Looking out the Window: It's Release Day for Whitewater Wishes by Katherine Robles. She Gives Away a Real Life Love Story.
A Warm Welcome to Katherine Robles
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Hi Katherine, first, tell us a little about yourself.
My husband and I have four sons and we love to travel and hike. I teach Agriculture at a school for children with special needs so my daily life involves lots of plants and animals and science. I like to read and garden and bake.
Lots of writers were avid readers as children. What about you? If so, what did you read?
Yes, definitely. I read a little of everything: Nancy Drew and Mandie mysteries, a lot of fantasy novels (Stephen Lawhead was my favorite). I gravitated toward adventure.
Tell us about your latest book.
Whitewater Wishes is an opposites attract romance set in Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. Bridget, a rafting guide and aspiring beautician, wants to marry a strong man who can hold a family together and she is not impressed by nerdy Drew when he joins her rafting expedition. Drew is head over heels for Bridget from the start but their romance couldn’t have come at a worse time for him since his best friend is headed down a bad path and Drew has to intervene. It’s a sweet, fun romance.
What do you love about this book? And what do you hope readers will tell others about it?
I love the adventure of it. My characters have so much fun while they fall in love. My family visited Ohiopyle State Park a few years ago and spent half the day playing on the natural water slide there. The water slide is where the creekbed is solid rock and if you sit down in the two inches of flowing water, it will carry you downstream and eventually dump you over a short waterfall into a natural pool. I love that I was able to include that experience in the book. I hope readers will tell others that Whitewater Wishes is a fun read. And that maybe they should plan a road trip to Ohiopyle.
What is your writing schedule and where do you write?
The short answer is “random and anywhere”. I started writing seventeen years ago while I monitored after school detention. When I stopped teaching to raise my babies, I wrote during naptime or on long car rides. When I went back to work, I wrote on my lunch break and on weekends. I consistently make time to write, but I’m not consistent about when that time is.
Are you a plotter or a pantzer?
I totally pantzed my first novel. I think most of us do when we’re starting out. Over the years I’ve become more of a plotter. I find that I write faster if I know where I’m going with the story. I plot what’s supposed to happen in a scene but then I pantz the actual writing of that scene.
Does your faith affect your writing? If so, how?
Absolutely, both in content and process. My faith affects the content of the story because I’m writing Christian romance and my characters have a relationship with Jesus Christ. What I read in the Bible and hear in church stays in my mind and oozes out onto the page when I’m writing. My faith affects my writing process in that I have faith that God will use these stories to bless, encourage, and entertain readers. That helps keep me motivated.
Do you put yourself in your books?
Not consciously, but yes, there’s a little bit of myself in each character; a hobby or an opinion or a mental state that we share at one point or another. It’s hard to write characters that you have nothing in common with.
What are you working on right now?
My publisher, Pelican Book Group, has a series of romance novels based on international travel. My husband is from Peru so I’m working on a story set there. It’s been a lot of fun looking back on trips we took to Peru and imagining what happens to my characters in those places. I’m also collecting ideas to continue the Romance in the Park series. There are so many beautiful parks.
If you could interview any character in one of your books, which one would it be? What shocking thing might that character say? Why?
I would interview Bridget’s father. He works in the steel industry, he’s a cancer survivor, a single father. I think he would have some interesting stories to tell. He’s physically large, tough, a man’s man, so I would be surprised if he told me he reads Christian romance. But I could see Bridget leaving a novel lying around and him picking it up, so maybe that’s not such a stretch!
What would you be doing if you weren’t writing?
Teaching. I used to be a high school Spanish teacher and now I teach Agriculture to students with special needs. If I didn’t write, I think I would find more ways to teach or tutor.
What is the coolest, wackiest, most risk-taking thing you’ve ever done?
For my 40th birthday I did a high ropes course and zipline with my sister, my two older sons, and some friends. It was a lot of fun! The Tarzan Swing was the hardest part because you couldn't feel your harness catch you until after you’d stepped off into thin air.
Sounds exciting and fun!
Bridget plans to spend her summer working as a white water rafting guide and studying for her beautician’s license exam. She isn’t looking for romance, and she isn’t impressed with nerdy nurse Drew when he steps into her raft. She’s looking for a strongman like the father she failed, but she finds it hard to resist Drew’s passion for life.
As a hospital nurse, Drew loves helping people to heal, but after one of his younger patients dies, Drew feels the need to seize the day. So, he faces his fear of open water and goes white water rafting. He’s attracted to Bridget, but meeting his dream girl couldn’t have come at a worse time. His best friend is in trouble and Drew must decide how far he’s willing to go to keep his friend’s secret.
When injury capsizes Bridget’s career, they’ll need strength beyond their own to keep their love afloat.
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Bio: Katherine is awed by the grandeur of God’s creation and intrigued by the science that holds that creation together. She also loves a good story. She enjoys girl talk, the color purple, and drinking from fancy cups. She’s also the friend you call to kill the spider.
Learn more about Katherine on her Author website.
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