#authorinterview #authorspotlight #newrelease

It’s my pleasure to welcome author Ruth Hull Chatlien to talk about her upcoming release, Katie, Bar the Door. I had the honor of being an advance reader of this novel, and found the story quite compelling.

Welcome, Ruth, and thank you for joining us. Let’s dive right into your latest novel. What inspired the idea?

Years ago, I wrote a story about a young woman named Katie who decides to leave her husband, not because their loved failed but because they’re both under intense job stress and she decides they should focus on their careers separately for a while. The story consists of a single scene (now in the novel) in which she meets her old boss for lunch to ask for help finding a job. I couldn’t make the story work, so I decided to spend time exploring the characters’ histories and personalities. The more I learned about Katie, the more obsessed I became with telling her whole story.

It’s fascinating how some stories simply don’t let us go. How long did it take you to write the book?

Most of my adult life. I started when I was 24, and after many years, my first draft ended up being an 1,187-page family saga—I’d majored in literature and taken several writing courses, but none of that really prepares you to draft an entire novel, so I was learning as I went. I chopped the next draft down to 750 pages and then cut that almost in half by axing the previous generation’s story, but when the novel was done, I couldn’t get anyone to accept it. I put it away and kept writing, publishing a few stories and poems and eventually two historical novels. Then one night a friend invited my husband and me to a Carrie Newcomer concert. She’s a Quaker folksinger whose music speaks to me deeply. During one song, I suddenly felt awash with grief that I had let Katie down by giving up on her story. I pulled the manuscript out of the filing cabinet, retyped and revised it, sent it out to beta readers, and used their responses to revise again. When I submitted it to my publisher, they accepted it with enthusiasm.

Your title is unique. How did you come up with it?

It came to me in a dream. As I was working on the original, I dreamed about a storm in which I heard a man with an Irish accent say, “Whist, it’s Katie, bar the door.” I woke up knowing that I’d heard the expression somewhere, but I didn’t know what it meant. I literally spent a couple of years trying to find the answer. This was in the 1980s, long before the Internet, so I looked in every book of idiomatic expressions our library had but without success. Eventually, I found it in a book in a local bookstore. The phrase means, “Look out. Trouble’s coming,” which really fits Katie’s story. As for the dream about the storm, my main character ended up having that recurring nightmare.

Writing a novel is challenging. Do you have any advice for a writer working on their first book?

Listen to your characters. At one point, the whole story just stopped working. I was trying to make Katie’s husband Peter do something he didn’t want to do, and my writing process ground to a halt. I finally realized that I had to let him be angry at the things his wife had done or he’d never speak to me again. Once I let him act out the way he needed to, the work flowed again.

Characters and their opinions, LOL! What was your hardest scene to write, and why?

Late in the story, Katie and her husband Peter are exploring whether they can restore their marriage, so they start dating. After one evening out, Katie tells him something that angers him so that he storms out of her apartment. The hardest thing in the entire book was getting Peter to stop, turn around, walk back in there, and try again. It’s very difficult to get the emotional beats right in a scene like that, and I played it out in my mind obsessively for weeks before actually writing it.

Are there characters in your book similar to you or to people you know?

Katie’s dad Joe is based on my older brother Keith. They’re both cynical but charming mavericks who love history and buck authority. My brother was a model railroader; Joe builds a model of a Civil War battlefield. Keith moved and lost touch with my family when I was in my late teens; it took nine years for my mom to track him down. By then, I was working on this book, so I funneled all the pain of those lost years into what happens with Katie and her dad. I lost Keith again this last December—he died from COVID-19—so I dedicated the book to him.

I’m sure your brother would be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know (yet)?

My husband (Michael Chatlien, author of Northern Lights, a contemporary adventure romance) and I met in a writers’ critique group, and we were platonic friends for 3.5 years before we became a couple. On our second date, I made him critique something I’d written so we wouldn’t lose the habit of being honest. We still critique each other’s work, and we’ve been married for 31 years.

How lovely to have a built-in writing partner. What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

Emotional healing is possible if you’re willing to get help and do the hard work.

Thank you so much, Ruth, for discussing Katie, Bar the Door. Learn more about Ruth by checking out her bio and social media links below. Ruth is also offering a FREE first chapter download.

Readers, talk to us. We’d love to hear your questions or comments!

About the Author

Ruth Hull Chatlien has been a writer and editor of educational materials for nearly thirty years, specializing in U.S. and world history. She is the author of Modern American Indian Leaders for middle-grade readers. Her first novel, The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte, portrays the tumultuous life of Elizabeth “Betsy” Patterson Bonaparte. Her second novel, Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale, retells Sarah Wakefield’s ordeal as a captive during the Dakota War of 1862. Her most recent novel, Katie, Bar the Door, explores a young woman’s emotional journey from loss and abuse toward healing. She lives in northeastern Illinois with her husband, Michael. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found gardening, knitting, or spoiling her dog Coco.

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Pat Wahler is author of Western Fictioneers’ Best First Novel of 2018 and Walter Williams Award-winning novel, I am Mrs. Jesse James. She is also author of a Readers’ Favorite three-book contemporary romance series and a Readers’ Favorite Christmas-themed anthology.