About the Book

Book:  Tides of Duplicity

Author: Robin Patchen

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Release date: February 16, 2021

A jewelry heist, a kidnapping, and a choice. When Fitz’s sister disappears, he’ll do anything to get her back, even if it means betraying the woman he’s come to love. Private investigator Fitz McCaffrey went to Belize on a case, bringing his teenage sister Shelby along with him. They have no good reason to leave the resort and hurry back to the harsh New England winter. They lost their parents, he lost his job as a cop, and they both need time to heal. Besides, when Fitz meets and spends time with the beautiful and charming Tabitha Eaton, he falls hard.  But minutes after Tabby’s flight leaves, Fitz is summoned by a mobster who believes Tabby broke into the hotel safe the night before and made off with half a million dollars’ worth of jewels—and he has the video evidence to prove it. As Shelby’s guardian, Fitz has to focus on caring for his sister, whether Tabby is innocent or guilty. He refuses to help the man—until he learns the mobster has taken his sister.  The clock is ticking as Fitz scrambles to recover the jewels. If he succeeds, it’ll cost the woman he’s come to care for. If he fails, it’ll cost his sister’s life.  

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Aside from her family and her Savior, USA Today bestselling author Robin Patchen has two loves—writing and traveling. If she could combine them, she’d spend a lot of time sitting in front of her laptop at sidewalk cafes and ski lodges and beachside burger joints. She’d visit every place in the entire world—twice, if possible—and craft stories and tell people about her Savior. Alas, time is too short and money is too scarce for Robin to traipse all over the globe, even if her husband and kids wanted to go with her. So she stays in Texas, shares the Good News when she can, and writes to illustrate the unending grace of God through the power and magic of story.

More from Robin

Do you remember the show Party of Five? It ran for six seasons back in the 90s. I wasn’t a huge fan of the show itself, but I loved the premise: the oldest son of five children becomes the guardian for his younger siblings after their parents are killed in a car accident.

Talk about fodder for a great story.

When I was dreaming about Tides of Duplicity, I decided my hero, Fitz McCaffrey, had a similar story. In his case, his parents died when he was twenty-one, leaving him as the sole guardian of his eight-year-old sister, Shelby.

Do you remember being twenty-one? I do, and let me tell you, I wouldn’t have had the first idea how to raise an eight-year-old, especially one dealing with the trauma of losing her parents. Fitz didn’t know, either.

Sure, thanks to insurance, they had plenty of money to survive. He was able to finish college, go to the police academy, and get a job. But emotionally, Fitz didn’t know what he was doing. What he knew was that his sister needed him, and he loved her enough to figure it out.

Our story picks up eight years later when Fitz and Shelby go to Belize for vacation. Shelby meets a teenage boy who takes up all her time. Fitz doesn’t complain when he meets a beautiful woman named Tabby. They spend two weeks together, and by the time those weeks are up, Fitz has fallen hard.

But the morning Tabby leaves, Fitz discovers a few shocking truths:

Tabby was caught on tape stealing from the hotel safe.

The hotel safe held a half million dollars’ worth of jewels belonging to a mafia boss—who happens to be the father of Shelby’s new boyfriend.

And the mob boss wants Fitz to get his stuff back.

His leverage?

He’s taken Shelby.

Shelby’s the only family Fitz has left. He loves her like a father loves a daughter, and he’ll do anything to get her back.

Even betray the woman he’s come to love.

I loved writing this story. I loved writing the conflict Fitz deals with—the desire to save Shelby vs. the desire to protect Tabby from a very dangerous man. I love seeing his newfound faith at work. Frankly, as the world dealt with all the drama of 2020, I loved writing about exotic locations that took me out of my normal life—a couple of resort towns, not to mention Tabby’s hometown, the little snow-covered village of Coventry, New Hampshire.

As the winter winds blow, I hope you’ll take this trip with Fitz and Tabby and Shelby. I think you’re going to love it.

Interview with Robin

Thanks for hosting me today, Gina!

Do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer?

Writing is hard. The longer I do it, the more I realize what an understatement that is. Writing is, to use my New Hampshire vernacular, wicked hard. I have the privilege of working with new writers in my role as a freelance editor. I often tell people to imagine that there are 1000 things a person needs to know to be a great writer. Everybody comes to the table with some number of those—let’s say 600—down pat. Maybe there are 200 things the writer sort of understands but hasn’t mastered. And there’s always a number of things the writer doesn’t even know he doesn’t know. The job of anybody who wants to be a writer is to move things from the “sort of get” and “didn’t even know I didn’t know” columns into the “down pat” column.

How do you do that? Read a lot. In your genre and outside of it. Read craft books, but don’t just read them. Study them. Do the exercises. Practice what they preach. I’m always amazed at people who’ll spend a thousand dollars to attend a writers conference and then balk at spending $15.99 on a writing craft book. The book has far more information than what you’ll learn at the conference. Buy it. Study it. Practice it.

The most important thing, though, for somebody who wants to be a writer? Write. Often, daily if you can. If you want to take days off from your work-in-progress, then write in a journal. Write short stories. Write blog posts. Writing is a skill, and to improve at any skill, you have to practice, practice, practice.

What’s your favorite part about being a writer? Research? First Draft? Editing?

I enjoy just about every element of writing. Not every minute of every element—don’t misunderstand me. There are always bad moments, but for the most part, I love what I do. But my favorite part is the last read-through before I send my book to the proofreader, when it’s been polished to a shine. When I can see what I’ve created—created with God and with the help of my critique partners and editors—and marvel at it. Not that I’m so marvelous, mind you, or that my work is. But that I—as flawed and mediocre as I am—can create a story about people who feel real and have real-feeling things happen to them? That I can make people smile or even bring them to tears…? It gets me every single time. What a privilege it is to do what I do.

What do you think makes a good story?

This is an important question for all storytellers, isn’t it? It’s one I wrestle with in my own novels and in the novels I edit. I believe a great story is made up of at least one heroic and sympathetic character working toward a worthy goal for a good reason—one with high stakes—and overcoming difficult obstacles in order to reach it. I believe a good story is about what it’s about, but it’s also about greater things—those felt needs all of us have like acceptance, forgiveness, reconciliation, purpose, significance, etc. For me, and for most readers, I think, a good story also has not only a satisfying ending, but a happy ending.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be a writer, but I was such an insecure kid, I didn’t tell anybody. I remember sitting on my twin bed in my robin’s-egg-blue bedroom with a notebook and pen, trying to think of something to write. I would start, stall, quit, start again. Ultimately, I’d end up with notebooks full of nothing. I was a slave to my fear back then—fear of failure, fear of looking stupid. I studied journalism in college but didn’t have the courage to try to be a reporter. I went into marketing and public relations because that would give me an opportunity to write what others told me to write—to write without bravery. I became a wife and a mother and a home school teacher, and the only writing I did was in my journal. (Remember I said above you should write every day? I did that for fifteen years before I started writing my first novel.) I went on a journey to find God, and along the way, He introduced me to me. It’s as if he pointed to me and said, “Meet my beloved daughter, Robin. She’s a writer, you know.” And then He gave me a laptop for my birthday (through my amazing husband) and I started writing, and I haven’t quit since.

What project are you working on now and how do we find your books?

Right now, I’m working on my next Coventry novel. This one will be about Reid Cote, the father of the little girl who was kidnapped in Glimmer in the Darkness. Poor Reid needs his own romance, but in order to get that, he’s going to have to survive another nightmare. It would be horrible if he were a real person, but alas, he’s fictional, so I can mess with his orderly little world all I want. And anyway, little Ella needs a mommy in her life, don’t you think?

You can find my books on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Patchen/e/B00A289790/

Find out more about me at my website, http://robinpatchen.com. While you’re there, subscribe to my newsletter list and receive a free book!

You can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobinPatchen/. Follow me on Bookbub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/robin-patchen and on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5187882.Robin_Patchen

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 20

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, February 20

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, February 21

Inklings and notions, February 22

Texas Book-aholic, February 23

Blogging With Carol, February 23

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 24

deb’s Book Review, February 25

Through the Fire Blogs, February 26

Mary Hake, February 26

Older & Smarter?, February 27

Artistic Nobody, February 28 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

For Him and My Family, March 1

Spoken from the Heart, March 1

Pause for Tales, March 2

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 3

Betti Mace, March 3

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 4

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 5 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Robin is giving away the grand prize of a Kindle Paperwhite!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1086a/tides-of-duplicity-celebration-tour-giveaway