Modern-day slavery is foreign to most of us and uncomfortable to discuss. The crime usually involves pimps who buy and sell women and children, forcing them to have sex multiple times in a 24 hour period. We can’t imagine that such things happen in good families or in our neighborhoods or to people in our church or school. Sadly, that’s …
Band of Sisters–Raising Awareness
Band of Sisters is a mild story in the world of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The realities are far more grim—at the time the story took place and certainly today. But I pray this book is a voice—one more voice—that evokes a platform for discussion. If we unite, if we all demand change, we will create a clamor that …
Band of Sisters–What Would Jesus Do?
Band of Sisters was born of a desire to end modern-day slavery and to answer the question: what can I do to help in a need so desperate? To answer that question characters look beyond themselves, and ask, “What would Jesus do?” By recounting the things Jesus taught and the life He modeled, He’s already given us answers. It is only …
Band of Sisters–Solutions?
Band of Sisters was born of a desire to end modern-day slavery and most of all to ask: What can I do to help in a need so desperate? Despite all my research, I couldn’t answer that question. Inspiration finally came by confronting the question Charles Sheldon posed in his popular novel nearly a century ago, In His Steps —“What …
Climbing Curiosity’s Trail
My best definition of research: “Climbing curiosity’s trail.” One of the greatest perks of being a writer is the absolute freedom—even endorsement—to investigate a topic to your heart’s content. To creatively indulge in life detours and to assert, with a straight face, “Oh, yes, I must do this or go there or experience that because I’m researching a new book”—well, …
Band of Sisters–Strong Characters
Romantic Times reviewed Band of Sisters (4 and ½ stars), saying: Gohlke has written a wonderful book about the power of being a woman and what a group of women can do when they work together. The characters are strong, not only in body but in mind; they are charming, witty, and some even have a little bit of devil in them. …
Band of Sisters–Human Trafficking Then and Now
When I began researching modern-day slavery for Band of Sisters (1910-1911)–which RELEASES TOMORROW, I didn’t know what I’d find. Was it as much a problem then as it is today? Stories of human trafficking–labeled “white slavery,” particularly among new immigrants, flooded the news in the first decade of the twentieth century just as they do today. But it was the …
Band of Sisters–The Real Question
Two weeks ago I alluded to a fork in the road while researching Band of Sisters. I’d set my mind to write a particular story. But, after talking with my literary agent and editor, I knew something was missing. Revelation came in NYC, after days of trekking through Ellis Island and Lower Manhattan in search of a story that would …
Band of Sisters–Dedication
My mother turns 85 this year. Tomorrow we’re gathering four generations of family from far and wide to celebrate. We’ll laugh and light the candles, sing Mom’s favorite songs and cut the cake. We’ll tell family stories—especially the funny ones, offer tributes, and take photos until our faces freeze. We’ll remember and do our best to articulate (tears notwithstanding) all …
Band of Sisters–Fork in the Road
I’d planned to write a historical novel about female immigrants of the late 1800s who were hounded by traffickers lurking near Castle Garden, New York—gateway to the New World—and members of the settlement house movement who came to their aid. I was particularly taken with a feisty little Manhattan woman who took on the rogues with her umbrella! I’d planned …