My Story

About Me

Patricia Hamilton Shook was born in Massachusetts and, while she has lived there most of her life, she also spent twelve years in the San Francisco Bay area where she obtained a B.A.in Psychology and a M.A. in Developmental Psychology from San Francisco State University. Following her marriage, Dr. Shook returned to Massachusetts where she obtained a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University while raising her two sons and working part time.

Reading has been a favorite pastime since she first began combining letters into words on a page and while her chosen profession has provided many opportunities to write, she has always dreamed of writing a novel. As a psychologist she combines her professional expertise with an interest in spirituality and mysteries–along with a love of Cape Cod that dates back to childhood–to inform her debut novel Seeking Glory. 

“Thoughtful and introspective with a pulse quickening conclusion”
Kirkus Reviews
“Seeking Glory is engaging and has a wonderful flow of mystery and intrigue throughout.”
Feathered Quill
"Delightfully rich story that unfolds with surprising twists and turns. A great read.”
Amazon Reviews
As the night wore on, Kate did her best to maintain a sense of calm and control, a forced attention to the frolicking animals, princesses, and bright eyed children in the stories, but she could not help but hear the creaks and groans of the windblown trees followed by the sound of branches snapping, all of it overlaid by rain dancing a frantic beat on the roof and windows and know that Glory was listening as well.
Patricia Hamilton ShookFrom the Book Seeking Glory (2018)
Patricia Hamilton Shook

Interview with the Author

I have several summaries of Seeking Glory but I like this one best.

Kate LaRue is a divorced, successful co-owner of an art and gift store on Cape Cod who assumes custody of her young granddaughter, Glory, after the death of her long-missing daughter Ally. Kate soon discovers that Glory is mute and seemingly traumatized. To help her, she must try to solve the mystery of her granddaughter’s origins. As she struggles to deal with her own and Ally’s past she finds she is not the only one seeking Glory.

I felt compelled to write it. I had this and a couple of other stories in mind for a while that I really felt I had to put down in writing. I spent several years working on Seeking Glory writing whenever the motivation to do so came to me. I was in no rush because initially I did not expect to publish it. However, once I had it written I felt I had to publish it.

I initially tried to find a literary agent but had little success. I decided to try self publishing and, after reviewing several independent publisher, found that Outskirts Press was the best option.

I think the readers most interested in the book would be women who could identify with Kate; for example, strong successful women dealing with troubled family relationships particularly with teen aged and adult children as well as the those identifying with the difficulties of older adults trying to raise grandchildren, a dilemma not that uncommon.

Seeking Glory is a complex story with many themes woven into it.  One of the  most prominent is the theme of religious and spiritual belief systems. This  becomes an issue when Kate begins to uncover the mystery of her daughter’s and  later her granddaughter’s past. It leads Kate to examine her religious/spiritual  beliefs and places this as a central  theme of the book. There  are also many  psychological themes the most obvious is Kate’s efforts to help four year old  Glory to talk again using play therapy, something I became interested in when I  was beginning to write the book. All of the adult characters have psychological issues that eventually come to light. I think human behavior and why we do what we do is fascinating. And it can make a good story.

I think Seeking Glory is most different in the way it successfully combines the elements of literary women’s fiction and cozy mystery.

Not yet

I am working on a new book tentatively titled Where Spirits Dwell which features  some similar themes to Seeking Glory; family dynamics, mystery,  religion and spirituality but in a different setting and voice.

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