Resilience, Hope and Light Amidst the Darkness

Diana was a real champion for the book. As it happened, I was in need of a new agent, too. Here I was, with two books in the world, but needing a new agent and a new publisher. Diana gave copies of the manuscript of Kindness to three amazing agents and helped me land with a new, wonderful one. And that agent found the book a home at, you guessed it, HarperCollins--where it was published first in hardback by their imprint William Morrow, and then in softcover as a HarperPerennial. I am so grateful to Diana to this day. But during those years that I worked on another book, the novel improved. With each revision, it got better. And during that time, the Catholic Church scandal broke, which made child sexual abuse a topic people weren't so willing to shy away from. The delay in publishing benefitted the book.

JB: Glad to hear that and that you persevered. Now that we've brought The Kindness of Strangers back into the spotlight, what would you like readers' take-away to be?

KK: Hmm. I think, thematically, the book is really inspired by an Ernest Hemingway quote: "The world breaks everyone, and, afterward, some are strong at the broken places." I think that quote fits every single major character, not just Jordan. We all go through betrayal and heartbreak and hardship. What makes some of us persevere and go on to thrive? I think the key is when we reach out to try to help others. When we embrace our broken places and see that's "where the light gets in" (as Leonard Cohen says) and recognize our scars as warrior marks. I'd love for readers to remember that we never know what battles other people we interact with are fighting. A lot of people may be like Jordan's tree--scarred and leaning, but still standing. We deserve more credit and compassion simply for still standing.

JB: A whole-hearted amen to that. It's been a long time since this book finally came out. What have you been up to since then? Catch us up a bit, please.

KK: I had two other books come out since then--The Blessings of the Animals in 2010, and Reasons to Be Happy in 2011. Reasons to Be Happy was my first venture into writing for a younger audience. Since that book, I've had a bit of a publishing drought because a lot was happening in my personal life. In 2011, I had breast cancer, and had two lumpectomies and radiation. Shortly after that, my mother was diagnosed with dementia--something we'd been suspecting for a time but had trouble getting diagnosed. Because of that, my sister and I needed to help my parents move to a retirement community that had memory care for when my mother would inevitably need it. We found them a place to live, helped them move, got their old house ready for sale. We were relieved to have them happy and safe in a new place. Then, just as I hit the five-year cancer free mark, my breast cancer was back. I had a bilateral mastectomy in the fall of 2016, and began the strange but fascinating process of reconstruction, having three surgeries over eight months. Oh, and during that time I also sold my own house and combined households with the love of my life! I'm proud to say that I kept writing during all those overwhelming and exhausting distractions (and happy to report that I'm now three years cancer free and perfectly healthy). What I did not do, however, was to continue to pursue publication. Writing and publishing are two very different animals, and I just didn't have the emotional energy available during those tough years. It requires a level of vulnerability I just didn't have to spare. I'm happy to say I do have that energy back now, and hope that soon I'll have news to report of a new novel. Alas, publishing is a slow business. I'm trying to be patient. In the meantime, I teach a lot of creative writing classes in the community and am a full time Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Dayton.

JB: Wow. What a lot you've had going on. I'm so glad you're cancer-free and that things are calming down now. What would you like to talk about that we haven't touched on yet?

KK: I think the one thing I want to stress is that even though my books may sound like real downers on depressing topics, they all end up hopeful and redemptive. Human resilience fascinates me. I don't write about people getting broken; I write about people putting themselves back together. So, I may take you through some dark places, my goal is always, always to give the reader hope and light.

JB: Hope and light are definitely good. Best of luck to you, Katrina. You're a poster child for resilience yourself! It's been wonderful chatting with you.

KK: Thank you! I've loved it!

Katrina's website

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Katrina's books:

Reasons To Be Happy

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