I’m happy to welcome inspirational suspense novelist and my fellow critique group partner, Kim Thigpen, to The Literary Mama. Kim’s gripping novel Stolen Woman, explores the terrors of human trafficking.
PW: Thanks for visiting The Literary Mama today, Kim. What led you to write a novel on this important issue?
KT: I had read a book titled Sold, about a young Nepalese girl who was trafficked and eventually rescued. The book was incredible, but when I ended it I felt so sad, because even though the girl was rescued from her horrific life of forced prostitution, it did not say what happened to her after that. She was rescued from something terrible, but was she rescued to anything good?
Knowing that for so many of them returning home only means rejection, or perhaps even being sold again, I could not help but continue to hurt for that girl in the book.
I wanted to read a story where the girl was rescued, yes, but more than that. I wanted a story that ended with Jesus. With lasting hope.
Someone once said that if you can’t find the book you’d like to read, then write it.
So I did.
PW: Tell us a little about Stolen Woman’s plot.
KT: Stolen Woman is about Asha, a young woman who goes to India on a summer missions trip. She plans to work with orphans, but when she accidentally meets a trafficked teen forced to work the red-light districts in Kolkata, Asha must help this girl escape. When her boss, Mark, forbids her return to the dangerous area, Asha begins sneaking off the missionary compound to meet with the teen and plan her escape. Late one night, as Asha leaves to help her friend, someone follows her. Will she, too, be stolen and sold?
Read the book to find out what happens!
PW: How long have you been writing?
KT: Unofficially, since I was a kid. My parents bought me a cheap typewriter when I was about ten, and I would pound out my own Nancy Drew stories, which I taped together into little books.
Officially, I’ve been writing for about ten years. A lot of my work has been for missionaries to use in their ministries around the world. Now that I live in the US, I regularly contribute to several Christian magazines, publications and curriculum. Last year I hit a major goal of being published 100 times. That felt good!
PW: How long did it take to write Stolen Woman?
KT: The initial draft took less than three months. This story was so close to my heart, it was easy to write. Having lived overseas, and having been a young and idealistic woman the first time I went, writing Asha’s feelings and reactions were more resourced by memories than by imagination.
PW: You feel you’re like Asha then?
KT: Very much. She has a lot more nerve that I do—I would never have snuck out like that!—but I do often feel a connection with her feelings, especially her responses to the poverty and pain in the world
PW: Is your husband like Mark?
KT: In many ways (laughs). Brian, my husband, is an analytical thinker and a problem solver. I had a great time writing the arguments between Asha and Mark! Brian and I are both non-confrontational, so we don’t have arguments like that, but in writing the scenes I imagined what each of us might say were we spitting out whatever came to our minds. It was good therapy in some ways! I would read them to Brian and he would laugh, or tell me when I’d gotten the male thinking wrong.
PW: There’s a page at the back of the book about Women At Risk International. Tell us about that.
KT: WAR Int. is a non-profit organization that rescues woman and children all over the world, including here in America. They are doing more than just rescuing them from something terrible, but to something good. Over half of the women brought to safe houses after being rescued have accepted Christ. Now they have the greatest kind of freedom.
My church and several of my friends have had WAR parties, where we sold jewelry and scarves and other items the rescued women make. The jewelry is wonderful quality. They even have a whole collection of pearls. And Swarovski crystals (which I didn’t know what those were, but my mother was very impressed!).
Their website is www.warinternational.org—you should check it out.
PW: Do you see your writing as a ministry?
KT: I do. Most of my writing is for Christian magazines—stories such as the time I found a 5-foot snake in my closet and the lesson God taught me from the unwanted experience! I enjoy writing; it keeps me thinking of how everyday situations in life have God’s handprint on them. There is so much to learn about God all around us, for anyone willing to look.
PW: Where can people order Stolen Woman?
KT: It’s available at amazon.com and as an e-book for Nook and Kindle readers, or people can order an autographed copy at www.stolenwoman.org.
PW: Have you started the second book in the series?
KT: The second book, Stolen Child, is over half finished. Unfortunately, the half that is finished is the easy half! The rest is set in a setting that I have no experience in, so I will need to do a lot of research.
PW: Your book is about an important topic, but it is a fiction story. Do you think it is important?
KT: I think it can be. People care about human trafficking and want to make a difference, but many don’t know what they can do. I want my book to connect people who care with ways they can make a difference.
Also, the main character in the book struggles with needing to prove her significance (something I struggle with!). I hope that my book will remind Christian women that our personal worth does not come from what or how much we do, but who we are in Christ!
Find out more about Kimberly’s new book, Stolen Woman, at www.stolenwoman.org, or contact her on her Facebook page under Human Trafficking Stolen Woman!
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