Please welcome author Gail Kittleson, who is here to chat about her debut novel, In This Together.
Gail, I’m so excited that you’re here to discuss your book with us!
How does your book relate to your love for God?
Thanks for having me, Deborah. What a creative question—I have a feeling my answer won’t be simple! It’s taken a long time for me to come to terms with my personality and gifts, so I haven’t always understood where I fit and what I might contribute. Sometimes we grow up thinking we need to hold things together, keep the peace, and ward off disaster in general.
I have a friend whose parents made her choose whether they’d camp in Yellowstone one night on their vacation, or proceed to Glacier National Park. Because her dad was so volatile and wanted to move on, she chose Glacier. But that night, an earthquake struck Yellowstone and a landslide obliterated the area where they would have camped, killing twenty-eight people.
Talk about a sense of responsibility for a ten-year old! My overwhelming responsibility arises from less dramatic origins, but colored my life for decades. To be freed from it, however gradually, fills me with gratitude. To think that the Creator of the universe would look on us in compassion and loose our burdens (I memorized a lot of scripture in the KJV) means everything to me.
I gave up comprehending that sort of love long ago, in favor of embracing what God is doing for us. That’s from the Message, Romans twelve. Feeling unworthy can shackle us from using our gifts, and I let that cloud stymie me for years.
So for me, writing connects irrevocably with loving God. To engage in my vocation is no small thing, and the guidance and growth I receive feels like a partnership.
Please share a little about your book.
This women’s historical fiction novel is one woman’s story of taming the lions in her life. Dottie, a widow and WWII Gold Star mother (her only son died in the war), loses her husband as the war ends. She takes a job at the local boarding house, and finds meaning in providing clean spaces and nutritious meals for the male boarders.
Dottie’s the kind of greatest generation woman you'd like to have for your best friend. She's steady, reliable, down-to-earth, and a hard worker. And no matter what life brings her, she makes do. She has no big plans for the rest of her life, and no idea second chances lie right around the corner.
Then her daughter in California develops pregnancy complications and desperately needs Dottie to help with her one-year-old and her toddler—precious grandchildren Dottie longs to meet. But Dottie is terrified about a train trip from Iowa to the West Coast. Complications arise at work too, forcing her to decide whether or not to speak up for justice.
At about the same time, Al, Dottie’s next-door widower neighbor’s unexpected attention catches her off-guard, Readers will enjoy cheering Dottie into taking actions she thought impossible.
Gail, I’ve seen on your website and in blog interviews your use of the phrase, “along came Dottie,” or some version of it. Will you tell us how she appeared on the scene?
I’d been working at novel writing for several years when Dottie entered my consciousness. It’s interesting to me that though I’ve completed and submitted those other stories, Dottie’s was the first to find a publisher. Of course, timing and publishers’ needs had a lot to do with this, but maybe Dottie’s realness did, too. She’s as tangible to me as my neighbor down the street.
How did she become so real? I’m not even sure—it’s difficult to pin down. Maybe it’s because Dottie’s work, cooking and cleaning for a boarding house, come straight out of my childhood. No boarding house, but we lived in a huge farmhouse, and Mom devoted her time to feeding all of us, plus assorted hired men who helped in the field. Every day she faced down a hungry brood that didn’t often remember to say thanks.
About the time Dottie became real to me and her story began evolving, I filled in sporadically at my friend’s bread and breakfast, too. Mostly I served as a “gopher” and worked in the dish room, but I experienced what it takes to keep that establishment running. Dottie’s workdays demand a lot of her, tackling steep stairs with her bum knee, planning and producing nutritious meals on time, and maintaining an atmosphere of “home” for the male boarders. And she takes it all on without complaint.
I feel as though I’m not answering your question well, but clearly Dottie quickly became like a dear friend. I like her, and hope my readers will, too.
Is there a Scripture you stand on that makes you know you were called to write?
Several come to mind, and it’s a mixture of all of them.
One is Psalm 34: 1-8, I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
For me, being freed from fear is huge, and I couldn’t write without that freedom. And from my perspective, tasting and seeing the Lord’s goodness has everything to do with writing.
What makes your book stand out from the crowd?
Probably that Dottie and Al are older. (The cover makes them look younger than they are.) Baby boomers and even their aunts and mothers, will like this story. I’m not saying it doesn’t attract younger women, too—especially those interested in history—but it offers no wild adventure, as my World War II series does.
I so enjoyed Tracy Groot’s Flame of Resistance and Johnnie Alexander’s Where Treasure Hides, but Dottie’s story is much more homegrown. Everything takes place in a small Iowa town and another mainland location toward the end. No suspenseful danger, and not a reason to blush in the romantic thread.
In This Together’s significance lies in the main characters overcoming what drags them down. The effects of losing a son and becoming a widow still tear at Dottie’s heart, and her main tactic is to seclude herself. But life won’t allow that, and her journey to victory over some old fears will resonate with many readers.
And Al, Dottie’s next-door neighbor, bears lasting scars from his WWI service. He’s resigned to their haunting, but maybe there’s hope for him, too. Isn’t that what we’re all about, breaking loose from what holds us captive and bursting out into true, authentic living?
Gail, what are some day jobs you have held? If any of them have impacted your writing, please share an example.
Oh my. I could go on and on here, but probably teaching expository writing to college students impacted my writing the most. Those basic essay lessons including description, narration, comparison and contrast, and dialogue helped me with my own skills. And my mentor at the university nominated me for the summer writing program.
What a treat, going to Wallowa Lake in Oregon for a week of serious writing. Our children were adults on their own and my husband was in Iraq, so I gave myself to writing in a new way that week. But I had no idea how it would affect my writing career (which didn’t exist at that point.)
We dug down into the past, and oh, what we discovered—I wish everyone could have such a powerful experience of writing’s power. I already journaled, wrote some poetry, and read as regularly as I ate, but tackling specific memories like this was different. That time led me into memoir writing, which eventually led me to trying my hand at fiction. And here I am.
What can we expect from you next?
I have a three-book World War II series in the works, with one book contracted for February 2017 release. That should keep me out of trouble!
How can readers find out more about you and your books?
http://www.gailkittleson.com/
www.facebook.com/gail.kittleson
https://www.facebook.com/Gail-Kittleson-author-1799350843625035/timeline/
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gail-kittleson/43/935/b06
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3459831.Gail_Kittleson
Gail, thank you so much for visiting my website. It was a pleasure having you, and I wish you all the best with In This Together, and all future books.
If you would like to win a Kindle copy of Gail’s book, use my Contact page and type “drawing” in the comments box. The deadline to enter is November 24th.
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Bio: My tagline, Heroines that Dare to Bloom, parallels my own long journey to blooming as a writer. My husband and I enjoy gardening and grandchildren in Northern Iowa, and I facilitate writing workshops and women’s retreats.
WhiteFire Publishing released my memoir, Catching Up With Daylight in 2013, and my debut women’s historical fiction, In This Together (Wild Rose Press/Vintage Imprint) released yesterday! I also contributed to the Little Cab Press 2015 Christmas Anthology https://www.facebook.com/LittleCABpress
Please feel free to contact me—meeting new reading friends is the frosting on my cake, as my heroine, Dottie, would say!
