Today's blog has me pondering about lots of things. For one, how to stay healthy during a pandemic. One sure way I know to stay healthy is to pray, and to pray specifically for my needs. I know He answers prayers. Today's book, "Letters to God" by Krystal Doolittle, offers even more, with a twist. It gives us a "What if." In the book's synopsis on Amazon, it begins, "What if God was one of us?"
Umm. That got me to really think and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book and read it. I hope you enjoy learning about the book and about Krystal.
ABOUT THE BOOK
What if God really was one of us?
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Rowan MacAllister never realized that she had become stuck in a
boring cycle in her life until one day, everything comes crashing down. Her
best friend insists that they go to a new local psychic shop as a way to break
out of the rut she’d been stuck in. But Rowan finds herself receiving wise
advice that she takes to heart. She should start writing letters to let out everything
that had been bottled up for far too long. Penning a letter to God, she finds strange things happen the
next day along with meeting an older woman named Mary. The two become fast
friends and Mary seems to unknowingly address the letters that Rowan continues
to write to God while they are apart. The coincidences become too much for
Rowan who begins to wonder if perhaps Mary IS God. Rowan searches for answers while putting the pieces of her life
back together. Meanwhile learning that her thoughts truly do alter her reality
and that sometimes those things you think are a curse can turn out to be a
blessing in disguise.
KRYSTAL DOOLITTLE
Tell your readers a little
about yourself, where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school
etc. Let them get to know the personal you.
I was born in rural
southeast Kansas, but when I was in third grade my parents moved us to Las
Vegas, NV. I lived there until my sophomore year of high school when they
decided life there was too dangerous and we needed to go back to Kansas. I've
been here ever since. Now, I'm married and living with my husband and kids just
outside the ghost town I write about in my first book "Ghost Town."
What inspired you to
author this book?
"Letters to God" was inspired by the book/movie,
"The Shack." It made me think about my own beliefs and how I feel God
communicates with us. That's when I started to pull the idea together that
eventually turned into my third book.
Where did you get the
inspiration for your book’s cover?
While writing the book and
deciding what would happen, I needed inspiration on where my main character
could meet someone. I started looking for inspiration online and found a photo
of a bench next to a lake with a tree beside it. The rest was history.
Who has been the most
significant influence on you personally and as a writer?
I think my biggest
influence personally would be my late grandfather. My dad's dad was someone who
from a very young age told me I could do absolutely anything I wanted. I was
surrounded by boy cousins that liked to try and exclude me. I was just a little
girl and they wanted nothing to do with me, but he insisted I could do anything
my brother and cousins could do.
As a writer, Shel
Silverstein was a huge influence on me. He could tell such a moving story with
his poems. To me, that showed that stories didn't have to belong and take days
to read to be impactful.
What were your struggles
or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book written?
Sometimes it's hard to
write about things that hit close to home. I like to put a little bit of myself
in every book, and there are certain places in this one that really touched on
some places in my heart that still bring tears to my eyes. I try to put
realness in every story, so I had to go through those feelings and dig up old
hurts and pains in order to get the right vibe that I wanted. It's incredibly
easy to sit down and plan out things, but when it gets to the hard parts, I
wanted to procrastinate. I can write fairly quickly when it's an easy part of
the book, but other parts required me to push through. I don't want to spoil
it, so I can't go into too much detail. But I'm sure if you read it, you'll
understand.
Tell your readers about
your book.
Letters to God is about a
woman named Rowan who finds herself trapped in the humdrum of everyday life.
After a rough day, she goes with her best friend to a psychic. She starts to
see her life differently and wants to make a change. She starts writing letters
to God in order to work through her emotions and frustrations with life, but
soon, she finds that her questions to God are being answered in real life.
Who is your target
audience, and why?
I would say anyone from
late teens and up. I think it's an ageless story that many can connect with.
What do you consider your
greatest success in life?
Finding the courage to
start writing. I had always dreamed of publishing books, but it seemed too far
fetched to reach for. Being on the other side of it, I can't believe that I've
made it even this far.
What one unique thing sets
you apart from other writers in your genre?
I like to make my
characters all incredibly human. Even the villains are people you can identify
with when you read my book. I strive not just to tell a story but to help my
readers see those in their life differently. Far too often, we don't look
outside ourselves when we walk through life. Never questioning what causes
people to do good or bad. For me, we're all a little bit good and a little bit
bad.
