Interview with Kaitlin Covel

This post contains affiliate links - click here for more information.

 

Kaitlin Covel's debut novel Atoning For Ashes comes out next month. Intrigued by this Regency story set in Cornwall, I've been making my way through an Advance Reader's Copy. Be watching for my review soon! Kaitlin has agreed to drop by today and answer some questions for the blog.

Welcome, Kaitlin! I've enjoyed getting to know you as we get ready for the release of your book. 😊

Q: When did you first know your writing was more than just a hobby?

A: The library was my favorite place as a child. I would haul my overflowing bookbags out of the library each month and devour as many titles as I could after school every day. That was the beginning of my publishing dream when I started to envision my own novel on the library’s bookshelf. It wasn’t until I was 12 though that the dream began to take shape. My creative writing assignment developed into my first efforts at a novel. I realized then that writing was a part of me, and I haven’t stopped writing novels since. Writing is my biggest source of expression, and if I did not write often part of me would wither away.

Q: Your novel is based in Cornwall, England. What inspired you to choose this setting?

A: I love the sea, and I’ve always dreamed of having a house on the coast. I’ve grown up in Maine, and some of my favorite memories include ocean trips. After I read Julie Klassen’s novel, The Tutor’s Daughter, I knew the Regency novel I was plotting had to be based in Cornwall, England. Winston Graham’s Poldark series was set only several decades prior to my novel, and it was one of my favorite research resources to familiarize myself with Cornish culture and history.

Q: I love Julie's work and Poldark, too! A consistent theme in Atoning for Ashes is unconditional love. Why did you choose this theme?

 

A: God’s identity is love, but I think we tend to see His love through the lens with which we have been loved by other human beings. It is only when we break free from this warped perception that we can begin to fully comprehend the unconditional nature of His love for us. His love is not contingent upon our successes and failures. Both my hero and heroine are freed by the knowledge that our identity in His sight is Beloved.

Q: Does Atoning for Ashes have a theme verse?

A: Yes, it is Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Q: What inspired the characters of Josie and Charles?

A: One of my favorite novels of all time is The Scarlet Pimpernel. I’ll never fail to be touched by the ending after Percy’s and Marguerite’s history of unrequited love. I freely admit that my tall, handsome blonde hero is inspired in part by Sir Percy Blakeney. My heroine Josie, however, I would say is the culmination of every woman, both fictional and real, that I have ever admired.

Q: If your readers only could gain one thing from reading Atoning for Ashes, what would you want it to be?

A: That everyone has ashes in their life...the ashes of broken dreams and scarred pasts. We serve a God whose love has redemptive power. He calls all of his children Beloved. He wants to atone for our ashes, even if they are the result of our mistakes, and redeem our future. Our God pursues the broken with arms of healing. All we have to do is stop running away. If we seek His face, He is faithful to heal our brokenness.

Q: What is your ultimate goal to achieve in your career as an author?

A: The ultimate goal in all of my writing is to glorify my Savior. My heart’s desire is that my writing would serve as a channel for His love to flow through and reach many hearts. Jesus Christ desires to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. If just one person was inspired to have this personal relationship with Him or walk closer with Him because of my writing, I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you for visiting with us today, Kaitlin!

Be sure to visit Kaitlin's website, and click here if you are interested in pre-ordering Atoning for Ashes.