Elyse Cotton has a new story that just released, one involving a theme I love–family relationships.
Elyse’s story “A Brystel Family Christmas” ties in with the collection Fingerprints in Frost from Wild Blue Wonder Press. I’ve loved each of the seasonal anthologies from this small publisher and have featured their past collections here on the blog. (Check out my reviews of Springtime in Surrey and Novelists in November–or my interview with Andrea Renee Cox about her story “A Melting Pot Thanksgiving”). Every collection is filled with sweet, homey stories written for the glory of God.
For today, I’m delighted to take a deeper look at Elyse and her contribution to the latest anthology.
About Elyse Cotton
Elyse’s love for writing was sparked by imaginary games she played with her sister and best friend when she was young. It was one of these games that inspired her largest passion project, a never-ending dystopian series, and fostered her desire to pursue a career as an author. When not working on her writing, Elyse can be found reading a good book, spending time with her friends and family, and studying to become an American Sign Language interpreter.
To connect with her, visit: Instagram | Goodreads | Pinterest
A Few Fun Facts About Elyse
Alena: To start us off on our conversation, let’s hear a little bit about you as a person. What is a chapter in the Bible that draws you back again and again?
Elyse: In relation to writing A Brystel Family Christmas, and the whole publishing process that came after, I returned to Matthew 6 again and again. I like having specific verses for each of my WIPs, something that can ground me in God’s word and truth while I write. For A Brystel Family Christmas, that was Matthew 6:34. I came back to this verse often while drafting, and throughout the hectic prep and marketing phase that followed.
Alena: Which genre of books do you most often reach for when you’re looking to relax and why?
Elyse: I love this question! I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but when I think about it, I believe it might be my comfort genre. As a little girl I was obsessed with the American Girl Doll and Dear America series. As a tween I discovered Little Women, and that book continues to be one of my all time favorite books and my top comfort read. I don’t know what it is about reading a story from another time, but even when the book deals with harder or heavier themes, historical fiction often feels very comforting to me.
Alena: I definitely grew up loving those books as well! Now for a really hard question, what is one fictional book you adore?
Elyse: Oh my, just one? Haha, I have so many favorites. A book that’s recently captured my heart is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I read it for the first time almost two years ago, and completely fell in love with the characters and themes of brotherhood and “staying gold”. I reread it last summer and again this February, and my love for it has only continued to grow! To the gentle souls like me out there, don’t be off put by the fact that this story focuses on a group of gang members—trust me, there is so much love, sweetness, and beauty within the pages of this novel. I highly, highly recommend it!
About Elyse’s Own Writing Journey
Alena: While we‘re on the topic of books, share with us about how you started writing.
Elyse: When I was little, I played those very detailed and complex imaginary games with my friends. We’d go to the park or out in someone’s back yard, create lengthy backstories for our characters, then play out fantastical games about orphans who could talk to animals, kids with superpowers, and adventures lost in the woods. My favorite part of this process was always creating our characters and setting up backstories for them. One day while doing this with my sister and best friend, I had the thought that our ideas might make a good book. We ended up spending a few hours writing some things down about our characters and the world we’d been creating, and talked about becoming authors. For my sister and friend, it was a passing fancy, but since that day being a published author has been my biggest dream. I found our scribbled notes sometime after our author discussion, dusted them off, and started to expand on them. Those notes were the original inspiration behind my current and largest WIP!
Alena: What a lovely way to jump into writing! What started you on the actual publishing journey?
Elyse: I joined “writergram” last summer, and dove head first into finding community and connecting with other likeminded authors. One of my sweet friends shared a post from Wild Blue Wonder Press, about submissions opening for Fingerprints in Frost. I fantasized about how cool it would be to be chosen for a project like this, but then tried to put the thought aside. I was in a very busy season of life at the time, and didn’t think I’d have the ability to work with the deadline and get a publishable story ready on time. But God kept giving me little nudges and reminders, ideas for a story I could submit, not letting me forget about it until I relented and decided to try my hand at getting accepted and published.
Alena: How have you witnessed God’s provision in your writing?
Elyse: In so, so many ways. I think one of the biggest things I’ve seen Him do is give me a group of incredible author friends. They encourage me, remind me why I love to write when I’m burnt out or suffering from writers block. They help me polish my work and give me the most incredible feedback. They pray over me, bless me, and love on me so profusely. My writing is so much better thanks to my little writergram fam, and they’ve encouraged me to not only be a better author, but also a better steward of the gift God has given me.
Alena: Having friends in the writing community is indeed a big blessing for an author.
Now let’s take a closer look at “A Brystel Family Christmas,” which is part of the Fingerprints in Frost collection. I’ve half convinced myself that the lovely picture on the cover was taken in my family’s pasture because it looks almost identical.
Here’s the book’s description:
About A Brystel Family Christmas
The Brystels, a large, loving Deaf family, are facing a Christmas with little money for presents and holiday celebrations. Andrew, the eldest Bystel child, and three of his sisters devise a plan to create a homemade Christmas for their younger siblings, but they don’t count on the ever-present fear and worry over money to follow them in their work. As Christmas Day approaches, they learn to put their trust in their Heavenly Father even when they struggle to see His plan for their family in this hard season. From baked goods to playtime in the snow, broken bones, and secret surprises, the Brystel’s lives are never dull in this story about family, trust, and faith in God’s perfect plan.
Fingerprints in Frost is a Christian short story collection featuring nine cozy stories of seeking God in the messy joys of homemaking and family. This anthology contains touching stories from contemporary and historical fiction authors with a mix of different subgenres—all written to the glory of God!
The Backstory Behind A Brystel Family Christmas
Alena: Where did you get the idea for your story A Brystel Family Christmas?
Elyse: A large part of this story comes from personal experience. During the time that I wrote the first draft of ABFC, my family was going through a season very similar to what the Brystel family is going through in ABFC. Looking back, I can see so clearly how God used this story to process things with me, and helped me to continually keep my eyes on Him and promises during that time.
The idea to make the Brystels a Deaf family came from my deep love of the Deaf community, and my desire to see more Deaf representation in fiction. There’s a lack of it in the general market, but even more so in Christian fiction. As a Christian author, book lover, and ASL interpreting student, I want to see that change! I hope to be a part of that change through A Brystel Family Christmas, and later possibly more Brystel family stories.
Alena: It’s always a wonderful thing when an author takes their love for a certain community, such as the Deaf, and then seeks to give those people an accurate portrayal. Your story also centers around family and sibling relationships. How does this theme tie in with your own life?
Elyse: I’m the oldest kid in a family of seven; I have an amazing twin sister, three rambunctious younger siblings, and the best parents ever. My parents created a very family oriented culture in our home as I grew up, and this strongly influenced how I view family and sibling relations in fiction, as well as how I write them. I feel like there’s a lack of healthy and wholesome family relationships portrayed in books these days, and that really breaks my heart. We need stories about family, to show that not every one is broken, stories that offer hope and show what a loving family should be like. My family and that desire turned into the inspiration behind the Brystel’s relationships with one another.
Alena: I completely agree about there being a lack of healthy and wholesome family relationships in fiction, so I was especially excited to discover your story.
Describe the overall mood of your story in three words for us.
Elyse: Cozy, bright, and joyful!
More About the Characters
Alena: Who was your favorite character in your story?
Elyse: Every writer knows this is like being asked who your favorite child is, haha! I love each member of the Brystel family dearly, and so many of them don’t get nearly as much page time in A Brystel Family Christmas as I wanted them to. I think I’ll have to give you two characters: Gabriella is a girl after my own heart. We’re both a red-headed twin, and I think if I dove deeper into her character, there would be a lot of similarities between us in how we think and process things, as well as some shared dreams and desires. Andrew will also always have a special place in my heart. Like me he’s the oldest kid in his family, and while we’re different in many many ways, I feel strongly connected to him. I think in a lot of ways he’s become my comfort character. I let myself get vulnerable in writing certain scenes with him, and I think he s a character that I could continue to do that with if I ever wrote more Brystel family stories.
Alena: Picking just one character is hard–about as hard as picking just one book. 🙂
To close our discussion, can you share what you hope readers will take away from your story?
Elyse: I really hope that readers will come away from my story with feeling a sense of joy. Each story in Fingerprints in Frost showcases characters in a difficult season or struggling with hard things, like infertility, chronic illness, and stressed marriages. But a common theme throughout the story, I feel, is joy. Being able to find joy in the hard times, resting in God and knowing that He has a good plan on the other side of it all. That He’ll bring you through the valley and protect you on the journey. To end my answer, I’ll share a verse that sums up my prayer over this little collection of stories:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
-Romans 15:13
I’ll second Elyse’s words and wish each of you readers that same joy and peace.
Before you go, be sure to grab your copy of “A Brystel Family Christmas” in the Fingerprints in Frost collection! The story is sure to give you a cozy family feel and to provide you with some happy reading time.
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