About the Book

Book: The Cross at Morioka Castle

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Within this ancient land of shoji screens and tatami mats, Ariko finds that the stone ruins of Morioka Castle hide a mysterious secret that holds the keys to a Christian faith extending far deeper than she ever imagined.

Ariko returns to Japan, riddled with guild. Engulfed with grief, she must tidy up her deceased father’s affairs, and she faces the shattering of a dream. Her father’s small soba shop, a haven where he shared his faith, stands silent, and his wealthy family has long since turned their back on his legacy of faith. Ariko struggles with whether to return to the United States when her great-grandmother demands that she stay in Japan and join the family business, a legacy her father abandoned years ago.

Seeking escape, Ariko ventures to the enigmatic ruins of Morioka Castle, where the air hums with murmurs of the forgotten past. Amid the crumbling stones and ancient shadows, providence brings a striking stranger, and he captivates her with a tale woven into the very fabric of the castle – a legend that flickers with the promise of hope, just in time for a fateful Christmas Eve.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Kathleen J. Robison weaves tales that inspire a walk of faith and a reliance on God’s guidance through life’s trials. With endearing characters, her stories are a testament to the resilience of broken lives, revived through hope and renewed through God’s grace. Kathleen and her husband call Southern California home, where they find joy in the company of their twenty-one and counting grandchildren.

 

 

 

More from Kathleen

Who doesn’t love castles, right? I fell in love with the ruins of Morioka Castle Park long before I wrote this novella. Both my sons and their families lived in Morioka when they first became missionaries, so we made trips to see the grandkids and a few trips to the castle ruins as well.

Morioka Castle in Northern Japan is a park of ruins, but what glorious ruins they are.  In 1632, after twenty years of construction, the castle was completed by the Nanbu, a well-known Samurai clan. The castle stood from 1598 until 1874. Sadly, after serving feudal lords for two-hundred and fifty years, the age of the Samurai came to a close, and the magnificent structure was demolished. After the Boshin War, the Meiji government consolidated its power by abolishing domains and removing castles in lands that had opposed the government.

Thankfully, in 1906 a park was established around what was left of the granite walls and grounds of Morioka Castle. It’s where my character Ariko meets a handsome stranger and while touring the castle, learns of the legend of the cross.

“He explained the castle kitchen history, but his emphasis was on the cross. “The Castle Kitchen Cross, as I call it on my blog, is where an ex-samurai and his wife practiced their faith and shared it secretly with those who came to the kitchen. The cross carved in the stone, although obscured, was hidden behind pots and pans hanging on the wall.”

Ariko’s ears perked when he mentioned ex-samurai.”

The legend in the story is completely fictional. Although in my research, I discovered that there was a Christian Samurai who … well, if you read the book, perhaps you’ll discover what’s fact and what’s fiction! Just imagine walking the castle grounds with Ariko as she discovers the cross in the kitchen. What conflicts may it have caused in her ancestral, Japanese family?  Let The Cross at Morioka Castle whisk you away. Take the journey to Japan, where the ethereal land of the ancient is not so far away.

Author Interview

• Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

Oh my! I have too many projects going at once. Ideas are always flying through my head, and it’s not enough just to list them in my idea book. I usually start writing a few hundred words right away. I currently have over forty projects at various stages of development. However, when planning my year, I pray and ask the Lord to guide me in determining which stories need to be heard. I try to concentrate on finishing, editing, marketing, and publishing those books first.

• How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

Tremendously! I’m so grateful that my father’s love of adventure took my family across the US and the world when I was growing up. I think there is no replacement for visiting other countries and states to round out one’s life and to understand and appreciate different cultures and people groups.  I was born in Okinawa and have lived there, as well as in California, Mississippi, and Florida. I have sons who married Japanese women and are missionaries in Japan. It was on one of our visits there that The Cross at Morioka Castle was born! One of my daughters married a Jamaican man, and he’s the love interest in another Christmas novel coming soon. I also have a sweet grandchild who was adopted from China. With such a diverse family, life is so full, and the possibilities of characters and settings in my books are endless!

• What is the funniest thing to happen in the process of writing one of your books?

When my husband got upset, thinking the antagonist in one of my Romantic Suspense books was him! I used some incidents from his ‘wild days’, but the character was not at all him. I guess I wrote his younger, untamed activities a little too accurately!

• Do you have extensive outlines when writing, or do you write a book as you go?

I always start out writing the book as I go. I’m not at all a plotter, but I’m evolving from a total panster (writing by the seat of my pants) to outlining very loosely. I love living out where my characters are taking me in the story. It’s one of the reasons why I love to write. But I also desire to become the best writer I can be. I want to be faithful to the calling God has placed in my heart, so learning to outline a complex story line has been very helpful. What I think is going to happen doesn’t always pan out, which directs me to outlining. Especially in a high-concept, high stakes story. Although I always know a redemption theme is coming because I write about real-life challenges faced with or without faith, and I always desire to leave the reader with a sense of hope.

• What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

I need a clean desk, and I prefer a quiet room all by myself. Mornings work best, and I can crank out quite a bit before the grandkids pop in and out during the day. But I love their sweet interruptions! I don’t do well writing in groups. I recently went on a writing retreat with a couple of dear author friends. One lamented that she hadn’t seen much of me as I holed up alone, pounding away on my laptop!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 8

Guild Master, November 9 (Author Interview)

capturingluminous, November 9

Lily’s Corner, November 10

Texas Book-aholic, November 11

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 12

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 13 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, November 14

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 15

For Him and My Family, November 16

Fiction Book Lover, November 17 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, November 17

Blogging With Carol, November 18

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, November 19

Life on Chickadee Lane, November 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d011/the-cross-at-morioka-castle-celebration-tour-giveaway