Gail Kittleson Interview and GIVEAWAY!

Happy Wednesday, Diamond Mine readers. Abigail here, and I am thrilled to introduce you to Gail Kittleson: WWII writer extraordinaire. She's just released her second book in the Women on the Home Front series titled With Each New Dawn. And boy is this a good one! Heartwarming and filled with period detail, With Each New Dawn shows the dangers and hardships of war, but the courage of people working together to fight evil and keep their countries safe.

AND...she's giving away a free print copy! As long as we get at least three comments, we'll randomly select the winner. So comment away.

ABOUT THE BOOK: With Each New Dawn

In war-torn London, American Kate Isaacs grieves her husband, awaits their child's birth, and welcomes her best friend Addie. But after her miscarriage, another meeting with mysterious Monsieur le Blanc launches her into Britain's Secret Operations Executive (SOE). In late 1943, Kate parachutes into Southern France to aid the Resistance.

Domingo, a grieving Basque mountain guide-turned-saboteur, meets her parachute drop, tends her injured ankle, and carries her to safety. Reunited a few months later, they discover the injured Monsieur le Blanc who, with his dying breath, reveals a secret that changes Kate's life.

In the shadow of the Waffen SS, Domingo's younger brother Gabirel is missing. While Domingo seeks Gabirel, Domingo's parish priest Pere Gaspard, creates a new identity for Kate.

As Kate and Domingo subject their mutual attraction to the cause of freedom, can mere human will and moral courage change the war's tide and forge a future for them?

LINKS:
Amazon, Author Website, Facebook, Twitter


THE INTERVIEW:

What led you to write about WWII? Did you have any relatives in the war?

My journey into the WWII era started with Dottie, the heroine of my first published novel. That got me into “shell shock” for a character from WWI. And I started researching…researching…on and on. The WWII era GRABS my heart. Yes, my dad served four years, and my three uncles served in the infantry. My father-in-law also was an Alamo Scout, one of those who led the Rangers into the POW camp to rescue the Bataan death march soldiers. Gives me shivers. 

In your story you do a fantastic job of describing the unique Basque people and their language. I didn’t know much about them before reading your book. Have you ever been to that region?

I’ve been close, but not in the Department of Lot, YET!! I definitely want to go. We lived in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon for French language study before we went to Senegal, W. Africa. That’s in the Haute Loire, and also plays a role in the novel. Oh, how I wish I could relive that time - I would interview everything that moved!!

I came upon the Basque mountain guides as I learned more about how downed pilots found their way back to England. Without those trusty guides, many would not have made it. Then of course, I had to study the Basque people in general - so much wonderful folklore and a deep faith. Years ago, we visited a Basque museum in Boise, Idaho, but at that time I had no idea I’d ever be writing about a Basque WWII guide.

To aid in the war effort, would you have rather been on the home front as Addie was, or in a dangerous foreign country as a spy like Kate? 

Oh, what a great question. Hum…my answer might depend a lot on my age at the time. At Kate’s young age, I’d have been terrified to be anywhere the Gestapo and the war effort would have been much better off with me here in little old rural Iowa.

But as I’ve aged, I’ve grown more confident in who I am. So I think if I knew my particular gifts could best be used in a dangerous place, I’d go. It’s interesting how we change with age. I think for many years, people would have said I was basically quiet and non- risk-taking. But as I look back, when the time has been right, I have taken quite a few risks. 

Addie has always seemed more timid than Kate, but she still crossed the mine-infested Atlantic to help her best friend. I think I would have proven the coward on that score. 

Your description of Kate’s parachute drop was realistic. Would you or have you parachuted from a plane? Or done anything else crazy like that?

I might have done something crazy, but not from an airplane. I would have been far too motion sick, especially in those types of planes. My husband was “Airborne” in the army, and loved it. I’m trying to think what “anything else crazy like that” might be. I would have tackled the long mountain treks Kate took, for sure. 

Were any of the courageous things your characters did in the story based on true accounts?

Yes, the guiding of downed pilots and secret agents over the Pyrenees happened often during the war. So did agents parachuting behind enemy lines, as Kate did. I can’t say their experiences were based on ONE specific account, though. Many stories exist, and I attempted to meld together the facts for my scenes. 

When will book three of “Women on the Homefront” series come out?

I don’t know yet, but I hope soon, since readers are asking for closure for a few questions left in the air. This week I wrote an involved proposal for the manuscript, which is completed (I hesitate to say that, because they seem NEVER to be completed— I always end up finding things to fix no matter how close we are to publication.) Anyway, the sooner it’s published, the better. 


Any advice for aspiring writers?

Keep writing. Don’t stop to edit until you’re all the way through your story. Be faithful to your characters and your readers. For me, that means not giving them any easy ways out of trouble, and NO pat answers. Human beings suffer, that’s the plain truth. So why should our characters have it easy? 

Wow, I got on a rant there. Guess you know one of my pet peeves: unrealistic characters and plots. 

Thank you so very much, Abbie, for having me. And thanks again for reading and reviewing With Each New Dawn. I can’t over-emphasize how much that means to me. 

It was my pleasure. Thanks for coming on the Diamond Mine and sharing your stories. Can't wait to read book three!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

An Iowa farm girl, Gail earned an English/Secondary Ed degree at Wartburg College and her M.A. in TESOL from the University of Northern Iowa. (A loooong time ago!)

WhiteFire Publishing released Gail's memoir, Catching Up With Daylight, in 2013. In This Together, her debut WWII ear novel, released in November, 2015. The first in her World War II series, In Times Like These, released in May 2016, and two sequels wait in the wings.

Gail instructed college expository writing and now facilitates writing workshops and edits. She and her husband split their time between Iowa and Arizona Rim Country.

GIVEAWAY!!!

Please leave a comment if you'd like a chance to win.

Our Own Gail Kittleson Talks Life and War on the Diamond Mine

Life and War on the Diamond Mine

In Times Like These

We have a special treat this weekend! One of our very own miners, Gail Kittleson has a new release and we’re celebrating! Make sure you check out the giveaway after the interview for your chance to win a copy. Without further ado, here we go…

RB: Hi, Gail! I’m so glad you could take a break from your busy day to join us on the Diamond Mine…this time as a guest.

GK: Thanks so much for having me, Renee. I appreciate the opportunity!

RB: You’re very welcome. That’s what the Diamond Mine is here for! We love to spread the Good News and your new book is definitely a way to do that. How about we dig into that great topic right now? Is there a favorite part of In Times Like These which stands out in your mind? Something you can share with the readers and fans?

GK: This is a hard one, but maybe a scene in Addie's chicken house, where her volatile husband Harold never goes, since he remembers being chased by roosters in childhood. The day before, he's gone all day, so Addie finally breaks out and changes something in the house that begs for attention.

In the morning when he spies what Addie did, Harold's so furious he risks going into the chicken coop to confront her. She's terrified. I don't want to spoil the scene, but I hope the reader will be right there with Addie, cheering her on as he faces her down.

RB: Is there a particular reason you chose your setting?

GK: Yes. They say you should write what you know, and I grew up on an Iowa farm in the fifties and sixties. So it's not so much that I chose the setting, as it chose me. Addie was a farm wife, and that demands a farm. I imagine an Illinois, Minnesota, or Wisconsin farm would have worked, but what I know is little old Iowa. Plain and simple, where people in my childhood made do after World War II.

But through writing Addie's story, I think I've realized more deeply how World War II's effects still permeated the lives of farm folk in the fifties. When you've sent your loved ones to a terrible war, when you've listened to the Fireside Chats in the dim light of your living room radio, calling you to more and more sacrifice for the cause, it changes you.

The war, like an ever-present thunderhead, lasted for four long years and colored ordinary people's lives far into the future. To better understand my parents, Greatest Generation members, studying the stateside effects of the war was helpful. My mom waited and prayed for not one, but TWO brothers to return from the fighting. My dad spent the entire war overseas, in more than one country. That has to change you forever.

RB: War’s reach is far and long. Its impact can be felt across the generations. By the way, how did you come up with your title, In Times Like These?

GK: This novel has had several titles. Because of the emphasis on its heroine Addie's victory garden, I first called it A Time For Flowers. Kind of like the touching story from our literature classes, Flowers for Algernon. But as time went on and I studied more about a novel's moral premise, I realized the story was bigger than that.

World War II's chaos all around the globe highlighted the battles Addie fought for her autonomy under her husband's tight control. The old hymn In Times Like These came to mind as I wrote, and the words seemed fitting. What's interesting was discovering this isn't a particularly "old" hymn - a woman wrote it during World War II!

RB: That’s awesome! I didn’t know that, Gail! I absolutely love these interviews…I learn such interesting things. And I know what you mean about books changing titles left and right. Mine do too. I think my novella Racing Hearts changed titles about four times before I finished writing it. Speaking of writing things, what’s easiest about writing for you?

GK: Characters come to me, often when I'm walking. But it took years for Addie, for example, to evolve into the fully dimensional character she is, and I didn't always understand what was going on. (Thing work better for me this way, actually. The less I know sometimes, the better things turn out.)

The character relates their story to me, so it's not my agenda filtering through the plot, it's HER STORY. What's amazing to me is how this whole process works. It's kind of like living a double life--maybe you have to be a little on the weird side, which is no problem for me, to be able to balance this existence?

RB: I can understand what you’re talking about there. It’s kind of neat to have the characters actually tell you the story instead of the other way around, isn’t it? God teaches me so much that way. But what happens if you get “stuck” in the process? What do you do for inspiration?

GK: Walking seems to help more than anything. In Iowa, it depends on the weather, but in the Arizona Mountains where we spend the worst winter months, almost every day provides a time good for walking. Even when it snows 24 inches, sometime that day, the sun will shine and you can get out to walk.

Something about the rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other, the beauty I see all around me, and the quiet—inspires answers to where I'm stuck. I pray for ideas/guidance/a way out of a sticky situation, and they come. I'm so grateful to be involved in this partnership.

RB: I may try that the next time I hit the literary brick wall. How has the Lord impacted your life?

GK: Believing that Jesus would never leave me was tough. I had a miserable sense that my bad thoughts would tear me from His grip. Once I went to my mom's pastor and shared my night terrors (that lasted all day long, too). He was a simple, kind man, and pointed me to John Bunyan's little book, Grace Abounding To the Greatest of Sinners. Not as well-known as Pilgrim's Progress, but written for fearful, trembling souls like me,

That small volume helped me so much--somebody else had felt as unworthy as I did, yet survived to believe God had his back no matter what. Great relieved sigh--although my doubts persisted years after that. But they gradually faded, and I can't be thankful enough for God's abiding presence in my life.

RB: Oh, Gail…God is good. Fear can be a powerful and destructive force in our lives. It can also be life-saving grace but not if it consumes us to the point we can’t live productively. I’m so grateful you trusted God to relieve you of that burden. As a Christian, what do you believe your role is in the world today?

GK: I used to think my spiritual gift was rescuing and fixing people. LOL Seriously, though, that's what I tried to do. Now I believe I'm here to use the gifts God's given me the very best I can and encourage others along the way. I also used to think we were supposed to understand everything. Giving up that goal is truly freeing!

Instead of endlessly trying to figure out everything, I attempt to embrace each moment as it comes. This is one of the themes in my memoir, and learning the ancient Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina (Divine reading) helped me a lot with this. Focusing on ONE Word the Holy Spirit highlights during my devotional times revolutionized my perspective. It's not so much FINDING the meaning for this day, but LISTENING and allowing Him to show me what to focus on.

RB: Well, you may be able to “rescue” someone, but only God can truly “fix” them. I’m glad He revealed that to you! Thanks for the fun interview and sharing so much about yourself. I can’t wait to read your new book, In Times Like These.

GK: Thanks so much, Renee, and anyone who's taken valuable time to stop by and read this article. I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to contact me on Facebook or at gkittleson@myomnitel.com

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER!

One winner selected by random draw!

One Kindle copy of In Times Like These awarded to one commenter (must leave e-mail address with comment).

Minimum of five comments required to validate contest. Drawing to be held one week following postdate of blog.

About the Book:

Pearl Harbor attacked! The United States is at war.

But Addie fights her own battles on the Iowa home front. Her controlling husband Harold vents his rage on her when his father's stoke prevents him from joining the military. He degrades Addie, ridicules her productive victory garden, and even labels her childlessness as God's punishment.

When he manipulates his way into a military unit bound for Normandy, Addie learns that her best friend Kate’s pilot husband has died on a mission, leaving her stranded in London in desperate straits.

Will Addie be able to help Kate, and find courage to trust God with her future?

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/1VFEoYh

About the Author:

Gail Kittleson taught college expository writing and English as a Second Language. Now she focuses on writing women’s fiction and facilitating writing workshops and women’s retreats. She and her husband enjoy family in northern Iowa, and the Arizona Ponderosa forest in winter.

You can count on Gail’s heroines to make do with what life hands them, and to overcome great odds. Her World War II fiction is set in Iowa, England, and Southern France.

Meeting new reading and writing friends is the meringue on Gail’s pie, as her heroines would say.

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

Welcome to the Remodeled Diamond Mine!

Welcome to the Newly Remodeled
 Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction

The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction crew has new members...and a new schedule! I'd like to introduce you to the entire crew, but first, we must say farewell to Misty Wilson. Her sense of humor and fun interviews will be missed. Rebekah Millet leaves as well...but not until July. They may move on to different caverns, but these wonderful ladies will always be Rough Diamond Writers.

Please welcome Joi Copeland, Gail Kittleson, Tracey Lyons, and Peg Phifer. Each of these writers offer their own unique writing talents to the Mine. They join us...old...(shh, stop laughing!) Miners, Renee Blare, Nancy Bolton, Rebekah Millet, Peggy Trotter, and Suzie Waltner.

The Blog Schedule:

I'm sure everyone is wondering about the blog schedule. That's the best part!
Beginning in February, we'll be increasing the blog schedule to bi-weekly posting (Wednesdays and Saturdays). This will continue until the end of July. Take advantage of these extra posts while they last! After July, we will return to normal weekly posting.


Genres:

Did you notice the new genre we've included on the Diamond Mine? Amish! We interview the gamut of Christian Fiction authors. From Amish to Science Fiction and Dystopian, we welcome all writers to our blog as long as they strive to spread the Word of God. Don't hesitate to check out our calendar and see we have a spot for you! If so, shoot us an email.


Thank you for your support and enthusiasm through the years. Hold on to your hats, folks, 2016 looks to be an exciting one!

In Christ,

The Rough Diamond Writers

Interview and Giveaway with Gail Kittleson!!

Heroines that dare to Bloom!

It’s 1946. 

Dottie Kyle, an everyday Midwestern woman who lost her only son in the war and her husband soon after, takes a cooking/cleaning job at a local boarding house. But when a new employee is hired, complications arise, and when they niggle Dottie’s “justice meter”, she must decide whether to speak up or not. 

At the same time, her daughter's pregnancy goes awry and the little California grandchildren she's never met need her desperately. But an old fear blocks her way. When the widower next door shows Dottie unexpected attention, she has no idea he might hold the clue to unlocking her long-held anxieties.

Let's all welcome Gail Kittleson to The Diamond Mine today!!

Gail has written a wonderful historical romance, full of characters you'll love to spend time with. Be sure to leave a comment after the interview for a chance to win a free copy of Gail's great book! Now, let's get to the interview!

Hi Gail, Welcome to The Diamond Mine! I have some questions for you. 

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

In my teens, I walked out in a pasture one beautiful summer day and sensed that writing ought to be a huge part of my future. But I had minus-zero confidence that anything I wrote would be important to anyone else. In ninth grade, our English teacher put a big red A+ on one of my papers, along with a note: Your writing shows real talent. That encouraged me not to give up.

That's wonderful. Good for you! What’s the first story you remember writing?

It was an essay about summer in the schoolhouse. Then in college, I recall writing a poem around a story. But to be honest, I really wasn’t much of a storywriter back then. Actually, I never thought I’d write fiction, as poetry was my first and favorite mode of expression. Teaching college expository writing brought out the essayist in me—suddenly I realized I could communicate in this way just as I did with poetry. Still, I had no dream of fiction writing. That didn’t come until I was in my fifties, when I led several groups through Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Even now, I’m not sure what happened, or exactly how, but something loosened up inside me, and a fiction book formed in my mind.

That's so interesting. Every writer I've interviewed seems to travel a different path to novel writing. What attracted you to writing a story set just after World War II?

The era is my mother’s. In high school, she watched her two older brothers go off to war. She told us how she and the other girls would dance with each other on Saturday nights because most of the young men were fighting. WWII has always fascinated me—such a treasure trove of endless stories. My father-in-law was a bona fide war hero, and that may have affected me, too, as I learned about his service.

It certainly is an era that captures the imagination of many people. Tell us something about the characters in your book, and what they’re facing.

The heroine, Dottie, a down-to-earth Gold Star mother, lost her only son Bill at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in North Africa, and her husband died soon after the war. So she makes do by taking a cooking and cleaning position at the local boarding house, where she tolerates her stingy boss, a curmudgeonly negative thinker. But when a new employee, Bonnie Mae, arrives on the scene, conflicts arise that niggle Dottie’s sense of injustice. Finally, she must decide whether to maintain silence or speak up for what she thinks is right.

At the same time, Dottie’s daughter Cora develops complications in her third pregnancy and needs Dottie desperately.  But she lives in California, and the thought of boarding a train for such a long trip pushes all of Dottie’s fear buttons. Though she longs to meet her precious grandbabies, relentless fear roots her to the Iowa earth.

And then Al, Dottie’s widower next-door neighbor, starts showing her unexpected attention. Oh my! What will happen next? Of course, Dottie has no inkling that Al, a World War I veteran, deals with his own haunting fears, or that he might hold the key to untangling her dilemma.

Sounds like a great read! Do any of the characters share qualities with you, or someone else in real life?

Absolutely. Most women I know are make-do folks. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, we discover our strengths like teabags—when we’re in hot water. My Grandma and Mom were like this. You don’t survive the Great Depression and a world war without making do. Mom used to tell us about walking to school with cardboard in her shoe to insulate the hole in her sole. That’s the kind of poverty most of us have never known, and yet when other sorts of trouble threaten, I think each of us reaches down—or up—for the strength we need to get through. 

Dottie is also out to please, which is my natural modus operandi. Keep everybody happy and avoid conflict at all costs. Yep, above all, be NICE!

Not so easy to do when troubles come flying at you! I think that's when we learn to really pray. 

When you imagine a story, what comes first, the characters, the storyline, the era, etc.?

The characters. Dottie came to me first, and then the guy next door—sweet, lonely Al. I believe Dottie’s boss Helene arrived in my mind next. She shoved her way right into my thoughts, and into Dottie’s knack for toleration.

People like Helene really don’t care about hurting anyone’s feelings—they don’t even notice. Their agenda matters so much to them, it’s all they can see. And people like Dottie let them run roughshod—after all, Helene’s writing out the paychecks. But when Helene hires a new, sassy young employee with a strong sense of justice, Dottie discovers her own limits.

I love character-driven stories that show how people change and grow. 

So, do you write from an outline, or develop it as you go?

I don’t use an outline, and the characters develop the story. I seem to end up in their little town, walking their streets with them, and the 1946 culture creeps into my spirit. In those days, options were a bit more limited technologically, but not interpersonally. And going through something as awful as a world war changes the population. Quirky small town atmosphere and actual historical events also help develop the plot.

What would you like the reader to take away from your stories?

Even though Dottie suffered the most heart-wrenching grief—losing a child, her actions and attitudes exhibit a die-hard underlying confidence that life is good. How can that be true? That’s one of the foundational premises that weaves this story together. We may not understand it. Dottie certainly doesn’t, but in ways beyond her comprehension, comfort comes to her in her dark hours and gives her hope.

I think that’s so true to life. When I consider my most difficult experiences, this spiritual sense (that’s what I’ll call it, for lack of a better term) that life is still worth living always comes through. I hope readers see a simple, strong faith in Dottie’s ability to “make do,” a foundation that holds no matter what. And as Dottie clings to this powerful, very tangible reality, she begins to realize second chances just around the corner. Then gradually, she allows a bit of joy to seep into her soul again.

Ah, you’ll love Dottie!

You bet I will!

When you write a historical story, do you do research, listen to the music of the era, or read literature from that time?

Yes, yes, and yes. What’s fun is the folks still around who lived through the forties. What a wealth they have to offer. And the documentaries are ongoing—I learn so much from the history channel. The songs popular back then: I grew up with Mom singing them as she worked. And my mother-in-law has told me how she and my father-in-law chose one of Hoagie Carmichael’s for “their song.”

I love the research aspect of writing historicals almost as much as writing the story!

So Gail, what are you working on now?

The second in a World War II series that takes the reader from Iowa farm country to London, and then into southern France to aid the Resistance. Talk about research! The lengths to which people went to fight for their freedom amaze me—we’re so used to being free, we can forget how much liberty means. But the French Resistance laid down everything, including their lives, for this privilege. 

As always, my characters voice honest questions: how can a loving, almighty Creator allow such evil to persist? How is it that in the midst of the violent Waffen S.S. advance northward toward Normandy to squelch the Allied invasion, these characters still experience evidence of God’s loving care? Tough inquiries for almost impossible times, but in such seasons, we may find Him hiding in the questions. 

Absolutely! It's been wonderful to share this time with you. I'm looking forward to more stories from you!

Well readers, here's a bit more about Gail:

Our stories are our best gifts, and blooming late has its advantages—the novel fodder never ends. Gail writes from northern Iowa, where she and her husband enjoy gardening and grandchildren. WhiteFire Publishing released Gail’s memoir, Catching Up With Daylight in 2013, and her debut women’s historical fiction, In This Together (Wild Rose Press/Vintage Imprint) releases now. Gail also contributed to the Little Cab Press 2015 Christmas Anthology— https://www.facebook.com/LittleCABpress

Please feel free to contact her—meeting new reading friends is the frosting on her cake!

And don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of In This Together!!

Contact links:

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

Purchase links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/This-Together-Gail-Kittleson-ebook/dp/B016BVY4Z8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447843501&sr=1-2&keywords=in+this+together

 In This Together

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/in-this-together-0

The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6492

Allromance Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-inthistogether-1904515-368.html

Barnes and Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-this-together-gail-kittleson/1122788648?ean=2940151071727