I am pleased to have Author Monica Broussard on my blog for a guest post!
Monica Broussard is a Writer, and Speaker, with a Life Coach Certification. She occasionally writes for her hometown SeaCliff Living Magazine. She regularly attends national writers’ conferences and is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Her passion is writing fiction with a Fantasy/Reality mix that will keep you relating to the character’s experience.
Born in North Carolina on a Marine Corps Base, Monica lives in “Surf City” Huntington Beach, California with her husband of 37 years. Before she started writing, she experimented with various occupations. But her favorite job is the one she’s doing now — writing.
If you would like information for Monica’s next book release from the 21 Tattoos Series: please visit her website at monicabroussardauthor.com where you can sign up to receive an email for her next release.
The Faith Journey Behind the Story
Derek’s driving desire is to reclaim his old life or at least his former body. He longs to be who he once was, not the man his tattoos seem to define. As the mysterious markings spread, his desperation grows, eventually driving him to appeal to God for answers.
If Derek cannot resolve the mystery of his tattoos —where they came from, what they mean, and how to deal with them —he risks losing everything: his marriage, his career, and his sense of self. His emotional instability strains his relationship with his wife, Kendal, threatening to pull them both apart.
The stakes are deeply personal, not apocalyptic. They matter because they mirror the universal struggle to reclaim one’s identity after trauma. Derek’s world is unraveling, and he must piece it back together before it’s too late.
The 21 Tattoos series explores what happens when life’s foundations are ripped away—by trauma, tragedy, or unexpected transformation—and how people rebuild themselves in the aftermath.
Both Derek and Kendal carry childhood scars that shaped their paths. When their lives collide, those wounds resurface, forcing them to confront their pasts in order to build a healthy future together. Their journey—both shared and individual—is one of painful self-discovery and spiritual awakening.
Derek believes a shaman woman cursed him, and he chases her through the Amazon to reverse it. Kendal, a nurse and survivor of childhood abuse, sees Derek’s instability as the source of her own fears. While Derek seeks a cure, Kendal seeks peace. Both are desperate to restore balance to their lives.
When the shaman disappears, Derek pursues her granddaughter for answers, unaware that the old woman’s true motive is not revenge but rescuing her kidnapped granddaughter. Derek’s pursuit becomes both a physical and a spiritual quest through the unforgiving jungle and the uncharted terrain of his own soul.
Derek’s distrust of the world began early: his father’s death, a brutal beating, and his grandmother’s passing hardened him. Kendal’s upbringing with an unstable, addicted mother left her overly empathetic and vulnerable. Together, they reflect opposite responses to pain—his emotional detachment, her overattachment—creating constant tension between heart and action.
Nature itself becomes Derek’s antagonist—beautiful, merciless, and beyond reason. The jungle’s trials break his body but awaken his spirit. There’s no scientific explanation for his tattoos, only a growing sense that something divine—or diabolical—is at work.
Derek’s battle extends beyond the physical. Society judges him by his appearance; he wrestles with who he has become and who God intended him to be. His struggle is as much against perception as against nature and the supernatural.
In time, Derek realizes the shaman woman’s power exists only through his belief in it. When he learns that true power resides in the Holy Spirit that dwells within him, the illusion of her control fades.
While supernatural conflict drives the plot, its true power lies in emotional resonance. Readers can relate to Derek’s fear, doubt, and search for meaning. His story mirrors the universal conflict between faith and fear, identity and image, belief and illusion.
In Book Three: The Sixth Heaven, the Amazon jungle becomes more than a backdrop—it’s a living metaphor for Derek’s fractured reality. From a traumatized child to a renowned plastic surgeon to a man marked by mystery, Derek’s journey leads him from the luxury of Los Angeles to the raw wilderness of the Amazon. The deeper he goes, the closer he comes to rediscovering who he truly is.
Here's about her book!
How far will a man go to save his very soul?
Derek Hollinger has walked a long, hard road since a fateful encounter with an Indigenous shaman woman turned his life upside down. Now married to Kendal, his angel and savior, Derek desperately wants to be the man she deserves. But his obsession with his tattoos-what they mean and how to get rid of them-is tearing down everything they've built together.
Paralyzed by depression and self-loathing, Derek is convinced that only one person can help him now: the granddaughter of the shaman whose power inked him from head to toe.
Enlisting the aid of his loyal friend and spiritual advisor, Father Mike, Derek treks deep into the heart of the Amazon jungle, where a final reckoning between good and evil awaits.
But God's plan for Derek isn't what he expects. And coming back alive-whole in mind, heart, and spirit-will require every ounce of his fortitude and faith.
Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a signed paperback copy!
(Giveaway runs for three days. Winners will be contacted by author.)
GIVEAWAY LINK: https://forms.gle/KeG92QeGKbuvAbnB8
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