Friends,

I am handing my blog over today to author Marin Thomas.  I just read her book “The Promise of Forgiveness,” and I loved it. You need a book for a snowy day? This is it. You need a book for a vacation? Try it. You need a book because your life is stressed out and you need a break? This will be perfect. Trust me.

Now read below and find out why Marin loves JUNK and how a ruby inspired her.

MARIN THOMAS: My thanks to Cathy Lamb for sharing her blog with me today so I can talk about my favorite subject—JUNK!

One of the first questions I’m asked by readers is “Where do the ideas for your books come from?”

The answer is easy….junk.  I LOVE junk hunting. All it takes to spark my imagination is a stroll through an antique store or estate sale. Here’s the thing–I know nothing about antiques.

I just like looking at old stuff. The first thing I do when I step inside a junk shop is stand off to the side and take a deep breath. Go ahead and laugh, but the scent of dust, moldy fabric and musty books makes my heart race.

In my novel, The Promise Of Forgiveness, the heroine wears a ruby necklace which had been given to her by her adoptive parents on her sixteenth birthday. Not until years later does she learn that the piece of jewelry had been left in her hospital bassinet by her birth mother before she ran off and left Ruby behind.

The idea to incorporate a ruby necklace into this novel came from a memory. Years ago I stumbled across a beautiful ruby necklace at an antique store. It was so lovely and I went back to the display case more than once to stare at the necklace before leaving the shop.

As I studied the gemstone my mind filled with questions. Who did this necklace once belonged to? Did the woman inherit it the ruby or did her lover or husband buy it for her? And how had the piece of jewelry ended up in the display case?

Years later when I brainstormed this novel, I remembered the necklace in the antique store. I decided it was time to figure out the mystery of the ruby necklace, so I name my heroine Ruby—a woman as hard as the gemstone itself. And just like the necklace in the display case waiting to be called back to its original owner… Ruby was called home by her birth father—a man she had no idea even existed.

Sometimes all you need is a piece of junk, a bauble, an object that at first glance appears insignificant but if you look deeper and ask a few questions its story will unravel one sentence at a time.

My husband and I currently live in Houston and one of my favorite places to browse is the Texas Junk Company. The one object in the store that always draws my attention is the claw foot bathtub. When I look at the tub I imagine a single mom washing three rambunctious little boys, wondering how her life got so far off track. Or maybe the deep scratch in the side of the tub was left behind by a woman, who’d fought to save herself when her lover held her head beneath the water or maybe the chip in the porcelain happened when the tub was removed from the home of a famous…. Well, you get the idea.

Have you ever come across something unique or interesting and wondered about its past?

The Promise of Forgiveness

A novel of love, forgiveness, and the unbreakable bonds of family from award-nominated author Marin Thomas . . .

When it comes to family, Ruby Baxter hasn’t had much luck. The important men in her early life abandoned her, and any time a decent boyfriend came along, she ran away. But now Ruby is thirty and convinced she is failing her teenage daughter. Mia is the one good thing in her life, and Ruby hopes a move to Kansas will fix what’s broken between them.

But the road to redemption takes a detour. Hank McArthur, the biological father Ruby never knew existed, would like her to claim her inheritance: a dusty oil ranch just outside of Unforgiven, Oklahoma.

As far as first impressions go, the gruff, emotionally distant rancher isn’t what Ruby has hoped for in a father. Yet Hank seems to have a gift for rehabilitating abused horses—and for reaching Mia. And if Ruby wants to entertain the possibility of a relationship with Joe Dawson, the ranch foreman, she must find a way to open her heart to the very first man who left her behind.

Praise for Promise

“There’s a big promise in this book: love, redemption, and a story so gripping I couldn’t put it down.” D​ebbie Macomber, ​#1 New York Times author of S​ilver Linings

“I loved the ranch in Unforgiven, Oklahoma, the mysteries no one wants to talk about, and Ruby Baxter, who flew right off the page, fists swinging, boots tapping. She was one of those true as life characters you don’t forget.” C​athy Lamb,​ author of M​y Very Best Friend

“The Promise of Forgiveness takes a heartfelt look at the complexities inherent in familial relationships. It’s authentic, poignant, and will have you turning pages well past bedtime.” ­­E​mily Liebert,​ author of T​hose Secrets We Keep
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