Whimsical Writings for His Glory: Untitled Blog Tour

Hey guys! So today to celebrate our books that both released yesterday, Kassie and I are swapping reviews! I’ll be reviewing her book Stop the Rain and she’ll be reviewing Untitled over on her blog!

It made me so happy that we were able to share a release day, and you should really check out her blog. She writes contemporary war fiction without romance, which just makes me really happy.

Stop the Rain - About the book

He left his entire world in Iraq. So why did the war follow him home?

Harley Keane and his best friend Nigel were just kids when 9/11 rocked their world and changed their lives forever. When they're finally old enough to join the Army, all their childhood dreams seem about to come true. But war wasn't supposed to be like this. A kid's dream isn't supposed to become a living nightmare. Fellow soldiers aren't supposed to bleed out in front of your eyes.

Back home, safe and unwounded, Harley feels anything but. Why would God spare him when so many others were taken? Why won't the nightmares stop, even when he's awake? And how long can he hide the truth that threatens everything he has left? When Harley's invisible scars refuse to stay hidden, will he let anyone close enough to help? And how do you go on with life when "okay" isn't okay at all?

About the author:

Kassie Angle is a teenaged Christian author, cowgirl, therapy dog trainer, stereotypical INFJ, and Army girl to the core. Her first love, i.e. debut novel, O to be Like Thee, swept her unexpectedly into the world of indie authors. She tries to use her stories to fill the silences in literature, helping more people understand the world of the Army and showing how God heals the broken-hearted. You can find her and more of her writing at SoldierGirlStories.com.

My review:

When I heard Kassie was releasing a book about PTSD I was excited for the chance to be able to read and review it! “Stop the Rain” is a book that isn’t for the faint of heart. Reading about Harley’s struggle was heartbreaking, yet so well done. I absolutely loved the cast of characters. Dallas is my absolute favorite and I need him to be real so I can meet him. Paul and Nigel and Savannah and the rest were awesome, but Dallas ... that man has my heart. I need a book about him.

The plot line was very well done and I so appreciated how it showed that PTSD isn’t just something you can “get over”. It’s a real and horrific struggle that so many go through every day. And it can feel so hopeless. But there’s always hope. Because every storm runs out of rain.

It’s a bit of a slower book, but I think it worked well that way to tell the story. And the look at the future we get at the end of the book made me smile.

This book showed PTSD for what it is. An hourly struggle that is fought by those who made it home, but are forever changed. It does an amazing job at opening your eyes to the reality behind the many preconceived notions of PTSD that are out there.

Also a final note on just how much I loved Dallas. I need more of him in my life.

Author interview:

1| What was the easiest part about writing the book?

My theme this week has lowkey been, the writing itself was easy, so I’m gonna make that more specific and say I will never get tired of writing banter between characters. Stop the Rain doesn’t have the comic relief the other two have, but it still has its fair share of craziness, and I adore it.

2| What was the most difficult part of writing the book?

I feel like I’ve said this a million times this week, but I’m gonna keep saying it because apparently it needs to be said. I was terrified of messing my story up. Writing it wasn’t hard; trusting I was doing the best I could was. I didn’t want it to be just another poorly-written portrayal of PTSD.

3| What was one thing you learned during the writing of this book?

PTSD wasn’t recognized a “thing” as we know it now until 1980. I looked that up on a whim one day to back up what I had a character saying, and then I just kinda sat there staring at that date. Yeah, of course it existed before that. Yeah, there were efforts to treat it before that. But it’s still badly misunderstood; imagine what it was like beforehand. I guess I’d always thought that kind of research was done on it closer to Vietnam… it’s kind of heartbreaking when you think about it.

4| What was one of the most surprising things you learned once you started writing?

That it wasn’t so hard to just come out and say what I felt I needed to say. Like I said, I was terrified of messing this story up. There’s so many misconceptions about PTSD out there, and I was messing up a ton of them. But there’s one scene where Harley snaps at Trey—“haven’t you ever heard of soldiers coming back with PTSD?!”—and somehow as soon as I wrote that, I realized I could write his PTSD exactly as I felt best. I was still worried till long after I finished the story, but after that chapter, I knew I could say what I needed to, even if I was worried.

5| How do you research?

(I appreciate the assumption I’m not a typical researcher 😅) I read books and watch movies pertaining to what I’m writing and totally lose myself in their stories so it feels more natural to picture my own, if that makes any sense. I’ll specifically research something if I realize I have gaps in my story (like, say, the weather in Iraq…), but as a general rule, I stick to “write what you know” in a weird way. I’ve grown up around the Army. It didn’t take any research for me to know some of this stuff.

6| If you could only pick one of your books for someone to remember you by, which would it be?

This makes me sound so disloyal to the other two, I promise I’m not… O to be Like Thee. Yeah, Tattered Wings is really special, and in some ways I feel like Stop the Rain is the most important of the three. But O to be Like Thee is *mine* in a way none other will ever be. I feel like, somehow, it still covers the messages of the other two in only one book. If I only get one chance to make a difference, I’d want to do it through O to be Like Thee.