Author Kayce Stevens Hughlett on “BLUE”

–interviewed facilitated by Colette Lafia.

I had the great gift of being interviewed and featured on Kayce’s blog when my book, Seeking Surrender, came out a few months ago. It is now my pleasure to interview Kayce around her new book, Blue: a novel, which is due out September 10.

Blue weaves together the story of three women’s lives on a journey of healing and transformation. The story is honest, funny at times, deeply felt, and a riveting adventure into the heart and souls of its characters. Written with lush and rich detail, it is a great story and a powerful book. I highly recommend it!

Here I ask Kayce to share with us her journey of writing Blue.

1.You strike me as a woman who takes chances and loves adventure. How is this book a risk for you?

Kayce: Anytime we take a chance and put something new out into the world, it feels risky. For me, Blue is a departure from my normal genre of short non-fiction pieces, so it’s totally new territory for me. I lived many years of my life playing it safe, but once I started to understand that my fear was usually greater than the thing I feared, I began to live life more freely. Somewhere inside me was this novel beckoning to be born and so this new adventure began.

2. Even though Blue is a work of fiction, how would you say it is a spiritual book?

Kayce: Blue is spiritual in many ways. One is in the way I received it. I’ve heard other authors speak about characters taking on their own lives and that’s exactly what happened with this novel. It was in the quiet recesses of my mind that Daisy, Monica, and Izabel began to find their voices.

The characters are also on their own spiritual journeys. It is a book about the interconnectedness between people in relationship with each other and creation, including inanimate objects, animals, and inexplicable circumstances and instances of synchronicity.

3. What drew you to write fiction, and what was your journey of moving from a nonfiction writer to a fiction writer?

Kayce: My first book “As I Lay Pondering: daily invitations to live a transformed life” was a very personal and organic journey that evolved over several years. It’s a book about being fully present to life and contains 365 daily reflections. It held (and continues to hold) a certain weight to it that I wasn’t sure how to follow up. I can’t not write, so after struggling with a bout of writer’s block after its release, I decided to have some fun and explore a new genre.

4. When did you realize that forgiveness and transformation were powerful themes in the book? What other themes are you exploring?

Kayce: Those themes came to me before I even started writing the novel. In my opinion, when we deal with stories of real women there is always a form of the heroine’s journey that will include forgiveness and transformation. The interconnectedness of people, places, and things—both explicable and inexplicable—are other themes, as well as the importance of listening to our internal stories rather than running or hiding from them.

5. How are you like your characters: Daisy, Izabel, and Monica?

Kayce: Oh my, do we really have to go there? {smile} It’s hard to talk about the characters without giving away too much about the story… or myself. Monica is the insecure perfectionist. I was Monica for much of my life until I realized that perfectionism is a game I could never win and began to lighten up. Enter Izabel. She’s more of a free spirit who lets the wind blow through her hair while riding her bike. My husband grimaces when he hears about me riding without a helmet, so I don’t do it often but I really love the feeling when I do. Daisy is the most ethereal character in the book. I love her, because she represents playfulness, a touch of magic, and stepping into the unknown, which are some of my favorite traits.

6. What were the exciting challenges to writing this book? Can you share some of your writing process?

Kayce: The biggest challenge for me was the revision process. The first draft literally poured out of me. After that, the real work began. For the overall process, I kept goals in place and set deadlines for myself. I celebrated when I met them and tried to be kind with myself when I didn’t. I’m a big fan of both internal listening and external support, so I made sure to keep my health practices, like walking, yoga, and meditation in place.

I looked for the places in my process that felt more spacious than restrictive. These spaces created a greater sense of ease, although they weren’t necessarily easy. There was a period of time when tucking the manuscript into a drawer and taking a break was exactly what I needed to do. Other days I wrote like a mad woman, forgetting to eat or take breaks. Each approach produced its own results and it was exciting to see how things came together while trusting my own process.

7. What is your biggest hope with this book?

Kayce: I love this question and I’m not fully sure how to answer it. I want this book to reach the people who will benefit it and have fun while reading. Blue is a story of lost dreams, broken relationships, and, above all, hope. My hope for the book is intertwined with the hope of Blue’s readers. The message I want people to remember/learn/know is that our stories are all woven and interconnected with this beautiful and challenging world that we live in. Our connection can come through something as simple as holding an ancient stone in the palm of our hand or as awful as an agonizing encounter that we can never forget no matter how hard we try. When we are open to listening and hearing the messages that surround us everywhere, change and transformation become possible.

About Kayce Stevens Hughlett:

 

Kayce Stevens Hughlett: author, life muse, ponderer extraordinaire, speaker, joy monger, soulstroller.

“I prefer to read novels in the summer and non-fiction/memoirs in winter.
I prefer writing with a fountain pen over computer keyboards.
I prefer summer in Seattle over winter almost anywhere.
I prefer Paris over Rome. Big dogs over small. Fluffy cats over sleek.
I abhor that the world is filled with suffering, and I know affliction has helped create the individual I am today.
I thrive on new experiences, adore reading, blogging, and movies ranging from romantic to contemplative.

One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, calls laughter “carbonated holiness” and I couldn’t agree more. Belly laughs are manna from heaven and there is nothing better than a well-timed temper tantrum.

Play time with friends and family is sacred, as is quiet space and solitude.”
Take your soul for a stroll and visit Kayce online connect on social media  Facebook  | Twitter | Goodreads  | Instagram

If you’re interested in a bit of fiction, my debut novel, BLUE is releasing September 10, 2015. Here’s what one reviewer had to say:

“Intrigue, mystery, vivid imagery, fascinating dialogue, and complex characters quickly draw the reader into this ‘subtle psychological mind-bender.’ Kayce Stevens Hughlett draws from her experience as a psychotherapist, gifting the reader with curiosity and fascination about the three heroines. What is their ‘truth?’ Will their worlds collide.” – Sharon Richards for NetGalley

Available through Amazon, BQB Publishing and your favorite bookseller.