In the wake of heartrending family tragedies, Matt and Irene Moore and their 14-year-old daughter, Casey, move to a small Pacific Northwestern town. When young drifter Billy's arrival in Breakers parallels a series of hateful crimes, unexpected circumstances entangle his life with the Moores. Will they all find grace and healing in unlikely ways? 352 pages, softcover from Zondervan.

In the wake of heartrending family tragedies, Matt and Irene Moore move with their fourteen-year-old daughter, Casey, to a small town. Their goal is to get far away from the daily reminders that leave each of them raw and guilt-ridden. Their hope is to find redemption, repair, and renewal. Instead, the threads that hold them together unravel even more. Breakers, a small community perched on the rocky coast of the Pacific Northwest, is draped with cold isolation that seems to mirror the hearts. As they settle into their new life, old grief settles with them. Matt is always on edge and easily angered, Irene is sad and pensive, and Casey is confused and defiant. They've once more set the stage for calamity. Into this mix comes Billy Thurber, a young drifter with his own conflicts, whose life unexpectedly entangles with the Moores'. His arrival in Breakers parallels a rash of hateful and senseless crimes, and soon the whole town -- eager for someone to blame -- goes after Thurber with murderous intent. Out of this dangerous chaos, however, the Moores find unexpected grace and healing in a most unlikely way. Author C. S. Lakin explores our need to assign reason and fix blame for the pain and grief in our lives. Though the circumstances are fictional, the emotions are real and universal, making Someone to Blame a great and inspiring read.

C. S. Lakin currently works as a freelance copyeditor and writing mentor, specializing in helping authors prepare their books for publication. The first book in her Gates of Heaven fantasy series with AMG, The Wolf of Tebron, released August 2010, with numerous books to follow. She is currently completing her tenth novel and developing a dog memoir of epic proportion. Lakin welcomes your comments at www.SomeoneToBlame.com.

http://www.christianbook.com/someone-to-blame-c-s-lakin/9780310327394/pd/327394

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_review

__USERID__

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/ask_and_answer

Author: C. S. Lakin
Located in: Boulder Creek, CA
Submitted: May 23, 2010

    Tell us a little about yourself.  I've been writing novels for over twenty years, starting with psychological suspense, but, as an avid fantasy lover all my life, I wanted to create a beautiful series of fairy tales that followed in the style of C. S. Lewis, so I've been writing both--ten novels to date, half in each genre. I love the outdoors and backpack whenever I can. I have two grown daughters and a supprotive husband who works hard to allow me time to write. But I do work nearly full-time as a freelance book copyeditor and writing coach, so if you are a new writer looking for help with your book, fiction or nonfiction, I can help!

    What was your motivation behind this project?  I had already written one novel loosely based on an Agatha Christie mystery (And Then There Were None) entitle Innocent Little Crimes (which my agent is trying to sell). So I wanted to follow with another mystery of hers, and had always thought Murder on the Orient Express would be great to do, not on a train but in a small town, where everyone in town has a reason (or so they believe) to blame a new stranger in the town for all the crimes recently committed.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  I wanted to explore the theme of blame and how we are quick to judge people we don't know and listen to gossip without taking the time to really understand someone. This story also involves a family that has suffered horrible loss and they blame themselves, and that too is debilitating and sometimes destructive. All my mysteries delve into the psyche of the human mind and motivation. What people do when their core needs aren't met and they are pushed against a wall.

    How were you personally impacted by working on this project?  As with all my books, they spring from my heart, my experiences, the hard and hurtful things I've gone through in life. With every novel, I tend to relive not just pieces of my past but parts of my personality that I am not happy with or don't often want to look at. Each novel helps me gow as a person and understand how God sees me and my failings. Most of all, I want to get across the God who unfalilingly loves us and has a plan for our lives, even if we have no clue what that is.

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  So many! For my fantasy books, I'm very influenced by C. S. Lewis and Patricia A. McKillip (my favorite fantasy author, hands down!). For contemporary fiction, it's all over the map. I love literary writers like Ian McEwan, but I also love Elizabeth George (the mystery writer), Susan Meisnner, Lisa Samson, Anita Shreve, and Jodi Picoult. I read a lot of NY Times best sellers as many of them are actually quite good!

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  I would love your comments, thoughts, reactions to my novels. Please come visit me at my cslakin Web site and share thoughts on my blog!

• Books >> Fiction >> Contemporary >> General Contemporary
• Fiction >> Contemporary >> General Contemporary
• Start A New Christianbook.com Search