Back cover copy of my debut novel ROOMS from B&H Fiction. (Available now at major bookstores and online from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, CBD, LifeWay, Books A Million, Family Christian Stores, and others.)
On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out.
Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend.
When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual.
This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way.
But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.
51 Comments so far
Leave a comment
jimrubart.wordpress.com 
You are one of the most comfortably diverse writers I have read in a very long time. You are smart, engaging, funny, and clear. A nice combination of attributes indeed.
Comment by Ron August 14, 2009 @ 12:51 amI just ordered the book on Amazon and look forward to Micah’s story!
Comment by Jim Murphy February 10, 2010 @ 12:34 amI downloaded “Rooms” to the Kindle app on my I-Phone a few days ago. I just finished it tonight, and I’m still digesting it. But I can tell you that it changed the way I look at some things. I’m being careful how I word this because I would hate to ruin the impact on any of your readers, mostly because it had a pretty good impact on me. After I digest it a little longer, I may come back and add some more. I’m very glad I read your book.
Comment by Traveler May 1, 2010 @ 1:46 amI had finished Rooms last week”.
Comment by Unjammed-Mr. Ray November 26, 2010 @ 2:28 amAs it had made a profound change in how I look at this world. and just how I look at those things in it. now I’m one of those leather wearing biker types, and run a motorcycle ministry, but this book totally had me looking and talking to Father God More than I ever had before, since it included The Word of God, had me reading it with my Bible sitting right next to me. the revelations that came out of it, has me throwing things
I thought I had to have, right in the trash… As listening with the heart has Much more meaning than the head.
Bottom line.(DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK). Thanks, it was a true heart opener
I finished your book “Rooms” last night. Wow, it was really good. Gave me a lot to think about regarding my own life.
Comment by Gwen May 2, 2010 @ 1:57 amI was wondering if you have ever experienced the presence of God like you discribed in the last of the book? You made it so real.
Yes, I have had times where I experienced God like that, Gwen, great question! And that’s only a taste of what is coming.
So glad you liked ROOMS.
Comment by jimrubart May 25, 2010 @ 3:27 amOh my, I long for that type of experience. I want everything that is mine in the Lord. Thank you for answering my question. I am going to keep seeking…”Seek and you shall find”..Amen
Comment by Gwen May 25, 2010 @ 10:44 amGod bless.
Recently, God has been taking me through some memory healing. In this process, I have, at times, resisted the Spirit’s call to forgive. This week, I cried and cried because I have continued to resist forgiveness in a few relationships. Then I picked up this book and cried again. And again. And again.
Earlier this week, I described to my friend how I felt like I was in a battle and I related it to flipping my hand palm up, palm down, palm up palm down. I would look at my palm and tell God I can’t give it up, flip palm down and see myself flowing with the Spirit, letting it go. I felt like I was trying to remain rooted in two different worlds. Does this sound familiar?
At some point, as I read your book, I saw that a portion of my heart was a locked vault. Jesus came in his gentle way, and told me that he has the key. I gave him permission to unlock it. Yes, this scary but it is good. It is no accident that I read your book this weekend.
Comment by Darlene Stover May 3, 2010 @ 12:48 amSo cool, Darlene!
You’re right, there are no accidents with Him.
Comment by jimrubart May 25, 2010 @ 3:17 amYou made Cannon Beach come alive! We have traveled there for over 20 years. We live in Atlanta and long to live in Oregon and be near Haystack rock. I just finished Rooms and my favorite part was the voice room and it reminded me of how caught up we each get in hearing our own voice which we think is HIS and how we need to keep diligently seeking HIM to know the difference! Please keep writing and blogging!
Comment by Connie May 16, 2010 @ 4:39 pmThanks, Connie! I’m definitely going to keep writing! 🙂
Comment by jimrubart May 25, 2010 @ 3:10 amThere were times when I felt like I did back in the early days as a Christian when it felt like the toes being stepped on were mine. I felt part of this was my story, part of it a glorious journey. I loved it!
Comment by Donna Jo May 22, 2010 @ 7:29 pmThank you, Donna Jo!
Comment by jimrubart May 25, 2010 @ 3:06 amI just finished Rooms and how I LOVE books like this! I too felt like I could actually envision Cannon Beach and all of the wonderful people in your book. You are truly a gifted writer! Please don’t stop writing. So many authors will write books like this and then take off into totally different genres. There is so much violence in real life and on TV. So to find a book like ROOMS was certainly a blessing! I can’t wait until your next books come out. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.
Comment by Kathy June 27, 2010 @ 5:50 amJim,
I would like to read your book on my ereader. I am in Bolivia where it is difficult to get printed books from other countries. I would like to buy the ebook in epub format but the booksellers (B&N and Sony) don’t want to sell outside the USA, which I think is quite stupid as the internet is global. Can you tell me how to buy your book? I have seen it is available on a torrent site but I rather don’t do this. One option that came into my mind is buying a Kindle copy that I cannot use on my ereader and then download epub from a torrent. In that way you and the publisher to get the money and I the book. But I find this rather convoluted and I still don’t know if Amazon also has these silly geographic restrictions.
Comment by Piet van Oostrum July 7, 2010 @ 12:43 pmHi Piet,
Great question! I’ve sent an e-mail to my publisher and I’ll let you know what they say.
Thanks for trying!
Jim
Comment by jimrubart July 7, 2010 @ 10:07 pmJim,
I d/l “Rooms” to the Kindle app on my netbook, primarily because Amazon was offering it free. Wasn’t looking for Christian fiction and didn’t realize what it was until a few pages in. I can only say “thank you” for writing it. Even though I have been a believer since 1989, there are barriers to opening my heart that I contend with every day. “Rooms” may not be the cure-all but I have gained a new perspective and perhaps, some incentive to go a bit deeper to unlocking my heart and to being open to what God wants for me.
Blessings,
Comment by Thom July 9, 2010 @ 10:49 pmThom S.
Thom,
Thanks much for taking the time to write. So cool that God is taking you deeper. He’s wildly in love with you and maybe even more importantly he’s wildly in LIKE with you.
Jim
Comment by jimrubart September 6, 2010 @ 3:47 amJim,
Comment by Kahri July 15, 2010 @ 11:29 amI finished Rooms last night. I can unabashedly say that it is the best book I have ever read. It spoke to my heart like no fiction book ever has (and I read voraciously) Because of my love for your book, I am hoping to start a book club to read this book together and talk about it weekly. I am also going to start reading it to my husband. Thank you so much for writing this book and for the heart and soul you put into it!
Wow, Kahri, you’re making me feel so good inside!
I’m so glad God is letting ROOMS be part of speaking to your heart. That’s awesome.
Jim
Comment by jimrubart September 6, 2010 @ 3:44 amJim, when is your next book due to be out?
Comment by Gwen September 6, 2010 @ 11:23 amHis next book, Book of Days is due to be out January 1, 2011.
Comment by evanwsmorgan October 15, 2010 @ 8:30 pmI am so excited about the new book coming out 1/11. Can’t wait!!!!
Comment by Gwen October 16, 2010 @ 1:17 amI recieved this book and Book of Days from B&H Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I am so very impressed. You have tackled the problem of bondages in a very interesting way – showing that a person must decide what “world” they will live in. I am so very impressed. I can not wait to read more from you. I commend you for following the leading of God in the use of the talents He has given you. It is evident in this blog and in your writing that you have a passion for seeing people freed from the bondages of the enemy to become what God created them to be. Thank you for such a wonderful book.
Comment by Abbie November 18, 2010 @ 9:38 pmI am a pastor and aspiring author who just completed Rooms</i). You are a gifted writer that God is using in a wonderful way! Who knows, when I finish my manuscript, I may need your expertise through Barefoot Marketing. (Yeah, I like to check out the author whenever I love a book as much as I did yours. Thanks for pursuing your dreams so we, the readers, can benefit!
Comment by Cory Potter December 24, 2010 @ 3:54 pmCory,
So glad you liked ROOMS!
Thanks for making my day, and don’t give up on your writing.
Live free,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart December 27, 2010 @ 1:09 amRooms was THE most awesome book I have ever read. I couldn’t put it down, and read it in one day.
It kept me in suspense with every page. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, and couldn’t wait to see what Micah did with it.
Most of all it got me thinking about my own Christian walk in life. What is important in my life, and listening for God to direct me in the way that I should go.
Thank you for this book. Completely awesome!
Comment by Alaskamom January 21, 2011 @ 9:47 pmAlaskamom,
So thrilled you liked it. Getting your note made my day.
Jim
Comment by jimrubart January 22, 2011 @ 2:56 amI just finished reading “Rooms” this past Sunday, and for someone who likes to take their time to go through a book, I have to tell you that I didn’t want to stop reading this one! WOW! I was going to comment here earlier to tell you how much I enjoyed it, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Today though, on my way into work I happened to hear the song “Closer” by Shawn McDonald playing on the radio and couldn’t help but think how your book and that song seemed to fit so well together! Truly inspirational and heartwarming ~ makes one long to see the face of God, and just be in His presence! God bless and keep up the great writing…I’ll be looking forward to more! ;0)
Comment by Chris February 18, 2011 @ 3:09 amChris,
I love getting notes like yours. It makes writing all worthwhile. So glad the King spoke to you through ROOMS.
If you’re interested, Book of Days, my second novel just came out, and The Chair come out in October.
Live free,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart February 18, 2011 @ 5:57 amI especially appreciated the parts about listening to the wrong voices. How often do people do that, have I done that? It takes focus and discipline to block out the wrong voices in our lives. If we think about it, we know the wrong voices when we hear them, our consciences tell us who they are. They are the voices that enslave us, that don’t love and care for who we really are. Now I think of Rooms and the bad voice when I start listening to the wrong voices and stop myself. Thank you.
Comment by Peggy Wagers March 16, 2011 @ 4:13 amI just finished reading ROOMS while eating breakfast at Burger King. Maybe no one there saw the tears (of joy!) in my eyes as I finished. I read a lot, but seldom do the books bring me to tears, and I notice that usually those that do are Chrisitian novels or biographies. Also, in your acknowledgements section (yes, I am one of those who always read the comments and acknowledgements), I notice that you credited Bryan Davis, whose books are one of the few others who have brought me to tears. Thank you so much for listening to God and taking His guidance in writing this novel! (Just as a side note, fourteen years ago, my wife and I had a son that we named Micah, just as you and Darci did.)
Comment by Ray Still May 12, 2011 @ 4:06 pmRay,
So cool! And so cool you have a son named Micah as well. We love ours madly. I’m sure you do toward your Micah.
Live free,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart May 19, 2011 @ 4:26 pmI am currently reading ROOMS! Just wanted to say I am super ecstatic to have found your book. I just read the Priest Graveyard by Ted Dekker and my library had you listed as a similar read…WOW!!! I am now a James L. Rubart fan!!! Looking forward to reading your other writings and your work in the future!
Comment by Debbie June 2, 2011 @ 3:41 amThanks, Debbie!
So glad you’re liking ROOMS.
Much freedom,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart June 2, 2011 @ 4:11 amMy wife borrowed your book Rooms from the local libary, she enjoyed it so much she sugested that I read it as well. What a book it should be used in schools as it puts life in an easy way to understand and points the way to faith and truth in a way that is easy to understand.
I have made a list of your books so we can enjoy reading them also
Comment by Robert Marshall August 29, 2011 @ 5:05 amWow, Robert, I appreciate that so much. So glad you like ROOMS!
Love to know what you think of BOOK OF DAYS and THE CHAIR when you finish them!
Much freedom,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart August 29, 2011 @ 6:54 pmRubart, what a great story “The Chair”, i am so thankful that you love Christ with such abandonment and are able to take your gift of writing and imagination and come up with a great fictional story that has so much of God’s truth in it, it is a blessing to watch your journey, you are a writer! Oh by the way that character AC who is that guy????
Love ya brother,
AC
Comment by AC October 2, 2011 @ 8:16 pmLove ya too, bro. So glad you liked it. You were a very fun character to write. 🙂
Comment by James L. Rubart October 3, 2011 @ 10:54 amJim, I have just finished “Book of Days”. Very good. I find it interesting that you used water in the story, as in the Bible water represents the Holy Spirit. He is also our Teacher. Really neat. I have “The Chair” waiting in my bookcase for me. Thank you for writing such great books. Gwen
Comment by gwen October 3, 2011 @ 8:50 amYou are a new author to my library of Christian authors and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all three of your books. They certainly are thought provoking! I hope you will continue to write more of these types of books so people will have the opportunity to explore their life experiences through reading them.
Comment by Diana Jones February 7, 2012 @ 11:54 amHow cool, Diana! Love hearing that.
Much freedom,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart February 8, 2012 @ 9:43 amJim, I think it is so neat how you take the time to answer our comments. So waiting on a new book. Blessings, Gwen
Comment by crafty23Gwen February 8, 2012 @ 9:53 amAh, Gwen, I’d be nowhere without you (and others) reading my books. Next novel comes out in October!
Comment by jimrubart February 8, 2012 @ 9:57 amWonderful, a good read for the fall. Looking forward to it.
Comment by crafty23Gwen February 8, 2012 @ 10:11 amI have to say you are at the top of my list of favorites authors right now. I have read all three of your books and can’t wait till October when your next book comes out. I tell everyone that is looking for a good book that they need to read one of your books. Especially Rooms and The Chair. You have a fan for life.
Comment by Lynne Stratton February 29, 2012 @ 11:59 amI’d have to say you’re one of my top Lynne’s! 🙂 Wow, thank you, Lynne, I appreciate that so much,
Jim
Comment by jimrubart March 1, 2012 @ 2:33 pmRooms was recommended to me by a dear therapist/friend. I could not put it down till I finished it last night at 2 a.m. Loved it! Thank you for putting it out there to help many with much good teaching and real truth, me included. Much of Micah’s mental back and forths and desires resounded alike in my own journey, especially now that I am at a crossroads in my life, I know the book was God sent and I pray the road becomes clear to me to decide according to His plan. God bless you! Juana
Comment by Juana October 28, 2012 @ 12:01 pmJuana,
I too pray Jesus will give you clarity at the crossroads.
I appreciate so much you’re writing and telling me a bit of your journey.
Much joy, much freedom,
Jim
Comment by James L. Rubart October 28, 2012 @ 6:39 pmHi Jim, I came across Rooms while searching Amazon for good books. Thankfully my library had the book (such a surprise!) and it is wonderful. Your book about Micah is so amazing and has helped me to begin looking harder at my own life and how I can gain more freedom in Christ. I will be buying Rooms so that I can read it and mark it up as much as I like, and I am very much looking forward to purchasing your other books and being blessed by them as well. I will be recommending them to all of my friends. Thank you for sharing your gift with us. It is truly a treasure! Jan
Comment by Jan Zimmerman November 1, 2012 @ 11:38 pmAh, Jan! So glad you wrote to tell me. Love hearing how you’re going to step into more freedom!
Much joy,
Jim
Comment by James L. Rubart November 4, 2012 @ 7:48 pm