Zainab Oginabe-Kensit of Let's Move On: The Character Blog Hop!

When I found out about this blog hop I could not get in on it fast enough. While we novelists like to talk about our characters the same way parents like to talk about their children, the stakes are elevated for Miss Oginabe-Kensit: Let's Move On is the fourth book in The New Pioneers, and while I think Zainab has been consistently awesome throughout, I'm aware that new readers might need a little nudge.

I've also got to say here: Zainab is not, and never was a Black Best Friend (the very thought makes me ill). It's true: she's put stubborn, righteous Emily in her place many times (and she will do so again), but I think readers understood why Emily was concerned about her in the first place. In other words, she's a real, fleshed out person, not a caricature. Of all of the characters in this series, the ones readers most frequently want more for are Martin and Zainab. Me too. 

Alrighty then! Hannah Goodman tagged me last week in her post...

My Summer Vacation by Hannah Goodman

Sixteen-year-old, Maddie Hickman is desperately seeking solace from her sophomore year of high school, a year of broken hearts, torn friendships, and family secrets revealed. Thanks to a position as a CIT (counselor-in-training) at Caleb’s Rock, a hippy, artsy-fartsy summer camp, as her mother calls it, solace has been found—or so she thinks.

Maddie begins her summer at the pub shop writing short stories and poems, trying to recover from a terrible breakup with her first love and her family’s struggle with her alcoholic sister. To maintain inner peace, Maddie swears off cute boys. Although working alongside Noah, a fellow pub shop CIT, whose hot, nerd-boy looks and ability to quote Shakespeare at just the right moment makes her swoon.

Maddie decides a friendship with camper Zak is safe enough and can help her avoid the temptation of Noah, since Zak isn’t as cute and is a year younger. But when Zak asks her for kissing lessons so he can make the move on another girl, Maddie finds herself wondering if she should have sworn off not-so-cute boys, too.

From Michael Cart, Founding Editor, RUSH HOUR

Recovery, troubled relationships, and . . . summer camp? An unlikely combination but Hannah Goodman cleverly weaves these elements together into an absorbing, thought-provoking story of love and loss that challenges young readers to respond with both their hearts and their minds.

About Hannah

Hannah Goodman is the founder and editor of Sucker Literary, which features undiscovered and new YA authors. She is represented by Erzsi Deàk of Hen&ink Literary. 

My Summer Vacation was originally published in 2006 and went on to win a bronze IPPY in 2007. It is set to be re-released in September, 2014.  The first Maddie book, My Sister’s Wedding, was the first place winner of  The Writer’s Digest International Self-Publishing Contest, 2004, children’s book division.  The third Maddie book, Fear of Falling, was released in the fall of 2009 and was praised by teachers and readers for tackling subjects like homophobia and coming out. Hannah republished My Sister’s Wedding, in March, 2014 and is currently republishing Fear of Falling, set to be released in the fall of 2014. 

The final Maddie book in the series remains unpublished at this time but is looking forward to finding a home soon!   

Hannah is a member of  SCBWI  and the Association of Rhode Island Authors as well as a graduate of Pine Manor College's Solstice Program in Creative Writing, where she earned an MFA in Writing For Young People. She resides in Bristol, RI with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and a fish named Schwartz.  

If you really want to find Hannah, check your local Starbucks, where she may be drinking a foamy cup of tea and working on her next manuscript, a steamy New Adult novel.  

Find her on the web at hannahrgoodman.com.

And next week Jami, Courtney and Erin are on...

Keeping Score by Jami Deise

When her 9-year-old son wanted to play summer travel baseball, Shannon had no idea the toughest competition was off the field….

When her son Sam asks to try out for a travel baseball team, divorced mom Shannon Stevens thinks it’ll be a fun and active way to spend the summer. Boy, is she wrong! From the very first practice, Shannon and Sam get sucked into a mad world of rigged try-outs, professional coaches, and personal hitting instructors. But it’s the crazy, competitive parents who really make Shannon’s life miserable. Their sons are all the second coming of Babe Ruth, and Sam isn’t fit to fetch their foul balls. Even worse, Shannon’s best friend Jennifer catches the baseball fever. She schemes behind the scenes to get her son Matthew on the town’s best baseball team, the Saints. As for Sam? Sorry, there’s no room for him! Sam winds up on the worst team in town, and every week they find new and humiliating ways to lose to the Saints.

And the action off the field is just as hot. Shannon finds herself falling for the Saints’ coach, Kevin. But how can she date a man who didn’t think her son was good enough for his team … especially when the whole baseball world is gossiping about them? Even Shannon’s ex-husband David gets pulled into the mess when a randy baseball mom goes after him. As Sam works to make friends, win games and become a better baseball player, Shannon struggles not to become one of those crazy baseball parents herself.  In this world, it’s not about whether you win, lose, or how you play the game… it’s all about KEEPING SCORE.

About Jami

Jami Deise was a lifelong resident of Maryland until moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2012 with her husband Tom, son Alex, and dog Lady. A baseball mom for over 10 years, she self-published “Keeping Score,” about a divorced mom whose 9-year-old son joins a travel baseball team. She is currently working on two other novels. Jami is an associate reviewer at Chick Lit Central and a generalist reader for an NYC-based literary agency. She tweets at @JamiDeise and blogs at www.jamideise.blogspot.com

Holding on to Georgia by Courtney Giardina

Rylan Bradley is perfectly content with her single, thirty-something life. Love is the last thing on her mind—until she crosses paths with Wesley Kade. He is handsome, charming, and always there when she needs someone the most. But there’s a story behind those brown eyes that he’s not ready to tell. As Rylan and Kade struggle to untangle their feelings for each other, the reality of their pasts will once again resurface and threaten to take it all away.

About Courtney

Courtney lives by the motto why put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Even though she’s been spending countless hours preparing for the launch of her second novel, Holding on to Georgia, she still finds time to do other things she’s passionate about. She is also a regular blog contributor over at I AM THAT GIRL  and a cheerleading coach. She’s sincerely appreciative of all of those who support her writing and is getting ready to hit the keyboard again to begin novel #3!

Tainted Love by Erin Cawood

For anyone in a relationship, the words 'we need to talk' can only mean one thing. In the last twenty-two years, the McKenzies have been through it, survived it, learned by it, and grown stronger from it, because life didn't stop for breath when they needed it. Amongst the tears and the tragedies, the hopes and happiness, they've built something amazing: a happy family, a luxury lifestyle and a booming empire. Don't they deserve to have it all?

But for the perfect wife, those four sinister words mean something entirely different. They're a summons into a private world where what happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors.

Faith has no doubt in Calvin's undying love for her. It's what kept her sane in the darkest hours. If only she could figure out what it is she does wrong... because it’s rapidly becoming apparent their tainted love is running out of time.

About Erin

Erin Cawood is a commercial women’s fiction author, with a taste for dramatic storylines and a passion for strong lead characters she really gets behind, cheering on right to the very end of their story. Her focus? Taking romance into the darker, edgier side of contemporary fiction.

Erin lives in Leeds, UK, with her partner of fifteen years and spends her days as a digital designer for one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK. Fascinated by web design and digital communication, Erin has recently graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA(Hons) in New Media and when she's not listening to the voices of her characters, she freelances in design services for authors.

Got all that? Good! Now onto Zainab!

What is the name of your character? Is s/he fictional/historical? Zainab Oginabe-Kensit. She's fictional, but she's based on my best friend from college. (And yes, I have her permission!)

When and where is the story set? Like all of my work thus far, this is realistic fiction set in modern-day Boston.

What should we know about your character? Zainab was introduced in The Smartest Girl in the Room and she's Emily Graham's best friend. She had a huge crush on Joe Welles, an up-and-coming student senator, but he turned out to be a dangerous creep. As distraught as Zainab was about that, she hit the roof when she found out that Emily had blackmailed Joe to leave school and Boston and never return. Emily's heart was in the right place, but she took a terrible risk doing it and Zainab wouldn't have recovered if anything had happened to her.

Emily introduced Zainab to Richard Hendrickson, and it was love at first sight for the both of them. Richard had been carrying an adult load since he was a preteen, and Zainab was one of the only people who wasn't afraid of his complicated family life. They were the proverbial adults in the room for a long time, which made it all the more heartbreaking when Richard started shying away from talking about marriage. When she found out that he was cheating on her with an old girlfriend, she was sad but not surprised. She was also done.

The man who outed Richard was Detective Robert Teague, and by the end of The China Doll, it was obvious that he was also interested in Zainab. Just to make things interesting, Richard was still holding out hope that she could forgive him.

What is your character's goal? In the other books in the series, Zainab was looking toward a future with Richard; right now, she's living in the moment for the first since college. She's ready to enjoy someone going out of his way to be with her, and the fact that he's opening up to her in ways he won't to anyone else is sexier than she'd like to admit.

What is screwing up your character's life (main conflict in writerly speak)? Zainab's enjoying moments that she can spend not only suspending future expectations, but also big concepts like "Love" and "Commitment". But what she can't stop thinking about, no matter where she is, is "Loyalty". The theme running through the New Pioneers series is that these friends will do anything for each other, and when it's clear that she holds the key to keeping everyone safe from more of the fallout that upended their lives in The China Doll, she doesn't have to think about what she'll do. But is someone going to stop her?

What is the title? Let's Move On

When can we expect the book to be published? September 29th, wherever e-books are sold ;-)

Passion with a Purpose by Erin Cawood: thoughts on violence in literature

Last summer, Erin Cawood and I started talking about violence in our fiction, and particularly domestic violence in women's fiction, chick lit or even romance.  We both write about violence, to varying degrees, in our work, and we both grappled with what our responsibility is as writers when we touch it.

Honestly, I can't tell you why it came up.  It may have started with Fifty Shades of Grey, but then there was a mass shooting in Colorado, a local politician arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, another shooting in Connecticut, a horrific gang rape in India and the hundreds- thousands, millions- of things that have happened before, between and after.  It almost makes you wonder how you can get away with not touching it in some way.

I'll let Erin take over now...

--

Power struggles and control are becoming more and more prominent in fiction. You just have to look at bestsellers of the twenty-first century such as Harry Potter and Twilight to see the common theme. But what happens when relationship power struggles start upping the ante?

Yes, Mr Not-So-Perfect-Grey from the Fifty Shades Trilogy was all hot and steamy, but he was crazily controlling and turned on by the idea of physical punishment. And the theme of sexual violence against women in Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy was inspired by his hatred of violence against women after he witnessed a gang rape at fifteen. So is it okay to say ‘don’t worry its only fiction’?

Well, actually... no, it isn't.

Erin Cawood

It is continually drummed into us that we learn from our media influences and like many teenage girls I discovered love and romance in the pages of a novel. Of course I’m not saying that one character will be responsible for bringing down girl power. But when it comes to issues like sexual control and violence against women in fiction as a writer you have to maintain reality, especially in romance.

I write contemporary romance / women’s fiction / romantic-comedies. I hate the term ‘Chick-lit’ but yeah, there’s a bit of the bubbly, hearts and flowers, boy meets girl malarkey going on here. My genre is stereotyped as fluffy and frequently dismissed as idealistic and only for entertainment. But my characters are real women. When you join my character’s world, they already have a life. Like any new friend, they’ll tell you all about how they got to be the person they are as you travel towards their new destiny. When you part you won’t necessarily get a happy ever after because I’m afraid... we all don’t live happily ever after.

I’m currently working on a darker series where one of the key themes is domestic violence. (Deb's note: The first book is already out.)  Spousal abuse doesn't just affect the married couple, however their marriage pans out. It affects their children, their siblings, their parents, their friends, their colleagues ... It has a ripple effect throughout the people within their lives.  There’s a lot more behind just one person’s lashing out and the other’s reluctance to leave when they’re at risk.

The most important thing we must remember is domestic violence and violence against women is not a class, race, religious, cultural, or geographical issue. It happens every minute of every day in every city in every country in every part of the world. So if we’re going to write about real issues, let’s keep the reality of them in view. Let’s not write something spectacularly entertaining and then dismiss the important issues it raises. If Romance novels can teach us unrealistic expectations of how love is supposed to be then why shouldn't they also teach us how relationships are NOT supposed to be?

Erin Cawood recently published Tainted Love, the first book in her series, Valentina Secrets.  

An Interview with Erin Cawood, author of Tainted Love

Erin Cawood's book Tainted Love was the best fiction I read in 2012.  As I mentioned in my review, she did an excellent job of showing how an intelligent and independent woman found herself in an abusive relationship and how she later found the resolve to leave.

Cawood and I chatted last month about this story and what we can expect from her- and her characters- in the near future.

What made you decide to write about domestic violence?

Faith did.

I wish I could tell you I made a conscious decision and I planned and penned Tainted Love because I wanted readers to understand how easy it is to fall into a relationship such as the one Faith has with Calvin. But to be honest I was skirting around the real issue writing the re-titled second in the series Behind Closed Doors. I didn't have the courage to go in that deep dark forest myself. Then one night, in fact it was 12:30am May 29th 2012, I'd climbed out of bed and gone into the office to distract myself from a panic attack by writing. I was writing a scene where Faith's brother, Darryl is remembering what Faith wrote in her journal - the first letter he receives from her - when the following words just flowed

Big hands grabbed at my wrist, forced me to turn and tumble back to the floor below. I landed on my knees. He hit and he punched and he kicked and he stomped. He didn't stop.
He screamed, "Is this how you repay me?"
What for? What had I done? Blow after blow, he kept repeating it until I was a ball of trembling skin and bones at his feet, long past the point where I felt nothing. He didn't stop.
I prayed for death. I prayed that God would help me. I asked Him to rescue me and when He brought the darkness to gather me, I knew never I'd wake up again.

I dropped everything I was doing and two weeks later I'd written Tainted Love.

Faith's relationship with her abuser begins in the late seventies.  How might her story play out differently if she were thirty years younger?

I don't think Faith's story would have played out much differently. Abuse is about control, possession.  As much as Faith believed Cal married her because she was pregnant, and in some parts this was a sign of the era they lived in, he'd still do it the modern society of today. He doesn't want anyone else to have her. He made that clear on the beach when she first walked away. Besides, Cal has been married before and without giving too much away about the future story lines,Georgia has some tough lessons to learn about kind of man her Dad really is.

One of the most appalling things in Faith's story is how much she suffers while pregnant.  What made you go there?

Through all the research I carried out a common denominator was that abuse is worse during pregnancy and it often starts during pregnancy. You see Calvin through Faith's eyes, and therefore you see his fear of losing her is at its greatest during pregnancy. He can't cope. She willingly believes him to justify the way he treats her, even during pregnancy. 

In your research, what was the most disturbing thing you read?  Did that influence what you wrote?

You know, I live quite a sheltered life and my research only really dipped a toe in the pool of whats really out there. I read about sexual abuse such as being forced to perform sex acts on live webcams. If its not bad enough for the victim already the perpetrator makes it public?  That makes me shudder.  I also read about physical abuse, in one case with a leather straps in front of children, or to children, and while holding babies - and I think that influenced Faith's desire to protect her children from Cal's darker side. The only time she ever stands up to him is to defend her children. 

It's what came after I wrote Faith's story that has affected me the most. The number of readers who have reached out to me through Faith's story... I've learned the hard way that the 1 in 4 women affected by domestic abuse is not a statistic. It's a startling reality and this is why I am donating 50% of the royalties from book sales to various domestic abuse charities is the UK and Abroad.

At some point, Faith seems to lose her regard for her own dignity, but she tries very hard to protect her children.  Is that possible?  

Faith believes this shift in her marriage is temporary. That she just needs to ride it out.  After all, Calvin came back around after all the other children were born. She also believes that it is her fault and she's brought this on herself, therefore she must protect her children from her mistakes. They are innocent in it all. Faith does get what she wants and Calvin comes back to her.

Do we get to see more of the characters you introduced, particularly Faith's children?

Yes, Tainted Love is just the pebble in a lake and Valentina Secrets is the ripple effects of Faith's Story on the lives she touches. Book two in the series, Behind Closed Doors is scheduled to be released at the late March/early April and it follows Faith's younger brother, Darryl. It's set seven years on from the end of Tainted Love, and Faith's children are all grown up, the youngest are now turning sixteen. There are ten books in the series in total one for each of Faith's children and some for Valentina sisters whom you have yet to meet.

When you say "ripples", it makes me think about the after-effects of domestic abuse.  As a writer of fiction, that's some rich territory, but that must be very hard to delve into.  What were some of the after-effects you found for the children of abuse survivors and, without giving too much away, what might we expect to see for Faith's children?

That's exactly what I mean. So without giving too much away... In Behind Closed Doors, Darryl has set up a charity for victims of domestic violence, triggered by the events that happened between Faith and Calvin. Now those ripple effects have just spread a whole lot wider. In this one book alone there is Darryl's relationship with Julia, add an extension to her family, and extend it again to Julia's best friend Krystal Valentina (who has an integral part in the entire series) and once more to Krystal's family.

To watch how this net filters across each life is very rich territory but you're absolutely right. It's a very dark place to go. Once you've opened yourself up to seeing this world you can't close your eyes again and it's difficult to step back from. I found myself unable to write for nearly two months because of the world I'd voluntarily walked into.

There is a lot of conflicting advice on the subject of after effects. I've read in a Canadian research paper that in 40% of homes where the wife is being abused the children are also being abused. Another startling statistic it stated was that 39% of children see their mother being abused, but when broadened to hearing or seeing the after effects of their mother's abuse this jumps up to 60-80%. This is a way of life for them. They will carry the things they see and hear with them into adult life. 

Many who have come from abusive homes end up in abusive relationships themselves. Although the research into the after effects is still new, I don't think this link is as black and white as some people would like us to believe. Abusive relationships are complex. Even the most strong-willed and intelligent people can be misguided by the cocktail of their sense of love, trust, loyalty, faith, the abuse, and the abuser's promises to change. 

So without giving too much away, I'm exploring the effects of what happens when a abused wife eventually snaps, Calvin's first marriage and the unanswered question of what really happened to his first wife. I'll be looking at Caleb's desire to protect his siblings from their father and Georgia's desire to protect her father from Caleb. I'll be taking a deeper look into Calvin's indifference to Caitlyn and Zoe. And you'll learn all about what Lisa's been up to as soon as you open Behind Closed Doors so I won't spoil that for you, LOL! But over the next nine books you can expect unexpected grandparents, tears, tantrums, sibling rivalry, taking sides, declarations of war, and one or two visits from the grim reaper.  Not all of my main characters are safe.

In my opinion, Calvin was monstrous, and watching him become that way was sickening.  But did Calvin have his reasons?  He grew up- or so he claimed- in an abusive household himself.

You'll have to wait and see. I explore the motivations of his character and those of others with abusive tendencies throughout the series. 

What did Faith need to get her away from her abuser earlier?  What can we do in real life to help domestic abuse victims?

That's a tough one because Faith needed to understand that she wasn't the one at fault. In a case like Faith's, where the progression of abuse is slow and the marriage disintegrates over many years, its difficult to say exactly what or when Faith could have been helped. Uncle Robert tried. He tried for years, even risked his own marriage, until Calvin found a way to get him out of their lives. Faith could live with Calvin's flaws as a husband because she believed she made him that way and he was a great father. The moment he failed as a father, the moment she realized how far he'd go in the end and that she was failing to protect her children from the man he really is, she ran. But that didn't stop Cal from pursuing her. 

In real life, victims of domestic abuse need support. The control and manipulation exerted by an abuser is so great that it takes a lot for a victim to speak out. Some never do. So listen, be a confidante. They need someone so they can trust. Do research and let them use your internet to gather information for their own safely. Although it is the obvious and safest route, the last thing they need you to do is to tell them to leave. I hope through Tainted Love I've shown its not as simple as walking out the door. If they are ready to leave, they need you to help them make plans. Getting out safely, having somewhere to go, money, food, a way of getting there, clothes, etc. are all paramount to a successful escape plan.   

Do your research, there are many charities and helplines available online to help.

Tainted Love by Erin Cawood

Tainted Love is the debut novel by Erin Cawood.  It follows Faith McKenzie from 1978 to the late 2000s.  When we first meet Faith, she’s a 20 year old student nurse who is beginning a career just as she’s beginning a romance with Calvin, a psychiatrist ten years her senior.  Cawood does a good job explaining why events that we shrug about in the 2010s were much more serious in the late seventies.  By then end of the year, Faith and Calvin are married new parents.

We know from the beginning that Faith’s story is not a happy one, and we see the slow decay of her marriage as Calvin goes from charming and understanding new father to a controlling husband who is unpredictably abusive.  Faith is a perceptive woman whose internal alarms ring frequently as her husband’s violence escalates, but she’s all too willing to believe Calvin’s excuses and justifications.

By the middle of the story, the only dignity Faith has left is that which she derives from her children.  Her conviction that her husband, despite his abuse toward her, is a good father, is what keeps her in the marriage.  It is when she sees that he is also a failure as a parent that she finally has the strength to leave.

Faith’s journey to find herself as she evades her violent husband is the heart of the book.  Is she paranoid to worry for her life?  Is it possible to make friends while running from her past?  Will she ever be able to provide her children with the financial security their father did?  And is it possible for her to find true love after 25 years of abuse at the most intimate level?

Readers should be warned: this isn’t a happy story, and it doesn’t have a happy ending.  The cycle of abuse Faith suffers rings true: disbelief, injury, apologies, justifications and forgiveness until it repeats and all interactions are shadowed with fear and self-doubt.  Cawood did an excellent job showing how an intelligent, empathetic woman could find herself trapped in such a situation- and how she could finally leave.

This is the first book in Cawood’s upcoming series, Valentina Secrets.  I look forward to reading the next installation.

Full disclosure: I met the author last year and have been hosted on her blog.  I received an advance review copy of this novel.  Please note this did not influence my review.