I had the privilege of reading Connilynn Cossette’s newest book “A Light on the Hill.” Conni writes Biblical fiction and if you’ve never taken a chance on one of her books you must! Reading her first book, Counted with the Stars brought the Bible to life for me – in fiction form! You will never gloss over the plagues from the Old Testament again after reading that book.
As a person who reads mainly digital books, I very rarely read a paperback but her books are ones you would want to have on your shelf for years and years.
So…when I had a chance to read “A Light on the Hill,” I immediately signed up. This book did not disappoint. I remember reading one of my favorite parts – when the hero’s emotional wall crumbled – and I swooned. Had to read it a couple of times. Even sent Conni an email about it. That part was just that good!
I first met Conni at a book signing last year for Becky Wade. Conni even asked me what book I was working on and I pitched it to her. LOL! Then we reunited at the ACFW Conference in Grapevine last year. She sweetly agreed to a photo with me.
Without further ado, here are some questions I asked Connilynn:
1. How do you research your books? Bible? Google? Biblical commentaries? (I’ve only read the first book in Out of Egypt and now Moriyah’s book. I so loved your telling of the plagues and the Egyptian research of their other gods in book one of OoE.)
All of the above 🙂 I always start with the Bible. I like to use a couple of different translations, especially ones that are Jewish/Messianic because they help with the culture and language nuances. I also have a couple of pastors whose podcasts are super-informative and I search out commentaries when needed on various sites. And of course lots and lots of googling. I’m not sure how authors wrote books before the world wide web. It’s amazing how much information is out there in internet-land. I can find out of print books on a few different sites which has been a great resource for archeology hints. And YouTube is a great resource as well (I learned all about how to make a bronze sword like they did in the Bronze Age, if anyone needs one….) I also have a friend whose husband is a Hebrew/Old Testament professor so he’s given me some help as well.
2. How do you lay out (plot) the emotional journey for your characters, especially Moriyah? I loved how she started out so timid and meek and then she used her branding to her advantage as she was trying to flee.
Hmmm. That’s a tough question. I honestly don’t really plot out the emotional journey per se, so much as I attempt to put myself in the character’s shoes (or sandals as the case may be!) and think about how each event changes their perspective as the journey unfolds. A great book for working through this is Lisa Cron’s Story Genius. Although I don’t stick to her exact method (because I am a rebel and strict methodology doesn’t work for me) it’s a great resource for ensuring that the emotional journey is kept in focus all throughout the story arc. Moriyah’s emotional changes just came out naturally, she has been one of the easiest characters for me to write actually.
3. How long does it take you to write and rewrite your ms? What’s your favorite way to edit?
Well, usually it takes me about 6-7 months to write a book and then I allot a month or so for editing, which I do digitally on Scrivener with different revision colors so I can see what has changed as I go (I love my Scrivener!). However, while writing my current WIP (Book 3 of the City of Refuge Series) I made an unexpected giant cross-country move and ended up having more like 4 months to work on it. I am SUPER behind and kinda stressing, but I’ve always been a procrastinator so I have lots of practice working under pressure. I’m sure I’ll get it done one way or the other. After I turn in my book I go through content edits where I have a few weeks for re-writes (in digital form) and then copy edits, which are printed out by my editors (about two weeks) and then final printed galley manuscript edits (about two weeks) so it’s a long process and I’m usually working on other projects at the same time too. It can get a little crazy, especially during book launches but I love it all so much, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else!
Thanks Connilynn! To find out more about her next book in the series Shelter of the Most High you can visit here on her website or preorder it on Amazon.
