As The Light Fades Book Tour: Author Interview + Giveaway

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for As the Light Fades by Catherine West, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Title: As the Light Fades

Author: Catherine West

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Sometimes we’re placed in the strangest of circumstances for the most important reasons.

After her carefully constructed life crumbles, Liz Carlisle finds herself back on Nantucket, picking up the pieces. With the family estate under renovations, the solitude she craves seems out of reach.

Matthew Stone intends to steer clear of his new tenant. She’s carrying a load of baggage, but as long as she pays the rent, he’ll let her be. He’s got enough to deal with caring for his wayward niece, Mia.

Liz doesn’t have time for teenagers and her track record with men is abysmal, but an unlikely friendship forms between the three.

When her former boyfriend is charged with assault, Liz is called to testify against him. But he knows the darkest secrets of her life—secrets she’d hoped to keep buried forever, and he’s ready to reveal them. Telling the truth is the right thing to do, but it may cost her everything she’s worked so hard for, and all she’s come to love.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon

Catherine West is an award-winning author of contemporary women’s fiction. When she’s not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border Collie for long walks or reading books by her favorite authors. She and her husband reside in Bermuda, and have two adult children and two beautiful granddaughters. Catherine is the winner of the 2015 Grace Award (Bridge of Faith) and a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award (The Things We Knew, 2017 and Where Hope Begins, 2019, and a Carol Award Finalist for Where Hope Begins. Her latest novel, As the Light Fades, releases September 2019.

Catherine loves to connect with her readers and can be reached at Catherine@catherinejwest.com

CONNECT WITH CATHERINE: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Hi Catherine! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your book a bit better. I always like to start with something fun… tell us 5 random facts about yourself that we WON’T find in your bio!

Hmm. Okay.
1. I spent a few years in an English boarding-school.
2. I hate flying but have no choice because I live on an island.
3. I don’t like bacon.
4. I am very introverted.
5. I took classical guitar lessons in my teens.

Let’s talk writing! Did you always know that this was what you were born to do, or was it something that came to you later? If you weren’t writing, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

I wrote my first ‘novel’ when I was 13. Yes, it was bad. I always loved telling stories. I would get into trouble at school for daydreaming. I think making up stories in English class was my favorite part of school. I can’t really remember not loving writing. As an only child of two avid readers, my favorite activity was going to the library! But I didn’t start writing seriously until after I was married and my first child was born. I began my first full-length novel at that time purely for fun, but I was encouraged by family and friends to think about publication. So I ordered a bunch of books on writing, and getting published, and my journey began. There were a few stops and starts along the way, as I found it too difficult to juggle little kids and writing, but once they began school, I picked it up again, and by that time I knew I wanted to be a published author, and wanted to do all I could to achieve that goal.

If I wasn’t writing? I’m not sure, but it would probably be something artsy. Decorating or painting. Or maybe landscaping. Something outdoors with dogs? Definitely not a 9-5 office job.

As The Light Fades is your 7th novel, do you still get the same sense of excitement with each new book as you did with the first? Can you walk us through that feeling?

Oh, definitely! It’s always a thrill when you know a new book is about to be born. I have indie-published as well as been traditionally published, and I think the process is different for each. With my indie novels, I have more control over the cover and marketing, but it’s also more work! And I don’t have a whole team behind me, supporting me and cheering me on, so sometimes I do miss that, but of course it doesn’t take as long to produce an Indie book. I still hire a professional editor and a professional designer to do my covers and interior. I want to present the best product I can. Once that phase is done, as with traditional publishing, the focus shifts to release day, and the excitement definitely builds during those last few weeks as my launch team jumps into action and the first early reviews begin to show up. I’m always thrilled and a little apprehensive to bring a new book into the world, but mostly thrilled. Over the years I have learned that you can’t please everyone, and there will always be those who just won’t like what I have to offer, and that’s okay.

Unlike your previous novels which were marketed as Christian fiction, this one is marketed as general fiction/women’s fiction. For those who have fallen in love with your Christian fiction, what- if anything- will be different about this one apart from the marketing?

Ah, good question! I don’t think there will be much difference. Although my previous novels were marketed as “Christian fiction”, I have always written what I would consider to be crossover fiction, meaning that readers of any faith or no faith might enjoy my books, yet still take something positive from them. Though I have written from a Christian worldview, I would not consider those previous novels to be top-heavy with “Christian content”. I don’t anticipate anything changing with the way I write or the content I choose to include (or not include) in my stories. Meaning you won’t suddenly find me competing with E.L. James. 

I will always point the reader toward hope, and faith, forgiveness and restoration. Whether God is mentioned directly or not, doesn’t mean He isn’t there. I don’t think my readers will find any great change in future novels, other than the fact that they’ll be written for the general market.

I love the opening of the book blurb for As The Light Fades, “Sometimes we’re placed in the strangest of circumstances for the most important reasons.” I have certainly found this to be true in my own life. Do you have any stories from your own life that inspired this idea?

I think I’ve been in that place a few times. One of the most difficult periods of my life was a year or so after my mother died, I made the life-changing decision to search for my birth mother. I always knew I was adopted, but I never really thought about searching seriously until that time. And it was a very difficult and strange journey. But looking back, I could see God’s hand in every single thing that happened. There were many times when I wondered why things were happening the way they were, and I questioned whether I should keep going. But in the end, I found a half-sister, who wanted to know me, and that was the best and most important thing that came out of that journey. I can’t imagine not having her in my life now.

I have found that writers are always the greatest readers too. When you’re not writing, what books might we find on your to read pile?

I always have trouble keeping up with my TBR pile because I can’t read fast enough! But a few books I’ve enjoyed lately are Susan Meissner’s The Last Year of the War, Next Year in Havana, by Chanel Cleeton (When We Left Cuba is the next in that series and it’s on my TBR pile), Glory Road, by Lauren Denton, Where the Story Starts, by Imogen Clark, and The Enlightenment of Bees, by Rachel Linden.

If you had to tell us the top 3 reasons that we should read As The Light Fades, what would those reasons be? Why will we love it?

If you’ve read The Things We Knew (Thomas Nelson 2016), you’ll want to read As the Light Fades. While it’s not a series, this book does feature some characters from the Carlisle family. You don’t need to have read The Things We Knew though. If you enjoy family drama, romance and laughter, you should enjoy this book. Bonus reason: puppies.

I cannot wait to start reading As The Light Fades myself, and look forward to seeing more from you in the future. Is there anything you can share about what you have coming next that we can look forward to?
Sure! I am currently working on a novel that is set in my island home, Bermuda. It’s the first book that I’ve set here, so I’m pretty excited about it! I thought I knew what it was about, but I’m rethinking that now, so I can’t really say too much about it. My life has been pretty crazy the last few months, so I’m not sure how long this book will take to complete to the point where we’re ready to shop it, and I don’t know where it’ll end up either. But that’s what I’m doing at the moment. Writing when life isn’t getting in the way. 

(1) winner will receive a $75 Amazon gift card from the author!

Be sure to check out each stop on these tours for more chances to win. Full tour schedule on this tour shown below. Giveaway begins at midnight September 11, 2019 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on September 18, 2019. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. For our giveaway rules and policy, click HERE.

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