Feel, Look (back), and Write

by Rosalie O. Abatayo

At four years old, young Kat sat at the kitchen table with crayons and colored construction papers on hand—her tools in creating her own storybooks, complete with illustrations and narratives formed by sentences scribbled in that child-like, chicken scratch fashion.

Now, years later, adult Kat Devitt still finds getting lost in the stories she writes the best part of her day. Her passion and inspiration in writing and creating worlds in her story sit not very far from that four-year-old girl who couldn’t care less whether her tongue sticks out as she sinks deep into the creative realm.

“My stories have been influenced by everything around me. Everything I read. Everything I see, smell, taste, hear, touch. Everything I experience. Everyone I meet. All my memories,” Kat tells NRM.

These memories and experiences, for Kat, are bits and pieces of a mosaic—a story—and part of her job is to sift through them, turn them around and upside down, until she finds the right spot for them in the canvas of the tales that she tells.

“I take my experiences and memories, and I weave them into the plot and characters for depth. I feel like you can’t really be a writer if you’re not willing to explore personal traumas, pains, and happiness to breathe life into a story. Without it, you’re denying yourself and your readers a chance to live in your fiction,” Kat deduces.

When it comes to influences in her writing, the long list could go on forever. Among these names are legends in literature like Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, and Sarah J. Maas.

At times when Kat is away from her desk and not scribbling ideas for a new story, you can probably find her in bookstores, getting her hands on books to add to her pile of to-reads.

To Own Her Body

In this issue of NRM, Kat brings us one of her pieces, To Own Her Body, a period fiction where she explores the paradox of telling a story of a woman’s autonomy from the point of view of a misogynist.

“I take my experiences and memories, and I weave them into the plot and characters for depth. I feel like you can’t really be a writer if you’re not willing to explore personal traumas, pains, and happiness to breathe life into a story. Without it, you’re denying yourself and your readers a chance to live in your fiction,” Kat deduces.

“I had a hankering to tell a story from the viewpoint of a 19thcentury gentleman, but not the chivalrous, self-sacrificing blokes that litter period fiction. I wanted to tell a story from the viewpoint of a misogynistic, self-serving gentleman,” Kat reveals.

And you guessed it right! The inspiration behind this treasure stems from her experiences and the insights she got looking back at them.

“There have been times, within society and close relationships, that I’ve felt my mind doesn’t matter, only my body. My thoughts, opinions, and beliefs were disposable, but my body, and its presence to maintain an image within those relationships, were all that were desired from me,” Kat opens up.

The characters in To Own Her Body are all based on people she had met in real life, spanning from those with whom she had close relationships to people that left an impact on her albeit brief encounters.

While one may ask how a piece of period fiction could connect to present conditions, Kat quips this response: “Please read my story, and then I invite you to think about it. What’s a woman worth without her thoughts and opinions? Without love to give freely? What’s a woman without her autonomy?”

On Period Fiction and more…

One of the first things you’d get from a Lit 101 class is the setting—the backdrop of the story—and how important this element is to the entirety of a narrative. Kat Devitt’sTo Own Her Body is set in 19th century England.

This setting is popular in most of Kat’s creations, whether it be romance, fairy tale, suspense, or ghost story. Kat’s knack for period fiction stems from her interest in exploring a different world, society, culture, and age, and bridging the past to the present.

“We’re as human now as we were two hundred or two thousand years ago. Our technologies, customs, traditions, cultures, and environments evolve, but we still experience the same range of emotions: sadness, joy, defeat, triumph, revenge, compassion,

lust, love, and on and on. I love how historical fiction acts as a time machine and allows writers and readers to experience humanity the way previous generations possibly saw it,” Kat explains.

But Kat’s crafts are not jailed in the four walls of period fiction, no. As much as she hates being constrained as a person, Kat also despises a myopic take in her work. In fine, her words and tales go as far as her imaginations bring her.

“I write whatever story is currently living in my head. If someday a face fantasy lives in my head, I’ll write that. If it’s suspense with a modern setting, I’ll write that. If it’s a cowboy space opera, I’ll write that,” she says.

Kat is not all ink and parchment, though. In fact, she just got herself a Nintendo Switch and has itchy fingers over the latest Rune Factory installment which will be released this 2022. She also loves the outdoors!

“Once this pandemic fades a bit more, I hope to pick up some hobbies I had previously, like tripping over my toes in Zumba classes and planning trips over to Europe. But who knows when that will be?” she shares.

Unlike in most of her pieces, Kat lives and dwells at present—in 2021, where everyone tries to live in a “new normal” because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She too had to make adjustments and foresaw things that did not actually materialize.

“For my day job, I had to work from home for over a year. In the beginning, I thought, “Hmm. My commute is only from the bed to the couch, and my pajama bottoms are my new work clothes. This is going to save me a lot of time and allow me to spend more time writing!” Kat shares.

A trivia, To Own Her Body is a product of Kat’s productivity during the pandemic!

Although there are days that ideas and creativity flood her, spurring her to continue writing pending drafts and even start new ones, episodes of anxiety and depression have also visited her, which most of us can relate to.

At present, Kat is working hard to go a notch higher and finally venture on full novels. Yes, that’s plural! She is now working on a historical romance novel which she intends to make into a trilogy, plus a dark historical fiction novel, and another historical romance novel outline she also hopes to make into a series. It doesn’t stop there, as Kat is also now on research work for a contemporary suspense book.

That looks aplenty and we’re surely looking forward to getting our hands on these after reading To Own Her Body.

Best of luck, Kat!

“We’re as human now as we were two hundred or two thousand years ago. Our technologies, customs, traditions, cultures, and environments evolve, but we still experience the same range of emotions: sadness, joy, defeat, triumph, revenge, compassion, lust, love, and on and on. I love how historical fiction acts as a time machine and allows writers and readers to experience humanity the way previous generations possibly saw it,” Kat explains.