Welcome Kathleen Rouser

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing my writing prayer partner. Let’s welcome Kathleen (Kathy) Rouser.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

 Thank you for having me on your blog today, Jodie. Number one, I’m a child of the King, by God’s grace. I’m also a wife and mom to three grown children and I have one granddaughter.

I homeschooled my kids for over twenty years. When I was finished, I went back to school twice and worked as a dental assistant for a while before God called me home to focus more on my writing and Bible study.

I’m very involved in our local Community Bible Study and love to work with the kids when I get the chance. I also enjoy designing and making jewelry and date nights with my husband. In addition, I love the company of my two cats, Opal and Ruby, five-year-old litter mates. That is, when they aren’t hiding under a piece of furniture or in a closet. As a sign in our vet’s office says: “Life without cats? I don’t think so!”

It’s great to have you here. How did you get started in writing?

My mom’s faithfulness in reading books to me when I was a small child piqued my interest in stories. Since the age of four I wanted to write books and even illustrate them! But my writing talents were greater than my art skills. I also was encouraged by a couple of my teachers in grade school, as well as my writing professor in college. I had my first magazine article published when I was nineteen.

And I loved to read from the time that I learned how, so books and the idea of story and how each one I read affected me gave me a desire to create stories of my own.

Sounds like we have similar backgrounds. 🙂 Tell us about your recent release.

Scandals and Mercies, an historical Christian romance, is the third book in the Stone Creek Brides series. It’s set at the end of the Gilded Age in small town Michigan and was published by Wild Heart Books. The hero and heroine were introduced in the first book in the series, Rumors and Promises. I enjoyed finally developing their story.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

He’s a reporter determined to uncover the truth, but the secrets he finds could crush her family—and their second chance at love.

Taken from her family’s farm to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle, Nora Armstrong has accepted that not only will she never realize her dream of becoming a teacher, she’d also rather be a spinster than submit to her cruel aunt’s society selection of a suitable husband. The one man who caught her eye betrayed her best friend. And she’s got enough on her hands, hiding her sister’s shameful secret from her aunt.

When the local home for unwed mothers burns down, the arson investigation brings big-city reporter James Cooper back to Stone Creek—and back into Nora’s life. James also has a meddling aunt who raises more questions than she answers about his past. Not to mention, he can’t figure out why Nora constantly rebuffs him. When his reporting casts aspersions on the local church and lays the blame for the fire and a series of robberies at the wrong feet, he risks losing his new position at the paper.

As they seek to unravel the town’s mystery, rescue endangered mothers and children, and navigate their own family secrets forced to light, James and Nora increasingly turn to each other for help. But can they overcome James’s lack of faith and the disapproval of Nora’s guardians to find a second chance at love?

It’s a great book. I had the pleasure of reading it. What book are you reading now?

Right now, I’m reading The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan. It’s a book about three British women during WWII. Though fictional, it was interesting to learn about how they had to ration clothing in England during the war. The story is woven, pardon the pun, around a beautiful old moth-eaten wedding dress that inspires the women in the sewing circle to work together and give each young woman who is going to wed a white dress to borrow to be married in. Though secular, it’s a sweet and engaging story.

Sounds interesting. Tell us about your writing space.

The space I like the most right now is a small secretary and hutch my sister gave me a couple of years ago when she was downsizing. The desktop is too small to get cluttered with a lot of other things and I can reach up and pull out a writing book from the cupboard in front of me. It’s in the corner of my living room and away from distractions.

Looks like your kitty is dictating what to write. 🙂 Where can readers find you online?

At my website and readers can receive a free novella when they subscribe to my newsletter HERE.

Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, GoodReads and BookBub!

They can find their copy of Scandals and Mercies on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Author Bio: Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest.

Thanks for stopping by, Kathy. Congrats with your new book!