We are
Connilyn Cossette is the CBA bestselling author of the Out from Egypt series. Her debut novel, Counted with the Stars, was a finalist for the Christy Award, the INSPY Award, and the Christian Retailing's Best Award. She lives in North Carolina with her husband of over twenty years and a son and a daughter who fill her days with joy, inspiration, and laughter. Connect with her at www.ConnilynCossette.com.
Interview ~
Food question! What do you munch on while you’re writing / researching / editing? This may be the most important question... No pressure. ;-)
Mostly I just drink coffee or Diet Dr. Pepper because when I am focused on writing or editing I am usually too absorbed to snack much and if I do I get carried away and graze mindlessly so that can be dangerous. That being said, I do keep a bag of Werther’s Coffee Caramel Hard Candies in a drawer to pop in my mouth when I get a craving for something sweet. Not that there haven’t been various stashes of chocolate around my office, because where else am I going to hide that stuff from my kids??
Candy or chocolate paired with coffee sounds like the perfect combination!! Since I'm still feeling particularly nosy, what does "a day in the life of Connilyn Cossette" look like?
Well, I am a night owl. So my day doesn’t usually get rolling until about 9am and my brain doesn’t truly kick in until around 10am and the coffee has hit my bloodstream. So yes, coffee first and then I usually spend a while getting my kids settled into their school day. We homeschool but now that they are older they are a little more independent so I organize their weekly/daily schedule on Google Sheets so we can all keep track in real time and they are responsible to complete those lists each day. My daughter is pretty self-motivated so she usually whips through fairly quickly but my son is more like me, a day-dreamer and a procrastinator, so much of my day is reminding him to hurry up and get done or suffer the wrath of extra household chores… During this time I am also dealing with social media stuff, marketing plans, emails, blogs, editing, plotting etc. Then in the early afternoon I try to get some writing done but am most productive at night when everyone is asleep and I can have silence. I usually grab a power-nap around 4:30 or so, I’ve trained my brain to fall asleep to podcasts in my headphones so I can usually snooze for about 30 minutes and then I’m set to go until 1 or 2 am. Evening consists of getting dinner ready for hubby to come home (although I am not a great cook, I’m much too impatient and day-dreamy and I have a weird aversion to measuring precisely—so pray for my family). Once things settle down in the evening and the kids are tucked into beds reading their own books, I enter my story world and have a great time talking with my imaginary friends. Most nights I text back and forth with Nicole Deese, my writing partner, into the wee hours as we work on scenes and talk about our imaginary friends with each other. So, there you have it—my glamorous and exciting life as an author in a nutshell!
I'm also a night owl, so I can totally relate! LOL! On top of being a writer, you are also a homeschooling mom. I think this is the route we'll take with our daughter, so I would love to know what prompted you to want to home educate your children and how do you balance both?
There were a few factors that went into our decision. I didn’t set out to homeschool, and in fact went to college to be a public school teacher but God just had other plans. By the time my son started kindergarten we’d already done a lot of learning at home and he was academically way beyond Kindergarten but nowhere near mature enough to head into first grade so it just made better sense at the time. And then I just fell in love with teaching my kids and watching them have lightbulb moments as they learned to read and write. We have a great time learning history together in particular. We’ve had lots of struggles over the years (usually with math…because, well, I’m a writer not a math-er) but it is so rewarding and I can’t even imagine not doing it now. Thankfully we have great resources to help with the balance and now that they are older they are much more independent. And this year both kids attend classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays so I have two uninterrupted days of productivity, which has been awesome for all three of us. One of the best things about homeschooling is that I don’t have to get up early and sit in a car line so we start school later in the day and I can write late and sleep in. Yay for school in jammies! I am so grateful we live in a country that gives us all the freedom to do what is best for our own families and situations.
Jammies are the best! LOL! Do you relate particularly well to any one of the characters in your latest release, Shelter of the Most High? Why or why not?
I always find little ways I relate to many of my characters but in Shelter of the Most High I think perhaps I connected the most with Eitan’s struggle with recurring self-condemnation. In order to avoid spoilers I won’t say exactly how he handles these issues but I think for me, and for many other followers of Jesus, I have a habit of bringing up my past sins and beating myself over the head with them, even though His grace is sufficient and I have no need to wallow in condemnation any more. If we are in Covenant with Jesus through his blood then we have been freely forgiven, so we must stop letting the Enemy whisper in our ear that we are not worthy. Eitan goes through the process of trying to “earn” forgiveness for something he had already been given grace for and I am guilty of doing the same thing at times. His journey was a great reminder to me that I am already free, so I need to stop acting like a slave to my past!
I love, love, love Eitan! This is something that I have struggled with, so I heart this truth! At what point in the writing process do you decide which character you are going to use in the next book?
I think that comes at different points along the way. Usually it’s when I get a flash of “story idea” from a certain character’s perspective. For some reason I could just envision Eitan as a man from the beginning so I knew I had to explore his story more. Now with Moriyah I did not decide to use her as a heroine until after Wings of the Wind was finished, so I actually had to go back in and tweak some things in editing (including the scar!) to make it all work together. And boy did I struggle over giving poor Moriyah that awful, painful brand! Since the Cities of Refuge Series had now stretched into a family saga, I’ve just chosen a new child of Moriyah and Darek each time and just love watching the family grow and change over the years.
I am SOOO excited for the next book, Until the Mountains Fall! I can't wait to see more of these beloved characters! Is there any particular message that you would like your readers to get out of the Cities of Refuge Series?
As I began writing the Cities of Refuge Series I came to the realization that the places God set up as sanctuaries for those convicted of manslaughter (Joshua 20) were a wonderful picture of the Body of Christ and how the Church should relate to the world. Our congregations should be a haven for the hurting, a place of safety and provision for those who are suffering, a place where the teaching of the Word (Torah) is central, a gathering of redeemed people who appreciate the grace and mercy they’ve been given, and a light on the hill to the weary and heavy laden. Throughout the series you’ll see cities of refuge like Kedesh where these principles are upheld and valued and others that have became more focused on wealth, power, self-righteousness or have slidden into idolatry and compromise. History shows us that these cities of refuge were kind of a blip on the timeline, in fact scholar think that many of the 48 cities designated for the Levites by Moses were never even settled. If the Church wants to have an impact on the culture around us, instead of the other way around, we would do well to pattern our congregations after these places of perfectly balanced justice and mercy.
This is so powerful and enlightening and sobering! Wow! <3 Have you traveled to the Holy Land to get perspective/atmosphere for your books?
Yes, I had the privilege of traveling with fellow author Cliff Graham’s Good Battle Tours last December and I came home with thousands of pictures and tons of inspiration and sensory detail to layer into my stories. I cannot wait to go back and glean more someday, it was a life-changing experience that I will never forget.
I'm not green. Really... I'm always this lovely pea color. ;-) The cities of refuge in the Old Testament isn’t a topic we hear about a lot in church, how did this play into your research? Did you find it easier or more difficult to portray what life would be like for your characters in such a place?
That is very true. I knew pretty much nothing about them either but there is research out there, albeit sparing, from Christian and also Jewish Rabbinical sources that helped me fill in some gaps which I then just blended with what I know about God and about the plan of salvation that fits so perfectly into the Cities of Refuge pattern. As I began to “flesh out” the City of Kedesh in my mind it honestly became a real place in my head, so it’s not difficult to place myself there and envision what my characters see. When I went to Israel and drove near the place where the actual city once stood (or at least across the valley from it) it was kind of surreal to blend my “fictional” Kedesh with the actual landscape.
Well, speaking from a reader perspective, I can "see" the setting, so you did an amazing job! Was there a moment when you "just knew" that you were meant to write these stories?
I can’t remember a specific moment that I knew I was meant for it because the passion to write was always in me from an early age. I honestly didn’t think I had anything to say until I had kind of a “vision” of Kiya from Counted with the Stars when I was reading/studying Exodus and even then it took me five years to have the courage to put my work out in the world. It was probably as I was writing Shadow of the Storm that I realized I had more than just the proverbial “one book” in me and began to feel that writing was almost a compulsion. I get withdrawals when I can’t write now. Since the inspiration just keeps flowing from the Bible, I know that God is using me in this time for this purpose so I’m gonna go with it until he shuts off the faucet (which is hopefully not until for a very, very long time).
That is so cool! God is good! I love hearing about all the different ways He inspires His people. What do you do to recover once you’ve typed “THE END?”
If possible I take an entire month off of writing fresh story in order to give my brain a rest and recharge. And then I read as many books from my TBR list as I can including a craft book or two to prepare for starting a new book. And sleep. Lots of sleep.
Lots of sleep and lots of books - that's the dream! ;-)
Thank you so much for chatting with us, Connilyn!!
Guys, be sure to check out Connilyn's latest release, Shelter of the Most High. This is a story that should NOT be missed! Trust me!
The daughter of a pagan high priest, Sofea finds solace from her troubles in the freedom of the ocean. But when marauders attack her village on the island of Sicily, she and her cousin are taken across the sea to the shores of Canaan.
Eitan has lived in Kedesh, a city of refuge, for the last eleven years, haunted by a tragedy in his childhood, yet chafing at the boundaries placed on him. He is immediately captivated by Sofea, but revealing his most guarded secret could mean drawing her into the danger of his past.
As threats from outside the walls loom and traitors are uncovered within, Sofea and Eitan are plunged into the midst of a murder plot. Can they uncover the betrayal in time to save their lives and the lives of those they love?
Available now!
Eitan has lived in Kedesh, a city of refuge, for the last eleven years, haunted by a tragedy in his childhood, yet chafing at the boundaries placed on him. He is immediately captivated by Sofea, but revealing his most guarded secret could mean drawing her into the danger of his past.
As threats from outside the walls loom and traitors are uncovered within, Sofea and Eitan are plunged into the midst of a murder plot. Can they uncover the betrayal in time to save their lives and the lives of those they love?
Available now!
Thanks for stopping by, my writerly, bookish friends! <3 See you next time!
Hugs,
V. Joy Palmer
V. Joy Palmer is the author of Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is also an avid blogger and co-founder of Snack Time Devotions. In her spare time, Joy is an unprofessional chocolate connoisseur/binger, and she loves acting crazy and drinking coffee with the teens she mentors. When Joy isn’t urging the elves that live in her computer to write, she’s hanging out with her husband, their adorable baby girl, and their socially awkward pets.
Connect with Joy on her website, personal blog, devotional blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
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