Author Interview: Gail Kittleson

What inspired you to write With Each New Dawn?

This book continues the story of Addie and Kate, two young World War II women from Iowa. Their saga simply couldn’t stop at the end of the first book, so I kept writing. I couldn’t stop!

Which character in your new release did you most enjoy writing? Why?

I’d have to say Domingo, the Basque shepherd-turned guide and French Resistance saboteur. Domingo had no desire to do anything but spend his life at his ancestral home near a small French village. The work he inherited from his papa and grandfather, caring for a flock of sheep on the beautiful meadows and hills of the Department of Lot in Southern France brought him satisfaction.

Besides that, his commitment to Sancha, his betrothed, included dreams of a family and a quiet life. But Sancha’s murder by Nazi oppressors changes Domingo’s plans. He learns the meaning of revenge, and deepens in his concept of mercy. Still grieving his loss when he meets Kate, he has no idea how much more the war will change his life.

What I like best about Domingo is his humble attitude—he does what he can to aid the Resistance, seeks no glory, and longs for the return of the simple, beautiful way of life the war threatens to destroy.

What, if anything, do you and your heroine have in common?

Kate is much more of a risk-taker than I am. Probably I’m more like her best friend, Addie, with far too much fear. But Kate and I do share the propensity to ask questions. Oh my...yes!

Experience has taught me that our doubts and questions fail to alter God’s love for us, that His commitment to carry us through goes far deeper than our mental and emotional ups and downs. We’re human, so we fluctuate, but our Creator remains constant. No matter what.

Kate has been through so much grief and loss. An orphan from childhood, she also grieves her aunt, her husband, and during the first part of With Each New Dawn, her firstborn.  But most of all, an insistent desire to know more about her parents haunts her. What were they like and why did they die so young?

I’ve never experienced orphanhood, but have longed to make sense of things for many years. Back to Kate and me sharing a questioning mind.

What spiritual theme does this book include? How did it come to be a part of this story line?

Most people would agree that war brings out the worst in society. But conflict seems an inevitable part of history. The World War II era had lived through World War I, knew its horrors, and yet found themselves plunged into another terrible series of battles spread all over the world.

Both Kate and Domingo deal with spiritual questions—and so does another character, a wily Catholic priest active in the Resistance. He suffers great loss as well, when the Waffen S.S. ravages his hometown. Vulnerable and mourning, he finds Kate’s questions very much like his own. Where is the Almighty in all this?

As these characters grapple with impossible circumstances, their faith grows. Seems highly unlikely, but don’t we all grow through the worst of times?

What household task do you most dislike? Which do you most enjoy?

I’ve never liked to vacuum. Actually, I don’t like housecleaning at all, but at least there’s the satisfaction at the end, when things look their best for a while. Maybe it’s the fleeting nature of that state that makes cleaning seem such a futile use of valuable time. Let’s see, I must enjoy something…I don’t mind doing dishes. There’s something relaxing about that task.

What makes you laugh out loud?

Things my husband and grandchildren say. My husband’s quiet, wry sense of humor and his love of language leads to some hilarious quips. Our grandchildren are always coming up with actions or stories that make me laugh, too.

What smell do you love most, and why?

I love the clean pine scent of the forest, with snow run-off flowing over rocks in the background.

What book are you currently reading?

Queen Victoria, by Cecil Woodham-Smith. My husband read this and since we’ve been watching Victoria on television, the relationship between the Queen and Prince Albert intrigues me.

Do you usually insert a spiritual theme into your books? If so, do you have a favorite?

Because my heroines, so far at least, operate from a Christian-Judeo foundation, spirituality enters naturally. I think the concept of God being there for us through thick and thin is my favorite. Makes sense, because that’s always been the toughest one for me to embrace—and the most comforting.

Ponderosa Pine Forest, where Gail walks in the winter.

Where do you hide away when you want to pray, meditate, read, or just cuddle up with God?

I absolutely love to walk in the woods. Some people need ocean time, or love their cabin on the lake, but towering pines and a mountain in the distances do it for me.

Please share a verse of scripture that is especially meaningful to you, and why it is special.

Isaiah 63:9—In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. (NASB)

We all suffer in ways unique to us. The idea that our Lord shares our afflictions seems incredibly beautiful. He who created the universe and sustains life, deems to suffer when we suffer. How amazing is that?

Please share your conversion experience, if you’re comfortable doing so.

Faith grew in me before I even realized it. All the doubts and questions of my youth culminated in crying out for deliverance in several areas between high school and college. Answers came to me through Catherine Marshall’s book Beyond Ourselves.

Suddenly, spiritual things began to make sense.

Of course, I had SO very far to go on this journey, and I’m still at it. It’s not what I do, but what God does...ahh, heavenly!

About With Each New Dawn

In war-torn London, American Kate Isaac grieves her husband, awaits their child’s birth, and welcomes her best friend Addie. But after her miscarriage, a 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 his familial connection to Kate. 

In the shadow of the Waffen SS, Domingo and Kate find his younger brother Gabirel missing. While Domingo seeks Gabirel, Domingo’s parish priest, Père Gaspard, creates a new identity for Kate. 

United once again, Kate and Domingo subject their mutual attraction to the cause. But can mere human will and moral courage change the war’s tide and forge a future for them?

Preorder info:  http://tinyurl.com/jmvc36a

About the Author:

Gail Kittleson taught college expository writing and English as a Second Language. Now she writes memoir and women’s fiction, and facilitates writing workshops and women’s retreats. In northern Iowa, she and her husband enjoy grandchildren and gardening. In winter, the Arizona mountains provide new novel fodder.

Contact links:

http://www.gailkittleson.com/

www.facebook.com/GailKittlesonAuthor

http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson

www.twitter.com/GailGkittleson @GailGkittleson

Writing Tips: Tuning in to Local Dialect (Gail Kittleson)

(A writing tips post)

Gail Kittleson

Lost in the gorgeous musical score of Saving Private Ryan, I sailed into our little town after attending our country church. I stopped for appropriate stop signs, looked both ways, and continued into our alley and then the garage.

Getting out of the car, I glanced up to see our local police deputy had pulled in behind me and stood with arms akimbo. I hadn’t noticed anyone following me at all.

I took a few steps his way. “What did I do?”

“You never slowed down.”

“Never...but I stopped at the stop signs.”

“I’ve had my lights on from the highway, and you never slowed down. That one family has little kids, so I think they’d appreciate it if you took it a little slower next time.”

“Um...OK.”

He’s a friendly man, and kind. His daughter plays with my granddaughter, and we often see him at softball games.

As the week passed, I pondered his words: You never slowed down. About midweek, it dawned on me what he had meant.

I’m pretty sure he meant, “You didn’t slow down at the 45 mph sign just north of town.”

That had to be it because, obviously I did slow down several times as I passed through the intersections leading to our home.

Here’s the catch. For him, never means didn’t.

It’s not an obscure meaning, and most people around here understand both. But in this situation, his rendition of never became confusing. And that’s the way dialect often works. One person calls the breading mix you eat with turkey dressing. Another calls it stuffing. And the list goes on.

It behooves us to delve into the particular nuances of the area about which we’re writing. When my World War II scenes take place in rural Iowa where I spent my childhood, this conundrum can emerge.

For example, I know what farmers mean when they say, “separate hogs.”

But that phrase brought a question from my editor at one point. I explained that most folks in northern Iowa farm country know that separating hogs means to weed out the smaller ones from the larger, usually for the purpose of vaccinating or preparing for market.

But my editor had never heard of this process. It’s one of those phrases I needed to consider a bit closer, since some of my readers might not recognize the wording, either. In the end, we left it in, partly because the story takes place during World War II, so the reader expects dialect to have changed since then.

I’m glad for this morning’s reminder about dialect. I’m even happier that it came without an expensive driving ticket.

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 stroke 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?

Late blooming women's fiction author Gail Kittleson writes mostly WWII stories of overcoming fear and finding one's voice. She and her husband enjoy family in northern Iowa and the Arizona Ponderosa pine forest in winter. Gail taught college expository writing and facilitates memoir writing and fiction workshops.

Friendship Month: Forever Friends

by Gail Kittleson

Those friendships that last and last, unstained and unstrained by the decades, mean so much to us. A woman I know in her nineties cherishes two of these relationships from far in the past. She and four or five other girls grew up together in a tiny Iowa town and remained forever friends. One by one, these women pass from this world, but their memory lives on in the friends they leave behind.

What has held them together in spite of long absences, illness, marriage (and broken marriages)? I think it’s that oft-used phrase coined by Anne of Green Gables. They’re kindred spirits. Most of us recognize that unique bond, and long for it to be repeated often throughout our lives as we meet people. Because kindred spirits are very difficult to tear asunder.

Come what may, we stick together. So many types of relating have opened up to us, with the world becoming smaller and smaller. Possibilities to make acquaintances, almost-friends and true comrades abound. Sometimes, though, circumstances and attitudes stand in the way. After six decades of relating with people, I believe that true friendship qualifies as a modern-day miracle. Willa Cather wrote, Where there is great love there are always miracles.

Ah, yes. Thinking about lasting friendships brings two of my characters to mind. Addie Bledsoe and Kate Isaacs, friends from elementary school on, lived in the World War II era, a time when many lost dear friends and loved ones to the war.

Perhaps that fact heightened their commitment to one another, but Addie, a young Iowa farm wife whose husband didn’t like Kate at all, stuck to their friendship when Kate boarded a Red Cross ship to search for her husband in England. An RAF pilot, he was downed in a crash and taken to an undisclosed location in London, so Kate determined to find him.

She made a pact to correspond with Addie, who had her own battles to fight with her cantankerous husband Harold on their Iowa farm. These two fast friends’ letters back and forth across the Atlantic bound them together even more powerfully, testifying to the incredible efficacy of the written word.

Both girls maintained a Christian worldview, although life’s trials and the war certainly caused them to question things. But having a trusted pal with whom to share their questions made all the difference in the world.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24, New Living Translation

  Addie and Kate’s friendship certainly proved this scripture. Their story is told in In Times Like These and released in April of 2016. Their mutual commitment stood the test of time, so much so that it required a couple of sequels, one of which releases next February with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.

  Here’s to faithful alliances that endure!

About Gail Kittleson:

Late blooming women's fiction author Gail Kittleson writes mostly WWII stories of overcoming fear and finding one's voice. She and her husband enjoy family in northern Iowa and the Arizona Ponderosa pine forest in winter. Gail taught college expository writing and facilitates memoir writing and fiction workshops.


Leave a comment on every Chirp 'N Chatter Friendship post in September for a chance to win the fantastic virtual gift basket! (See the 09/01/2016 Gift Basket post.)