Guest Author Charles Soto

I am sure you feel the same way that I do, and that being, that it is such an honor when an author reaches out and asks if you would consider reading and reviewing their novel. I take it as a mutual respect between author and reader.  And I have that pleasure with today's guest.  After reading the synopsis he provided, which I must admit has a definite controversial subject matter, he has also incorporated other elements into the plot.  Even though we have our own beliefs, do we really know what we would actually do if faced with the situation and/or decision, so I accepted to read and review his book.  And today you will not only have the chance to meet this debut author and hear a bit about his novel but also have a chance to win a signed copy.  So please help me welcome Mr. Charles Soto.

ABOUT CHARLES SOTO

     I’ve always had a love for writing, from my early years in high school and throughout my entire life. The power of words and the emotions that they can produce have always led me to follow my imaginations and dreams. Even though, at times, the life of a writer can be a lonely world, it’s in this world where I find my solace. When I’m alone in my writing room, sitting in front of my laptop nothing seems to matter to me, nothing but the world and characters that I’m trying to create. I get lost in a dreamscape, it seems, envisioning my story as if it is a movie playing before my eyes. The reality that I try to create reflects in the topics that my writing interests bring me to and I’m honored to now add my name to the list of authors who dared to cover an issue that voices such strong opinionated oppositions as abortion. Authors such as the late great Michael Crichton, Robert Shapiro, John Irving, Elisabeth Hyde, Sharon Oard Warner and Kathryn Trueblood just name a few on a long list of greats.

     I wanted to write about a topic where Passion overrides opinion and opinion evokes passion. A story that places the readers inside the characters lives for themselves. I want the reader to feel and come to understand what struggles and endurance the characters are going through and what they would do under the same circumstances. The thought of portraying a corrupt clergyman as the villain in my story, reflects to the power that a man of the cloth truly has over his parishioners, the lengths that some may follow him to and questions of morality that arise.
     Heartache & Sin, above all else, is a love story between a husband and wife. The struggles they endure when they come to the painful crossroad of debating to abort or deliver their child of miracles. I used North Dakota as the background for my story, living in Minnesota for over fifteen years I got to know my neighboring state well, and I felt for my story to work I needed an area such as this. A place where family, friends and church remain a priority in peoples lives. Where the closeness of growing up in the country on a farm reflects in the lives that people lead, and in doing so, create a story that the reader can feel and come understand. A story that creates compassion and resolve yet produces the raw, uncensored emotion that such a topic brings out.
     Now, although I currently live in Minnesota, It’s a long way from my birth place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even though I grew up and went to school in northern California , Vegas always seemed to call me back. After I graduated high school I moved back and lived there for years until I met my wife, Patty. She’s from Minnesota and after visiting her home town a couple of times I fell in love with the area. After the birth of our second daughter we decided to move there and have lived here ever since. I’ve been lucky enough to share my life with her for over twenty two years and there’s no one I’m closer to. I love that she rides her own bike and if we aren’t out riding our Harley’s in the summertime or on our jet ski, then we’re enjoying rock concerts or traveling.
     I do try to put some time away for my artwork as well as my writing. When I grew up in California I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a lot of talented people and was taught the art of ceramics under the direction of my mentor, Bernard Seagul. Just like my discovery of words, which I must say was greatly influenced by Neal Peart of the famous rock band, Rush, I was hooked just as much from the moment I started working with clay and I’ve been creating ceramic sculptures ever since.
     After years of struggling and trying to make it with my art and writing, I finally landed an agent to represent me, but after a year of no sales I decided to pursue my efforts else where. I was listening to the Lex and Terry morning show, like it seems I always am, when they where looking to hire one of their listeners to work on their show. I remember Lex saying when he first got into radio he didn’t know anybody or have experience, but he just knew he wanted to be around it; it was what he wanted to do, so he took a meaningless job and eventually worked his way up. I thought, that’s exactly how I feel, so I leaped in with both feet and finally have my first novel published and a second one ready to go.
     I wrote Heartache & Sin, 2005 while I was recovering from a devastating accident when I fell 30 feet at work. Can you believe it! I fell 30 feet, landed on concrete and I’m still alive! What surprises me the most is how well I recovered, returning back to nearly the form I was in before my accident. I truly believe there is a higher power, and for some reason God spared me on that day. That reason being of course, pursuing my dreams of becoming an author and accomplished sculpture and I’ve been doing it ever since. So I hope you enjoy Heartache & Sin. Please leave me a blogg message and tell me what you think of my book, Video Book Trailer, my website or anything else you would like to discuss. Feel free to look me up on face book and twitter, or simply leave a message on my contact page. I promise I’ll get back to you.
Visit his website:  http://www.authorcharlessoto.com/index.html

ABOUT THE BOOK

     Hard-driving and provocative, this unconventional love story will have audiences talking for weeks after reading. Charles Soto touches the heart of humanity with this epic tale, tackling the hardships of abortion. Dissecting the tenderest parts of a mother’s being, while destroying a father’s conscience.
     Heartache and Sin tackles the very heart and soul of each and every one of us. A must-read page turner that will have readers on the edge of their seat until the final page is turned. A compelling, endearing love story for both women and men, gripping the very foundation of marriage, courage and strength, with hard-driving emotion as its ploy. This debut will have audiences talking for weeks as love, hate, murder and church collide when a couple finds themselves a painful crossroad, debating to abort or deliver their child of miracles in this wicked tale of how a man of the cloth, who’s power and control is willing to risk the life of a pregnant parishioner.
     Steven and Karen Wheaton seem to have it all. A smart, devoted and incredibly loving couple, their only hard grief is that in direct response to Karen’s severe, debilitating diabetes the two are unable to bare children. While Steven shows compassionate resolve, understanding and acceptance, Karen grieves and comes to grips with this fact by joining a church whose clergyman is a staunch, fierce opponent to abortion. In fact, Pastor Ryan McDonald is a man of many atrocities and is willing to do anything, even commit kidnapping and murder, to uphold the tenets of his vicious canons. Though, when Karen and Steven learn she’s pregnant and becomes deathly ill, they struggle with the tragic dilemma of having to choose between life and death for their unborn child. The unmerciful fate that Karen and Steven endure, at the hands of the pastor, boils to an explosive conclusion. Ultimately tragic, this debut is a fascinating social commentary on this complex issue that has no easy answers and an illustration of what evil a man of the cloth will provide a faithful parishioner. Can Steven save his wife and his baby’s life? If he can’t, which will he choose?
Watch for my review in the coming weeks!!!

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DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,

in exchange for my honest review.

No items that I receive

are ever sold...they are kept by me,

or given to family and/or friends.