I'm delighted to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Strand of Faith as Rachel J Bonner kindly takes part in a little Q&A! There is also a giveaway to enter but first of all let's take a look at the description for the book...
When the choice is between love
and life, how can anyone decide?
A girl and a monk, both with
extraordinary mental powers, have compelling reasons not to fall in love. But those from whom they expect support are
manipulating them both because their choices will have consequences for the
rest of the world.
After a stormy youth, Brother
Prospero has found comfort and fulfilment in the monastery. That is, until he discovers something that
forces him to reconsider his whole vocation.
To follow his heart, he’ll have to face his demons again, outside the
security of the monastery. Is it worth the risk? Can he beat them this time? Or will they
finally destroy him?
Orphaned and mistreated, Leonie
has found sanctuary and safety at the abbey.
All she wants is to learn how to manage her unusual abilities so that
she is not a danger to those around her.
When she comes into contact with Prospero everything threatens to spiral
out of her control. Whether she leaves
or whether she stays, how can she possibly avoid destroying – yet again – those
she has come to care about?
Abbot Gabriel is faced with an
impossible choice. He can do nothing and
watch the world descend into war. Or he
can manipulate events and ensure peace – at the cost of two lives that he is
responsible for. He knows what he has to
do but is he strong enough to sacrifice those he loves?
Thank
you for taking part in the Q&A, so let's get started…
Which three words best describe your personality?
- Determined
- Happy
- Loyal
Which three vacation spots are your favourite?
I
don’t particularly have places I go back to – I like to see different places,
but
- For
a main holiday – somewhere remote in the countryside with loads of good
walks all around. If the sea isn’t
too far away, all the better.
- For
a long weekend – a city break with lots to visit, like theatre and museums
- When
it’s about to get cold and wet and miserable in England – somewhere warm!
Which three things do you enjoy doing when you aren’t writing?
- Spending
time with my husband and family – it doesn’t matter where or what we’re
doing, although my husband and I enjoy walking together
- Archery
– I’m part of a group of field archers and we shoot together most
weeks. We’re very aware that arrows
are weapons, and we only shoot at targets, but shooting can still be extremely
therapeutic when someone has annoyed you
- Swimming
– I try and swim at least once a week.
I find the rhythm of swimming and the peace of the pool
particularly good for sorting out any problems I have with characters and
plot lines
Which three books would you want if you were stuck on a desert island?
- The Bible. Or is that cheating because it’s really
66 books? You can find almost every
genre in there – romance, erotica, war, thriller, mystery, murder,
suspense, psychological drama, family sagas…
- Winnie
the Pooh by AA Milne. I could read those books again and again until I
knew them by heart. Come to think
of it, I do know some of it by heart!
- Something
very long – I read far too fast!
Which three books were your favourite as a child?
- The
whole Winnie the Pooh series (see above!).
I still like them now and I have several editions, ranging from one
that belonged to my Dad when he was a child to a beautiful new box set my
son gave me last year. There’s a
children’s book referred to in Strand of Faith. It isn’t named, but in my head it’s
Winnie the Pooh.
- There’s
a book that’s stuck with me since preschool, called The Surprise Doll by
Morrell Gipson with illustrations by Steffie Lerch. My copy’s falling apart and price marked
29 cents, which shows how old it is (I’m not that old!) but you can still
buy it on Amazon.
- After
that, anything with horses, which I suspect is typical of many young
girls. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read Enid Bagnold’s
National Velvet.
Which three characters from any book would you have around for dinner?
- Madeleine
Maxwell from Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s
- Lessa
from Anne McCaffery’s Pern series
- Piper
from Annette Marie’s Steel and Stone series
They are three strong women
who face difficult situations but aren’t going to be daunted. It would be an excellent girls’ night, but if
any of them wanted to bring their partners I certainly wouldn’t complain.
Which three things most inspired this book?
- A
dream I had of one of the scenes – which I then needed to expand on
because I wanted to know what happened before and after
- There’s
a hymn I really like – Beauty for Brokenness by Graham Kendrick – and I’ve
based some of my world building on the world described in that hymn
- My
faith – I’ve aimed to build a fantasy world with faith built into the
foundation rather than being preachy
Which three emotions do you think your readers will experience while
reading your book?
- Curiosity/intrigue
– I hope enough for them to want to read the next books in the series too!
- Trepidation
– particularly in the dream scenes – just what is about to happen to the
characters and might it be bad?
- Hope
– that things will work out, that each character will find a solution to
their problems. And hope for the readers too in whatever they are facing.
Books are an escape but I’d like to think that they could bring hope back
from this escape to impact on their real world.
Last question I promise ;)
Which three words would you use to describe your book?
- Love story (okay, I
know that’s two words)
- Inspiring
- Restorative
Thank you again!
Rachel J Bonner is the author of the four book Choices and
Consequences series, the first of which, Strand of Faith, is due out in
November 2018.
Getting a degree in engineering, followed by a career in
accountancy is probably not a conventional path to becoming an author,
particularly in paranormal romance.
Rachel says that, although accountancy isn’t anything like as boring as
everyone thinks, writing is a lot more fun.
When not writing, she can be found walking in the beautiful countryside
near where she lives, which has influenced much of the scenery in her books, or
shooting things with her local archery club.
Target shooting only, honest.
Nothing to worry about.
She also enjoys swimming, eating chocolate chip cookies and
growing aromatic herbs, especially thyme and rosemary. It’s no coincidence that her heroine likes
the same things.
You can find out more about her books and sign up for
Rachel’s newsletters at
Giveaway
Win a
signed paperback copy of Strand of Faith, a set of
bookmarks (3 styles plus a business card) featuring the cover art, and a canvas
print (40cm by 30cm) of the original cover art.
Open Internationally
*Terms and
Conditions
Worldwide
entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The
winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and
will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days
then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants
aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry
is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with
the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway
organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will
delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of
the prize.
Why not follow along with the tour, see below...
