Dear Readers, we’re
featuring a novel today from an author who is new to this blog. It is set in the WWII era. As you will see from the
first page of the novel later in the interview, this author really has a strong
grip on the feel of the era.
Bio: Gail
Kittleson taught college expository writing and ESL. 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. Meeting new reading and writing
friends is the meringue on Gail’s pie, as her heroines would say.
Welcome, Gail. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
I don’t consciously do this, but once the book is finished
and I’m doing readings or workshops or interviews about the novel, I realize
how much of my attitudes enter into certain characters’ reactions. Or I make
someone into my exact opposite. Another thing happened with my debut novel.
After the fact, a reader’s questions helped me realize that the heroine had
many things in common with someone else from my past—but I had no conscious
intention of doing this.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
When I facilitated caregiver and grief workshops for Hospice
and Community Health Nurses, I traveled often. Being ridiculously frugal, I
shared rides from airports with others traveling to state or national
conferences. Many people would never do this with folks they’d never met, but I
had total trust in Hospice folks and God’s protection. Besides, things in
general were a bit safer back then. I must admit, though, that this method got
me into a few pickles.
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
In junior high, a long, LONG time ago! Poetry was my first
love, and remained my main genre for many years.
Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
Women’s historical fiction, biographies, and a little
mystery. I like non-fiction, too, especially memoir—and reading poetry still is
a joy.
How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?
I don’t run. My life has become pretty sedentary, since I
write most of the time. Sometimes I feel like I run from writing to editing to
promoting, though—there’s always so much to learn!
How do you choose
your characters’ names?
I review classic stories I love, study names in cemeteries,
and check lists of common names for various nationalities. Sometimes, a
conversation will spark a name that “rings” just right to me for a certain
character. I also ask some friends if I get stuck.
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal brings me unique
satisfaction. For example, I really wanted to instruct classes at a certain
institution, but roadblocks kept popping up. I prayed and prayed about this,
and when a full-time position finally was offered, I literally jumped up and
down.
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
I’d be a giraffe. The idea of looking down at the everyday
world from a high vantage point intrigues me—just think how different a lilac
bush would look to a giraffe. Besides that, I’m enamored with the design of the
giraffe’s hide.
What is your favorite
food?
Um . . . it’d be easy to tell you what it used to be back
when I could eat most anything I wanted. But a lactose, sugar, and gluten-free
diet cramps my style. However, I’ve learned to meld all these “frees” into a
satisfying snack that seems like a sandwich. (I used to crave grainy breads and
cheese.) Now, I layer a corn tortilla with almond cheese, black olives,
avocado, spinach, kale, fat-free refried beans or whatever else I have, top all
this with another tortilla, and brown on both sides. The cheese melts, a la
grilled cheese sandwich. Yum.
I don’t have those
dietary restrictions, but that sounds delicious, minus the beans, which I am
allergic to. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock,
and how did you overcome it?
Believing I had something to say that would be of interest
and help to others. It took years to shoo my low self-image aside and write
from my experience. Starting with a memoir helped me, I think, because I could
express the struggle, and that of many other women. It wasn’t until afterward
that fictional characters started appearing in my thoughts.
Tell us about the
featured book.
In Times Like These has been a long time in the writing. I was
advised to give up on it, but my heroine wouldn’t let me. World War II forms a
backdrop for this young Iowa
farmwife’s personal struggle on the 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.
Readers will cheer Addie as she summons courage to help Kate,
claims her voice, and learns to trust God with her future.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Someone wearing Burma Shave hoisted Addie from a rickety oak
piano stool into a polka’s wild pulse. One minute, she did her best to keep up
with George Miller’s accordion tempo. The next, she flew around the crowded
town hall’s wooden dance floor.
His strong arms pulled her out of a twirl, and laughing
brown eyes sparkled at her between deep-set matching wrinkles.
“Your feet are almost as talented as your fingers on those
old ivories, Mrs. Bledsoe.”
She gathered her wits. “George?”
The rural mailman’s laughter melded with aromas from the
food table, where aproned women plied homemade chocolate cake, lemon pie and
other delicacies. Nearby, the steady glub glub of every percolator in Halverson, Iowa
kept time with the music.
Over on the makeshift stage, somebody else belted notes from
George’s bright red accordion, but before Addie could figure out who it was, he
lunged her through the Wooden Heart Polka.
An old fellow on the tuba and his wife on the concertina
zipped into foot-tapping melody. More onlookers took to the dance floor and a
whirr of excitement buzzed the high-ceilinged room.
Above it all, a wide paper banner announced the reason for
the festivities. Red Cross Annual Roll Call—Halberton County Goal
for 1941—$10,000. Below, someone penciled in earmarks: $500, $1,000, $1,250, and on to the final
amount.
George pulled Addie to the side of the dance floor and
grinned down at her. “If you weren’t married, I’d take you up to New Ulm,
Minnesota, to hear The Six Fat Dutchmen. Been in the business since ’32. They
spruce up the beat so, I can hardly make it through the moves.”
“I can’t imagine that.”
Furrows crinkled his brow. “How’s your mother-in-law these
days? Has Orville improved any?”
“If anything, he’s gotten worse. Berthea has to feed him
now.”
“Umm . . . she’s got a mighty heavy load.”
The piano started in again and perky crescendos added an
upswing. The pianist’s flaming hair fit right into the gala atmosphere. Leave
it to Fern to blend an oompah beat with runs she normally played on the church
organ.
Then Kate grabbed Addie’s hand, her eyes flashing as blue as
an Iowa
summer sky. George threw up his palms in mock dismay and waved Addie off with
her best friend.
Kate grabbed a chair and pulled Addie down beside her “Hey—you
haven’t forgotten how to dance.”
“The last time I attempted a polka was at . . .”
“Our senior formal. Harold wouldn’t lower himself to polka,
so Joe took you out.”
“While Alexandre swooshed you around Canadian style. And a
few months later, he took you to Canada.”
How can readers find you on the Internet?
http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson
Thank you, Gail, for sharing this book with us.
Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
In Times Like These (The Cedar Valley Girls) (Volume 1)
- paperback
In Times Like These (The Cedar Valley Girls Book 1) - Kindle
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