Robin Patchen Interview

Q: How long have you been writing and what other careers or jobs have you had?
A. I’ve been writing fiction for over a decade. Way back when, I majored in journalism and then worked in marketing and public relations until our first child was born. I was a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler, and during that time I taught homeschool classes.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release, Beauty in Battle?
A: Beauty in Battle is the final book in a series of linked suspense novels. (The first two books are Beauty in Flight and Beauty in Hiding.) The three books tell the story of Harper Cloud, an ex-con with a beautiful face and an ugly past who’s desperate for a new beginning. She lives in Las Vegas when the series begins, trying to believe she’s safe despite the constant feeling that she was being watched. And then, the phantom stalker becomes real when he follows her home and nearly snatches her. Afraid for her life, she decides to take her new boyfriend up on his job offer to care for his aging grandfather in Maryland. Harper relocates thinking she’s left her past behind, but her new boyfriend has secrets of his own.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?
A: Hmm… I don’t know. I wish I did. If I could figure out where my stories come from, I might have more confidence that I could go back and get more.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: Harper is an ex-con and an ex-stripper who’s fallen about as far as a human can fall. But she’s redeemable, because Christ can redeem us all. That’s what I hope readers remember—that there’s no pit so deep that God can’t rescue us.

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?
A. Another excellent question… This story has a gambling addict in it, so Las Vegas was a good place to start it. And the bulk of the story takes place in Nutfield, NH, the fictional town from the Hidden Truth series, so that was the logical place to place a lot of it. I have a new friend who’s from Maryland, so perhaps that’s why I chose it as Red’s home. I always like learning about new places, and Maryland’s someplace I’ve only driven through. Now that I’ve done some research, of course I want to go.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?
A: They’re totally made up. Their characteristics often come from people I know, but the characters themselves are completely fictional.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. My next book will be another story that takes place in Nutfield. The heroine is a character in the Beauty in Flight series, Ginny. She’s a realtor who moved to Nutfield to be near her sister. Only when her story begins, her sister is leaving town… because Ginny is there. Before she goes, she warns Ginny to run while she still can—from whom, Ginny has no idea. She’s finally found a home in Nutfield, and she’s not willing to leave because of some nebulous, faceless threat. Of course, that’s not going to work out the way Ginny hopes it will… What would be the fun in that?

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?
A. Is it cheating to say I’d go around the world? Honestly, I want to go just about everywhere, so if money were no object, I’d start by heading to Hawaii where my son lives, then continue to the Far East—Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Bangkok. Then south to Australia and New Zealand. Oh, and Africa, to go on a safari. Of course, we’d have to see the Holy Land, the Greek Isles, Cairo, all of Europe… Suffice it to say, my husband hopes I’ll never plan a trip where money is no object.

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?
A. When I was seventeen, my sister and I went on vacation to St. Thomas. My sister decided we should rent a sailboat. I was against the idea, because we had no idea how to sail, but my sister talked me into it. So off we went, sailing into the Caribbean. The wind carried us swiftly away from shore. Unfortunately, turning around proved impossible for two teenage girls who’d never navigated a sailboat in our lives. Fortunately, we were rescued by a couple of handsome guys from Connecticut. They towed us in, then took us to dinner. It ended up working out, but suffice it to say, it was a silly thing to do.

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
A. This past summer, my youngest child was visiting my sister and her family in Utah. Jacob and my nephew had gone camping for the weekend. I got a phone call at 9:20 that Monday night. My sister (the same one who talked me into that sailboat) said, “The boys have been in a terrible accident. They’re both alive. They’re being life-flighted to Salt Lake City. That’s all I know.” The next 24 hours were the most difficult of my life. Thank God, both boys survived the accident, but they were in bad shape. Obviously, it’s a long story. It was one of those things I had no choice but to go through, but going through it and trusting God was handling it… that was hard. Keeping my faith even when we had no idea if our son would live or die while we were trying to navigate travel arrangements… It was torturous. Oh, and while Jacob was in the hospital, my daughter had to have surgery. Having her go through that and not being there for her was horrible. The Lord brought us through, and we’re so thankful everybody is recovering, but that’s an experience I wouldn’t recommend.