Robin Lee Hatcher and Free Books!

God was going to save her marriage. Allison was sure of it. But neither her husband nor her marriage had been saved. What had become of His promise?

Before we visit today's author, I want to announce that the winner of the signed copy of A Marriage in Middlebury, by Anita Higman, is:

meashy@ . . .

Congratulations! I'll email you both today to get your mailing addresses, and we'll get your books to you right away. I encourage readers to keep commenting and/or subscribe at right (above my list of books) in order to participate in future book give-aways! Subscribers are entered a second time when they comment.

Remember to enter your email address when you comment, as described in today's drawing information, below. If you win the drawing but haven't left your email address, I can't contact you!

Now let's revisit with novelist Robin Lee Hatcher, author of A Promise Kept (Thomas Nelson, January 2014).

Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. She discovered her vocation after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. Winner of the Christy, the RITA, the Carol, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and many other awards, Robin is also a recipient of the prestigious RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of 70 novels and novellas with over five million copies in print.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. A mother and grandmother, Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).

Please tell us three random things we might not know about you.

-- My favorite recipe is: Get into car. Drive to favorite restaurant. Order from the menu.

-- I love board games of words, memory and/or strategy.

-- My mother planned to name me Phoebe (after her younger sister) but heard the name "Robin Lee" shortly before my birth and loved the sound of it and so that's what I was christened.

Yeah, I can't see you as a Phoebe! 

Please tell us a bit more about the plot of A Promise Kept.

Tony Kavanagh had been Allison’s dream-come-true. They were in love within days, engaged within weeks, married and pregnant within a year. Her cup bubbled over with joy . . . but years later, that joy had been extinguished by unexpected trials.

The day Allison issued her husband an ultimatum, she thought it might save him. She never expected he would actually leave. She was certain God had promised to heal; it was clear that she’d misunderstood. Now living in the quiet mountain cabin she inherited from her single, self-reliant Great Aunt Emma, Allison must come to terms with her grief and figure out how to adapt to small town life. But when she finds a wedding dress and a collection of journals in Emma’s attic, a portrait of her aunt emerges that takes Allison completely by surprise: a portrait of a heartbroken woman a lot like herself.

As Allison reads the incredible story of Emma’s life in the 1920s and 1930s, she is forced to ask a difficult question: Does she really surrender every piece of her life to the Lord? For a woman accustomed to being someone else’s savior, that will be even harder than it sounds.

A Promise Kept is Robin Lee Hatcher’s most intimate work yet and an emotionally charged thanksgiving to a God who answers prayers—in His time and His own ways.

Why will readers care about Allison?

I hope they will see someone like themselves or someone they know. I hope they will empathize with Allison's heartbreak and disappointments and cheer for her as she begins to rebuild from the ashes. I hope they will be encouraged to trust God again in those areas where it seems He hasn't answered their prayers or kept His promise.

If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your lead roles?

Allison would be played by Amanda Peet.





Tony would be played by Patrick Dempsey.






Emma would be played by the 1933 version of Gloria Stuart (not sure who would be a current actress to play Emma when she was young).




What is one improvement you’d like to make in your life in 2014?

Continue to make healthy choices: Getting my 10,000 steps every day is the most important. Shedding about ten pounds would be part of that.

Ten thousand. That sounds like a lot of steps. I haven't kept track of my steps for years, but I think I'd be hard pressed to meet that goal. I'm impressed.

What is the last novel you read that you would recommend?

At the recommendation of a book club I visited, I read The Book Thief . The book has nearly 400,000 ratings on Goodreads, and people seem to either love it or hate it. Both of those emotions with passion. I am actually torn. I became so attached to Liesel and Rudy and Max and Hans and Rosa. The setting is WWII in Germany, and the author chose to tell the story through the narrator, Death. I was a little confused about the narrator at the beginning of the novel, but not for long. Also, the scene and chapter headings were either brilliant or pretentious. I never quite decided which. I liked and disliked them at the same time.

One thing that spoiled the story for me was the coarse/foul/profane language that littered the book. Too bad the author chose to write it this way. It didn't add to the story at all. Instead, it took away from it. I am not easily offended by the coarse language of others because the world is what it is. But I consider it lazy writing.

Despite the things I didn't like, I'm glad that I stuck with the story and read it to the end. I still gave the book a 4 out of 5 star rating. It was just too memorable to do otherwise. So I would recommend it but with caution.

I read the book years ago (also for a book club), and I remember really liking it. Oddly, the language didn't stick with me. It will be interesting to see how the story is portrayed in the film.

What are you working on now?

The first book in a new contemporary romance series which is set in the same location as A Promise Kept. There were some great characters I met during the writing of that book (which is women's fiction rather than romance), so I decided to stick around and tell some more of their stories.

Where else can readers find you online?

Website and blog: www.robinleehatcher.com
Facebook
Twitter: @robinleehatcher
Pinterest
Goodreads


The book can be purchased in fine book stores and online via the following buttons:






CBD.com


Finally, what question would you like to ask my readers?

It's the New Year. Do you make resolutions or do you avoid them like the plague?

Thank you, Robin, for visiting with us and telling us about your novel. Readers, Robin has offered to give a signed copy of her book to the winner of our drawing on Thursday, January 16. To enter, leave a comment below in answer to Robin's question, above. "Please enter me" won't get you entered. Leave your email address, in case you win, like so: trish[at]trishperry[dot]com.

Be sure to check out my post about my devotional giveaway , below. Leave an appropriate comment at the bottom of the post to enter the drawing for a signed copy of one of the books.

Also, I'd love it if you'd connect with me on Facebook. Just click on my name at the right of today's post.

Annoying legal disclaimer: drawings void where prohibited; open only to U.S. residents; the odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. See full disclaimer HERE.