I met award-winning author Robin Lee Hatcher a few years ago at one of the American Christian Fiction Writers’ conferences. I am a frequent visitor of her blog and a few years back made her devotional type thoughts my homepage – until I got my own website, that is. :) Robin has a great sense of humor and is a deep thinking person with some great spiritual insight. I’ve read several of her novels and am always delighted with her flair for romance.

Among my favorites of Robin Lee Hatcher’s work is an historical novel called Catching Katie. Also, Beyond the Shadows, which dealt with the effects of alcoholism and taught me a lot.

The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, two RT Career Achievement Awards, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal. She enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home in Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon.

Robin has two new releases. In June 2007 Return to Me released, followed by Trouble in Paradise in July. Here’s the blurb for Return to Me:

Discouraged and destitute, her dreams shattered, Roxy Burke is going home. But what lies beyond the front door? Rejection … or a brighter future?

A lot has changed since Roxy escaped small town life to become a Nashville star. Her former boyfriend Wyatt has found Christ and plans to become a minister. Her sister Elena, who comforted Wyatt when Roxy ran away, is now his fiancee. Her father Jonathan, a successful businessman, is heartbroken over the estrangement of Roxy from the family.

Now Roxy—her inheritance from her grandmother squandered, her hopes of stardom dashed—finds her way home … not by choice but because it’s her only option. Her father’s love and forgiveness surprise her, but her very presence throws the contented Burke family into turmoil, filling Roxy with guilt and shame.

Elena is shocked to discover doubt and resentment in her heart after her father’s easy acceptance of Roxy into the family circle. Wyatt wrestles with doubts about marrying Elena. And Roxy struggles to accept forgiveness. Isn’t she more deserving of rejection? As the story of the prodigal plays out, each member of the Burke family must search for and accept God’s grace.

You can purchase Return to Me at these three online bookstores:

CBD, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

I asked Robin to give us some insight into how God is using her and her writing.

Jill: When and how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Robin: I was 29 the year my love of reading and writing came together. I’d written a newsletter for a horse association for more than a year and loved writing the more creative pieces, like what my filly looked like running through the snow beside my mare. Then an article was in the newspaper about a local author whose first novel had just been published. And finally I read a book with what I felt was an entirely unsatisfactory ending. I decided it was time to give writing a novel a try. There’d been an idea rolling around in my head for a number of months by then. So I sat down with yellow legal pad and pen and began writing my first novel. It took me from March to November to write that book, writing it longhand at night, then typing it at the office on coffee breaks and lunch hours during the week.

Jill: Can you share with me some of the highlights of your writing journey – something particularly memorable or humorous?

Robin: I started on the journey all alone, without a writer’s group or organization to go to with questions. I certainly made some missteps along the way. I submitted my first manuscript to every publisher of fiction, not paying attention to whether they wanted my kind of novel (a romantic historical saga). Thus, I got lots of rejections. But the first publisher to request the full did make me an offer. Soon after I signed the contract, however, they went bankrupt. It was devastating but a good introduction to the ups and downs of publishing.

My first book was published in 1984, and I wrote 30 books for the general market before answering God’s call to write for the CBA. I am now working on my 55th book.

Jill: Tell me a bit about what you write now and what you hope/plan to write in the future. Do you have a favorite genre?

Robin: I write contemporary Women’s Fiction for the Christian market, with an occasional side trip into romance (both historical and contemporary). I believe I found my true voice when I began tackling the tougher subjects of life (alcoholism in a Christian home, marriages in crisis, etc.). I want my readers, when they finish my books, to have renewed hope, no matter how difficult their personal circumstances are.

Jill: Do you consider your writing the work God has given you to do for a lifetime or for a season of your life? Can you see yourself pursuing something outside of writing for His glory?

Robin: I do believe that my writing is a lifetime calling, but I also know that I cannot foresee the future. Of course, my writing is my only source of income so it is hard to envision being able to do anything else. I do know that if God calls me elsewhere, I want to be ready and willing to go.

Jill: Are there people in your life who encouraged you, who are responsible for you becoming a published author?

Robin: My mother and one of my aunts were my two greatest encouragers when I was young. My Aunt Marge told me when I was still in school that I was destined to be a writer. And today, my mom (now 93) remains my biggest fan.

Jill: Can you share one struggle that entered your life as a result of writing and how God helped you to overcome it, to make you more like Christ? After so many books published, do you still have days where you question what you are doing or feel like you’ll never write another book?

Robin: Most days I question what I am doing, and most days I do not think I have what it takes to write another book. I feel inadequate and unsure of myself the vast majority of the time. As for the first question, I can’t think of any struggle that entered my life as a “result of writing,” but God has helped me see things more clearly through the things I write. Beyond the Shadows is a case in point. When I began the book, I thought God had called me to write it to help other Christians whose lives are impacted by the alcoholism of a loved one. But by the time I was done, I came to believe it was God’s gift to me, helping me to understand afresh about His sovereignty in my life and the need to surrender to His will, even when I don’t understand it.

Jill: Likewise, is there a particular joy in this writing business/ministry that God has used to remind you that He is, in fact, using your words to His glory?

Robin: Getting letters and emails from readers who share with me something God has revealed to them while reading one of my books. That is a true joy, getting to see God at work in the midst of their lives.

Jill: Has writing opened opportunities for you to give your testimony and witness for Christ or minister to fellow believers? If so, can you give one example?

Robin: Oh, yes. Many times. For a number of years, I led women’s retreats that were based upon four of my novels. I have been able to pray with women whose husbands have been unfaithful, with women who love an alcoholic, with mothers who have prodigal children, etc. I can’t see how any of those opportunities would have arisen apart from my writing.

Some of Robin’s upcoming releases are:

Hearts Evergreen (Steeple Hill, November 2007)
Robin Lee Hatcher’s novella, A Cloud Mountain Christmas: Take one lonely divorcee at Christmastime. Send her on business to the romantic Cloud Mountain Lodge. Add a complication: handsome innkeeper Tony Anderson. And mix!

Home to Hart’s Crossing (Revell, January 2008)
Find all four novellas from the Hart’s Crossing series in this new paperback edition. Discover again why readers have loved their visits to Hart’s Crossing, the small town with a big heart.

The Perfect Life (Women of Faith Fiction, March 2008)
Katherine thought her life was perfect: wonderful husband, delightful daughters, new grandbabies on the way. Then her perfect life comes crumbling down around her ears. Had it all been a perfect lie instead.

You can visit author Robin Lee Hatcher and get to know her better by checking out her website or her Write Thinking blog.

Thanks Robin, for joining us this month on Spotlight!