In This Together by Gail Kittleson

Gail Kittleson

Around New Year’s, we often consider our purpose. Samuel Clemens tried his hand at typesetting, riverboat piloting, soldiering, and silver mining before having his first story published. I wonder how the writer we know as Mark Twain would specify his purpose—to entertain ... to teach a moral ... to change the world? His iconic characters, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Jim, did all three.

Considering the body of his work, I’d vote for the latter. Twain observed the ills and evils of his tumultuous times, and through gradual alteration, contributed to altering them. Ernest Hemingway said that “all modern American literature” arose from Huck Finn, published in January, 1885 and called the great American novel.

Decades later, To Kill A Mockingbird revealed the depth of bigotry still active in the South, once again through a child’s eyes. In the same way, The Book Thief and Five Quarters of an Orange strip bare the vagaries of war.

Does this childhood perspective subtly open readers to the truth? I don’t know, but those last two books held me spellbound, as did To Kill A Mockingbird.

I have yet to adapt this principle in a novel, but the children I include make a lot of difference to the main character. Dottie, the heroine of In This Together, loves children—long after her own left home, she volunteers with the wee tots at her church. Never one to mind cleaning up messes, she works the remnants of chocolate cake from an adorable little guy’s pocket before his mom comes to pick him up.

Down on her hands and knees after everyone else leaves, scrubbing up bits of chocolate from cold cement and crackly old 1946 linoleum, Dottie longs to meet her two sweet grandbabies, far away in California, and mourns her only son Bill, who died in the North Africa campaign.

Dottie, who rarely allows her emotions to surface, gives in to an avalanche of grief after her time with these children. But down on the freezing floor, she still looks up. And so does Al, the lonely widower next door who watches her walk to work each morning and trudge home at night. He secretly hopes someday she’ll give him a second glance.

It took Samuel Clemons a while to realize his gift of story. Now that I’m focusing on story too, am I out to entertain, teach, or change the world with my first novel? How do I expect this post-World War II tale to affect readers? For starters, I’d like them to see Dottie Kyle as a friend and cheer her on as she faces down some stubborn, entrenched fears. We all must do that, and to think Dottie might encourage somebody on their journey makes my day.

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After losing her only son to World War II and her husband soon after, Dottie Kyle takes a job at a local boarding house. Her daughter Cora moved to California straight out of high school to work for the war effort, married a sailor and settled down in the Golden State—another loss.

 Dottie contributes to her rural Iowa post-war world by cooking and cleaning, volunteering at her church, and tending her garden. But when troubles arise in Cora’s third pregnancy, Dottie longs to help Cora and meet those two grandbabies out in California. However, old fears prohibit her from making that arduous, cross-country train journey.

            At the boarding house, complications arise that force Dottie to speak up for what’s right, and as her confidence grows, so does the unexpected interest of the widower next door. Nary a reason to blush here, but plenty of opportunity to cheer Dottie on to victory!

Purchase links:

AMAZON

ALLROMANCEEBOOKS.COM 

BOOKSTRAND.COM 

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NOOK.COM 

Heroines that Dare to Bloom parallels Gail’s long journey to blooming as a writer. She and her husband enjoy gardening and grandchildren in Northern Iowa, and she facilitates writing workshops and women’s retreats.

WhiteFire Publishing released her memoir, Catching Up With Daylight in 2013, and her debut women’s historical fiction, In This Together (Wild Rose Press/Vintage Imprint) released in November. She also contributed to the Little Cab Press 2015 Christmas Anthology https://www.facebook.com/LittleCABpress

Please feel free to contact Gail—meeting new reading friends is the meringue on her pie, as Dottie would say!

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

Growing as a Writer by Gail Kittleson

Gail Kittleson

One of the things I like about being a writer is that I’m always challenged to learn and improve my craft. Because of that, I believe I’ll never become bored with the process. Author Gail Kittleson believes in growing as a writer, too, and she offers encouragement to do just that. ~ Dawn

Growing as a Writer

A year ago, I discovered a natural stain remover that doubles as a spider killer—that’s what hooked me. And last week, a friend enlightened me on dispelling weeds. Plain vinegar spray. And Google taught me the Borax and sugar ant trick.

It’s great to learn—isn’t that why we’re still here?

What’s easier than spreading one part Borax to one part sugar around anthills? These antidotes sat right under my nose for so long, and sometimes, the same holds true for writing. Often, a skill from instructing college expository writing works for fiction, too. Okay, with some tweaking.

Take outlining. What a pain, although a clear outline produces a brilliant essay, no doubt about it.

But in fiction writing, an outline lurks far from my mind. A new, incredible character turns their charm on me, and I’m a goner. They precede me down rabbit holes and waste precious time.

After following them through several women’s fiction manuscripts, something dawned on me. From the story’s back side, the order became clear ... the outline, if you will. And my labor the last three or four times through amounted to paring away excess—scenes with no place in the outline. Yep.

I don’t know if I’ll ever start off with a story outline. So far, one has never come to me—it’s a matter of plunging in and moving ahead. But then along came Dottie.

Yes, a character dear to my heart—a WWII gold star mom who also lost her husband near the war’s end. Her challenges working at a boarding house and her widower neighbor’s sudden interest in her produced far less wayward scenes. It was as if she held a flashlight to the outline every step of the way.

Interesting that Dottie’s pitfalls and triumphs make up my debut novel, In This Together.

The outline lives in her personality, her backstory, and ties everything together. This magical merging makes Dottie’s story sing. And you guessed it—all those previous novels have yet to find a publishing home.

I still had to “Kill a few creative literary babies” in Dottie’s story, but that doesn’t bother me anymore. The story question—will Dottie allow her intrinsic gifts to overcome long-established fears and embrace second-chance-love?—guides me now.

Perhaps that story question is the outline’s close cousin.

A few years back, I heard Angela Hunt describe her clear outlining strategy, and envied her organizational skills. But little by little, I’m getting there. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll sit down and outline a masterpiece requiring only a few solid edits.

Sometimes it’s a matter of discovering a new use for a familiar tool, as with vinegar, Borax, and sugar.

What have you learned lately about fiction writing? Please share, because you never know what reader might benefit, no matter how long they’ve been at this!

In This Together

In This Together

(Available soon!)

After World War II steals her only son and sickness takes her husband, Dottie Kyle begins cooking and cleaning at the local boarding house. The job and small town life allow her to slip into a predictable routine, but her daughters and grandchildren live far away, and loneliness is Dottie's constant companion when she's not working.

Al Jensen, Dottie's long-time neighbor, has merely existed since his wife died. Al passes his time working for his son at the town's hardware store. However, he still copes with tragic memories of serving in WWI. Being with Dottie makes him happy, and their friendship grows until, for him, love has replaced friendship.

When Dottie's daughter has health issues, will Al’s strength and servant's heart be enough to win Dottie's love and affection? Can Dottie's love for her family enable her to face her fear of crowds and enclosed spaces and travel halfway across the country to help the daughter who so desperately needs her?

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. In winter, Arizona’s Ponderosa pine forests provide relief from Midwest weather and a whole raft of new people and stories. Gail’s memoir, Catching Up With Daylight, paved the way for fiction writing, and she’s hooked for life.

You can learn more and connect with Gail here:

http://www.gailkittleson.com/

www.facebook.com/gail.kittleson

author@gailkittleson.com

 

Titles—Agony or Epiphany? by Gail Kittleson

Gail Kittleson

I hear titles in ordinary conversation every day. My memoir title came in a flash, on an evening flight from Des Moines to Colorado.

“We’re catching up with daylight,” another passenger exclaimed, and I thought, “That’s the story of my life.” 

But other titles don’t appear so easily, so I did a little research about this all-important banner on every book’s cover.

Ane Mulligan: I type whatever comes to mind, no matter how bad. One idea sparks another, and another, until you finally find what works. :)

Ruth Logan Herne: the story’s emotion inspires the title. "Red Kettle Christmas" was perfect for an industrious Salvation Army bell ringer and a WWII vet/NYPD cop.

"Try, Try Again" is a marriage reunion story.  And "Safely Home" for a Minneapolis cop who thought she'd never go home again, yet, here she is, fresh out of an abusive relationship.

Alison Stegert wrote a YA ghost story about a high school photography field trip to a historic cemetery. Weird things happen to some teens when they develop their photos...no matter what they do, they can't get rid of a certain ominous photo.

“One day I drove out of shade into blazing sun and needed my sunglasses. Photophobia popped into my head. I had my title!”

Dina Sleiman’s YA series Valiant Hearts—tough heroines in traditionally male roles—captures the heroine’s cover expression and indomitable spirit: Dauntless,reduced from Dauntless Love. Dina’s advice—“Don’t get too attached to your working titles.”

Lee Carver: Make your title brief, powerful and reflecting the genre. An agent once insisted on "Love" or "Romance,”, even though my books many friends wanted "Hijack" in the title, but that was a 3-chapter subplot, so we agreed on Love Takes Flight. It's so much more than a romance novel, and I feel it turns off male readers.

         My WWII novel, A Secret Life, involves hidden identity, romance, battlefield scenes, and Jewish persecution. The title fits on so many levels as the protagonist has dual citizenship and conceals his American background and U.S. sympathies.”

Sara Goff’s friend came up with her debut novel’s title, I Always Cry At Weddings—right to the key emotion.

Rachelle Rea: On my way to college my sophomore year, I heard this sparkly, cymbal-y sound at a song’s beginning. I remember thinking, The Sound of Diamonds, and spent the summer writing and figuring out what that title meant.”

I often try three or four working titles before finding the ONE. My first World War II novel started as A Time For Flowers, since my beleaguered heroine found joy in her garden.

But my final pick, In Times Like These, an old hymn title, fits the overall plot and story emotion far better. Still, I had fun creating a one-sheet with Addie and her victory garden vegetable basket!

Thanks, authors, and I hope you’ll share your favorite titles, or helpful title-creation ideas.

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Catching Up With Daylight invites readers on a journey into contemporary and historical women's lives, interweaving the author's own story, biblical insights and encouragement from the ancient mystics. Kittleson shares a simple Benedictine meditation process called Lectio Divina that revolutionized her prayer life. Why shouldn't Protestants use this tried-and-true method, too? This memoir is set in small-town Iowa after her husband's second deployment and during the renovation of a really old house. Readers may ponder its everyday anecdotes sequentially or use them as "bathroom reading" to cheer the mundane hours of an ordinary day.

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About Gail: Sometimes we learn what we've done only after we do it. I wrote my memoir Catching Up With Daylight over a ten-year period, but learned the term "spirituality writing" only after the book was published. Figuring things out after the fact is a life theme for me, but even though it isn't the easy road, I learn a lot in the process. My very patient husband (37 years) and I live in St. Ansgar, Iowa, where a small creative writing class meets in my home, and we enjoy our grandchildren. I facilitate workshops on creativity/memoir writing/aging with grace. My first fiction release with Vintage Rose, titled In This Together, will be released sometime in 2015. 

Connect with Gail at http://www.gailkittleson.com/ and www.facebook.com/gail.kittleson