Interview with Naomi Rawlings Debut Author

Naomi Rawlings is the author of Sanctuary for a Lady, her debut release. This book just released through Love Inspired Historical.

I met Naomi through HisWriters, those who have either published or planned works with European characters.  I got to meet her at the ACFW Conference last year.  

Naomi, welcome to Overcoming Through Time - With God's Help.  Would you share either the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help, or the most tragic situation or circumstance one of your character’s has had to get past?

I live in northern Michigan, not the slightly northern part of the state or the northern part of the lower peninsula. No. I live way up north on the coast of Lake Superior. It’s beautiful here, with towering pine trees and rocks, clear lakes and rivers, and every kind of northern wildlife imaginable, from black bears to wolves to bald eagles.

But it’s also very isolated. My husband pastors a small church up here, and my children are the only kids in the entire church. There is little industry, and almost no jobs are available. Most of the community is older. A lot of people move up here after retirement because property is extremely cheap, but it’s a very lonely lifestyle. 


Our county is over 100 square miles, yet has only 6,000 inhabitants.

Sometimes I get lonely. I have Christian friends with children who are grown and out of the house, and other friends with children the ages of my own children. But God hasn’t given me any close friends who are facing the same stage of life that I’m facing right now.  So I’m extremely grateful for my online friends. I think I would go a little crazy if I didn’t have the internet to connect me to the rest of the world.


(CFP: I grew up in the upper peninsula of Michigan, east of where Naomi now lives. It is beautiful but sparsely populated.)

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God, I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

I love this verse because it reminds me that God made me what I am, and just the way he wanted me to be. “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” That single phrase gives me so much confidence as I face life. I never have to doubt if God made me the right way or if I’m living in the wrong place or anything of the sort. God had made me and given me his grace; that’s all I need to face life.

Disability friendliness:

The digital version of the book can be read aloud using kindle’s text to speech feature. Not all books available on kindle have text-to-speech enabled, but all books from my publisher do come with those capabilities. If you’re interested in text-to-speech, look carefully before you purchase an ereader. Not all kindle versions have text-to-speech, the most basic models don’t have it and neither does the kindle Fire. I’m not sure about the nook or iPad either.

Though I don’t have difficulty reading regular print books, I find myself using the text-to-speech on my kindle constantly. As a busy mom with two little boys, I don’t have a lot of reading time, but I listen to books while I’m doing dishes, laundry, and the like.

My publisher produces category romances and offers very few large print editions. Only the most popular authors have their books available in large print, and since this is my first ever book, I’m hardly a popular enough author for that privilege. Maybe one day, though!

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from reading your book and why?

I hope readers will come away with an inspiring and challenging comprehension of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the theme of my book. Though I have my main character, Isabelle, face many hardships as she struggles to survive the French Revolution, learning to forgive those who wronged her is the biggest challenge she faces. I pray readers will be inspired by her actions at the end of the story, but I’ll say no more lest I give the book away!

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I learned several things, but one of the bigger ones was how badly the French Aristocracy oppressed the poor. The aristocracy had money falling out their ears and simply kept taxing the peasant class without ever paying those same taxes themselves. People tend to view the French Revolution as bloody and chaotic, and it was. What people don’t realize is that France before the Revolution was equally as bloody and terribly oppressive, but few people paid attention to the plight of the peasant class.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

As I said earlier, I really hope my book will encourage people to think about biblical forgiveness and what it entails. While I wouldn’t say my book could be used as reference material for teaching on forgiveness, I do think the story might be a blessing to someone struggling with that issue in his or her personal life.  Christ asked God to forgive the soldiers when He was hanging on the cross. Most Christians are familiar with that story, but I think few realize how big of a sacrifice saying those words really was for Christ.

Thank you, Naomi, for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Thank you so much for having me. I enjoyed being here!


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