Another one of my fabulous exclusive Gather...

I am interviewing Gather personality Bethann Korsmit about her fabulous published novel !!!

What is your novel and what is it about?

My novel is Darkness Descending. It is about a patriarch's downward spiral into despair that is brought on by bigotry and betrayal, and a family's attempt to save him from descending into darkness. It is also a tender love story, but a bit on the controversial side.

How is the love story part of this novel controversial?

The love story is controversial, or so I have been told by some readers, because it is between two men. Their relationship is deeply affected by the bigotry of the patriarch's son. The son is a conservative politician, so the idea of having a gay father is too much for him to handle.

How much of your story came from memory and how much from things just made up?

The entire story was made up. There aren't any characters who are based on anyone that I know, and none of the events ever happened to anyone I know. Honestly, I wish I knew people like my characters.

Did your characters, as they developed, change the story in anyway as you wrote ?

Yes, they did. The main character changed a lot from what I originally planned. Another of the characters changed a bit personality-wise, but it wasn't a major change.

While writing this novel did you ever just get so frustrated with it that you wanted to give up - or does fiction writing put you in more of a "happy place"?

I never got frustrated while writing Darkness Descending. I truly love these characters that I created. There was never a day that passed during the writing that I didn't think about how I wanted these characters portrayed. As strange as it may sound, I wanted to stay true to them. This book was definitely a labor of love.

What novels did you read for fun in high school?

I read a lot of American Literature. I loved F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think that Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" had the biggest impact on my life for many years.

Where can we find your novel?

My novel is available at BarnesandNoble.com, BooksAMillion.com and various online booksellers. It can also be ordered at the store, or for in-store pickup at Barnes & Noble and Borders. It is also available at many European booksellers as well.

Do you have any pets?

Yes, I have two dogs - a 13 1/2 year old male Pekingese (my pride and joy), and a 1 1/2 year old female yellow Lab. I've had my Pekingese since he was 7 weeks old, so he's my little guy. We've had our Lab since Halloween, so we're still getting to know each other.

Thank you for the fun interview !!!