Interview with Kelly Goshorn

About the Author

Kelly Goshorn weaves her affinity for history and her passion for God into uplifting stories of love, faith and family set in nineteenth century America. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Kelly has been enjoying her own happily-ever-after with her husband and best friend, Mike, for 28 years. Together they have raised three children, four cats, two dogs, a turtle, a guinea pig, a gecko, and countless hamsters. Thankfully, not all at the same time. When she is not writing, Kelly enjoys spending time with her young adult children, scrapbooking with friends, board gaming with her husband, and spoiling her Welsh corgi, Levi.

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The Interview

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world for book research (expense covered for you by an anonymous donor), where would you go and why?
Hmmm, since all my stories so far are set right here in Loudoun County, Virginia, where I’ve lived since 1972, there wouldn’t be too many expenses. But since someone else is footing the bill, I do have a Christmas novella idea about a mail order bride from Germany. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that I’d need to travel there to discover her culture and customs, right?

2. What genre(s) do you write?  Why do you choose to write in this genre?
I write historical romance but am very interested in trying historical suspense as well. Why HR?  I guess I’ve always been a bit of a history geek. As a child, I tuned in every week to share the joys and struggles of the Ingalls family on Little House on the Prairie. I slept in a night cap, had a slate and chalk to play school and even a tin lunch pail. When mom wasn’t looking, I sat on the back of the couch pretending it was the seat of our Conestoga wagon as we crossed the prairie through the Dakota Territory. Ummm, yeah, I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a history geek. Then one September night in 1979, Laura Ingalls peered lovingly into Almanzo Wilder’s eyes and called him “Manly” and I’d discovered something new—historical romance. However, it wasn’t until my sister introduced me to Love Comes Softly, nearly twenty-five years later, that I knew Christian historical romance existed as a genre.
 
3. What top 5 books are currently on your TBR pile?
 1) More Than Meets the Eye, Karen Witemeyer
2) The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond, Jamie Jo Wright
3) The Love Letter, Rachel Hauck
4) The Lady & the Lionheart, Joanne Bischoff
5) This Wilderness Journey, Misty Beller
 
 4. What inspired your idea for A Love Restored?
A Love Restored is based on my real-life love story with my husband, Mike—all of our ups and downs, including our emotionally devastating break up. When I first began writing, I tinkered with a story about Irish mail-order brides (the whole mail order bride thing just fascinates me). Hubby read it, told me it “wasn’t bad,” then suggested I write our story. Skeptical, I questioned him. “Are you sure. I mean you don’t look so good in that story for a long time.” He grinned and responded, “Yeah, but I think it turned out all right.” I’d have to agree. We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary in mid-June.
 
5. What do you want readers to take away from reading A Love Restored?
A Love Restored is not only a story of love, romance, heartache and restoration, but also a story about the power of words over our lives. It is a story about the struggle each of us faces to take our thoughts captive to the truth of Scripture so we may experience the fullness of God’s unequivocal love for us. As my husband and I discovered, it is only then that we are truly able to give and receive love, unconditionally.
 
My prayer for you and your lovely readers is that you will not allow the enemy to steal the joy that is rightfully yours as a child of God. Speak the truth of the gospel over yourself every day and ask God to give you His eyes to see yourself as He does.
 
“For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, butthe Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b
 
 
6. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about this project?
My current series, also set in Virginia, follows the Ashby family as they struggle to survive as the nation and their family are torn apart by America’s Civil War. Surrendered Hearts examines what happens when God calls us to surrender those things we hold most dear. Characters are called to sacrifice their dreams and ambitions, their pride, and ultimately their hearts as God recklessly pursues each of them. Hearts and wills are challenged, and lives transformed as characters experience restoration with one another and with God. Here is a little teaser for each of the books in the series.
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Saving Jeremiah Stone -- A man crippled by War. A woman called to heal. But can she save Jeremiah from himself?
 
Resurrecting Asa Campbell – Sometimes you have to die before you can live again.
 
Redeeming Madelyn Ashby – A dream forfeited. A heart betrayed. Can love be ransomed from deceit?
 

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