No forgiveness necessary. Christine Clark, who pens novels under the simplified name C.B. Clark, has added to her awards total. Another is within grasp.
Forging Forgiveness is her latest book, released in 2022, written in the genre in which she specializes: suspense romance. It’s an avenue of fiction creaking under the tension of adventure, mystery, and not knowing where anything is going until all the corners are turned, page by page.
Forging Forgiveness picked up where her past novels led her, into awards territory. She had already been a winner or finalist for multiple Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards, N.N. Light’s ‘Book Heaven’ Awards, and now, for the second time, has won a Critters Annual Readers Poll ‘Best Mystery’ award. That was announced at the end of January.
Now, after earning the Crowned Heart of Excellence stamp of approval from InD’tale Magazine, she is in the running for their annual RONE Awards in the Suspense / Thriller category. The results are pending.
So far her entire list of titles includes: My Brother’s Sins, Cherished Secrets, Bitter Legacy, Broken Trust, Secret Betrayal, Healing Hearts, Twisted Lies, Forging Forgiveness, and now a new one is already on the page and in the pre-publication process.
“I started writing when I lost my voice for a year due to a botched thyroid operation and couldn’t work (I’m a teacher),” Clark said. “I’ve always loved reading and I needed something to do to challenge my brain. It took me 10 months to finish that first book, but the feeling of accomplishment was amazing. That book is still under my bed, resting with the dust bunnies, but it started the spark and I haven’t stopped writing since.”
It wasn’t an easy profession to break into, she said. There was no overnight success for her. She had to write a lot, and pitch her stories a lot, then write a lot more before the hard work met up with the deep hope.
“The path to actually getting published was challenging and filled with many rejections. When The Wild Rose Press offered to contract my novel, I was thrilled. The writing business isn’t easy, these days. There are so many books out there, but creating a world and interesting characters and seeing what happens to those characters is a rush.”
Most of her books are set in B.C., and the new one is set in Fort St. James. She has a background in archaeology and loves camping, among other connections to the great outdoors, so finding settings for her stories comes as easily as her own adventures.
“B.C. is such a beautiful province; my stories are usually based on places I’ve been,” she said. “For example, I was hiking and came across a set of bare human tracks in the frozen mud on a trail in late November. The who, what, and why behind those footprints was the idea behind Forging Forgiveness… and I think it’s my best.”
READ MORE: North Cariboo author releases another romantic suspense novel
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