A Tapestry of Light with Kimberly Duffy q&a

Hello, reader friends! Author friend Kimberly Duffy is joining us for a quick q&a as part of a JustRead Publicity Tours blog tour and giveaway celebrating A Tapestry of Light!

 

q&a

What is your favorite activity or hobby not related to books?

K: Tied for first place are cooking and travel. Even better when I can combine the two. I cook nearly everything we eat from scratch. Not only because I like knowing what’s in our food, but also because I LOVE being in my kitchen (even my teeny-tiny townhouse kitchen.) And travel is life to me. I can’t wait for the world to open up because my family is planning an amazing trip around the world.

B: I would love to love being in our kitchen… alas I would rather be reading!

Share your inspiration behind A Tapestry of Light.

K: When I was in India for the first time, I met a woman who told me about her heritage and history as an Anglo-Indian. I was fascinated by her story. I’d never even considered the implications of Europeans settling in Asia, marrying and having children…and moving on when the Suez Canal opened and women from England were able to travel. They’re an often overlooked minority group. Americans know almost nothing about them. And I think we can learn a lot from their stories.

Ottilie, my heroine, wrestles with her identity. What does it mean when you’re from two places, but you belong in neither? How does that impact a person’s sense of self and home? She’s fierce and strong and made even more so by her experiences.

B: I couldn’t agree more and I can’t wait to meet Ottilie!

What are some of the challenges you faced while writing A Tapestry of Light?

K: Outside of the research (which is always intense when writing a book set in 19^th century India), I think my biggest challenge was being true to the story, Ottilie’s experiences, and the injustice of the time while not sinking into despair. The story is sad in parts. You will cry (I ugly cried every time I read through it.) But I ALWAYS want my books to reflect the hope of Christ. My characters may suffer and fall and feel as though there is no light where they lie crumbled at the bottom, but there is. There’s redemption in the suffering. Beauty in the hard places.

I don’t write light books. And sometimes that means I have to go to places where I wrestle with my own fear and pain. I can’t help but reflect on the brutality of life and history. I wonder why so many mothers suffer the loss of their children. So many fathers can’t provide the safety they want to for their families. So many children can’t rely on a home. On food. On clean clothes. On an education. I want to tell these stories because they are the ones that stay with us and change us. But I never leave a book there. Because, in the end, there is Jesus with arms wide, calling us to truth and justice and love.

B: Note to self… buy more tissues!

What is your next release and/or what are you working on now?

K: My next book is called Every Word Unsaid (with the prettiest cover this side of the sun.) It releases from Bethany House on November 2, 2021. It’s my third book set in India (and maybe my last for a little while), mostly in the city of Poona (Pune today) during the bubonic plague epidemic of the 1890s. No that wasn’t planned. Yes, it was bizarre writing it during our own world health crises. I’m working on putting together some ideas for another few books, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens with those.

B: Bethany House has absolutely rocked your covers and this one is no exception!

What’s your writing style?

K: I am a plotter’s plotter. I like having my ducks all in a row before I sit down to write. That means I do stream of consciousness, then I write down plot points, themes, character arcs, then I organize each and every scene on an index card (sometimes I even jot down bits of dialogue or description), then—finally!—I begin writing my book. I usually do a subedit and then I read through once or twice more before sending it to my editor.

At some point in the process, I call my critique partner crying and telling her I’m the worst poser of a writer on the planet and I’ll never figure it out. Then I send her the book. She talks me down from the ledge and gives me amazing advice. And it just about always actually does come together. I have no idea how. It’s magic.

B: So methodical, fascinating! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us, Kimberly! I’m going to go add A Tapestry of Light by Kimberly Duffy and a box of tissues to my online shopping cart right now!

 

 

tour giveaway

(1) winner will receive a print copy of A Tapestry of Light, A Mosaic of Wings, and Recipes from an Indian Kitchen!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight March 22, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 29, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

enter giveaway here
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tour schedule

Follow along at the link above to learn more about A Tapestry of Light by Kimberly Duffy and earn more giveaway entries!