FOR LOVE AND MERCY: A Novel by C. Ingrid Deringer released in August in the Literary Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction genre.

Suddenly angelic beings of light appeared. They said I was at a crossroad, and it was here where I had to make a choice . . .

In 2022, forty-two-year-old Dr. Stormy Hera, a music professor at the University of Victoria, is serving a manslaughter sentence at Sunnydale Forensic Hospital in British Columbia.

Although she can’t recall committing the crime, she feels strongly that she did the right thing. In the hopes of jogging her memory and healing her soul, Stormy is tasked with writing her autobiography as part of her rehabilitation.

​Spanning the 1940s to 2026, and set in the Saskatchewan prairies, Olympia, Greece, and Canada’s West Coast, For Love and Mercy follows the lives of free-spirited Evangeline, and Stormy herself—including a near-death experience that changes everything. 

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Meet the Author:

Charlotte Ingrid Deringer was born into a large family in Saskatchewan, Canada and has lived all across the country, on the east coast, west coast and everywhere in between. 

Her family’s love of music, dance and practical jokes left a tremendous impression on her, but it was her voracious appetite for adventure that has driven her to experience life to the fullest. She was in her 50s when her creative passions ignited, fueling her desire to write fiction. 

Ingrid holds a BA in Psychology, an MA in Women’s Studies and is also an Acupuncturist, Shiatsu Therapist, a Life Cycle Celebrant and a Meditation Teacher.  She has worked in the health and wellness field, specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and chronic illness for over 25 years. 

Now semi-retired, Ingrid loves to hang out with her grandchildren and spend winters in warm climates with her feet in the sand where she can write to her heart’s content. 

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT DEVELOPING CHARACTERS?

When I am developing characters sometimes certain people pop into my head. I am reminded of people I know or know of – friends, acquaintances, family, clients, total strangers I have had encounters with, celebrities and yes, my own life. I might even look at horoscopes of people, or personality types, things like that, till I get a feel for the character – what their mannerisms might be, how they respond in certain situations, what their physical attributions are, flaws, morals, values, quirks – all those things. As I write, I ask myself often, “would this character really say that? Or act like that, and if they did, it would have to be because he/she believed this …  How can I show that? 

In For Love and Mercy, Stormy comes off in the beginning as shallow and angry. I needed to show how her life struggles led her to lose faith in herself. I asked myself what experiences led her to do what she did? I knew I wanted her to have a spiritual transformative experience, like I had in my twenties but then what made her so angry? Certainly not that? Hmm, but maybe it did, but in a convoluted way. 

Other characters, like Valentino, in For Love and Mercy, I didn’t really have an actual person in my head to start off with – although in real life I did briefly meet an opera singer on a train in Greece and hung with him for a few days, but Valentino is nothing like the man I met so many years ago! Valentino’s character really evolved magically. His name was Robert when I first started writing but as I wrote, Robert just didn’t seem to fit. Once I changed his name to Valentino, he instantly became a real person and his character took on a life of its own.

It’s when my characters become very real people to me – when I spend my time wondering what they are thinking, when I begin to dream about them, then I know I have a good strong character. By the time I am finished my novel and it is published and I am still thinking about them as real people, I know for certain I got it right!  

connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ bookbub ~ goodreads

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This post is part of a tour. Here is the tour schedule.

Giveaway:​

Win signed copy of FOR LOVE AND MERCY (one winner) (USA only) (ends Nov 18)

https://gleam.io/k2kNo/for-love-and-mercy-book-tour-giveaway

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https://www.ireadbooktours.com/