Author Cara Putman & The All-Expense Paid Vacation to the World's Largest Kitty Litter Box

My guest today is Author Cara Putman. Here's Cara:

"My Mom – A Woman of Strength

I’ve always admired my mom. She homeschooled us kids as soon as it was legal – in the days when it was still very weird. She has always poured Christ’s love into others through homeschool groups, crisis pregnancy centers, church ministries and so much more.

But in 1990, I saw her strength in a whole new light. In August, my dad and his National Guard unit were at their two-week summer training when Iraq invaded Kuwait. At that time, I wondered if he’d even get to come home before being shipped overseas. He did.

It wasn’t until Thanksgiving week that his unit got called to active status. On three days notice, Mom went from a busy woman helping with our restaurants, homeschooling, community involvement, and more to a woman who’s husband was shipping to a war zone. Her support system was gone, and unlike when he served in Vietnam, she was left with four children and all her responsibilities plus much of the load Dad had borne for our stores.

That Christmas I got a stack of boxes from the nicest store at the Mall because Mom didn’t have time to shop in a dozen places like she usually would. My Dad’s unit shipped home in April – just in time for Easter. I barely recognized the man with the tan and mustache.

That six months was a challenge for each of us. Phone calls were so rare. Email barely existed. And regular letters were what we had to rely on for most of our communications. I remember making jokes about Dad’s all-expense paid vacation to the kitty liter box of the world in an effort to keep from crying when people would ask about him.

We all cope in different ways. But that period gave me a great respect for all the military families that are left behind when their loved one deploys. And it also revealed just how strong my Mom is."--Cara Putman

Here's Cara's latest book. What a fantastic cover!

Hollywood 1942. When attorney Audra Schaeffer's sister disappears, Audra flies to Hollywood to find her but instead must identify her body. Determined to bring the killer to justice, Audra takes a job with the second Hollywood Victory Caravan. Together with Robert Garfield and other stars, she crisscrosses the southern United States in a campaign to sell war bonds. When two other women are found dead on the train, Audra knows the deaths are tied to that of her sister. Could the killer be the man with whom she's falling in love?

About the Author

Stars in the Night is CARA PUTMAN's ninth novel and tenth book. An attorney and sometimes lecturer at a Big Ten University, Cara lives in Indiana with her husband and three children. http://www.caraputman.com

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