Kit Tosello
https://kittosello.com/
Author of: In a Word, Yes
T4JYM: Your book, In a Word, Yes, releases today. Can you tell our readers what they can expect from it?
KT: I’d love to! Readers can expect an emotionally resonant story that’s uplifting, often funny, and romantic. It’s about mothers and daughters, found family and second chances. A huge theme is how we can move from simply surviving to flourishing.
Transported to a small mountain town full of eclectic characters, readers will they meet bookish word nerd Lucy Montgomery, who works behind the scenes at the local newspaper and spends her free time propagating houseplants rather than pursuing her dreams. Lucy’s done an admirable job of picking up the pieces after a difficult marriage and creating a bubble of safety around herself and her amazing autistic son. Trouble is, after five years she’s gotten a little too good at drawing boundaries. Her go-to response to anything new or uncomfortable is a hard no.
If you’ve ever been through any sort of deep hurt or loss (as most of us have), you’ll relate to Lucy’s temptation to live more guardedly. I’d love it if readers came away from reading In a Word, Yes with more holy courage to say yes to the right things even when they’re uncomfortable. Especially the dreams that scare you the most.
T4JYM: Your debut novel, The Color of Home, released in 2024. How has the new-author experience gone?
KT: Becoming a published novelist for the first time at the age of sixty has been a blast and an unexpected plot twist. In his sweetness, God has gifted me a whole new community of reader friends, as well as supportive author friends. I long dreamed that I could someday, somehow partner with God in his ministry of encouragement through the written word. So now when I hear from readers that my writing deeply moved or uplifted them, I often go to tears! I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to do this.
T4JYM: What background do you have in writing? Did you take any special courses or obtain a college degree?
KT: I eagerly took all the college classes available to me in English, creative writing, and literature but never finished my degree. When I began writing seriously in my late forties, writing conferences were helpful. So was forming a writers group. But by far the best training has been reading. Lots and lots (and lots!) of reading. These days I read about sixty books a year, and I’ll forever be a student of the craft of writing.
T4JYM: Please tell us how you came to be a Christian and how this has influenced your life, as well as how it applies to your writing.
KT: Getting to know Jesus was such a source of comfort when I was in middle school, during a season when there was a lot of tension in my home. I decided to follow him with my whole heart. But as a young adult, I often lived with one foot squarely in the world and stopped growing in my relationship with him. It wasn’t until life squeezed me painfully once again that I fell on God’s mercy and re-surrendered everything. Finally I understood that it rains on both the just and the unjust. We will all experience seasons of suffering. And this isn’t all bad. Because thanks to the tenacious love and tender presence of God, we can endure through any hard thing and come away with a stronger faith and, most importantly, a deeper compassion for others.
We’re formed in the furnace. We grow and heal in community with others. These are the hard-won truths and the hope that undergirds my writing.
T4JYM: Who has been your biggest advocate and supporter in your journey to success?
KT: My husband, Garth, for sure. Being married to a writer, or any creative person, isn’t easy! And yet he encourages me to stick with it. When I’m on deadline, he overlooks the messy house and brings takeout for dinner, and reassures me that I can get ’er done. And while neither of my parents lived to see my writing career happen, I sense their love and support every day. My dad wrote short stories, and my mom edited and typed them up! She was my first “editor” too.
T4JYM: What advice would you give to the youth of this world?
KT: I wish I’d known sooner that God cares more about who we’re becoming than what we accomplish. Our dreams are meant to lead us into challenging places that stretch and form us. Just because something makes us uncomfortable doesn’t necessarily make it unwise. Look at the way Jesus plunked his disciples into situations rife with opportunities for them to fear and fail. How else would they learn to take Jesus at his word? Anything I’ve done that turned out worthwhile has included a measure of discomfort. So I guess my best advice is to my younger self is, Do it scared!
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