It is such an honor to be a part of Connilyn Cossette’s street team (AKA Connilyn’s Bibliophiles). I’ve been able to help her launch three book babies out into the world now and hopefully will have the privilege to help with more releases in the future! Before the release of her brand new book, Between the Wild Branches, Conni graciously provided those of us on the team with interview questions/answers related to the book for us to share if we so wished. I’m so excited to share some of them with you today! I hope you enjoy reading more about the inspiration behind the Covenant House series duology and Connilyn’s creative process as much I did!
This series is a duology, what made you decide to only write two books this time?
I was really intrigued with telling the story of two siblings and how their journeys intertwined to form one whole story that was satisfying both to myself and to my readers. Of course I usually fall in love with secondary characters along the way and wish I could tell their stories too, and the Covenant House was no exception. There is one character in particular in Between the Wild Branches that my beta readers wanted to know more about. So who knows, maybe in the future I’ll have the chance to expand that storyline a bit! The great thing is that my next series is a spin-off and readers will get to meet my next four heroes in BTWB, so keep your eyes peeled as you read, especially near the end!
What drew you to this period in history to place a series?
When I had the opportunity to go to Israel a few years ago we traveled right through the Beth Shemesh valley, where the ruins of that town are just off the highway. And when our tour guide mentioned that this area was near where Samson lived and was also the exact place where the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant after they stole it in 1 Samuel. That day, I had a distinct vision of that ark bumping along on the road with two curious children following after it and decided that I needed to tell their story. Fortunately for me, at the same time I was plotting/researching the Covenant House series, scientists were proving from DNA evidence gathered in a Philistine graveyard that these enigmatic people actually came from Crete just like the Bible says they did. This new information gave me lots of fodder for book material and made my imagination spin like mad about the culture of the Philistines, which most likely was rooted in the Minoan and/or Mycenean people during the Bronze Age. They were certainly not simple shepherds and farmers like the Hebrew people were at that time and likely worshipped the precursors to the Greek gods we all know, so I had lots of fun contrasting the two opposing cultures and religious systems. There are still a lot of unknowns with the Philistines and we don’t have a handle on their language or writing system yet but I suspect more will come to light in the future that will continue to prove the Bible historically accurate.
This series has underlying themes of adoption, why is this a special topic for you?
Well, for starters, I am an adoptee myself. I was adopted at birth and grew up knowing that my adoption was a special thing and what a loving choice my young birthmother made to place me in a stable, two-parent home. When I was twenty-two I actually got to meet my birth mom, after stumbling across a web posting way back in the early days of the internet, and have since gotten to know both her and my half-siblings. My brother, too, was adopted from Korea when he was four and I am also the mother of two adopted-at-birth children myself. So adoption is such a precious theme in my own life that it just naturally spills into my stories. And our adoption into the family of God through the sacrifice of Jesus is, of course, the most beautiful story there is, so there are shades of that built into Eliora and Lukio’s union with the Hebrew family that take them in and introduce them to covenant life. Of course, adoption is a precious thing and full of beauty but it is also rooted in loss, so I do not shy away from some of the challenges and questions that adoptees face, such as: Who am I? Where do I belong? How do I define my past and how does it affect my future? Or what if I’d never been separated from my family of origin? Eliora and Lukio struggle through these questions in different ways and I found great satisfaction in working through their healing and self-acceptance, since their journeys at times mirror my own, my brother’s, and those of my children.
What makes the characters in Between the Wild Branches different from any others you’ve written before?
I had lots of fun writing a more hero-centric story this time and Lukio is hands down my favorite male character to have written. First of all, he is a no-holds-barred bare-knuckled fighter (which is rooted in the ancient and brutal sport of Pankration) so I got to channel my inner MMA fighter and have some fun getting out some imaginary aggression. But he is also a hurting little boy on the inside, one who feels deeply and is wounded from what he perceived to be devastating betrayals. His journey to healing was so satisfying for me and no matter how many times I edited it all, I cried every time I read the final scenes. Also, since there was a childhood friendship/romance between Lukio and Shoshana, there was lots of intriguing history between them which added a different dimension to their reunion. Since ten years have passed since they’ve seen each other and a lot of life, and in Shoshana’s case pain, has occurred in that gap, they are in some ways completely different people by the time the book opens. It was an interesting challenge to think about how they relate to the “newness” of each other, while at the same time holding on to the sweet, secret friendship they enjoyed in the past. I love how they complement each other and how their relationship develops over the course of the story, despite all the obstacles between them.
Between Eliora and Lukio, which sibling did you relate to the most and why?
Hm. That is kind of tough. I’m actually quite different from Eliora, who spends a lot of time trying to “earn her place at the table” but I also have a tendency to try and blend in with the background because I hate spotlights. And I am certainly not an aggressive bare-knuckle fighter like Lukio, but I have struggled with some of the same identity issues he has and tend toward walling myself off in difficult relationships and compartmentalizing things to the point of isolation. So I am not like either of them, but yet I am. There are probably pieces of me in all the characters I write. Even the villains 😉
Do you put yourself into the story as if you are right there, part of it (like an in-person observer) as you write?
I see my stories as movies in my mind, since I’m highly visual. And I envision myself as the character, since I write first-person so I have lots of fun losing myself in the sensory details of their surroundings and listening for their distinct voices as I walk around inside their heads.
What part of BTWB did you have the hardest time writing?
Honestly, this story poured out of me in a way that none of my books have before. I wrote the entire manuscript by hand and was so in love with the characters that there was not any part that was a major challenge. This is why the next series is a spin-off, because I just couldn’t let go of my friends!
What was the most interesting piece of research you found? Even if it didn’t make the books!
I found out that archeologists have found dice from that area of the world, usually made of wood or bone, that were used for all sorts of games, including board games, and for gambling or divination. The dice even have the exact same number of sides and dots that our modern ones do. We tend to forget that ancient people were just people, they played games and had fun and goofed around and made jokes just like we do, so it’s always fun for me to incorporate those sorts of things in my stories. Those dice were my inspiration for the special sheep-knuckles that Lukio carries about in a pouch around his neck and uses with his little street-urchin gang.
Have you always had an interest in biblical history and wondered about the people and what they were like?
I think I’ve always been the type of person that wondered about historical figures’ backgrounds and loved learning about the Word but it wasn’t until about ten years ago that I became really intrigued by studying these ancient cultures in order to understand the context of the Bible. Once I started digging I just couldn’t stop!
What is one of the biggest transitions you’ve had to make in your writing life?
Letting go of “extras”. I very rarely watch TV anymore, unless it’s a binge between deadlines and I have to say no to a lot of good things in order to keep my focus on my writing, which can be tough but is also really worth it too. And I am also a classic procrastinator, so it was a huge thing to learn to work to deadlines in the first place and how to deal with a production/publication schedule. But now it’s such a part of my daily/yearly rhythm that it’s just a lifestyle that I love and my family is used to my various writing seasons.
When you write, what do you keep in front of you for inspiration-maps, photos, Scripture?
I have photos of my characters up on my screen and I always have my topographical map of Israel nearby. Thankfully, with a phone always in my pocket, I can look up scripture or academic papers, setting photos, Google Earth, or just search for whatever I need to know, wherever I am! I don’t know how historical writers did it pre-internet!
How do you come across ideas for your stories? Do they come from daily devotions or Bible reading?
Probably a little blend of both, along with Podcasts and sermons. And also I just love researching the ancient past so when things pop up that I want to learn more about, I write a book as an excuse to absorb myself in history and get paid for it.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my next series, which is a spin-off of The Covenant House series. I just couldn’t let go of this family but was also inspired to move out of the Judges time-period and into the Kings era. So the first book, releasing in 2022, begins with the crowning of King Saul and follows four cousins who run off to fight for the new king of Israel—although things certainly don’t go as the young men plan and one of them disappears, which leads them on their own adventures in a turbulent time when Israel was struggling to find its place among the nations around them along with its identity as people of Yahweh. I can’t wait to explore these new characters and biblical events! And the best part of a spin-off is that we get to spend more time with some of the characters we’ve come to love. We haven’t seen the last of Ronen, Eliora, Lukio, or Shoshana! I also have an upcoming project that I am super excited about but for now is a secret, so stay tuned!
You moved back to Texas from North Carolina a couple of years ago, what’s one thing you like better about NC than TX and vice versa.
I miss the beauty of NC, all the green and trees and gorgeous flowers, and Cookout (yummy, I miss their milkshakes and cheesy tots). But I missed my friends back in Texas so much and this feels like home. I’m also glad it doesn’t rain here as much and isn’t quite as humid in the heat of the summer. (Except for the last couple weeks, gosh, I keep waiting for Noah and the ark to float by…)
If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose? And why? Would you have tea or lunch or a fancy dinner? What would be one thing you would be sure and discuss?
I have to choose? I can’t think of anything better than spending a day with any writer! There’s just something about hanging out with other authors who understand your writerly-weird brain and discussing your imaginary friends together. I guess maybe if I had to choose it would be Francine Rivers. Her story of coming out of a secular writing worldview into a Christ-centered one is so fascinating! Nothing fancy for me, but coffee/tea and/or a casual lunch would be my choice. And my favorite thing to discuss with any author is always their current WIP and what they plan to write next, so I’d love to hear that from Francine!
