Unveiled

Robin Caroll has served as president of American Christian Fiction Writers and is current director of the ACFW conference. Along with numerous suspense novels published, she is a proud southerner (which of us isn’t?), married, and the mother of three girls. Robin’s newest novel, Deliver Us From Evil, will be available soon.

Tim George: Let’s start with something a little fun. Word association, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Music – Dance – Movie – Ice Cream – Writer.

Robin Caroll

Music – Dance
Movie – Popcorn
Ice Cream – COLD
Writer – Author

TG: Your next romantic suspense, Deliver us From Evil, is already getting great reviews. Tell us something about the story.

RC: It’s about a beautiful yet tough woman working in a beautiful yet tough setting, Brannon Callahan is a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Strong faith and a decorated history of service have kept her one step ahead of on-the-job dangers, but there’s no precedent for what’s about to happen. After a blizzard takes down a small plane carrying U.S. Marshal Roark Holland (already haunted by a recent tragedy), Brannon must save him in more ways than one and safeguard the donor heart he’s transporting to a government witness on the edge of death. Otherwise the largest child trafficking ring in history-with shocking links from Thailand to Tennessee-will slip further away into darkness along the Appalachian Trail.

TG: That’s interesting because Lisa Harris also a novel coming out in a couple of months that deals with human trafficking. Why is it important to find ways to inform believers about this?

RC: Because it happens right under our noses, and so many of us are totally unaware! Until I began researching, I had no clue about the frequency of occurence. It’s appalling. Raising awareness is the first step in banding together to bring a stop to this modern day slavery.

TG: I’ve asked Athol Dickson this same question. What makes the bayous of Louisiana such a great setting for stories of suspense?

Because they’re creepy to most people. LOL For me, they’re home. I can close my eyes and "see" the bayou…hear the sounds…smell the scents.

TG: You didn’t know when I contacted you but I am a bayou rat as well. I spent my childhood with all the critters, sounds, the creepiness of the swamp. So what led you in the direction of the Smokies in Deliver Us From Evil?

RC: I needed a setting that could host a blizzard (granted, I exaggerated how it would normally be in current day) to work best for my plot. Since I am a southerner, I needed to stay south of the Mason-Dixon line. LOL

TG: Suspense, thrillers, romantic suspense: what’s the difference?

RC:  I enjoy reading all three, actually. LOL True suspense, I like to say, is like a horror movie to the extent that the reader/watcher KNOWS who the killer is and where he’s hiding in the house…the reader/watcher is screaming at the book/screen "Don’t open the closet door…he’s in there with a knife!" LOL A romantic suspense is like that, but with a thread of romance blended into the plot and story. Thrillers…to me, they’re faster paced than a mystery/suspense, have a bit more of the physical action, yet are just as satisfying.

TG: You have served as President of American Christian Fiction Writer’s  and are now Conference Director. Tells us something about work with ACFW and why it is so special.

RC: ACFW is unique in that it was founded by a small group of Christian authors who saw a need for such an organization. In a little over a decade, the organization has grown by leaps and bounds, but still serves the Christian novelist, the aspiring writers, and other industry professionals. On a personal level, I’m sure I wouldn’t be where I am today without ACFW….

TG: I know Amber Stockton is a member of ACFW and writes romance novels. Have you figured out a way for my pal (her husband) Stuart, and Amber to co-write a prairie romance in which the school marm is attacked by reptilian aliens?

RC: LOL…you’d be amazed at some of the ideas that stem from late night talking in the lobby at ACFW conferences….I recall one such discussion that involved a bonnet, an alien, and a mad scientist who was teleported from the early 1800s who began a serial killer. LOL

TG: What is on the horizon for Robin Caroll.

RC: I just turned in the last book in the "evil" trilogy. Now I have to focus on ACFW Conference work for this next month. And, of course, spend a little time contemplating what havoc I can cause in my next book!

Thanks Robin for taking the time to let us know a little more about you.