13 Reasons Why Blog Tour - Author Interview - Kaitlyn Krispense

   Hey y'all! I'm so excited to be doing an author interview today! Kaitlyn Krispense is the lovely author of the (also lovely) book 'Beloved'.  She and another author, Faith Potts, are doing the 13 Reasons Why blog tour with both of their books. You can learn more about it from Faith's website:
Faith Potts Author

Or Kaitlyn's blog: Kate the Author

Here's the synopsis for the book 'Beloved', and then we can get into the interview! :D

   'Foster teen Cara Richards is unloved. With nothing left and nowhere to go, she is determined to find peace, no matter the cost. But despite her intentions she's tossed into another foster family and this time there's no going back to who she used to be. To make matters worse, one of her five new foster brothers is a Jesus freak, and she refuses to believe that God actually cares. 

   Her world is thrown upside down in a way that she never expects. Though she prides herself on a resilient heart, her mind is adrift among a sea of questions: Is death really the answer? Does God care abut someone as unworthy as me? Can everyone truly be loved, no matter what?' 

   It's so excitiiinngg!!! :D (Please forgive the fangirl scream.) *ahem* Onto our interview!

Welcome, Kaitlyn Krispense - author of 'Beloved'! :D

1. What inspired you to write Beloved?

Depression. At some point in their lives, most people are going to experience depression—and I’m no exception. I was wondering what purpose my life had, and whether anyone actually cared. But I knew the answer; I just needed to remind myself. So after being prompted by a pin on Pinterest (the best and worst app for writers EVER), I started writing—and the rest, as they say, is history.

2. When you were writing Beloved, what part meant the most to you, and what hurt the most? 

What meant the most . . . that’s a tough one. Probably actually finishing the story and realizing that this book might have a chance at sharing God’s love with someone else. I wrote this book to show how priceless we are in God’s eyes, and this message is near and dear to my heart.

As for what hurt the most? Probably what I had to go through to actually write it. The reason I wrote it—or, at least, one of them, anyway. I wrote this story to give girls confidence in their identity in Christ, but I first had to experience that insecurity and hurt in order for that to happen. Would I trade the experience for anything? No, definitely not. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. (Another thing that hurt was the ending in the rough draft . . . yeah, I basically broke my own heart with that one. But don’t worry, I changed it!)

3. Though the theme of the book is obvious as you read it, what do you really want people to take away from the book?

You are beloved. Priceless. Cherished. Treasured. When you put your trust in Christ, and find your identity only in Him, that is when you truly are free. No one can take that away from you. Don’t let the words of others define who you are. When you put your faith in God, the only words that truly matter are His. It’s definitely easier said than done, I know. Gracious, how I know it. But that doesn’t make it any less true. Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” He has a plan for each and every one of us. We’re each a work-in-progress, but that’s what makes our stories so much more beautiful—through Christ, we improve a little more every day.

4. Did you have a lot of people who helped you along with this book? Friends? Family?

Definitely my family—my mom gave me so much more free time than she normally would’ve allowed so that I could reach my self-inflicted daily word quota! And my siblings (and parents!) were super excited for and supportive of me when I decided to publish. And my writing partner, Livi—she’s the one who claimed all along that my book would get published, even when she’d only read the 1st draft. Plus, there’s all the other people who’ve worked to make this a reality—my alpha and beta readers, editor, formatter, critiquers . . . I’ve been blessed with a whole team of supportive people.

5. How did you pick the characters names? Just whatever you thought fit them?

Well, I generally tried to pick names with special meaning. For example, *MINOR SPOILER* Cara means ‘beloved.’ I wanted her name to tie in with the book’s title, and it did, obviously. *END OF SPOILER* I looked up the meaning of each of Cara’s foster brothers’ names, and I was actually hoping to have their meanings tie into the story, that didn’t happen as much as I would’ve liked. I did, however, come up with some pretty epic names. (Titus and Fergus—how cool are those names?!)

6. What is your biggest goal as a writer?

Share the steadfast love of my Savior, and point to Him, with what I write. If I get a bunch of 5-star ratings, I’m gonna be elated, obviously, but that’s not the reason I wrote the book. I want people to be touched by what I write—and not in an ‘aww, that was sweet’ kind of way. By touched, I mean ‘wow . . . I never thought of things that way’ or ‘you mean God really does care?’ We are called to be ambassadors of Christ. I’m just trying to do what I believe He’s called me to do.

This book was such a great read, and I hope you all will go check out this book, the blog tour, and these two amazing young ladies, Faith and Kaitlyn. Have a great day y'all! :D

Keep writing!