I am very excited to have James Rubart on the blog today to talk about his new book The Pages of Her Life!
James L. Rubart is a 28 year old trapped inside an older man’s body. He still thinks he’s young enough to dirt bike with his two grown sons and waterski like a madman. He’s the bestselling, Christy Award Book of the Year, Carol, INSPY, and RT Book Reviews award winning author of 10 novels and loves sending readers on spiritual journeys they’ll remember months after finishing one of his stories. He lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington state.
You can connect with James on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.
GENRE: Inspirational Speculative Fiction
PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2019
PAGES: 384
How Do You Stand Up for Yourself When It Means Losing Everything?
Allison Moore is making it. Barely. The Seattle area architecture firm she started with her best friend is struggling, but at least they’re free from the games played by the corporate world. She’s gotten over her divorce. And while her dad’s recent passing is tough, their relationship had never been easy.
Then the bomb drops. Her dad had a secret life and left her mom in massive debt.
As Allison scrambles to help her mom find a way out, she’s given a journal, anonymously, during a visit to her favorite coffee shop. As the pressure to rescue her mom mounts, Allison pours her fears and heartache into the journal.
But then the unexplainable happens. The words in the journal, her words, begin to disappear. And new ones fill the empty spaces— words that force her to look at everything she knows about herself in a new light.
Ignoring those words could cost her everything . . . . but so could embracing them.
Hi James – Welcome! I’m honored to have you on the blog. Thank you so much for chatting with me!
James: Right back atcha, Carrie! Honored to be on your blog.
Carrie: I’m honored that you’re honored…. never mind… This could go on for days 😛
James: Yes, I know oranges are good for me, but we have apples in our backyard and I make my own applesauce. So it’s gotta be apples.
Carrie: Yum! now i want homemade applesauce!
James: Summer. I’m still looking for the endless one. Best and worst day of the year is June 21st. (Longest, yea! But it starts getting darker the next day.)
Carrie: I do love the longer daylight in summer but otherwise I hate the humidity…
James: What’s Hallmark?
Carrie: oh dear…. LOL
James: I’ll go with oceans and mountains.
Carrie: Perfect answer!
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
James: Flying by a long shot. Let’s soar!
Carrie: would certainly cut down on travel time!
Q: Who is your favorite book character from childhood?
James: Wow, great question. Have to go with Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia. Her affection and friendship with Aslan (Jesus) is so rich and pure and heart deep, I can’t help but love her dearly (and want to be like her).
Carrie: Oh i love this answer dearly ♥ Lucy is so special – and so is Aslan.
Q: Writing spaces are as diverse as authors and books. Where is your favorite space to write?
James: My wife and I used to live in the Seattle area and I had a secret writing room in our home. I accessed it by crawling through a little door at the back of my youngest son’s closet. When we moved four years ago, I knew I had to find another getaway place. So I had a storage shed built and put on our property in eastern Washington. I finished the inside with reclaimed wood, carpeted it, wired it with electricity, put in an overstuffed chair and that’s my new semi-secret writing space. My wife calls it the Shed-Quarters.
Carrie: oh my goodness! you have the coolest writing spaces!
Q: Which of your main characters in The Pages of Her Life is most like you?
James: Both Allison and Parker are like me. I’d go so far as to say they are me. Different sides of me, yes, but both characters come from my own struggles and triumphs in life. An author friend once told me, “My stories are just my personal journals in published form.” That’s me too.
Carrie: what a great thought!!
Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?
James: I knew Allison and Parker were me, but I had no idea where they’d take me! So it was a journey of discovery as I wrote the story. (Which I love doing.)
Carrie: I find that, when authors are taken on journeys by their characters, the whole book becomes a personal journey for me as well – and I turn the last page a better person for reading it.
Q: Speaking of… Which authors have most shaped your writing journey?
James: Four authors have inspired me the most on my writing journey. It started with my fave of all time, C.S. Lewis. My mom bought The Chronicles of Narnia for my sister and me for Christmas when I was 11 and I devoured them. They opened up worlds to me and I decided right then I wanted to someday try to do for others what Lewis did for me.
Next came Stephen Lawhead. I discovered Steve in my 20s and was thrilled to realize the type of stories I longed to read (and write) were out there. I read every novel he wrote and started seriously dreaming of writing my own.
Then Frank Peretti burst onto the literary scene with This Present Darkness and once again the fire inside me to write burned hot.
Finally, I found Ted Dekker. More than any of the others, Ted’s book took me to places I’d never been before. Out of the four, he was the one I believed was the most like me. (Pretty cool that we’ve ended up being close friends.)
But I was scared to follow the dream. What would happen to me if went for the dream and it crashed and burned? What would I have left? So I let the dream of writing simmer in the deep places of my heart and never stepped out.
Until the day my wife went on a fast.
“Why are you fasting?” I asked.
“God told me to.”
“How long?”
“Till I get the answer.”
“What’s the question?”
“I don’t know.”
This went on for three days. In the middle of the third day I felt God say, “I’ve created a destiny for you to be a writer, when are you going to step into it?”
I turned to Darci and said, “I know why you’re fasting. I’m supposed to be a novelist.”
She turned to me with raised eyebrows. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me I’ve been starving for three days and you get the answer?”
We burst into laughter.
A few days later I started writing my first novel, which turned into ROOMS which was published in 2010. The journey was both exhilarating and devastating. But it was the path God wanted me on in order to shape me and mold me into a man after His heart.
As you might imagine, now I encourage everyone I meet to take the risk and step into the destiny God has for them, whatever it is.
One of my favorite quotes is from Ray Bradbury: “You have to jump off cliffs all the time, and build your wings on the way down.”
That’s faith. It’s believing God when he tells us to leap into the unknown. And in that leap he can bring healing and freedom we’ve only dreamed of.
Carrie: This answer brought tears to my eyes – beautiful. I know we are all so glad you took the leap and let these authors inspire you in the process.
Q: What do you most want readers to take away from The Pages of Her Life?
James: Freedom to stand up for themselves like never before. Hope that healing from past fears and wounds will come. And courage to live out of who they truly are inside and who God has designed them to be.
Carrie: Amen.
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.
James: Life is wonderful and full right now! I’m mulling my next story idea, I’m running The Rubart Writing Academy with my son, Taylor for authors that want to learn how to do what I’ve done, I’m narrating a series of novels for a fellow author, and am loving being an empty nester with my best friend, my wife, Darci.
Thanks so much for having me!
Carrie: You are always welcome here!
Thomas Nelson is offering a print copy of The Pages of Her Life to one of my readers! (US only) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
What about you? What interests you most about James and/or his new novel?
We have Mr. Rubart’s books in the Church Library.
I enjoy a good mystery and his book is definitely a “page turner”.
Thanks for entering me in your giveaway.
This book looks very intriguing! Always love a good mystery!
I really like the cover! The story sounds really interesting!
A captivating and unique story which interests me greatly. The character is faced with trials and tribulations but the newest one is deep and profound. A real treasure which I would cherish.
This story plot seems captivating from the start. I can’t wait to read it to find out what happens to Allison and her family.
The journal!
Sounds like an interesting and exciting read.
Marilyn
James Rubart is one of my must read authors!
Thank you for the interview with James Rubart and information on “The Pages of Her Life’.
This book intrigues me and I would love the opportunity to read it. Can’t wait to read more about Allison and her journal.
I have never read one of Mr. Rubart’s books, but I am constantly hearing the buzz about them. I would love to win and see what all the hype is about! ?
Jim is a huge favorite! I still remember reading Rooms and crying at different parts. His last book The Man He Never Was made a huge impact on me. When I read the part about how God welcomes us home and doesn’t mention our sin it was a big AH-HA moment.
Great interview!!
This poor girl has been through a lot and now has this mysterious book where the writing disappears and is replaced. Wow!
He sounds like an awesome author , his book sounds like a good page turner and I really like the cover.
Mr. Rubart sounds like an awesome author , his book sounds like a good page turner and I really like the cover.
The story blurb for this book sounds a lot like what I”m going through right now. That’s how I know I have to read this book. Also, I too am a fan of Stephen Lawhead, Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker stories. Thanks to Mr. Rubart for sharing how God spoke to him about being an author thanks to his wife’s obedience.
Very interested in reading this book! Thanks for offering the giveaway!
great! 😀