Patricia Hamilton Shook - Psychology, Spirituality and Mystery

Patricia Hamilton Shook - Psychology, Spirituality and Mystery
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Patricia Hamilton Shook was born and raised in Massachusetts. As a psychologist she combines her professional expertise with an interest in spirituality and mysteries. This, among with a deep love of Cape Cod that dates back to childhood inspired her debut novel Seeking Glory. As our Author of the Day she tells us all about this book.

Please give us a short introduction to what Seeking Glory is about.

I have several summaries of Seeking Glory. I particularly like this one.

Kate LaRue is a divorced, successful businesswoman who owns an art gallery and gift store on Cape Cod. When she assumes custody of her young granddaughter Glory after the death of her long missing daughter, Ally, she soon discovers that Glory is mute and seemingly traumatized. To help her, she must try to solve the mystery of her granddaughter's origins. As she struggles to deal with her own and Ally's past she finds she is not the only one seeking Glory.

Tells some more about Kate LaRue. What makes her tick?

Kate is a successful businesswoman who is nevertheless very insecure and unsure of herself when it comes to close personal relationships. She suffered a number of losses, most painfully when her 18-year-old daughter left home never to return. Kate dealt with this by withdrawing from that part of life and focusing on her work until she discovers she has a granddaughter about whom she knows nothing and who appears traumatized. At that point, she finds she will have to become involved in a life beyond her work and re-establish old relationships as well as discover some new ones.

The delicate balance between work and personal life play a prominent role in this book. Why did you take this approach?

It was essential to the plot as I envisioned it. Kate's difficulties in being both a single parent and the owner of an art gallery and gift store played a role in her daughter leaving home. That's a significant part of the backstory to Seeking Glory and of course it continues once Glory comes to live with her. It's also something many people find relevant to their own lives.

Why did you pick Cape Cod as the backdrop for your book?

I 've loved Cape Cod all my life. Every year throughout my childhood my family stayed in my grandmother's cottage in Harwichport for the first two weeks in August. Nantucket Sound was at end of the street so we had a wonderful access to the beach. I always wanted to write a story that took place there. I gave it a try when I was still a kid but I never finished that one.

How did your experience as a psychologist influence your writing?

Seeking Glory has many psychological themes however I think the most obvious is the effort to help four year old Glory to talk again using play therapy, something I became interested in when I was beginning to write the book. All of the adult characters have psychological issues that eventually come to light. I think human behavior and why we do what we do is fascinating. And it can make a good story.

In this book you are dealing with so many difficult themes-as a writer, do you feel a sense of responsibility and if so how do you deal with this?

Oh, absolutely. There were several of these themes but the one that is perhaps most prominent is the theme of religious and spiritual beliefs. This becomes an issue when Kate begins to uncover the mystery of her daughter's and later her granddaughter's past. It leads Kate to examine her religious/spiritual beliefs and places this as a central theme of the book. It is a sensitive subject to write about and I wanted to present it honestly but not in a way that would be offensive to people. One thing I did was some research in those areas with that in mind.

What did you have the most fun with in writing this book?

Driving around Cape Cod soaking up the atmosphere, writing and taking pictures! It was a great excuse to be there.

Do you consider yourself a disciplined writer? Do you have a schedule you stick to or is it more in the moment?

I'm not as disciplined as I would like to be. I keep trying to stick to a schedule but I do better if I just write when I can free up some time. In the moment is probably a good way to describe it.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?

I have more of seeing where an idea takes you approach although I will do some outlines. I knew what I wanted to do with Seeking Glory pretty much from the beginning.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on a new book tentatively titled Where Spirits Dwell which features some similar themes to Seeking Glory; family dynamics, mystery, religion/spirituality but in a different setting and voice.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I am still working on getting a website set up but until then it is best to contact me through my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/patriciahamiltonshook.