Michelle Shocklee has received more accolades for her story telling with the release of Count the Night by Stars, her latest time-slip novel. Publishers Weekly had this to say, “Shocklee delivers a riveting historical romance set at the famed Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville…This is a timely and expertly crafted tale.”

I’m delighted Michelle is sharing a guest post today, along with a giveaway hosted by her publisher, Tyndale House.

The Cost of Doing the Right Thing

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Have you ever heard someone say those words? Maybe you’ve said them yourself. Doing what is considered right is, I believe, what most people desire as they go about their daily lives. And usually, it isn’t hard to do what’s right. Obey the laws of the land, treat one another with kindness and respect, and for people of faith, obey God’s Word. But there comes a time in each person’s life—probably more than once—when doing what is right can come at great cost.

In my new novel, Count the Nights by Stars, my just released time-slip story, Priscilla Nichols is faced with such a decision: to do what she believes in her heart to be right and endure rejection and ridicule from society and possibly her family, or to remain safe and silent. In today’s world of everyone voicing their opinions on just about every topic, ridicule may not seem enough to persuade someone to turn a blind eye to a situation that requires one to speak out against injustice. But in 1897, especially for an unmarried woman, choosing to do what is right could cost her everything.

The situation Priscilla encounters is one we still face today: how to help victims caught in the dark underworld of human trafficking. As the daughter of a wealthy railroad executive, Priscilla has lived a sheltered and privileged life. When she and her parents arrive in Nashville, Tennessee, to celebrate the state’s one-hundredth birthday at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, she meets Luca Moretti and his sister, Gia, Italian immigrants working at the famed Maxwell House Hotel. She witnesses how poorly they are treated by her wealthy friends and family, bringing an eye-opening awareness she welcomes. Yet when a dark crime takes place involving her new friends, she must make a difficult choice—to do what is right or do what is easy—that will have lasting implications.

Civil rights and the rights of individuals with special needs are also topics I explore in Count the Nights by Stars. Audrey Whitfield and Jason Sumner are challenged with doing what is right when it comes to race relations in 1961, when segregation and Jim Crow laws still rule the South. Special education had not yet been implemented in public schools, so people like Emmett, Audrey’s younger brother, were ignored at best and institutionalized at worst. Audrey and Jason must ask themselves the same question Priscilla asked herself sixty-four years earlier: How can I make a difference against such enormous social problems, and what will it cost me? 

Can you think of a time when you had to make a choice between speaking out for what is right or remaining silent? When doing what you knew in your heart was right would actually be hard and costly? Years ago, I faced a situation within a church setting that put me in a very difficult position. While it wasn’t anything like what the characters in my book face, I struggled with what to do. A married friend who was a lay leader confessed she was engaging in sexual sin with a woman on staff. No one but me knew what was going on. They had no intention of confessing their sin to the pastor nor did they seem inclined to end the affair. I knew my friendship and the friendships between our families were at stake, as well as the reputations of these women should the truth leak out into the congregation. Yet I also knew I couldn’t sit by and ignore what I knew was wrong. After much prayer, I approached my friend, with a knot of trepidation and sadness in my stomach, and begged her to confess all to the pastor. God was merciful in that he led them to confession, but as I’d feared, the friendship dissolved when she accused me of revealing the secret to others, which I had not. The church board acted swiftly and fired the other woman; my friend’s marriage eventually fell apart, and today, both women continue to live in sin, although not with each other. While there was nothing else I could have done, I have regrets about how it all played out. 

Doing what is right is always the correct choice. Standing up for justice and speaking up for truth can’t ever be wrong. Jesus himself is our example. Time and time again, Jesus did what was right in God’s eyes, not what the world around him said was right. In a world where the lines between right and wrong are blurred, I’m grateful we have a loving Father who willingly offers his wisdom, peace, and hope, even when doing what is right is more costly than we imagined. 

Thank you, Michelle!

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including Under the Tulip Tree, a Christy Award finalist. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online at michelleshocklee.com.

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Visit Michelle’s website and blog
Buy at Amazon: Count the Night by Stars or Koorong