Life and War on the Diamond Mine
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?
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.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3459831.Gail_Kittleson
