Kathleen Denly writes historical romance that explores the vibrant—and sometimes unforgiving—backdrop of California’s past. Committed to culturally sensitive representation, she intentionally weaves the era’s complex realities into her subplots through careful research and collaboration with local native peoples organizations. When she isn’t writing or volunteering as a historical docent, Kathleen can be found enjoying a restorative hike through nature or navigating life with her family, twelve cats, and two dogs.

1. Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?
   • Many different things inspire my stories. The initial idea can come from anywhere, but often it comes from something I stumbled across in my historical research. For example, I was reading about mail delivery in California during the gold rush when I wondered what it would be like to have a loved one so far away (many men left their families behind when they went to hunt gold) and not receive correspondence from them for extended periods of time. What if their letters stopped altogether? That led to my debut novel, Waltz in the Wilderness. With Sing in the Sunlight, the inspiration came from my discovery that San Diego had once been struck by a hurricane. That event just begged to be included in a novel. Harmony on the Horizon, book three in the Chaparral Hearts series, was inspired by a true story often told by docents during tours of the old schoolhouse in Old Town San Diego. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
2. When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
   • Well, we’re a family of six with a wide variety of needs and interests so much of my non-writing time is taken up by parenting my four children. However, I’m a very crafty person, so when I have time, I enjoy several mediums of art. Some of my favorites are junk journaling, sewing, knitting, and diy projects. In fact, if you look closely at my office in my YouTube videos, you can spot several of my diy projects in the background. These include a custom marker holder, a phone holder, and my latest junk journal. More recently I’ve begun teaching myself digital drawing and crochet.
3. What authors/books have influenced your writing?
   • Wow. That’s a tough question. There are so many books that have influenced and inspired me, I couldn’t possibly list and explain them all here, so I’ll focus on the first two that come to mind. One is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen simply because it’s the book I’ve read the most often. I learned a lot about the rhythm of a novel, the power of humor, and the beauty of romance from that novel. The second would be Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers because it opened my eyes to what historical romance could be. Fiction has the power to tell hard stories embedded with hope.
4. Are you a plotter or a panster?
   • I think I fall somewhere in the middle, actually. If I were writing for myself, I would probably just pants it and make corrections in rewrites. However, with deadlines to meet, I’ve taught myself to do more plotting and outlining in advance. That said, I have learned the hard way that if I go too far in my outlining, I kill the creative flow in myself. So I’ve learned to only plot enough that I know where I’m going but not every tiny detail of every scene.
5. What is your favorite part of the writing process?
   • Definitely the research and brainstorming stage. Because that’s the fun part where I’m just continually asking myself, “What if…?” and uncovering new little facts of history. For me, historical research is a lot like treasure hunting or thrift store shopping. I never know when I’m going to uncover a wonderful surprise.
6. Have you always wanted to be a writer / know you were going to be a writer?
   • Not really, no. I did know there was something odd about myself somewhat early on when I learned that not everyone silently added dialogue tags to things that were said in everyday life. Nor do others mentally rewrite everything they say until it just “feels right.” However, writing was just an occasional hobby until one night during my freshman year of high school when I awoke in the wee hours of the morning with the plot for a novel running through my mind. Until that moment, I’d never even considered writing anything more than super short stories and poetry for fun. Even then, I considered it something to do in my spare time, but that’s when I started dreaming of being published. It wasn’t until college that I started taking my writing seriously. My attempt to crash a creative writing course at my local community college was unsuccessful, but the assignment given that first day inspired my first Christian historical romance novel. 
7. What do you hope readers will gain from reading your books?
   • My greatest hope is that readers walk away from my books with a deeper sense of empathy and compassion for people whose lives and struggles look different from their own. Novels offer us the unique chance to step into another person’s shoes and truly see into their hearts and minds. By exploring the complex realities of the past, I hope we can learn to understand and care for one another better in the present. Beyond that, I hope my stories provide a captivating escape. If my books give someone a moment to step back from their daily life and take a relaxing breath, that is incredibly rewarding to me as an author.