"Restored Grace" by Kathleen J. Robison -- Author Interview, Blog Tour, and Giveaway

July 28, 2022

About the Book

Book: Restored Grace

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Release date: June 21, 2022

They promised Jesus would be with her through everything, but is that enough?

Free-spirited vintage thrift shop owner, Carol Scape, wallowed in grief after her boyfriend’s murder. However, with newfound faith, she’s finding out what it means to die-to-self and put others first. Even if it could cost her life.

Carol is on a mission to save a runaway teen and an at-risk girl from Will Boudreaux, the man just released from jail for running a prostitution ring. The same man who previously terrorized Bay Town residents. Can’t the town get a break? Can’t she?

She’s up for the challenge, but when sparks ignite between her and the town mayor, it muddles things. Having sworn off men, he’s getting in the way of what she feels she must do. Or is he?

Restored Grace is the second book of the Bay Town Series, continuing one year after Shattered Guilt. It’s a stand-alone, amped-up, romantic suspense. Buckle your seat belt. You’re in for a ride.

Author Interview

1. Do you set a plot or prefer going wherever an idea takes you?
I’m a panster, so I write by the seat of my plants, but I’m learning to outline a little
when I get stuck. I usually have an idea in my head, but my stories take me places
where I didn’t intend to go. In Restored Grace, the original idea for the main
character, Carol Scape, is actually another story entirely…yet to be written.

2. What, according to you, is the hardest thing about writing?
I really had to think about this question. I love all aspects of writing itself. I love
making up stories and making them better through editing. Perhaps the hardest is
getting it right, not wasting words, and choosing the perfect ones. I want my writing to
be tight and concise but still in my voice, so sometimes, this isn’t easy.

3. What would you say is the easiest aspect of writing?
Pouring it all out into the computer. I love letting it flow from my mind to my
fingertips! The Lord has blessed me with many stories, and I don’t have enough time
to write them all! I wish I had endless hours to write, write, write.

4. Do you pen down revelations and ideas as you get them, right then and there?
Yes! I have notebooks all over the house with ideas, and I’ve been known to pull over
while driving, grab my phone and speak my thoughts into it. Four years ago, I was at
the airport saying goodbye to my son and his family (missionaries to Japan) and saw a
woman passenger who became my main character in Restored Grace. I wrote down
the idea for her on the drive home.

5. Do you need to be in a specific place or room to write, or you can just sit in the middle
of a café full of people and write?
I very much like being at my desk, at home. I’m very disciplined about it, so I get up
incredibly early so as not to be interrupted. Still, I can focus at the library, in a hotel
room, or in a quiet writing session with others, but not in a noisy café’ full of people.
I’m easily distracted, so I’d be listening to conversations, and my pages would be
blank.

6. When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer?
When my sons encouraged me to participate in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing
Month) just ten years ago. I took long drives to watch my other boys play college
baseball and made up a story (Book One, Shattered Guilt) to keep my mind occupied.
When I told my sons about it, they encouraged me to draft the book. But I recently
realized that I’ve always written…just not on paper. As a young girl, I made stories up
in my head. Daydreaming was a considerable waste of time when I was growing
up…so it seemed. The Lord has a sense of humor.

7. How long does it usually take you to write a book?
Depending on the length, I complete three books a year. Initially, it took eight years
for that first novel. I work on other stories simultaneously, so I first published a
novelette, Essential Ingredients, in 2020, and three more books came out in 2021.
Shattered Guilt, Revived Hope and Mistletoe Village. This year, another three will be
released. Restored Grace, Let Them Eat Fruitcake, and The Cross in Morioka Castle
(working title). The latter two are Christmas books. It’s so fun, and I can’t stop!

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Most just pop into my head randomly, but almost always inspired by people I know orincidences I’ve experienced. Songs also influence me. My first little novelette,Essential Ingredients, was inspired by Dan Fogelberg’s Same Old Lang Syne. Ialways get ideas while traveling in the car with my husband. I’m always pointing outpeople or landmarks and asking what he thinks the story is. We endlessly discussscenarios, and it makes for exciting road trips.

9. What is your work schedule/routine when you write?
This sounds a bit eccentric, but I typically awake at 3:30 am and do my devotions and
bible study. Then I begin writing or editing from 5:00 until 8:00. I take a break for
breakfast, walk with my husband, and head back to the computer at 9:00 until the
grandkids start coming to visit! Which is usually around 11:00. If they don’t come, I’ll
write until hubby says he’s hungry for lunch. If I have a deadline, I’ve been known to
stay in my pajamas and write all day until my husband yells, “Dinner is ready on the
table!”

10. Do bits of yourself/friends show up in your characters?
Always. God has worked wonders in me and those around me, and I can’t help but
share the blessings He’s provided us. Especially His all-consuming calm and presence
in times of tragedy. My main character, Carol, in Restored Grace, is a compilation of
wild, eclectic women who have fascinated me. Some have trusted the Lord, it seems,
in everything, and like many of us, some often fail. But in Jesus, victory quietly
awaits.

11. Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m so incredibly grateful to readers and reviewers. Their words spur authors to
do what God has called them to do. You encourage us, keep us humble, and grow
us to be better communicators of God’s truths through Christian Fiction. Thank
you from the bottom of my heart.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Kathleen J. Robison is an Okinawan-American, born in Okinawa, and raised in California, Florida, Mississippi, and Singapore. Her travels and her family are the sources of her inspiration for her books. Kathleen and her Pastor husband have eight adult children. Seven are married, blessing them with eighteen grandchildren and counting. Her ethnically diverse background extends to her family of currently thirty-five personalities which provide many opportunities to share God’s amazing love amidst the challenges of real life.

More from Kathleen

I love writing inspirational romantic suspense featuring heroic women. In Restored Grace, Carol Scape embodies my efforts. She’s impulsive, she’s wild, she’s crazy…and she’s back. With a newfound faith in Christ, she tackles the bad guy with a style all her own.

The main character in Restored Grace is a favorite of mine. In fact, I brought her back from Book One because my Library Critique Group loved her so much. When I read a chapter from Shattered Guilt, where Carol plays a minor role, the Branch Manager Librarian laughed and quipped, “I know women just like her, and you nailed her perfectly!”

Perhaps in some ways, I secretly (I guess it’s not a secret now) wish I was her. Impulsive, the life of the party, indifferent to what people think about her, and confident in her skin. Carol is 50ish, pleasantly curvy, a boho-chic hippie with long wavy, graying, red hair that constantly tangles in her arms, and others because she moves so quickly. She wears lots of loud, jingly jewelry, and always puts on her prettiest face (with light makeup but tempted to use a heavy hand). And I love her fashion style. Colorful swirling, tiered skirts, cowboy boots, peasant tops, and fringed shawls. If I was taller, I’d love to carry that off, so I let my alter ego, Carol Scape do it for me.

Yet, in some ways, women like her used to drive me crazy. They walk into a room, and in minutes their larger-than-life personalities can’t help but draw attention. But I’m so thankful the Lord has humbled me, and if someone drives me crazy … I look at myself and see what I need to work on. Still, call it envy, expectations, or too much energy, but people like her exist, don’t they? And we must admit, they’re a lot of fun. Are you a Carol, or do you know a Carol? Either way, we’re called to love everyone. And the most important thing is caring about all people enough to be concerned for their eternity. I don’t mean judging, but sharing, encouraging, and pointing them to Jesus, whoever they may be and wherever they are in their walk.

Three particular things that I hope you’ll identify in the new Carol are her struggle with God’s grace, her selfless desire to help others, and her discovered confidence in Christ. The beauty of writing inspirational romantic suspense is bringing to life how real people, with real problems, struggle with their faith just like us, as we trust that the victory belongs to the Lord.

I hope you enjoy reading Restored Grace, and I hope you’re encouraged and inspired to receive and extend the precious grace of our Savior, Jesus, to all those whom God puts in your path…much like Carol.