Karma, A novel by Nancy Deville

Dear Readers,

My novel, “Karma,” is a psychological thriller about an American woman doctor who is abducted and taken to Mumbai to work as the doctor for sex traffickers. If you read the reviews on Amazon and on my site you’ll see that readers are finding this book a breakneck read, and I hope you will too. Moreover, I hope that “Karma” will spark an awareness of the ongoing crime against humanity that affects millions of women and children across the globe today.

In 1990 I wanted to change careers from the film industry and design and be a writer. I remembered my hippie hitchhiking days when I traveled overland from Europe to India and I heard about what was then called “white slavery.” I chose the topic of white slavery without much thought, though it has made a profound impression on me since then.

Way back in 1990 there wasn’t much written on the subject of sex trafficking. We were just hearing reports of “sex tours” to the Far East and of Eastern European girls being conned by answering bogus ads for jobs and being trafficked. I decided to make my protagonist American in hopes that my readers would have an up close and personal experience with what happens to millions of women and children across the globe today.

As you know I spent many years writing books in the health and wellness genre. My books have sold over 650,000 copies and I’ve established a voice in the real food movement, something I’m very proud of. But I never forgot the manuscript I first started on the story of the American woman doctor.

As a student of Buddhist Metta meditation, I’ve learned how practicing self compassion can change one’s entire life. It’s not possible to practice self compassion, to become healthy and whole without caring about others in the world. Outside of helping Americans be healthy, sexy, and happy, sex slavery is my cause. I hope after you read Karma you’ll be inspired to become involved in the growing movement to end modern slavery.

Om Shanti,

About The Author

I’m a native Californian, born in Inglewood, California. My education in writing began as a teenager living as a Navy brat in Japan where a lifelong habit of correspondence was ingrained.  I chose hitchhiking to India over going to college. Ten months of traveling—where I kept a fastidious journal (that was lost!)—solidified my love of observation, reading, and writing.
I returned to the States at age 21, having been gone for six years. In 1989, I was married and moved from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara where I was accepted to the University of California in Santa Barbara. When an English composition class rekindled my desire to write, I dropped out to write a novel. It was an early version of Karma. The manuscript garnered considerable attention both in the publishing world and in Hollywood but the public wasn’t ready for a story on sex trafficking.

My interest in health and cooking led me to team up with several doctors to write books on diet, adrenal burnout, and Chinese medicine, culminating in my sole authored book Death by Supermarket: The Fattening, Dumbing Down, and Poisoning of America. My health books have sold over 650,000 copies, and I’ve established a voice in the real food movement, something that I’m proud of, as I love helping people be healthier.

Throughout my nonfiction career I never forgot the story about sexual slavery and continued to read and research the subject, which I consider one of the most important social problems in the world today. The finished novel, Karma, is the product of my research into the subjects of sexual slavery, Hinduism, and the true meaning of karma.

Besides writing, my interests include Buddhist Metta meditation, reading, piano, yoga, hiking, cooking, entertaining, traveling, sewing, knitting, crocheting, interior design, and our whippets Charlotte Brontë and India. I live with my husband, John Davis, in an 1868 row house in the historic South End of Boston, Massachusetts.

Non-Fiction Books And Organizations On Modern Slavery

Would it blow your mind to know that 27 million people are in bondage across the globe today? Over two million of these slaves are sex slaves. It’s hard to believe but it’s true.

When I first became interested in the subject of sex trafficking in 1990 there were no books written on modern slavery. Today there are many organizations combating slavery and numerous books so that anyone can become fully informed.

Kevin Bales, Ph.D. is the most prominent expert on modern slavery, the president of the British organization Free the Slaves and the U.S. sister organization Anti Slavery International. Visit Dr. Bales’s Amazon page to review the books he’s written on this subject.

Kevin Bales Amazon Book Listing

Free The Slaves

Somaly Mam, the author of The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine, was sold into sexual slavery at age twelve by a man who posed as her grandfather. After ten years of servitude Mam escaped and has devoted her life to crusading against sex trafficking and providing shelter and rehabilitation for rescued victims. Her story will stay with you forever.

Somaly

Siddharth Kara the author of Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery dropped out of the lucrative world of investment banking to trek around the middle and Far East to delve into the world of sex trafficking. He traveled alone at his own expense in the dangerous underworld and put his life on the line to investigate traffickers. You can read an interview with Kara and see him interviewed on his Amazon page Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Slavery

Fiction Book Suggestions

Coming Soon

Movie Suggestions

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Upcoming Events

This page is organized with Radio interviews at the top. Please scroll down for public appearances organized by month.

Please join us on April 6, 2010 and Say Yes to “Say NO

RADIO INTERVIEWS

Wednesday, June 30 at 5 p.m. PST, 8 p.m. EST

Blog talk radio interview with Jon Hansen
Nancy will discuss her novel Karma

Wednesday, July 28 at 11 a.m. PST, 1 p.m. EST

Interview with Cheryl Benton and Debbie Zip
Nancy will discuss Death by Supermarket and her upcoming book Survival Guide.

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. PST, 4:30 p.m. EST

Radio interview with David Steinman
David is an environmentalist, consumer advocate, and author. Nancy will discuss Death by Supermarket and her upcoming book Survival Guide.

Thursday, May 20, 12:50 p.m. PST, 3:50 p.m. EST 

Hosted by David Steinman
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING BY CALMING YOUR BRAIN
Green Patriot Radio with David Steinman is an Internet radio show with 160,000 downloads per month that focuses on the environment and natural health. Our recent guests have included CIA Director James Woolsey, General Charles Wald, Alicia Silverstone, Ed Begley, Jr., Mariel Hemingway, Majora Carter, Deirdre Imus, Christopher Gavigan, Andrew Revkin, and Joel Makower. You can read more about the show here.

Saturday, May 15th 7 p.m. PST, 10pm EST

Length: 55 min
Format: Live
Host: Lance White
"A Fireside Chat With Zany Mystic"
BBS Radio

May 13, 3 p.m. PST, 6 p.m. ESTLength: One Hour

Host: Darien Marshall and Mary McManus
Program: City Enlightenment Radio
Blog talk radio Listen Live
Topic:  Nancy Deville on her new novel "Karma" (human trafficking and how to stay safe while traveling abroad)

Tuesday, April 13, 10 a.m. PST, 1 p.m. EST

Interview with Allana Pratt “America’s Sexy Mom Expert”

Tuesday, March 30, 11 a.m. PST, 12 a.m. MST, 2 p.m. EST

Length: 1 hour
Host: Meria Heller
Program: The Meria Show
Network: Podcast
Topic: Tackling Human Trafficking
Will air the following week (week of 4/4)

Thursday, March 25, 7 p.m. PST

Host: Stacey Powells
KMMT RADIO  click on “listen live”
Program: Exhausted Parent
Topic: Tackling Human Trafficking

March 18, 3 p.m. PST, 6 p.m. EST

Length: One Hour
Host: Darien Marshall
Program: City Enlightenment Radio
Blog talk radio Listen Live
Topic:  Nancy Deville on her new novel "Karma" (human trafficking and how to stay safe while travelling abroad)

March 8, 10 a.m. PST, Noon Central Time, 1 p.m. EST

30 minute interview with Dr. Nancy

Thursday March 4th, from 1:15-2 p.m. PST/4:15-5 p.m. EST

Host: Catherine Bradford
Wellness Road Show, Dot to Dot: Creating Global Community
Worldwide Web; UpSnap Mobile Entertainment; 106.9 FM HD-3 in Seattle; The Telstar Satellite Network

Tuesday, March 2, 8:30 a.m. PST/11:30 a.m. EST

Host: Stacey Powells
KMMT RADIO
Topic: Tackling Human Trafficking

Monday, March 1, 2 p.m. PST, 5 p.m. EST

Host: Gary Baumgarten
News Talk Online
To join in the conversation live:
Join Chat Now
Gary Baumgarten Blog
Pal Talk News Network
Contact Gary online
Twitter: garybaumgarten

Tuesday March 2nd, 9 a.m. EST

Interview with Carolyn Cox on Karma and Human Trafficking
My Spirit Radio
Program Air Date: TBD

Tuesday February 23rd

Live on radio 9-10 a.m. PST Seattle Radio 1150 a.m. and 98.9 HD FM,

Coast to Coast  and via CBS Radio 12-1 p.m. EST M-F
Sue Lundquist, host
I’m Thankful™ Network
RADIO for Inspiration, Education & Collaboration
Streaming live Click on Feb. 23rd
Sign Up for Emails from I'm Thankful
Facebook Fan Page

Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 7:10 a.m. PST/10:10 a.m. EST

Interview with Jack Roberts
Program Director/Executive Producer
CRN DIGITAL TALK RADIO
radiojack@sbcglobal.net

Tuesday, January 26, 10:45 a.m. EST

Anthony of "Insider Magazine"
Will air in February, stations to be announced

Wednesday, January 20th, 10:30 p.m. EST/8:30 p.m. CST/7:30 p.m. PST

Host: Michael Dresser
Program: The Michael Dresser Show

Friday, November 27, 2009, 4:30 p.m. EST

Interview with Joann McCall on Blog Talk Radio

MAY BOOK EVENTS

Wednesday and Thursday, May 26-27, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

BOOK EXPO AMERICA 2010
Show, Conference, and Special Events open to the public
Booth: 3159
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
New York City
Contact: Website

APRIL BOOK EVENTS

Tuesday, April 20, 6 TO 8 p.m.. EST

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with author Nancy Deville who will talk about her new novel, Karma, take questions, and sign copies of her book.
HARVARD CLUB, 1 FEDERAL STREET, BOSTON, MA 02110
HOSTED BY: Benjamin Beck, CFP®, CRPC® | Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor
Please RSVP to:  benjamin_beck@ml.com

Tuesday, April 6, 6 to 9 p.m. EST

Nancy will be part of a panel discussion on violence against women hosted by Metro New York Chapter of the US National Committee for UNIFEM, The Three Tomatoes and several other leading women's organizations.
Contact Michelle Tennant

MARCH BOOK EVENTS

Saturday, March 6, 3-5 p.m.

Wine & Sign open to the public
Tecolote Book Shop
1470 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA  93108-1220
Contact Mary Sheldon

FEBRUARY BOOK EVENTS

Sunday, February 28, 2-4 p.m.

Hosted by Louise Moore and Maria Gaspar
1616 Overlook Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Contact Louise Moore: louiseamoore@aol.com
or Maria Gaspar bjeweled1@aol.com

Friday, February 26, 4-7 p.m.

Wine & Sign by Invitation
Hosted by: CiCie and Dan Frederickson
Sixty California Building
60 California Street
Ventura, CA 93001
Contact Number: Extension 100
Cell cicie@nrconsultingllc.com

Friday, February 26, 2-4 p.m.

Book Signing Open To Public
Hosted by CiCie and Dan Frederickson
Sixty California Building
60 California Street
Ventura, CA 93001
Contact Number: Extension 100
Cell cicie@nrconsultingllc.com

Wednesday, February 24, 2:30-4 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by: Meg Thiele
D'Alfonso-Curran Wines 
1557 Mission Drive
Solvang, CA 93463
Contact Meg Thiele: akameg@gmail.com

Monday, February 22, 1-2 p.m.

Q&A, “How KARMA accomplished the arc of the character”
Open to SBCC Screenwriting 1 students
Hosted by Jonathan O’Brien
Santa Barbara City College
721 Cliff Drive
Screenwriting 1
Classroom BC 237
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
Contact Jon O’Brien: jdob111@aol.com

Sunday, February 21, 4-6 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Marjorie Gies
1550 San Roque Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Contact Marjorie Gies: mgies@silcom.com

Saturday, February 20, 3-4:30 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Amy Hazard
1831 Overlook Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Contact Amy Hazard: hazard.amy@gmail.com

Sunday, February 20, 7-9 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Annette Matrisiciano 
1528 Cliff Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
Contact Annette Matrisciano: mermaidraptures@gmail.com

Friday, February 19, 6:30-8 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Sheridan Rosenberg
Jill Dexter
Nina Grimison
901 Via Rosita
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
Contact Sheridan Rosenberg: sheridan@santabarbaraaviation.com

Friday, February 12, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Andrew Hier
201 Somerset Street
Belmont, MA 02478 
Contact Andrew Hier: AHier@ombiconsulting.com

JANUARY BOOK EVENTS

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 6-8 p.m.

Wine & Sign open to the public
Hosted by Caroline Morson
The Morson Collection
76 Lincoln Street, Boston MA 02111
Contact Caroline Morson:
cmorson1@comcast.net

Sunday, January 24, 2:30 to 4 p.m.

Wine & Sign by invitation only
Hosted by Liz Harris and Ed Dugger
54 Burroughs Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Contact Liz Harris: lizharris1@me.com

Endorsements

Fact:  2.5 Million women and girls have been abducted into sex trafficking!

We met Nancy Deville , author of Karma in April when she was one of our panelists for an event we sponsored “Say No to End Violence Against Women.”  Nancy has spent 20 years researching the horrors and realities of  sex trafficking.  And while she first thought about writing a non-fiction book on this topic, she felt that a novel would be more impactful, and especially if she made the protagonist an American doctor.  The finished novel, Karma, is the product of her  research into the subjects of sexual slavery, Hinduism, and the true meaning of karma.

Karma is a  psychological thriller that will have your heart pounding with fear!  Meredith Fitzergald , a beautiful American doctor is abducted in Istanbul into the dark world of human sex trafficking.  While the book is a novel, it’s made even scarier by  the reality  that 2.5 million women and children have been abducted into the world of human sex trade.  Warning, you won’t be able to put this book down.  Read an excerpt.  Available at Amazon and other online booksellers.
The Three Tomatoes

Stunning and gripping . . . I was unable to tear myself away from Karma. It took me on an unthinkable journey into the darkest depths of human existence. Nancy Deville has written an absolutely riveting thriller.
Elizabeth Perkins
Emmy Award nominated actress, “Weeds”

Nancy Deville gives voice to one of our most pressing human rights issues. Vividly imagined and triumphant, Karma grips your heart from the first sentence and ends when you’re wiping away the tears.
Natalie Orfalea
Chairperson, Orfalea Foundations

The book's best asset is that it takes the reader, convincingly, into another world, a parallel universe that is sharply portrayed and obviously the product of an enormous amount of research. The dialog is sharp and well-rendered; Meredith herself is an interesting and unusual character. I liked the whole thing and think that lot of other people are going to like it too.
S.C. Gwynne
Special Correspondent, Texas Monthly
Author of The Outlaw Bank and Empire of the Summer Moon.

A vigorous, well-researched novel with a very good intention behind it.
Tony Cohan
Author of OPIUM and ON MEXICAN TIME

I just finished Karma, by Nancy Deville, and it was absolutely brilliant.   A non-stop page turner with a graceful narrative style and a truly thrilling and original plot. A budding best seller with a load of living, breathing characters, good, evil and in between. What's most remarkable is its unflinching, unsentimintal look at its main character, Meredith, the kidnapped and degraded doctor.  I've rarely read a book with a more believable and fascinating main character. While her impulses are noble, and she is brave to the point of foolhardiness, and she never gives up till the end, her fears and phobias and psychic wounds are totally comprehensible in light of her enormous suffering.  I kept expecting a happy ending with a blissful reunion with her fiancee. But, thank God, there is nothing easy or simplistic about this novel, or about Meredith's ordeal.Though startling,  the completely unexpected finale has the ring of absolute truth and inevitablity about it. Nancy Deville never lets her reader off the hook.  That's what I like most about her as a novelist.
 
On a more prosaic note, the settings in Istanbul and India are dead on, vibrant with the genuine sights and sounds and smells of those places.  And most importantly, the book is a much needed expose of the despicable worldwide trafficking of young women. 
 
I mean, what's not to like?
Ernest Brawley
Author of Selena, The Rap, and Alamo Tree

Reader Comments

Karma is a great novel on many levels.  It is a heart-wrenching story hard to put down and impossible to forget.

The use of medical terminology through Dr. Meredith Fitzgerald's eyes as she surveys the condition of humanity around her makes her character believable and also stirs empathy and compassion in the reader. What is so horrific is that all her medical knowledge and life of safety and security is blown away with her sudden realization that she has been drugged and her powerlessness to fight what is happening to her.

Nancy Deville¹s riveting and compelling novel is not only an excellent thriller, but also a timely venue, which exposes the insidious world of sex traffic.

I personally was moved by Meredith¹s ultimate strength of will and determination to rise from a seemingly impossible situation like the Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Hopefully this beautifully crafted novel about a very real and hard subject, will inspire readers to spread the word about world wide sex traffic, that it can happen to any child or adult anywhere, and support whatever it takes to stop it.
Maureen Lehman
Drama art and music teacher of middle school children

Of more than seventy-five published books that I’ve now edited, this is surely one of my favorites. In a world where the public response is too often denial and escape, Karma is a serious, worthy novel that compels reader attention from start to finish. It provides an unforgettable “inside story” that speaks poignantly for some 2 1/2 million women and children swept up into the devastating world of the human sex trade.
Ron Kenner
Editor, RKedit

Karmais a book worth reading. It carried me along at breakneck speed and I found it impossible to put down. The success of Karma as a work of fiction hinges on the ability Nancy Deville demonstrates on two different levels both of which are critical to the story: to evoke the physical environment, the grittiness, foulness, stench-ridden, the putrid side by side with the beautiful aspects, the faded Mogul interiors, the vibrant costumes, the colors, the scent, the genteel and melodic speech . . . as well as the vivid horrors of the inner environment within the character’s psyche.”
Bob Skydell

A powerful story. Nancy Deville beautifully captured the vibrant pandemonium of Indian streets, the wild color, the wild and alien sounds, the rawness of the subcontinent. It’s very rare for characters to keep wandering around in my awareness after the last page is turned. I keep seeing the scenes she created, and wondering what Meredith is doing now....
Barbara Neighbors Deal
Literary agent

Unaware of the extent of sex trafficking, I was mesmerized with this novel that kept me reading constantly in all my spare time for two days. It is an education dramatized--I could see it, hear it and smell it. Now I’m informed and appalled.
Betty Hatch
Former President of the National Association for Self-Esteem

I finished the book in two sittings. I was riveted throughout. Your characterizations are brilliant as are all the place and atmospheric settings. Shabana Pawar is destined to become the next Nurse Ratchet. It was a guilty pleasure to enjoy such a horrific tale so much. Thank you for the thrilling read.
Dale Mattes

Nancy Deville has written a first novel of deep substance and exacting nuance that enters the world of fiction in full blossom. Fully mature and utterly convincing, Ms Deville's story goes straight for the core of a rape and bondage so hideous that awakens compassion and empathy for those exploited by the world wide slave trade that shames mankind.

The beautifully structured narrative questions a misguided sense of guilt and self loathing that permeates some victims as it, in turn, offers a path to enlightenment . The means to overcome adversity is always a worthwhile exploration and Nancy’s main character, Meredith Fitzgerald has to dig deeply for hers. Karmagains a great deal from the author's medical and psychological understanding. Here a somewhat formal tone lends a kind of reassuring voice to the otherwise searing account. Addiction and withdrawal are painted with a deft and measured brush.

The lush tones and keenly observed details of third world India and Turkey are rendered with first hand knowledge and appreciation. Like a modern Ishmael, the narrator lives to tell the grisly tale with a hard hitting eloquence and grace that brings to the story a very high level of prose writing.
Michael Dvortcsak
Painter

Really, really impressed. You sure did your homework. The characters are all believable . . . and wickedly unforgettable and unforgivable. I was especially impressed with how well you kept the Dr’s analytical mindset present . . . it’s easy to let that fall away after the action takes over. The fact that Meredith remained in character throughout the book made it all the more real. Congratulations on a terrific story . . . it is an eye-opener that was impossible to put down. Well done, Nancy.
Michael J. Koss
Vice Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer, Koss Corporation

Warning: Consider when you open the book Karma because you can't put it down. Karma takes "gripping" and "wild trip" to a whole new level. Each time I turned the page I shouted out "Oh my God!" because I could not believe what I was reading. Nancy Deville interweaves redemption, awakening, and connection into the midst of despair and hopelessness.
Marjorie Gies, M.D., Ph.D.
Nancy Deville has delivered a psychological thriller, written cinematically, with breathtaking authenticity and dimensional characters. It's the kind of book that comes along once in a while that hits the jackpot delivering a breakneck read with a believable stew of greed, good, evil, love, friendship, damnation, and redemption. For people who don't know about the world of sex trafficking it will be an education as Karma takes you right into it. Meredith, the main character embodies every American woman and begs the question, what would you do if you were abducted?
Rocky Lang
Producer

Nancy Deville's Karma grabbed me on page one and I was hooked until the end. I felt I was there with Meredith as she innocently strolled through the Grand Bazaar and the turning point in her life. Nancy Deville's novel transports the reader along the perilous path of the underworld sex trade, a horror and an education. One of the most impressive aspects of Nancy's writing is the depth of her research, whether it be scientific or cultural. This novel would make a wonderful movie.
Louise Moore

Simultaneously heartwarming, and heartbreaking, I couldn't put it down. The characters will stay with me, always.
Caroline Morson
The Morson Collection

I was completely unprepared for the journey that this book would take me on - I thought that I was going to take a scenic relaxing trip but instead I went on an emotionally energetic ride that I continue to ponder - the unpleasant truths that are revealed can only ask us to become more curious, more alert, and more concerned - wonderfully fascinating, informative, and entertaining ..........
Peter Wheeler
Designer

I was thrilled to discover that when first picking up Karma I was hooked from the first page (can't say that for a lot of books I've read lately). In fact, I couldn't put it down and read it through in two sittings. Meredith Fitzgerald is a young gorgeous doctor, engaged to a film producer and in Istanbul for a medical conference. Because she has a secondary agenda for her trip she goes to a bazaar where in a nano-second twist of horrible fate she's becomes a victim of the ever burgeoning sex trade. Much of the book is written from Dr. Fitzgerald's perspective, so you get a lot of medical related explanations for scenes which only makes it more fascinating to read. Meredith isn't just a doctor, she becomes someone that you can identify with fully particularly if you've ever traveled or done anything that just MIGHT put you in her place or jeopardize your safety. Who hasn't? I also loved Camille, the secondary character who was funny, kooky, but endearing even though illiterate and this on top of being drop dead gorgeous.

When we hear about such things as sex slavery it's as foreign and far away as seeing pictures of starving kids in Africa with flies on their faces. But Nancy Deville in Karma has taken you to that world in a way that you really "get it." And she's created a captivating story with mystery and intrigue giving personality to heinous villains and even making you feel a little compassion toward characters like the delightfully despicable Mrs. Pawar, a woman who runs the house - or prison I should say of these enslaved women. If you think you might know what sex slavery is about you'll definitely think otherwise after reading Karma This is by far the best book I've read in a very long time. I wish that there was a sequel, so the story could continue!
Nadine Saubers
Nadine & Co.

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