On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Author Interview
What inspired you to write How Sweet It Is?
In 2017, I was reading my well-loved Bible (the one I’ve used since 1997) which is full of highlights and many notes and dates in the margins. Suddenly I wondered what this Bible might mean to members of my family after I'm gone. Will one of my daughters or grandchildren or great-grandchildren one day leaf through this book and hear God speaking to them because of something I wrote therein? This sparked the idea for the Legacy of Faith series where an ancestor’s Bible would touch the lives of those who hadn’t known him.
During the course of writing the series, I fell completely under the spell of Andrew Henning (the ancestor) and his family, including the great- and great-great-grandchildren who became the heroes and heroine of the books. So I suppose I would have to say that my inspiration for How Sweet It Is was primarily the need to give readers a satisfying ending to the series, to let them enjoy, one more time, the wisdom that Andrew found and shared, via his Bible, with those who came after him.
If you could sum the book up in one sentence, what would you say?
He's lost his brother and she's lost her dream, and together they might find what they’re really looking for.
What challenged you about writing this story?
The greatest challenge was probably the time setting for Andrew’s story. The historical thread that runs through the series began in Who I Am with You during the Great Depression and continued in Cross My Heart during World War II. In How Sweet It Is, the setting is 1969. Although it was a tumultuous time, it wasn’t on the same scale as those other years-long events, so I had to find “smaller” ways to draw readers into the past.
Which character do you most relate to and why?
There are pieces of me in every character I write, bits of my experiences and my thoughts and my desires in each character who appears on the page. In the contemporary part of How Sweet It Is, I suppose I relate the most with Holly because she feels buried by debt and unwelcome responsibilities. Plus she’s seen a dream die. I’ve experienced all of those things and know how overwhelming and unending it can seem.
What do you hope readers will take with them after they’ve read it?
First, I hope readers will find a sweet romance at the center of the story. I enjoy writing about two people who don’t want to fall in love but who fall in love anyway. Second and most important, I pray that readers will take one step closer to God because of something they find in How Sweet It Is.
What is something about you that is unique or that we may not know?
Something you may not know about me is that my great-great-grandfather, Gideon M. Ashmore, was an antislavery innkeeper in Illinois. In the summer of 1845, he hid Anthony and Jane Bryant and their children, escaped slaves who had been brought up from Kentucky to work a farm owned by Robert Matson. They were kept in Illinois longer than the law allowed and ran away. My great-great-grandfather went to an attorney by the name of Abraham Lincoln, but Lincoln had already been consulted by Matson so couldn’t represent the Bryants. Fortunately, Lincoln did not win this particular case, and the Bryants gained their freedom. It’s said that Matson returned to Kentucky without paying Lincoln his fee. And that’s my distant connection to Abraham Lincoln.
In 2017, I was reading my well-loved Bible (the one I’ve used since 1997) which is full of highlights and many notes and dates in the margins. Suddenly I wondered what this Bible might mean to members of my family after I'm gone. Will one of my daughters or grandchildren or great-grandchildren one day leaf through this book and hear God speaking to them because of something I wrote therein? This sparked the idea for the Legacy of Faith series where an ancestor’s Bible would touch the lives of those who hadn’t known him.
During the course of writing the series, I fell completely under the spell of Andrew Henning (the ancestor) and his family, including the great- and great-great-grandchildren who became the heroes and heroine of the books. So I suppose I would have to say that my inspiration for How Sweet It Is was primarily the need to give readers a satisfying ending to the series, to let them enjoy, one more time, the wisdom that Andrew found and shared, via his Bible, with those who came after him.
If you could sum the book up in one sentence, what would you say?
He's lost his brother and she's lost her dream, and together they might find what they’re really looking for.
What challenged you about writing this story?
The greatest challenge was probably the time setting for Andrew’s story. The historical thread that runs through the series began in Who I Am with You during the Great Depression and continued in Cross My Heart during World War II. In How Sweet It Is, the setting is 1969. Although it was a tumultuous time, it wasn’t on the same scale as those other years-long events, so I had to find “smaller” ways to draw readers into the past.
Which character do you most relate to and why?
There are pieces of me in every character I write, bits of my experiences and my thoughts and my desires in each character who appears on the page. In the contemporary part of How Sweet It Is, I suppose I relate the most with Holly because she feels buried by debt and unwelcome responsibilities. Plus she’s seen a dream die. I’ve experienced all of those things and know how overwhelming and unending it can seem.
What do you hope readers will take with them after they’ve read it?
First, I hope readers will find a sweet romance at the center of the story. I enjoy writing about two people who don’t want to fall in love but who fall in love anyway. Second and most important, I pray that readers will take one step closer to God because of something they find in How Sweet It Is.
What is something about you that is unique or that we may not know?
Something you may not know about me is that my great-great-grandfather, Gideon M. Ashmore, was an antislavery innkeeper in Illinois. In the summer of 1845, he hid Anthony and Jane Bryant and their children, escaped slaves who had been brought up from Kentucky to work a farm owned by Robert Matson. They were kept in Illinois longer than the law allowed and ran away. My great-great-grandfather went to an attorney by the name of Abraham Lincoln, but Lincoln had already been consulted by Matson so couldn’t represent the Bryants. Fortunately, Lincoln did not win this particular case, and the Bryants gained their freedom. It’s said that Matson returned to Kentucky without paying Lincoln his fee. And that’s my distant connection to Abraham Lincoln.
How Sweet It Is
(Lagacy of Faith, #3)
By Robin Lee Hatcher
Christian Contemporary Romance
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 304 Pages
July 14th 2020 by Thomas Nelson
He lost his brother. She lost her dream. Together, they might find what they’re really looking for.
Holly Stanford is doing the best she can with the restaurant she inherited from her late uncle. But after her fiancé abandons her and the business, Holly regrets having given up her dream of becoming a pastry chef. Now a few bad financial decisions might cost her everything, including her hope for the future.
Jed Henning has done well with his new company despite his prodigal brother’s behavior. When Jed‘s father, the controlling member of the board of directors, temporarily suspends operations until his sons work out their differences, Jed resentfully chases his brother, Chris, to Boise. There Jed rents a basement apartment from Holly and hopes to convince Chris to get his act together before their company collapses.
Unaware that Holly is the one person who can help him get through to Chris, Jed starts the tough work of reconciliation armed with little more than a few family photographs, a stack of old letters, and a Bible that belonged to his great-grandfather, Andrew Henning. And as romance blossoms between Holly and Jed, the story of Jed’s great-grandfather highlights the power of God across the generations and the legacy of a family’s courageous faith.
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About the Author
Tour Giveaway
One winner will receive a print copy of Cross My Heart by Robin Lee Hatcher
US only
Ends July 29, 2020
US only
Ends July 29, 2020
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