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New Release by Kathryn J. Bain!
Kathy Bain is a writing critique partner of mine, and she’s just released a new spellbinding novel in her Lincolnville Mystery series, called Take Her Breath Away. Here’s an interview we did to celebrate its release:Mary: What prompted you to write Take Her Breath Away?
Kathy: My Lincolnville Mystery series came from an idea because of Toby Keith’s song “God Love Her.” I liked the idea of the Bible on the motorcycle, it just took off from there. In Take Her Breath Away, my lead characters, Ty and Rayleene, were two minor characters, married to each other, from previous books. In the last book, it was announced they were separated. This is the story of them working their way back together.
Mary: How do you come up with your gripping story ideas?Kathy: I get them everywhere. In my first Lincolnville Mystery, Matthew, my hero, keeps a secret from the heroine, Lydia. The idea of the secret actually came from a news story in NE Florida. (Love Law & Order’s “ripped from headlines”). An officer stopped two guys on a motorbike. The driver of the bike was pulling something from his pocket, and the officer shot and killed him. Turned out to be a bag of marijuana. In my book, things were a bit different, but the gist of the news story is still there (innocent man killed by officer).Mary: Which one of your characters in the Lincolnville Mystery series would you say is most like you, and why?Kathy: Oh, my, that’s a hard one. Age-wise, it’d probably be BJ, the heroine in One Last Breath, only because she’s retired and I’m 55. Personality-wise, I would have to say Sheryl is probably the closest. She uses humor a lot, yet inside she’s not as secure as she portrays. (You’ll find out more about that in the fifth and final Lincolnville Mystery.)Mary: Which authors have most heavily influenced your writing style?Kathy: I love Terry Blackstock and Dean Koontz. They both have spiritual aspects in their books. Ms. Blackstock writes Christian novels and Koontz, while not a Christian author, is a Christian man, so he puts aspects of that in his books. They also like a lot of suspense.Mary: Is there a message you want to get across to your readers?Kathy: I seem to use forgiveness a lot. Not just God forgiving us, but us forgiving ourselves and each other. Sometimes it’s easier to believe God forgives our past sins than it is for us to forgo the guilt of our pasts.Take Her Breath Away is available here.
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Spring! A Few Favorite Springtime Quotes
I’m so thankful for spring! Where I live spring comes early – crocuses and daffodils popping up in February, sometimes even late January. My seven year old daughter Megan says she likes spring because the flowers bloom and there are Easter Egg hunts on Easter. And since Easter is my favorite holiday of the year because our Lord arose on that day, this is always a joyful time of year for me. I hope it is for you as well.
And so we should have a few favorite springtime quotes:
“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” – Mark Twain
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” – Pablo Nerud
“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” – William Shakespeare
“The front door to springtime is a photographer’s best friend.” – Terri Guillemets
“The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”
– Song of Solomon, 2:12
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Author Spotlight – Kathryn J. Bain!
Tonight I have the privilege of introducing you to another one of my fabulous writing critique partners, award winning author Kathryn J. Bain! Kathryn’s sixth book, The Visitor, was released on October 14. Her awards include the Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award and the Royal Palm Literary Award for Inspirational Fiction. After being President of Florida Sisters in Crime from 2010-2012, Kathryn is currently the Public Relations Director for Ancient City Romance Authors. Kathryn has also been a paralegal for over twenty years and works for an attorney who specializes in elder law. Whenever any of the rest of us in our group write a crime scene, it has to pass muster with Sergeant Kathryn!
Kathryn grew up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. In 1981, she moved to Boise, but it apparently wasn’t far enough south, because two years later she headed to Jacksonville, Florida and has lived in the sunshine ever since.
The Visitor:What you can’t see can kill you!When Christine Westman bumps against a stranger in a Jacksonville supermarket, he gives her only one month to live. A killer moves into Christine’s walk-in closet and watches her nightly preparing for the day of her death. Can Christine survive when midnight hits and The Visitor comes calling?
Beautiful Imperfection:
Would God bring her through cancer to die at the hands of killer?
When witnesses to a mass murder start dying, breast cancer survivor Teddy Federline must push aside her anger and trust an ex-boyfriend to ensure she lives long enough to testify against the killer.Detective Sloan Michaels still has deep feelings for Teddy but realizes that after the way he left her years ago, he has a lot of making up to do. Now, he must keep his focus on the case and off the woman he loves. If Sloan doesn’t keep Teddy safe, he’ll never get a second chance.
I thoroughly enjoy critiquing Kathryn’s stories – mainly because I never have a clue what’s going to happen next, and she’s a master at drawing out suspense! All her books can be found here. Don’t miss any of them!
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My favorite D-Day Tribute
May our nation never forget the sacrifices made for our liberty. Here’s my favorite tribute.
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A Valentine’s Day Romantic Remembrance
This Valentine’s Day, I’d like to talk about a man who truly cherished his wife. His name is Robertson McQuilkin, former missionary to Japan and later president of Columbia International University. At the age of 58, his wife Muriel was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. During the course of the next two decades, Robertson resigned his position and cared for her with such tenderness and affection that it can truly be said that Muriel was a cherished wife. Their story is told in this book, A Promise Kept, which says, “Sharing lessons learned from his own marriage, Robertson McQuilkin shows how weakness generates strength, servanthood births freedom, joy is found in a promise kept. For anyone who has ever loved.”He writes, “In the summer of ’95 Muriel’s right hand went limp – the first major decline since she lost the ability to stand and feed herself eighteen months before. A little loss, you would think, but I shed a few tears. It’s almost like part of me dies with each of her little deaths. That precious hand, so creative, so loving, so busy for me and everyone else. But it wasn’t just the old memories. That right hand was the last way she had to communicate. She would reach out to hold my hands, pat me on the back when I hugged her, push me away when she didn’t like what I was doing. I missed her hand. Memories, sweet and bittersweet.”
My prayer is that we all would learn to love as this man did. In our increasingly self-centered culture, it’s such a joy to know of people who devote themselves to God and family, and who love with selfless, tender care.
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A Verse for Today – Perseverance
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:12
Remaining steadfast is all about perseverance – through trying situations and especially in relationships. Marriage, it’s been said, is meant to make us holy, not happy. Grrr. This rubs against all my idealistic romance-writer sensibilities. If you’re like me, you carry around lovely little snow-globe images of what relationships should look like, whether they be with our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, or whoever. And if you’re like me, you nurture and polish those images all the time, worshiping and perfecting them.
Right?
But if I’m honest with myself I have to recognize that all of life is meant to make me holy, not happy. All I have to do is peruse a few flannel-board Bible stories to see that. No snow-globes there. Amy Carmichael once wrote this to someone who had prayed for her healing:
“No good thing will He withhold from them that live a godly life.”
Amy wondered whether He’d prefer that the emphasis were on making sure we didn’t miss any good thing that might come from the illness, instead of: ‘Health is a good thing. Lord, give it.’” – Quoted from Candles in the Dark
Father God, let me respond to the stresses of life and relationship in ways that make me more holy.
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A Verse for Today – Trials
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
– James 1:2-4
I read these verses to my five-year-old daughter Megan this morning and asked if she felt joy the last time she scraped her knee and needed a band-aid. “No,” she replied, laughing. But according to my ESV Study Bible, these verses are a call to understand suffering from the vantage point of confidence in God’s sovereignty. Trials can be considered pure joy only when we recognize they’re designed by God for a purpose—tests of faith given in order to develop perseverance, which produces mature Christian character. Do I praise God only when I receive pleasant blessings from His hand? Do I want it to be said of me, like Satan predicted of Job, that I would curse God if He took away all He’s given me?
Lord, let my worship not be based on what You give me but on Who and What You are.
More later . . .
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Blog Hop Interview
I’ve been linked in a blog hop and asked about new releases! Here’s my interview:
What is the working title of your book?
AmberlyWhere did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve had the story behind Amberly and the rest of the Crestmere Series in my mind for more than 35 years. I realized two years ago I was forgetting parts of it, so I began writing it down! Friends loved chapters I sent them and begged me for more, and the writing / learning / revising process began. The idea came from my dreams of exploring the ideas of romance and relationships in other times and places.
What genre does your book fall under?
Romantic suspense, in a setting similar to eighteenth century England.Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh, that’s such a great question! I know exactly what (or who) each character looks like, but don’t know whether certain actors would be the best ones to play these roles. Marsten’s face (but not his hair) looks exactly like a Perry Ellis model named Tommy Dunn. I spotted Tommy on a wall over the men’s suits at Dillards two years ago. His face is just like the one I’ve envisioned in my mind for thirty five years (which is rather funny because I doubt that Mr. Dunn’s even thirty five years old). Eleanor looks like a particular photo I saw once of Catherine Zeta Jones, but she acts more like my feisty Irish ancestors. Mayor Williamston in my mind looks like Theoden actor Bernard Hill. Margaret Williamston’s a bit trickier. I have an image in my mind of what she looks like, but don’t know who might portray her best. And as for Hrunfaldr the Norlander chieftain, I picture Thor actor Chris Hemsworth – but he’d have to be about thirty years older!What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Snatched by coldblooded enemies as a declaration of war, Eleanor Williamston finds herself caught in a deadly snare—miles from home and lost in the wilderness, where her heart is drawn to the handsome guardsman who rescues her, but then is torn when he challenges her political ideals—and then reveals something that will make her choices even more difficult.Where can your book be purchased?
Amberly is available on Amazon and all the usual places.How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I pounded out the first draft of what became the first two books over four months during late summer and early fall, 2010. I’ve spent the two years since then revising both manuscripts, while learning from writers’ conferences and working with critique groups.What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Amberly has similarities to novels by Jane Austen, Liz Curtis Higgs, MaryLu Tyndall, and even has touches that would appeal to lovers of Tolkien, epic classical literature, and poetry.Who or What inspired you to write this book?
While I was growing up, I became fascinated with the notion of twin heirs to royalty, born in the forest so no one knew which was the firstborn, coming to trust only in one another and determined to someday reign together. I enjoyed mulling over the unique joys and challenges this might present, and soon their adventures together began in my mind. Other characters joined them, and their stories matured while I did. When I became a believer in Christ, their lives and struggles blossomed like mine with desire to please God while struggling against forces from without and within that seek to oppose Him. Now I see these stories as a means to share with others in an enjoyable way some of the crucial things I’ve learned about life and love, providing a legacy of Biblical truth for generations to come. It’s my hope and prayer that readers will come away loving God more deeply and desiring to serve Him better.What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
To me, the setting of a story is as much a character as the hero or heroine of any story. Since I’ve always viewed these stories like a movie playing in my mind, I’ve sought to convey the richness and beauty of the surroundings so the reader is swept away into the world of the characters, and can see and feel what they do. Readers and reviewers have commented enthusiastically on this, so it appears other people enjoy immersing themselves in the world of the stories they read as much as I do!Check out some other great author blogs too:
Rebecca Davis for gripping missionary biographies
Fay Lamb for romance and family
Selena Fulton – It’s All About the Journey
Susan Tuttle’s Encouraging Small Steps that Lead to Giant Leaps in Christ
and Kathryn J. Bain for clean fiction with an edge!
