Robin E. Mason's Blog: Robin's Book Shelf - BLOGWORDS – Friday 28 October 2022 – BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – GUEST POST

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BLOGWORDS – Friday 28 October 2022 – BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – GUEST POST – PAT NICHOLS

BLOGWORDS – Friday 28 October 2022 – BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – GUEST POST – PAT NICHOLS

BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – GUEST POST – PAT NICHOLS Slide3 - guest post

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Please give a great welcome to Pat Nichols, author and friend. Because family and friends and faith are so important in my stories, I invited Ms. Nichols to share about FFF in her stories, and in her life.

THE IMPORTANCE of FAITH and the REFLECTION of GOD’S LOVE

A reader once asked me if novels come straight from authors’ imaginations. The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. Why? Because imaginations are fueled by real-life experiences and those experiences influence writers’ characters and plotlines. Whether our genres are romance, mystery, women’s fiction, or speculative, Christian authors’ stories are often centered on family and friends. Perhaps because we understand that God places people in our lives who help us navigate the valleys and thrive at the peaks.

Growing up I didn’t fully appreciate how blessed I was to have parents who loved and respected each other and their two daughters. Sometimes I balked at Mom’s insistence that my sister and I experience so many activities together, like taking ballet and baton twirling lessons. Spending Saturday afternoons at the pool or weekends at our grandmother’s house. After all, my sister was three-and-a-half years younger. At times I was annoyed, especially after I turned thirteen and believed I was so grown up.

When I became an adult I realized why Mom wanted my sister and I to spend time together. You see, she was an adopted only child. The entire time she was growing up she longed for a sister. After Mom married my dad and had a family of her own, that longing subsided. In fact, any desires she might have once had to find her birth parents vanished. Perhaps because she accepted the fact that God had provided her with the one family that mattered.

Now, I also realize the wisdom in Mom’s parenting. She understood that my sister and I were different in so many ways, and we still are today. Yet that close bond created during our youth remains. Despite our different views and lifestyles, we respect each other and love spending time together, enjoying what we have in common. By the way, Mom and Dad were married more than sixty years before they passed on to their eternal home. My sister and I have both been married to our spouses for fifty-plus years. A legacy? Perhaps.

When I began reading Robin Mason’s newest novel, I wondered what it would be like to have an identical twin. I remembered the time I met a woman who looked a lot like me, which was a bit like looking in the mirror. As I continued reading One for the Price of Two, I realized that although Bethy and Mere look exactly alike, God had endowed each with their own characteristics. How amazing that even identical twins are unique individuals created in God’s image.

Although far too many people aren’t fortunate to grow up in loving families, God places friends in their lives to fill that gap. Such was the case of one of our daughter’s close high-school friends who lived with our family for several years. In fact, she was the inspiration for my latest book, Jenny’s Grace.

One reason I enjoy reading books written by Christian authors like Robin, is the importance of faith and the reflection of God’s love woven into their stories.

THE AUTHOR

New Author Photo Award-winning author, Pat Nichols is proving it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Nine years after retiring from a twenty-seven-year corporate career with an international beauty company, her love for writing prompted her to launch career number two as a novelist. Now she draws on her experience to write stories with tension-laced challenges and heart-warming triumphs. The Secret of Willow Inn is a 2020 Selah Award winner. Starstruck in Willow Falls is a NGCWC Georgia Peach Award winner. Her short story The Vet and Valentine Day also won a NGCWC Georgia Peach Award. Pat is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Word Weavers International.