Interview with Kay Bratt, Author of A Welcome Misfortune

What can you tell us about your new release, A Welcome Misfortune?

A Welcome Misfortune is a historical fiction piece that tells of the travesties many young Asian women faced long ago, as well as focuses on the subject of the first waves of the Chinese who make the difficult journey to begin their new lives in America.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I have always used my writing abilities to get through the ups and downs of life, so it was only natural that I would begin to share my work with others.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

Of course, I’m a fan of Gone With the Wind, for the story itself as well as the backstory of how that book came to be.

The Snow Child by Eowny Ivey will always be in my top five books. That story grabbed me deep in my soul and left me longing to live within it’s pages.

A new one on the list this year is The School Mistress of Emerson Pass by Tess Thompson. I grabbed it when I was starting to close in on myself because of the virus and other upheaval of 2020, and getting engrossed in that story was like sinking in to a warmed blanket. Comforting and inviting.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a long time favorite, and also the inspiration for me to write some of my historical fiction. That book is pure magic.

Another new one that comes to mind from 2020 is Dovetail by Karen McQuestion. It’s a dual-timeline story, which usually isn’t my favorite but this one is done in a way that when one chapter ends, it just naturally opens up in the next time period, seamlessly and mesmerizingly.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

If I were the host of a literary talk show, my first desired guest would be Ernest Hemingway, but I’m sure it’s not that kind of show so I’d have to settle with inviting Danielle Steel. I’d love to know how the literary world was from the inside back when she started, opposed to how she thinks it is now. I’d also pick her brain about how she comes up with so many wonderful new stories to tell.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

I can give every character a happily ever after if I choose.

What is a typical day like for you?

My days starts early with taking care of my three dogs. I am very into dog rescue and that’s why we’re known as the Bratt Pack. I chronicle a lot about the coming and going of different foster pups, etc.. on my social network. My smallest, Hazel Bea, and the other doggos have quite a social network following. Then I’m #ButtInSeat by 8.30 am or so and after I’ve checked email/messages, etc.. I work straight until about 2pm. Break for lunch/rest, and dinner, then back at it for several hours until sometimes nearly midnight. Between writing new words, marketing, and a million other tasks, there are never enough hours in the day.

What scene from A Welcome Misfortune was your favorite to write?

My favorite scene in A Welcome Misfortune was probably the scene where a newborn infant girl is hung in a basket on a famous wall, where others are abandoned, too. At that point I had to decide what turn her life would take and what I chose would set the plot line for the whole book.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

My quote for the last three decades is “It’s never too late to be what you might’ve been” by George Eliot. I come from a very tumultuous and modest background, but by hard work and tenacity, I’ve made something of myself.

Kay Bratt is the author of the new book A Welcome Misfortune

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