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Author Interview...Kindred Spirits: The Brown Rain Series by Connie Cockrell
Kindred Spirits: The Brown Rain Series
by Connie Cockrell
Blurb:
Alyssa and Kyra are on the move again, and winter is almost upon them. Finding another community is crucial for gaining shelter over the coldest months, and their prayers soon seem to be answered when they come across the Ogonqwa tribe in Ohio. There is much to be learned from their new hosts, both for Kyra, who gets an in-depth view into the warrior clan, and for Alyssa, who finds she might have more skills than she’d ever expected. But not everybody is delighted with the strangers’ arrival in the serene community, and tensions mount as winter approaches. Will Alyssa and Kyra be allowed to overwinter within the safety of these walls? Or will they be put out in the cold?
Where did you get the idea for this book?
I wondered what would happen if the planet went to hell in a hand basket but the unlikely hero of the story was a young woman who'd lost her whole family?
What genre(s) does this book belong to?
I'd class this as a SciFi, Dystopian with a little Young Adult thrown into the mix.
Who are the main characters? Can you describe them?
There are two main characters. Kyra is the elder, all of 21 when the series starts. She was four, her parents dead from the toxins in the brown rain that fell for four years, when Alyssa, was born. Alyssa was Krya's soul mate. Not lovers but fated to be partners in their life's journey. Alyssa was unique. She was gifted, genetically, to be able to heal the devastating effects of the toxic Brown Rain. Together Allysa the healer and Kyra the protector will travel, healing the land and they go, finding survivor communities and healing them too.
How did you come up with the characters in this book?
I loved the juxtaposition of Alyssa the healer, all non-violence and trusting, and Kyra her protector, all militaristic and suspicious that became fast friends essentially from birth working to make the environmental damage better for everyone. There is also the commentary on environmental damage but we won't go into that.
Why did you select the location you did for this book?
I set the start of the book in the northeast as that's where I'm from and am familiar with the environment, weather and topography. Later stories will move westward across the US.
Did you just sit-down and start writing this book or did you work with an outline?
I started from a flash fiction story that I thought would be a good one to expand. When I thought about it, all of a sudden it seemed huge. I have a lot of other stories left to tell in this series.
Who designed the cover for this book?
The covers for all of the books are mine.
How much of you/your life is in this book?
Of course I haven't lived through an ecological/environmental disaster. However, I have done long-distance backpacking, I know a bit about the plants and their food and healing properties in the north-east and I spent some time in ju-jitsu classes. I have a good deal of personal experience to draw on for the story.
What inspired critical scenes for this book?
Critical scenes are integral parts of any book. For me, the most personal were those in Kindred Spirits. So many of my military friends suffered from PTSD. I hoped to provide some sort of understanding so that family and friends could understand what their loved ones were going though.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
The hardest part of writing Kindred Spirits was getting the emotional reaction correct for Kyra and her PTSD and for the family of Sunki and her fight with heart disease. In both cases a huge personal fight is going on. It was important to me to get that right.
If you had the opportunity to make a movie from this book, who would play the characters?
I have no idea. But for the native Americans, I'd want the roles to go to actual Native American actors.
Links to check out:
See you on the other side!
Chevoque
