Story Behind Time and Tide by Kristen Terrette and #giveaway!

Today we welcome Kristen Terrette. Kristen is very graciously giving away a copy of her new book Time and Tide. To enter, leave a comment (include contact inormation!)

Welcome, Kristen. Glad to have you stop by



I’ve been asked how I come up with my characters’ backstory and personalities. Truth is, all of them are a solid mix of real people in my life and completely made-up characters.

In my new release, Time and Tide, I pull one male character directly from many childhood memories, and the stories my mother has told me over the years. He is a character with a severe mental illness, and the brother of my heroine, Ryan.

I’ve never wanted to shy away from writing about the reality of real life, and mental illness affects almost all families. All. Families.

One which has affected mine is Schizophrenia.

My grandfather, uncle, and cousin, all on my mother’s side, were diagnosed with this mental illness. Schizophrenia affects the way a person thinks, feels, processes information, and acts. Common symptoms are hallucinations, hearing voices, delusions, and agitated movements. It can affect one’s memory, focus, speaking, feelings of pleasure, and every day functioning skills.

A quick check of the facts about this sickness reveals genetics and one’s choices are major factors when it comes to developing this illness. Schizophrenia tends to “run in the family”, as seen in my own family line, but no one gene determines whether a person will develop it. Another great factor is drug use. Plain and simple. I’m not trying to skirt around the truth here. Studies show drug use, especially methamphetamines and marijuana, “up” the chances of developing the illness in those who are already genetically vulnerable to it.

As I mentioned, my uncle (who passed away a few years back) had this illness. And yes, I have memories of him talking to himself in my grandmother’s kitchen, though in his mind he wasn’t. One time he told me he was in a band with Elvis- and I being a kid, I believed this tall tale. He was always fidgeting, and moving, and bouncing his knee. My mom has said many times how heartbroken she was when he started hanging with the wrong crowd, overdosed one night, and when he woke up, he was never the same.

But…my uncle was also kind and generous. He bought Christmas presents for all of us (there were many) every year. He demonstrated great contentment in his minimalistic lifestyle, which is something we all could learn from him. He loved his family and he loved Jesus. I have no doubt he is with Him now, healed and complete in his new body, sitting at the feet of Jesus, looking forward to the time he sees us again.

And that’s why I wanted to write about this illness and a character in my book resembling my uncle. Having a mental illness was just one thing about him, not the only thing about him. I hope through Ryan’s view of her brother, my readers see this and understand a little better a person, or a family, dealing with schizophrenia and its effects. I hope they take away it’s only one thing about them, not the only thing about them. I hope they see Ryan turning to God during her heartbreak over this and find hope in God through it.

Do you have a mental illness that seems to run in your family? How have you dealt with it and its stigma?

I hope you all enjoy Time and Tide! Please reach out on social media to let me know your thoughts about how I dealt with Ryan’s brother’s mental illness.

  

 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072S7KX5J/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/time-and-tide-kristen-terrette/1126604837?ean=2940154418659
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/time-and-tide-17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkristenterrette
Twitter: @KTerrette
Instagram: @kterrette
Pinterest: @kterrette2

Bio: Kristen has a Master's degree in Theological Studies and was on staff as a Children's Ministry Director for over five years. She cherishes her Southern roots and currently lives forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. With the support of her husband and two children, she now stays at home making up fantasy places and characters, allowing God to take the story where He needs it to go.

Blurb for Time and Tide:

Addictions destroy lives. Chad Cusher’s own dependencies change everything he thought he knew about his future.

After almost killing himself and someone else, Chad’s legal problems, addiction recovery therapy, and physical therapy if he ever wants to walk normally again, are a part of his everyday life. He believes there is no chance at true happiness, certainly not love, and only hopes to become a better man than he was, to find redemption somehow.

Chad moves to Moanna Island, a small island close to Savannah off the Atlantic coast, to begin a job with his family’s real estate empire, a job he was supposed to have taken years ago.

Free-spirited Ryan Mason is a Moanna local girl from a blue-collar family. She’s dropped her own dreams to help her father care for her schizophrenic brother.

Their paths first cross at a Rehabilitation Center where Chad attends therapy and Ryan’s brother lives. Chad can’t believe his luck when he finds her on Moanna Island, forty-five minutes away from the Center, only days later.

Chad is drawn to Ryan’s joy, even through the pain and grief life tries to throw her way. His lonely void begins to dissipate with every island adventure spent with her. He soon finds out what her secret is. But is it possible to start over and be restored? Even so, can Ryan except Chad’s horrible, even criminal past? Can their crazy worlds ever fit together once she finds out he is the sole heir to the Cusher Empire?