less money in publishing it would be Christian Fiction authors. So she was quite misinformed on the money aspect.) I asked her if she had read Ms. Roby’s work lately and she said no. I told her that her work had moved in a different direction and she said “Well, it’s too late now, she has all those books out there.” I was saddened, not because I need to have Ms. Roby accepted as a Christian Fiction author. She's a NY Times Bestselling author, her books are in a class by themselves. I was saddened because this person was so narrow minded, and unwilling to move past what she considered to be unforgivable sin. I decided to leave that between her and her God, but I do recall a scripture in the Bible that says “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
The thing that is most disturbing about this all and we’ll remove Ms. Roby from this point of discussion, is what if an author had a collection of erotica books. This person became saved and began writing the books she felt the Lord had called her to write. Is she not acceptable to us in the genre because she started out writing something else? The bigger question is “Can the lost come back home to the church?”Think about it? Are we deciding who’s good enough for ministry? Who’s good enough for Jesus? Not this girl.I look forward to watching Ms. Roby's work evolve into all that God has called it to be. I listened to an interview she did on Urban Reviews when "The Best of Everything" was released where she talked about her spiritual growth and it's impression on her writing. Ms. Roby is blessed. When any of us can get up every day and do what we know we are called to do, then we truly have the best of everything.
Blessings,
Rhonda McKnight
Enjoy Patricia Woodside’s interview with Ms. Roby and leave and a comment and tell me what you think:
Reposted from http://readinnwritin.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-christian-fiction-on-parade_23.html
Today's featured author in Black Christian Fiction on Parade brings a little controversy with her, even before I posted her feature.
Today's featured author is Kimberla Lawson Roby.
As with some other very popular AA Christian Fiction authors, there's some debate as to whether Ms. Roby's books qualify as Christian fiction. Well, that's not for me to say. Although there's always been a faith thread in her stories, I suspect the controversy stems from some of the literary choices Ms. Roby made. Here's what she has to say, first in an interview with SORMAG earlier this year and before that, in a 2008 interview with author Connie Briscoe.
"If I had it to do over again, I never would have used any words of profanity in my work just because it is sometimes used by people in real life---especially since I don't use words like that myself. In my first nine novels, I didn't use profanity on every page and not even in every chapter, but on occasion, if a character was angry, hurt or had been betrayed in some way, I did have the character say a select word here and there. But as I began writing my tenth novel, SIN NO MORE, I wasn't comfortable with using even one curse word in my work and haven't done so with any book since then. The other good news, too, is that I have felt very relieved about the change I made, and I am excited to be doing what I believe God wants me to do."
"...actually, as of Sin No More, I stopped writing detailed sex scenes of any kind. Even in my past novels, I never wrote erotica and worked hard not to write anything offensive, but I finally realized it just wasn’t necessary to include all the details unless the story is somehow centered on sex."
To date, I've only read Casting The First Stone, back when it was first published. I'm honestly not sure why, although perhaps these issues struck a nerve at that time. However, I can appreciate an author who grows in outlook as well as writing ability.
Enough about that.
Ms. Roby's success speaks for itself. Her books consistently make the NY Times and Essence Magazine bestseller lists among many others. Her first novel, Behind Closed Doors was originally self-published and was the #1 Blackboard Best-selling book for paperback fiction in 1997.
Regina Moore and Karen Jackson have been best friends since they were six. And now at age thirty, they've obtained what most women only dream of-wonderful careers, gorgeous homes in an upper-echelon Chicago suburb, and loving husbands to complete the package. Of course, all good things must and usually do come to an end. Regina's husband, Larry has been working too much overtime, and Karen's husband John has started donating his paycheck to the local horse track on a regular basis.
What happens when a husband and wife appear to have the perfect life on the outside, when in reality, their marriage is practically falling apart behind closed doors?
Her second novel, Casting the First Stone, the one I had the pleasure to read, introduced the Rev. Curtis Black, who was so popular that he has since appeared in six other books.
Tanya Black has everything a woman could want: a fulfilling career, a beautiful daughter, an elegant home and a handsome, charismatic husband who pastors a prominent Baptist church. And yet, Tanya can no longer deny that the calm surface of her life hides a growing turbulence. Her husband Curtis, once a supportive partner and passionate lover, has grown remote, and Tanya has the uneasy feeling that her comfortable life is about to change forever.
When Tanya uncovers disturbing truths about Curtis, she is plunged into a bittersweet journey of discovery. For while she learns painful new lessons about love, betrayal and sensual temptation, she also discovers, within herself, the wisdom to celebrate the victories that are hers alone.
Now author of twelve books, Ms. Roby's most recent book, The Best of Everything, was published this past January.
World-renowned Reverend Curtis Black’s daughter Alicia is all grown up and even more trouble than her father.
Alicia Black Sullivan swore to never repeat her father’s mistakes: she would never break any promises, she would never be unfaithful. And most important of all, when she got married, it would be for good.
And she really does love Philip, the assistant pastor of her father’s church. She just happens to love money – and the things it can buy – as well. Alicia was born to the good life, she’s entitled to the best, and she’ll do anything to get it. Even if it means piling up thousands of dollars in debt. Even if it means denying to everyone—even herself—that her love of shopping has gotten way out of control.
Before long, Philip begins to wonder if marrying the woman of his dreams was a huge mistake. Alicia has the same thoughts, too. Deep down, though, she knows a whopper of an emotional bill is coming due. And all the regrets in the world won’t change the fact that she may be more like her infamous father than she could have imagined—or feared.
You can learn more about Kimberla Lawson Roby and her books at her website, http://www.kimroby.com/.
