Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Guest Post: Karen-Anne Stewart Author of Saving Rain





Title: Saving Rain
Author: Karen-Anne Stewart
Release date: January 31st, 2013
Genre:  Romantic Suspense
Tour: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

                                                  

Book Description:
Raina has tried to forget her past, forget the pain, but when she finds herself staring straight into the fury blazing in her ex-boyfriend's eyes, her dark past comes rushing back. Furious with herself for actually having chosen someone like her father, she uses that anger to her advantage and fights for her life...and for her future that she prays will involve the man she can't seem to get out of her head. Kas is a natural leader, a fierce fighter, the type of man you send in when you need to get the job done. He is a courageous hero who is used to risking his own life to save others, but can he save the one who has captured his heart from her horrific past and the men who are hell-bent on destroying her? As Kas and Raina try to navigate through the twists and turns of a deviously intelligent human trafficking group, they find solace in each other's arms. Can they infiltrate the trafficker's tight ring, saving the innocent lives from imminent danger before it's too late?

Saving Rain is intended for readers 18 and older.


                                            

Guest Post - Human Trafficking:  It’s in Your Backyard

   This topic is not easy for me, in fact, it invokes a myriad of emotions that leaves me beyond furious and drained.  When I first began writing Saving Rain, I was horrified with the staggering information that I found researching sex slavery.  Human Trafficking is not limited to this form of slavery, but it is a large part of the depraving crime that is growing at an alarming rate. 
  I wanted to write a love story, a sweet romance where the man sweeps the woman off her feet, and they live happily ever after.  I mean, come on, isn’t that what everyone really wants…a love that transcends time?  But, the more I saw and read about trafficking and the handlers who commit the monstrosities, I just couldn’t turn my back on the subject, so the idea for Saving Rain: The First Novel in The Rain Trilogy was born. 
   Instead of the traditional love story, I delved into the darkness to write the beginning of this poignant story of domestic abuse,  human trafficking, and a beautiful, redeeming love.  It was equally important for me to show hope along with the dark issues, to show real fears, but also to show real strength and courage.  I was reduced to tears on numerous occasions throughout writing The Rain Trilogy, but, through my tears, I hope I helped to shed some light. 
   I highly recommend you do your own research on this subject, but be forewarned, it will change you.  The fact that people, actual living, breathing human beings made of the same flesh, blood, and tissue as you and I, are making a lucrative income from renting out and/or selling other human beings sickens and saddens me.  If you think that this happens in places that will never touch you, you are wrong; it is quite literally in many people’s backyards, right here in the United States. 
   The FBI governmental statistics shows that human sex trafficking is the most rapidly advancing business for organized crime.  This practice is not limited to adults; children are also beaten, starved, and forced into unimaginable atrocities.  I fully realize that this is not something you want to be reading about right now, trust me, it’s not something I want to be writing about right now, either.  In fact, I have probably already lost some readers by this point.  It’s easier for us to turn our heads, or turn the channel, when this subject is breached, and that’s understandable, it’s part of our self-preservation.  We don’t want to wrap our delicate psyches around something as ugly as this.  I know I certainly don’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that ugly exists, that it’s reach is way too close to my world, my neighborhood, my family!
   According to the SCTNow and research from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. State Department, the tender age of 12 is the average age for a child to be entered into sex slavery.  Nearly 80% of the victims involved in human trafficking are female, and almost 50% of them are children.  In the United States, 300,000 minors are in danger of being subjected to this modern day sex slavery for monetary gain.
    The Rain Trilogy is my way of bringing such a sensitive subject to the hearts and awareness of as many readers as possible.  With that said, I did make the trilogy about hope, love, and thriving survival as well.  Raina has suffered a terrible childhood.  Kas finds the abducted and fights against the ever growing traffickers.  Together, they form a bond, create a healing love, and join forces to track the largest human trafficking ring in modern history.
   Although I tried to be very sensitive with the subject, not including any explicit rape scenes, I would not recommend this novel for anyone under the age of 18. There are scenes of violence and dark issues that are not suitable for children.  It sounds like I’m trying to talk you out of reading my book, doesn’t it?  On the contrary, I hope you read it, not only for awareness, but for the sweet love that develops between Kas and Raina.  I hope you read it, and the rest of The Rain Trilogy due to be released soon, to see the light that can come from the darkness.  
   I am happy to announce that the Human Trafficking Hotline will be in the back of the second and third novels of The Rain Trilogy.  My website, www.karen-annestewart.com, has a link to the Polaris Project, which provides education and resources dealing with human trafficking.  I encourage you to check it out.  Together we can help stop human trafficking. 
   Speaking of my website, you can also read the first chapter of Saving Rain. Thank you.


Itara

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting this guest post.
    I think this is a very important topic that's not always talked about.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's wonderful that this author is using her writing to bring attention to this terrible thing that is happening in our country today. I think we imagine trafficking as something that happens in exotic locations or a long time ago, but that's just not true.

    ReplyDelete

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