#SaturdaySpotlight is on Karina Bartow & Undeveloped Memories!

Whew, it is good to be home with no expected travel in the next several weeks!

If you've followed me for long you know I love to travel. I even started a travel blog called Bathroom Blues to share my adventures with you. But sometimes it's just good to be home for a while. 😊

Today's guest is brand-new-to-our-blog so please give Karina Bartow a huge SWLA W-E-L-C-O-M-E!

Please share your book and the inspiration behind it, Karina.

Thanks, Pam. It is lovely to be your guest. When I was a young girl, my mom misplaced—frankly, lost!—a roll of film from a special occasion. The pictures on it, of course, captured that one day, frozen in time, including the people and activities that created the story of those memories. Some of those shots featured loved ones we lost soon thereafter and moments we couldn’t recreate.

A few years ago, I had to sort through photos for a presentation. The tub I sorted through had an assortment of negatives and original envelopes from the developing counter, so I kept hoping to come across that lost roll. Unfortunately, I never did, but my quest made me consider what would happen if another generation discovered it and developed the pictures. Most of those subjects from long ago would be completely foreign to them, perhaps piquing their curiosity about the past. Thus, Undeveloped Memories began to materialize in my brain.

I hope your readers enjoy this blurb...

We assume we know everything there is to know about those who raised us…until we discover that we don’t!

Lorelei Carmichael returns home to check up on her aging uncle, but another investigation awaits her. An undeveloped roll of film, abandoned by her photographer uncle, beckons her attention. Also a photographer, she develops the images and discovers an Alaskan journey he never disclosed, alongside a woman and child.

When an opportunity provides her the chance to peek into the past, she retraces his footsteps through the Alaskan countryside. Will she figure out the whole picture of this unfinished love story? And might the trail of breadcrumbs lead her to capture a love of her own?   

And Excerpt...

While she proceeded dipping the pictures into the developing solutions, her thoughts wandered around the reasons Uncle Reed didn’t discuss the adventure. In his years of covering stories, he’d witnessed various tragedies, including several wildfires, but nothing this profound in loss. She could only imagine how the prevailing sorrow affected the sensitive man. With it occurring just before her mom and dad died, his despair over everything he beheld would’ve been compounded by the grief their family endured. Perhaps he always associated the two events together. 

Having just three negatives to go, she peered at the next rendering through the enlarger and recognized the same little boy but without his mother. With a campfire in the background behind him, he wore a smile, and although it didn’t showcase her uncle’s artistic talent like the rest, it conveyed a powerful message about a child’s resilience. His mom joined him again in front of the fire, her face brightened with more joy, as well. Lorelei surmised Uncle Reed befriended them, but she didn’t ascribe much value to it until she secured the final shot under the enlarger. 

Projected onto the wall above her, the boy and his expectant mother beamed back at her, with her uncle beside them. Even at first glance, she perceived his adoration, his countenance brimming with the same pride and gentleness he had in many of their family photos. The longer she studied it, though, the more signs she gleaned of this being a man in love.

* * * *

Sounds Wonderful, Karina! Now please share your bio and links for you and how to get a copy of Undeveloped Memories with us.

Sure, Pam, here you go...

Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. 

Her debut novel, "Husband in Hiding," came out in 2015, followed by "Forgetting My Way Back to You," in 2018 and "Brother of Interest" in 2022. She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!

Find out more about Karina by visiting her Website  or Amazon Author Page, and connecting with her on Facebook, Instagram, X (@KarinaBartow), and Goodreads.

Get your copy of Undeveloped Memories a clean romantic mystery at Amazon, B&N, Walmart or directly from The Wild Rose Press.

Thank You, so much for visiting with us today, Karina. We wish you the best of luck and God's blessings with this, and all of your books!

Well, friends, I hope you enjoyed today's spotlight and that you'll check back weekly for another great author and book.

Until next time, escape in a good book.

PamT