Lisa Carter is our guest today.

She wrote a book called A Vast and Gracious Tide, and she’s here to share the story behind her story.

A murder on the tranquil beaches of the Outer Banks puts two strangers on a path to uncover the truth.

Caden Wallis has suffered several devastating blows that have left him reeling. He’s lost friends and now his girlfriend to the ravages of war. He arrives on the Outer Banks for one final mission—to thank the woman who sent him a quilt while he was recuperating from his wounds at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

McKenna Dockery knows all about loss. She lost her mother at a young age, and her father has never been the same since he came home from his own war. She juggles the family business, her ailing father, and an aging grandmother. Much to Caden’s surprise, she is the quilter—not some elderly lady. The quilt was something she’d begun for her future husband but shipped to the military hospital after the tragic death of her fiancé.

When a man is found snared in a net and murdered on McKenna’s property, she and Caden must work together to bring the killer to justice. Each must learn to trust the other, or no one will be safe in the tangled web of conspiracy, greed, and deceit lurking in the tidal marshlands of the Outer Banks. A nor’easter, a sea turtle named Cecil, and a surf-crazy hound named Ginger conspire to bring these two searching hearts together through the vast and gracious tide of God’s love.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

What inspired you to write this book?

Thanks so much for hosting me on your blog today, Liz.

A Vast and Gracious Tide grew out of the tremendous respect and admiration I have for those who serve in the United States military. My mother had three brothers who served during World War II. One of them was an Annapolis graduate and he protected merchant marine vessels along the East Coast during the Battle of the Atlantic. Hence, the World War II aspect to this particular suspense novel. I love writing contemporary mysteries with links to past events.

I was also gutted by the staggeringly high statistics of veteran suicides. What would cause someone so obviously heroic—so willing to give their life for others—upon coming home to make the decision to end their own life? This again had personal overtones for me. Another one of my mother’s brothers became career military after serving as a young teenager during World War II. He would later fight in the Korean War and Vietnam conflict. Coming home has been a pervasive theme in all my novels.

One former soldier told me something profound. “Every soldier, one way or the other, is a wounded soldier.”

That was true of my uncle, who chose a slower form of suicide. He never quite emotionally made it home from Vietnam. But instead over the course of several decades, drank himself to death.

I thought a lot about the cost of war on a personal level. The price, the sacrifice, these men and women paid on our behalf. Freedom is not free. And thus was born A Vast and Gracious Tide, about a grievously wounded young soldier desperate to find a reason to live again.

It became my prayer that all of these heroes might find the Home for which we’ve all be truly made.

Sounds like a heroic tale! Thanks for sharing why you wrote this story.

Lisa Carter describes her Southern suspense novels as “sweet tea with a slice of murder.”

She is an award-winning author of seven romantic suspense novels and a contemporary romance series.

Lisa enjoys traveling to romantic locales and researching her next writing adventure.

A native North Carolinian, she has strong opinions on barbecue.

Follow Lisa on social media:

Website: http://www.lisacarterauthor.com

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lisa-carter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5821807.Lisa_Cox_Carter

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/

Lisa is giving away a copy of A Vast and Gracious Tide. Follow the directions below to enter.

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