The Story Behind the Story with Author J.K. Rankin of Fairfield, New Brunswick, Canada

 Let’s welcome a new author to the Scribbler.

I met Jen at one of our popular book events last year. She has kindly accepted our invitation to be the featured guest this week.

Her story is garnering many 5 star reviews.

Read on, my friends.

My name is J.K. Rankin, but my friends call me Jen. I’m originally from Ontario, having spent some of my formative years on a small island in British Columbia called Saltspring.  After graduating from the University of Ottawa in 1991 with a double major in Criminology and Political Science, I moved to Nova Scotia where I lived in the Annapolis Valley and started my career in the field of  Corrections.  In 1999, I moved to Rothesay, New Brunswick and continued my career with Correctional Services Canada as a parole officer. I retired in 2020 shortly after the pandemic started and currently enjoy a quieter life with my husband in Fairfield, NB. 

I am the indie author of The Sanctuary, my first published fiction novel.  It’s sequel, The Inheritance, is currently being edited with the goal of publishing it in 2026. Eventually, this will be a trilogy as I have started writing the third novel to the series, entitled, The Sacrifice.  But...never say never.  I love my characters so much I might not want to say good-bye. Maybe there will be a forth... 

 

Title: The Sanctuary

 

Synopsis:  The Sanctuary is a fast paced suspension thriller about a young woman who finds herself being hunted by the cartel and a retired CIA Agent who is haunted by hindsight and will give his life to fulfill  a promise he made years ago.  What could possibly go wrong with love?  You are about to find out.

  

The Story Behind the Story:

To this day, I can’t point to one specific event or thought that triggered the origins of The Sanctuary.  Perhaps, it’s been the wisdom that comes from living, if I could be bold enough to make such a statement. I would be remiss to suggest my choice of careers did not shape the person I have become to certain extent. My strong desire to understanding the complexity of decision making and human behavior has been a part of me for as long as I can remember.  Guiding me, warning me, you could even say – saving me - like a lighthouse in a storm. 

Regardless, I remember sitting down at my computer one rainy summer day in 2020 and beginning to type.  It started with John and then I added Savannah.  I didn’t have an outline or a goal, I just wrote. I spent countless hours over the course of the following months into 2021,  developing the story lines and soon realized that I might have the beginnings of a book here.  I asked a friend if she would read it and she did.  She liked it but there were some plot issues and character development that needed work.  Stuck, I walked away from it for close to three years. 

Fast forward to May 2024.  I walked into the book section of a large department store looking for something to read for the flight home from Alberta.   As I picked up book after book, admiring the covers, reading the write-ups, something inside me said, maybe someday, your book will be here.  I scoffed it off as utter foolishness, an unachievable goal.  I ultimately chose a book by one of my favorite author’s, Nicholas Sparks  entitled – The Rescue.  I was hooked on the first page and couldn’t put it down.  I was reading the last pages as we descended from 35,000 feet preparing to land in Halifax.  It was one of those books that you don’t want to end and when it did,  I felt a tinge of sadness knowing my involvement in the character’s lives was over.  I wanted to know what happened next. But there was nothing.  Just silence. Now, that’s a good book.  I thought about how that book spoke to me on the drive home to Fairfield and decided I wanted to write something that reminded people why they loved to read.  John and Savannah were calling me back.  So, I opened up my unfinished story and let my characters guide me. I returned to Cache Gulch, Savannah and John.

After a second read through by another friend, at her encouragement and that of others, I made the decision to take the next step.  I found an amazing editor and seven months later, following countless edits, title and cover changes, The Sanctuary was published on 2025/02/14. 

 

 

Facebook Author page: Please go HERE

A question before you go, Jen:

Scribbler: Who was your favourite author, or story, growing up?

Jen: I was a voracious reader as a child. After reading all the Nancy Drew books I could find, I was given a book entitled  “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” by Stephen R. Donaldson.  At that time he only had three in the series, I read them all.

 

 

An Excerpt from : Chapter 5 of The Sanctuary

 

Dammit! John Mitchell turned off his tv and slammed his fist on the table. It was all over the evening news. What had always worried him was finally happening. He’d seen the missing girl’s photo and knew it was not a coincidence. Years of painful precautions evaporated the moment Savannah wrote her mother’s obituary. Yes, he’d seen that too. John knew the people looking for Savannah would never stop looking, and there had been just enough information in there that they could have connected the dots. He could never blame her though for posting the obituary. He was certain she didn’t know.

Buy the book HERE.

Thank you for being our guest this week, Jen. We wish you continued success with your writing.

Thank you to all our visitors and readers.

Feel free to leave a comment below.

We’d love to hear from you.