Guest Post: BTS with Kate Willis Hoppman

Happy Tuesday! I’m turning over today’s post to Kate of Once Upon an Ordinary in celebration of the second edition of her her book Kiera releasing tomorrow! I can’t wait to read this book for myself. Until then, here’s the book info, and then I’ll hand this post over to Kate to share some behind the scenes about writing Kiera!

About the Book

Title: Kiera

Genre: Christian Young Adult Science Fiction

Synopsis: Kiera’s life is pretty simple—garden, hang out with her best friend, babysit little Jade, and finish up homeschool high school. But a global war and mandatory draft turn her eighteenth birthday into a nightmare. Brennan, Jade’s adoptive dad, offers his last name and exemption status, leaving Kiera to question everything she’s ever thought about love. Even worse, she might actually be starting to have feelings for him. Life settles into a routine before shattering again, and Kiera is left with only one question… If God truly loves her, why is this happening?

Links: Purchase the eBook here | Purchase the hardback here | Add Kiera on Goodreads here

About the Author

Kate (Willis) Hoppman is a follower of Jesus and lover of words. She enjoys quiet afternoons reading or watching movies with her nerdy husband, baking tall cakes, and hanging out with her family. In her author time, she writes contemporary and fantasy, and sneaks in Doctor Who references and deep themes whenever possible. Check out her other books Sincerely, Jem, The Treasure Hunt, and The Twin Arrows series.

Blog | Instagram | Goodreads

Guest Post by Kate!

Jana asked me to share some Kiera behind-the-scenes/trivia, so I hope you enjoy this little peek into my crazy author brain. 😁

I’m very introverted and my closest friendship is long distance, so I took “effusive best friends who have crazy hilarious fun” inspiration for Kiera and Destiny from a younger sister and her bestie. 💙
I had fun referring to Sparrows by Jason Gray (the main song in the story) as “the original version” because I hope in the future people will make gorgeous covers of it.
My original idea for the book was a Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maria-type love story with Jessica as the main character. It ended up feeling better to shift the focus to Kiera and a storyline where I could pull a “write what you know”. 😉
I started writing Kiera just after I turned eighteen and there were some rumors about legislation to make women eligible for a mandatory draft…
Naming Brennan was a side quest all on its own. Brennan’s first name was stolen from the most regular guy I knew at the time but his last name was a gibberish word I thought sounded cool. I looked it up and realized it was the name of a Game of Thrones character, oops. 😂😬 So I lifted James Stewart’s last name right before publication. 😉
Almost since the beginning, I’ve known what the embryo’s name would be. 💙
I read and absolutely loved Heartless by Anne Elizabeth Stengl during my writing process, so it’s unofficially the book series Kiera and Brennan were sharing. I need to read more of the series now myself…
My brother was writing a dystopian novel at the same time as me and asked to use my character Ian. I agreed and then used some of his development for a later draft and now the sequel short story Operation Robin. #teamwork 😎
The roadtrip scenes weren’t originally in the outline, but after a draft or two I realized I needed them for pacing and more character bonding. They ended up being some of my absolute favorites. 🥰☺️
I chose the less common spelling of Kiera which has backfired a little bit over the years. 😂

Thank you for popping by and sharing about your book with us, Kate!

Kate is hosting a giveaway and photo challenge on her site, and there are other fun things going on this week to celebrate Kiera. Check out her blog for all those fun details.