Jessie Mattis: Thank you so much.

Danielle Grandinetti: It's wonderful to have you. And A Mess of Dreams is published by Ashbury Lane, which is also my publisher, so we're publishing sisters! I'm extra excited to have you on the podcast today.

Jessie Mattis: Yes, I love that part. Thank you so much for having me.

Danielle Grandinetti: You're welcome. So, this podcast unites us over a love of story. I'd love to begin with a question about what you're currently reading.

Jessie Mattis: What am I currently reading? So, I actually am not in the middle of anything at the moment. I just finished up reading The Brunswick by Callie Murray (affiliate), which is a new release by Revell, and it was really good. I really liked it.

Danielle Grandinetti: Wonderful! I love it when I ask that question and catch an author right between reads.

Jessie Mattis: Yeah. I have a pile of other things to start, but I'm not in a good position to start reading a new book right now—because when I start reading a book, I'm all in until I'm done, and then it's hard to live life!

Danielle Grandinetti: I have a feeling there are several readers who can relate. All right, turning to A Mess of Dreams, which is the first in the Middle Fork series, what does a day in the life of your characters look like?

Jessie Mattis: Oh, that's a good question. My main character is Lorene Stewart, and she's 17 years old. She lives in Potomac, Illinois, which is a rural farming community—a very small town. She lives on a farm outside of town.

I think a normal day in her life would look like waking up early before school to help with chores. It's 1943 at that point, so there are lots of chores to help with on the farm. Then she heads to school, comes back, and does some more chores.

Hopefully, she hangs out with her best friend, Ruby, who lives a mile down the road, and they probably have some sort of an adventure—or she'll go on a horseback ride, because she loves doing that, too. So, she has a standard high schooler's life at this point, even though World War II is going on across the sea. There's a lot going on in town around her, but she's just trying to live her normal life.

Danielle Grandinetti: Love that. It's such a 17-year-old's perspective: you're still enjoying childhood, and yet you're also aware that there are bigger things happening.

Jessie Mattis: Yes. Throughout the story, those things become bigger and bigger in her world, so it's a fun journey.

Danielle Grandinetti: What was your favorite scene to write in this story, and why?

Jessie Mattis: Oh, goodness! That's a fun question, and it's hard to whittle it down. One of the first scenes is when she meets Amos Alexander in chapter one. It was a very fun scene for me to write because it happens at a town-wide cake walk—which half of the people listening probably have never heard of!

Cake walks were actually a normal part of my childhood growing up. Our town would have one every year, and it was a fun time for the community to come together. So, in the story, that's where they meet. It was really fun for me because I was able to write while picturing things that had actually happened in my life growing up, trying to make it cute and fun to get things rolling.

There was another scene that's one of my favorites that happens quite a bit later in the book, and it's a lot more serious. I just remember writing that scene, praying through it, and tearing up—hoping that was a good sign! So, there is one scene with a lot of emotion that was pretty special to write.

Danielle Grandinetti: Oh, I love that. It makes you want to get to that scene so you can read it yourself! What was some unique research that was required to write this story?

Jessie Mattis: This is set in rural Illinois during World War II, and it was really fun for me to dive in and learn about the presence of prisoners of war and their role on the home front.

There was a POW camp set up not too far from my hometown, and the story is inspired by some true events. It's not real people or real situations, but I was inspired by a story of my great-grandma taking chocolate cake and lemonade out to the fields to give German POWs a little break and a treat while they were working hard in the hot sun picking tomatoes for the local canning factory.

You can only imagine, right? These were German prisoners. Most people would probably be scared of them or angry with them, but apparently she saw their humanity. She saw their toil in the hot sun and took them some refreshments. That played a huge part in getting the wheels turning.

I dug into the research, read all about it, watched some YouTube videos, and learned as much as I could. I don't know about you, but I didn't know anything really about that element of the war on the home front, so it was pretty fascinating.

Danielle Grandinetti: A lot of stories take place at the front, so to learn more about the home front and the everyday lives that were happening here—I love that perspective.

Jessie Mattis: Yeah, it's so interesting! Not only were the prisoners housed in different camps across America, but they were hired out as laborers. So many of our guys were overseas fighting that farmers in particular had real labor shortages and wouldn't have been able to maintain their farms without hiring these POWs. That was a fascinating element to me.

That is what happens in the story: Lorene's family ends up hiring some POWs, they're around each other a lot, and there are some interesting dynamics that come about because of it.

Danielle Grandinetti: Yes, I can imagine! Was there a piece of research that didn't make it into the story that you wish you could have included?

Jessie Mattis: That's interesting; I can't think of anything right off hand. Writing historical fiction from this era is interesting because this time and place isn't really that far removed, right? It's the '40s. My grandpa is still with us—he's 99—and hearing about those times has just been a normal part of my life to some degree.

While there was a lot of research I did trying to make sure the time and place came through really well, I mostly researched as I came across an idea or a topic, then dived in and used what I found.

In one of my other books farther down in the series, centered around the Vietnam War, my approach to research was very different: I immersed myself completely, learned basically everything I could, and then whittled it down. But for this one, I researched as I went. It's very character-centered, so the historical elements are a little more in the background.

Danielle Grandinetti: I love hearing how every author has a different process, and each book has a different process! You hinted at it already, but what was the overall inspiration behind this story?

Jessie Mattis: My grandparents grew up in Potomac, Illinois, and I grew up there, too. That's where my dad's family is from, and that's where I set the story.

What's interesting is that originally, the first three books of this upcoming four-book series were just one book with three parts. An agent read it and suggested I expand them into three separate books, and I'm so grateful for that advice! But that meant I had to fictionalize what I had a little bit more, because originally it was much more based on my grandparents' lives.

Once I expanded it, Book 1 actually became the one with the fewest "true" elements. So A Mess of Dreams, while inspired by my grandparents, is not their direct story. Books 2 and 3 deal with topics that they actually lived through and wrestled with. But for this one, I let my imagination take over. What might have happened before they met? What could have been an interesting situation that year in Illinois? Then I just rolled with it when I found out about my great-grandma and the POWs working across the street.

Danielle Grandinetti: I love that! Book 1 comes out, and now everyone needs to bookmark your author page so they can come back and grab the next ones to continue following the series!

Jessie Mattis: Yeah, that would be great! My hope is that people will really connect with Lorene. As a writer, I've been working on this series for lots of years now, and Lorene has become one of my dearest friends. You're an author, so you know how that goes! I just want other people to know her the way I know her—which sounds a little crazy when you're not a writer, probably!

Danielle Grandinetti: As a reader, I think we get to know those characters, too, so hopefully she becomes a favorite for readers. Which brings me to one of our last questions: what encouragement do you hope readers will take away from your story?

Jessie Mattis: I have always approached writing as a ministry. I don't want that to bring red flags up for people thinking, "Oh, it's going to be preachy," because that is not the point. Obviously, I want it to be a fun, entertaining escape for people to dive into!

There is a lot of faith woven into the story because that's just part of my world and how I live life. It's always part of the conversation, so that's how it is for Lorene, too.

I really hope readers can see the way she wrestles through things and comes out on the other side, feeling encouraged and inspired that God is good—even through trauma, trials, and difficulties. Lorene has a lot to overcome. She's 17, but she's been through some tough things already and has guilt and trust issues to wrestle through. I hope readers can see themselves in Lorene and see God's goodness at the end of the book.

Danielle Grandinetti: That's beautiful. I love when we can see ourselves in characters and walk with them—it almost helps our own healing journey as a character experiences theirs.

Jessie Mattis: Yes, I think fiction can be really powerful in that way. That's my prayer for this book. I've encountered that in other stories, and it's neat to be able to contribute that to the world, too.

Danielle Grandinetti: Oh, I love that. Jessie, thank you so much for joining me today! Since we've talked about the series as a whole, where can readers find you and your book online?