Grab your magnifying glass, readers, and slip on your heels!
We’re chasing after author Robin Patchen this morning! Just click on her
website https://robinpatchen.com/ and watch those beautiful books scroll by. If
you like romance with a mysterious twist, well, this is your author! She’s
turning out romantic suspense with both soul and spirit!
PT: So glad you have you here today, Robin! Welcome to the
Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction. Let’s dig out some basic facts. How did you
become a writer in the Romantic Suspense genre?
RP: That’s a good question. Honestly, it’s not a genre I
read routinely before I started to write. When I started writing novels, I
assumed my stories would mostly be women’s fiction, but every story I came up
with had some element of suspense. Rather than fight it, I decided to write the
stories that seemed to want to be written, if that makes any sense at all. Now
that I’m settled in Romantic Suspense, I’m so happy this is where God placed
me, not just because of the stories I get to tell but because of the other
writers I’m getting to know, sweet, generous, encouraging friends who write in
this genre.
PT: There is nothing more precious than your tribe! Legacy
Reclaimed just came out in February, and now Legacy Redeemed will debut in July.
Both are part of the Nutfield Saga Series, actually the tenth and eleventh
books. So give us a little background on this series.
RP: It feels like forever ago that I began the Nutfield
books. I had an image—a single woman with an infant returning to her hometown
in rural New Hampshire. That woman became Rae McAdams, and the story,
Convenient Lies, was born. Though the fictional town is more remote and nearer
the coast than where I grew up, I was thinking of my hometown of Londonderry
when I named it. The area that currently encompasses Londonderry, Derry, and
Windham, New Hampshire, was founded in 1719 and originally called Nutfield.
When what I think will be the final Nutfield book releases this summer, the
eleven books will have spanned about thirteen years.
PT: Is your new book Legacy Reclaimed set in New England and
does it have a Biblical message?
RP: Legacy Reclaimed introduces a different town. Coventry
(also fictional) is located in the New Hampshire Lakes Region. It is a tourist
destination, but its primary industry is a clothing factory, which was founded
by the heroine’s parents.
The theme of Legacy Reclaimed is that it is not money or
influence or status that makes us who we are, but our faith and our character.
Truly, it is God who defines us and gives us our worth.
PT: Share a bit about Legacy Reclaimed.
RP: Early in the story, the heroine vows to save her
parents’ legacy (speaking of the company), even at the risk of her own life.
The hero gently encourages her that she, as their only child, is their true
legacy. Throughout the story, Chelsea learns that she is valuable and worthy
regardless of her wealth, and regardless of whether or not she succeeds at
saving her parents’ company. She is worthy of love because God says she is.
PT: Here's the blurb:
She’ll risk anything to save the company her
parents built. He’ll risk anything to save her. Someone will stop at nothing to
make sure they both fail.
Chelsea Hamilton spent her life preparing to run the
international clothing business her parents started, but she’s still caught off
guard when she learns of her mother’s untimely death. Chelsea returns to New
Hampshire, buries her mother, and prepares to take over the floundering
business. When a stranger attempts to kill her, she realizes somebody doesn’t
want her to inherit her legacy.
Private Investigator Dylan O’Donnell spends his time
searching for lost teens. He doesn’t know what to think of the beautiful woman
seeking his services. Hers isn’t the kind of case he’s accustomed to handling,
and she isn’t the kind of client he quit his steady job to help, but something
about the woman pulls at him. She’s in danger, and he can’t turn her away. But
if he blows this very public case, his floundering business might not
survive.
Together, they dig into her family's secrets. The closer
they get to the truth, the closer they grow to one another. Can Chelsea save
the legacy her parents fought to leave her? Can Dylan save Chelsea from the
enemies determined to see her dead?
PT: Could this novel stand alone or is it best to read the
entire series?
RP: It can stand alone. Some characters from previous books
make an appearance, but readers don't need to know their stories to understand
this one. I hope people will be curious enough to go back and read the previous
books.
PT: Is there more novels in store for the Nutfield Saga?
RP: There will be at least one more book. Legacy Redeemed
will release July 28. Readers who’ve read Innocent Lies, book four in the
Nutfield Saga, will recognize the heroine, Vanessa Baker, as the villain from
that book. Vanessa was sold into human trafficking when she was ten years old.
By the time we met her in Innocent Lies, she was twenty and jaded and selfishly
motivated. But the death of the man who’d enslaved her and birth of her
daughter spurred her to seek God and change her life. When Legacy Redeemed
begins, her daughter, Katarina, is seven years old, and Vanessa has to face her
demons.
PT: Yum. I love it when evil characters take a one-eighty
and become a new creature. Now let’s divert a bit. Share a special place to which you’ve
traveled.
RP: I currently live in Oklahoma, and I’m getting ready to
move to Texas, but I love going back to New Hampshire. There’s something
special about the place we call home, isn’t there? I long for the pines and
birches, the rugged coast and gentle mountains. I’ve visited many places in my
life, but New Hampshire will always hold a unique place in my heart.
PT: I think we all have those special places locked away in
our heart. Okay, my fav. Tell 5 things about Robin Patchen that have nothing to
do with writing.
RP:
1. I hate to clean even more than I hate to exercise.
2. I love to travel. I want to visit every place on the entire
planet twice. (Unfortunately, my husband is not on board with that plan.)
3. I am super proud of my kids. My eldest son (22) is a
missionary, my daughter (20) is a super talented singer/songwriter and
performer, and my youngest son (18) is an influencer on Tick Toc.
4. I have a secret desire to write a nonfiction book about my
family’s experiences in the last six years or so—including addiction and
recovery, job loss and transition, and two near-fatal accidents. The book would
be about prayer, God’s faithfulness, and the power of godly friends and family.
5. I am an unapologetic New England Patriots fan.
PT: Share you current favorite Bible verse.
RP: I’ve recently memorized Nehemiah 8:10: “Then he said to
them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to
anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be
grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”
PT: Thanks so much for joining us today, Robin! I know you want to know, you little sleuths, what this week's giveaway is! And Robin is not about to disappoint anyone. She is giving away a free copy of Legacy Rejected. Andddddd. . . . .if you can download a FREE copy of Robin Patchen's Convenient Lies, Book One of the Hidden Truth Series just for visiting her website: robinpatchen.com. Is that a deal or what??!!
Here's the links to purchase any of Robin's books right this very instant J:
Robin's Bio:
Aside from her family and her Savior, Robin Patchen has two
loves—writing and traveling. If she could combine them, she’d spend a lot of
time sitting in front of her laptop at sidewalk cafes and ski lodges and
beachside burger joints. She’d visit every place in the entire world—twice, if
possible—and craft stories and tell people about her Savior. Alas, time is too
short and money is too scarce for Robin to traipse all over the globe, even if
her husband and kids wanted to go with her. So she stays in Oklahoma, shares
the Good News when she can, and writes to illustrate the unending grace of God
through the power and magic of story.
