Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Alicia Gilliam & the Seth Browne trilogy

Please join me in welcoming author Alicia Gilliam to the blog today to talk about her Seth Browne trilogy, including the final book Impossible Refuge!

Where’s Alicia Gilliam been hiding for the last thirty years? Apparently, God had to invest a bit more time preparing this southern girl for the writing business. She had been using her skills and talents in behind-the-scene jobs only pastor’s wives could understand. Her life was an adventure of epic proportions—without the exotic setting, adoring fans, or sensational income. Then we had a pandemic lockdown, and it was the perfect opportunity for God to finally jumpstart her writing career. She’s proud to have completed the Seth Browne Trilogy in the last two years and looks forward to whatever else God decides to do with her words in the future.

Alicia welcomes hearing from her readers at alicia@aliciagilliam.com, and you can also connect with her on her website and Facebook.

THE RECKONING TREES by Alicia Gilliam
SERIES: Seth Browne Novels #1
GENRE: Inspirational Mystery/Suspense
RELEASE DATE: January 28, 2022
PAGES: 183

Seth must choose . . .

. . . surrender his search or his sanity.

And if he doesn’t change, he might lose them both.

Will his wife’s murder remain unsolved in the hands of a small-town sheriff’s department?

Praying for answers in his beloved trees hasn’t gotten him anywhere. God seems to only make things worse with an old-fashioned dare.

Trust Me.

Can he really give it all up? Trade in searching for trusting?

Maybe. But what if the runaway prostitute and the five-year-old boy wandering through his woods hold the very answers he’s been searching for?

Seth could offer them protection from the looming threats outside his home. But the worst enemies don’t always lurk in the woods. Sometimes they’re buried right inside of us.

A redemptive mystery. A subtle romance. The Reckoning Trees is for anyone who’s ever wrestled with God. Delve into its rich pages. When you come back up for air, your faith will be stronger for it.

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Walls Crumbling by Alicia Gilliam
SERIES: Seth Browne Novels #2
GENRE: Inspirational Mystery/Suspense
RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2022
PAGES: 293

Hiding from the world brought them all together.

Facing it might tear them apart.

Can they survive beyond the walls of the white clapboard house?

Can Seth endure the exposure of a state agent investigating their newly-buried past, including the grave he dug with his bare hands?

Will they find the missing redhead needed to exonerate Seth from suspicion? It all depends on little Benji.

Government intrusion could force the boy even further into his silent bubble — or empower him to reveal his darkest secret.

Meanwhile, Cassady fears a new identity remains permanently out of reach. An invisible link to her past seems to threaten any hope of a romantic happily-ever-after.

Seth secretly wonders if trusting God isn’t the answer for his growing temptations. He’s praying, but every day, the walls are closing in on him.

Walls Crumbling invites you to step into a world where God builds firm foundations over the top of broken rubble.

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Impossible Refuge by Alicia Gilliam
SERIES: Seth Browne Novels #3
GENRE: Inspirational Mystery/Suspense
RELEASE DATE: September 2, 2022
PAGES: 257

Remember the stranger in the white suit? He’s about to issue an invitation.

An offer that Benji cannot resist.

Now Q must take on the biggest missing person case of his career. Will Hope’s support be enough to keep him from slipping into complete despair?

Meanwhile, a series of unexpected crises interrupts Seth and Cassady’s honeymoon.

Cassady vows she can conquer her hidden triggers. But will books and to-do lists be enough to erase the lingering effects of her past?

Plagued by voices from his own childhood, Seth resists Cassady’s efforts to re-unite him with his grieving family.

What will it take for Seth Browne to finally and fully emerge from a life of hiding?

Are you ready to secure a front-row seat for a finale of rescue, romance, and reunion? Impossible Refuge will capture your heart and help you re-discover the God who shelters His own.

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Hi Alicia! Welcome to the blog!

Alicia: winter – Not because I like the cold, but because where I live in Florida, winter is defined by a few weeks of cold surrounded by a few months of mild temperatures and a welcome drop in humidity.

Carrie: a reprieve in humidity is always welcome here in Georgia too. And, we are praying for you & all in Florida who are in Hurricane Ian’s path right now ♥

Alicia: Neither – Despite being surrounded by both coffee and tea drinkers, I’m still sitting over here with plain old water. Nothing else quenches my thirst. And for some reason, I don’t like drinking for any other purpose. Call me weird.

Carrie: I definitely won’t call you weird for not liking coffee or tea – because I don’t either. But I also don’t like water.

Alicia: Netflix – A Hallmark movie has its occasional place in a line-up, but I prefer my romance to have some plot twists, a little suspense, and some meaty dialogue.

Carrie: I only watch the Hallmark Mysteries channel – and mostly for the reruns of shows I loved growing up, like Murder She Wrote & Diagnosis Murder, etc. Though I do like some of their original mystery series too.

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Alicia: Organizing stuff is my superpower. The whole reason I started managing a clothes closet for foster parents is because the folks who started it needed my organizational skills to reign in the chaos of clothing donations. That job has put me face to face with foster families and trauma care, both of which have infiltrated the content of my books.

Carrie: i love how God used your superpower for more than one blessing!

Q: Which books are currently ‘on your nightstand’?

Alicia: Literally, my Bible, Chris Tiegreen’s One Year Walk with God Devotional, a prayer journal, and a blank writing journal. You’re probably wondering about the fiction. Truth is, I limit my fiction reading because I have such a compulsive need to finish the story, I tend to block out other work that needs doing. I have to save up for fiction reading for a time I can read all day. I have a trip to Maine planned and hope to bring some of Colleen Coble’s works with me.

Carrie: that’s an excellent choice of reading material for your Maine trip 🙂

Q: Writing spaces are as diverse as authors and books. Where is your favorite space to write?

Alicia: In my bed. It only happens when I’m deep into a novel, and I wake up imaging a scene. I don’t dream the scene, but it’s the first thing in my mind. Before I even open my eyes, I rehearse what I’ve imagined line by line until I’m sure that I’ll remember it. The moment I sit up, I scribble it all down in a notebook I keep by my bedside. Truthfully, most novels unfold in my office at my desk, but I love it when I wake up with story already happening my head.

Carrie: that sounds like a great way to wake up!

Q: Which of your main characters in the Seth Browne trilogy is most like you?

Alicia: The sad truth is that if I hadn’t married an extrovert, I might have spent my life like one of my characters, investigative agent Quincy “Q” Adams—working diligently in a basement alone, without making friends, without learning the painful art of loving and letting go and loving again. I relate to his sensitivity to too much noise and too many people. And wanting to be left alone—only to feel the loneliness setting in when you haven’t developed enough friendships for the tough times.

Carrie: That fine line for every introvert – when to hibernate and when to engage 🙂

Q: Which character was the most difficult to write?

Alicia: Writing complex villains has its own unique challenges, and that was certainly true in my latest book Impossible Refuge. My villains are fully-developed characters who have their own POV. I had a head start with years of researching personality disorders and manipulative tactics because of my contact with real-life people living with these everyday villains. They’re not all homicidal maniacs. They might live next door and appear quite normal from a distance. And you can be sure they view themselves as heroes in their own stories. The trick is to not let this complex character take all the attention away from our more stable but still emerging MC.

Carrie: that’s a really intriguing perspective!

Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from the Seth Browne trilogy & why do you love it?

Alicia: I’m paraphrasing for clarity here, but someone asks my MC, “What’s the future looks like?” And he responds, “I have no idea, but I’m sure it will be beautiful.”

“Beautiful” is not a promise of a particular outcome; it can mean almost anything, but it’s inherently good. When I struggle with my writing, I can say, no matter what, the future will be beautiful.

Whether I get one million sales or zero sales. Whether I write three more books or a dozen more. Doesn’t matter.

Because I know what kind of God I serve: One who makes all things beautiful in His own time.

Carrie: amen to that!

Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Alicia: I’m in a transition time of life (adult kids coming and going and making big plans), so I’m practicing my flexibility muscles which has never been my superpower. I’m scheduling local live events to promote the recent release of the finale to my Seth Browne Novels and trying not to freak out that Christmas is closing in. In whatever time I can carve out, I’m researching, outlining, character-developing, and praying over what could become another trilogy.

Alicia Gilliam is offering a print copy of The Reckoning Trees to one of my readers! (US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read the Seth Browne trilogy by Alicia Gilliam?