It was a
challenge from her daughter that set Kathryn J. Bain on the road to writing.
This Jacksonville author admits to being an avid TV watcher who enjoyed
critiquing shows. “One day, I was watching television with my daughter, and I
said, ‘This could make it much better,’” she recalls. “My daughter told me,
‘You always say that – now do it!’” So Bain did. The result is a body of work she
describes as “clean fiction with an edge.”
This
Idaho native came to Florida in 1983. “I got sand in my toes and didn’t want to
leave,” she says. “I love the Florida winters, the heat and the wonderful
people. And it’s great to be able to go from one coast to the other in a day.
There’s so much to do.” One of the
things Kathryn decided to do was write what she enjoyed reading the most – a
mystery/suspense novel. She took some courses and joined a critique group, and
in 2012, she published Breathless,
the first in what was to become the Lincolnville Mysteries. Set in the
fictional town of Lincolnville, Georgia, Breathless
is the story of a woman being stalked and the man who protects and eventually
falls in love with her. The novel won a prestigious Royal Palm Literary Award
for Inspirational Fiction
For
Bain’s next offering, she tried her hand at a novella – Game of
Hearts, a humorous romance. It was
followed by two more novels: Catch Your
Breath, (Lincolnville Mysteries #2) and Knight
and Day, a stand-alone mystery. Beautiful
Imperfection, published in 2013, was a novel with a special meaning. The
story of a breast cancer survivor who witnesses a mass murder, Bain wrote it as
a tribute to breast cancer survivors. “I wanted women who go through breast
cancer to realize just how brave and beautiful they really are,” she says.
Readers
return to Lincolnville for Bain’s next novel, One Last Breath, a story that tackles the subject of child
trafficking. The following three
works – The Visitor, Small Town
Terror, and Reunion – are a trio
of mystery novellas linked together by a common protagonist - KT Morgan, a
mysterious woman who travels alone. Each story exposes a little more about this
enigmatic character.
Bain’s
next release, Take Her Breath Away, (Book
#4 in the Lincolnville series) centers around Rayleene and Ty Davenport, a
couple whose relationship has been rocked by infidelity. When Ty’s life is endangered by a mysterious
killer, Rayleene must learn if she can trust him again. “Rayleene and Ty had
separated in an earlier book, and I wanted to bring them back together,” Bain
explains. The inspiration for Ty Davenport is country singer Lee Brice. “Every
hero in the Lincolnville series is based on a country singer,” Bain says. “For Breathless,’ it was Toby Keith; for Catch Your Breath, Chris Young; and
George Strait for One Last Breath.
The female characters are made up.”
While
Bain’s works are characterized as Christian fiction, she believes that there
are elements that set her stories apart. “I think my books are more realistic
than most Christian fiction,” she says. “And even though I write clean
psychological suspense, I try to make it edge-of-your-seat suspense too.” She
wants readers to come away from her books feeling entertained and inspired. “My
books deal with forgiveness. I want people to realize we all make mistakes, and
that’s fine. I want them to be able to forgive themselves."
For more information, visit the author’s website at
www.kathrynjbain.com
Love Kathryn's books - so glad her daughter challenged her to give it a try!
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