Episode 139: Kelly Irvin, award-winning author of The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos
For our last episode of this season, award-winning author Kelly Irvin talks about her most recent release, "The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos," a deeply personal novel inspired by her own experience with ovarian cancer.
Kelly has authored more than 35 Amish romances, romantic suspense novels, and novellas. Her latest book, "The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos," recounts the journey of two sisters striving to find a new balance in work, family, and love when one receives a diagnosis that sets the clock ticking.
Books & Links Mentioned:
The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos by Kelly Irvin (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Full Disclosure: We are part of the Amazon and bookshop.org affiliate programs, which means Lainey or Ashley get a tiny commission if you buy something after clicking through from a link on this website.
Organizations Referenced:
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
Connect with the author:
Transcript:
** Transcript created using AI (so please forgive the typos!) **
[00:00:00] Lainey Cameron: Kelly, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about your latest release, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos, and I had a chance to read this and it is such a beautiful book and I got to congratulate you because given the seriousness of the topic, there's a book that talks about cancer. The levity and the love and the joy that is in this book is just amazing.
[00:00:24] Lainey Cameron: And so I'm not saying it's an easy book. I'm just saying it really, it made me cry. It made me smile. What a beautiful novel you've written here.
[00:00:33] Kelly Irvin: Oh, thank you. I appreciate that so much. It's the book of my heart. So it's always nice to hear that others are touched by it. I really appreciate that.
[00:00:42] Lainey Cameron: Yeah, and I noticed that you describe it somewhere in the description, I saw it described as Christian fiction, or the word Christian came up in the description. And I thought that was really interesting because it's not in any way heavy handed in the Christian themes, right? They're there, but it's interesting that I don't know [00:01:00] if I would have led with that word, even myself, if someone had asked me to describe the book. And so I was really fascinated by that. It's,
[00:01:06] Kelly Irvin: I think it's Christian in the sense that we all grapple with what we believe and we have questions and those questions don't always get answered.
[00:01:16] Kelly Irvin: And so that conversation and that. Tussle goes on in the book and so that theme is in there, but it's not what you would typically think of as Christian fiction.
[00:01:28] Lainey Cameron: Yeah, it's really in context. Talk about a moment that you question, right? Your faith in God and your question is there really a greater plan?
[00:01:34] Lainey Cameron: This is the moment in life where that is clearly going to be a conversation for.
[00:01:38] Kelly Irvin: I think anybody who's facing them finds out they have a terminal disease. It's going to have that conversation. I know I did. it comes from a place of, I was a Christian and then I got this diagnosis and I thought what is it that I really believe?
[00:01:53] Lainey Cameron: You led us straight there. This book is really special. It is inspired by your own experience. Do you want to tell us a little bit more about that?
[00:02:00] Kelly Irvin: I was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer in 2016. So I've been living with it for almost seven and a half years. And I'm in a clinical trial now that is holding the line on it.
[00:02:14] Kelly Irvin: And I've been very blessed to have benefited from a very From all the new research that's going on, there's a clinical trial phase one clinic very near my home. I'm able to go there. The person who started it is a rock star in clinical trial research. And so even though it was horrifying to get this diagnosis, and at the time I was devastated, I've been able to see over this period of time, how, I've been able to use this diagnosis to really focus on the things that are important and particularly in terms of my writing.
[00:02:51] Lainey Cameron: And I'm going to ask you more about your writing later because you've written so many phenomenal novels across genres. And for anyone listening who's not familiar with your work, I want them to get to know your whole body of work as well.
[00:03:01] Lainey Cameron: But let's stay focused on this book for now. Kelly, this book, so beautiful. I'd love to hear a little bit more about it. And I'm guessing the readers, the listeners here haven't heard much yet because it just came out a few days ago. Why don't you tell us more about the story of the book?
[00:03:15] Kelly Irvin: This is the story of an oncologist who finds out that her sister has received a diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer.
[00:03:23] Kelly Irvin: The oncologist jumps off the fast train. Career track to walk through this season with her sister. And it has a huge impact on their family dynamics. They have some difficult childhood issues that have never been resolved. And there's this ticking clock now that makes them realize that they're going to have to mend those.
[00:03:44] Kelly Irvin: Family issues now, why they have a chance and it impacts on the same call on college's relationship with her husband and her Children. And there's just so much that happens when you have a diagnosis like this. It affects every member of the family. [00:04:00] Your friends and so all of that is explored in the context of this woman who thought she had it all together.
[00:04:07] Kelly Irvin: And now she's facing the possibility that she's going to lose her only living family member to cancer.
[00:04:17] Lainey Cameron: SOmetimes we make decisions every day on how we spend our life, right? You choose a career, you choose home, you make a decision to go home 5 minutes later, 5 minutes earlier.
[00:04:25] Lainey Cameron: And I think we always think the accumulation of those decisions doesn't feel as significant, but then you get to a moment in life where you start to question Did I really want to spend my life the way I spent it? And I think she's really asking herself that question in the novel.
[00:04:38] Lainey Cameron: She's an oncologist and yet here she's facing trying to save her own sister when the odds are against her. And that to me was just a beautiful relationship that you painted between these two sisters. What made you decide to make it a sister story?
[00:04:51] Kelly Irvin: I wanted to see how it would impact their close relationship.
[00:04:56] Kelly Irvin: I didn't want it to be totally about this woman who has ovarian cancer [00:05:00] because the impact it has on family is so tremendous. It changes everything. And just looking at how family members become caregivers they become. The rock that you cling to in your darkest moments.
[00:05:15] Kelly Irvin: Having it be a sister story really helped me to tell both sides of the story as the patient and as the family member who's impacted by these developments.
[00:05:28] Lainey Cameron: And is there anything readers might be surprised about changed from where you started as you started thinking about writing such a personal book?
[00:05:34] Lainey Cameron: Is there anything that after reading it, I might go, "Oh, wow, I never imagined it was like that in its early versions. "
[00:05:40] Kelly Irvin: The only thing that I could think of in thinking about this question was that originally Sherry, who's a cancer patient, had four children. And the fourth one was a veteran who was homeless.
[00:05:52] Kelly Irvin: And I wanted her to find him because she needed to mend that relationship. Homelessness [00:06:00] and veterans who are homeless are issues that are really important to me. San Antonio is Military City, USA, so there's lots of issues going on related to veterans. But my editor said there's way too much going on here.
[00:06:11] Kelly Irvin: You need To narrow your focus. And so Sherry ended up with three children.
[00:06:16] Lainey Cameron: I could see that you've taken on such a huge topic that it's hard to live space for other stories in the same book. It's such a big book. I'm just gonna read one quick little snippet from Aimie K. Runyan, who's been on the podcast herself.
[00:06:29] Lainey Cameron: One of my favorite authors, and I loved how Amy describes it as. “A heartbreaking, truth telling look at the ravages of cancer on the body and soul.” And I thought the soul part was really important. And I just think the one word in that tiny snippet that's missing is just there's hope and there's joy in this book too.
[00:06:47] Lainey Cameron: There's love, hope, and joy too. And I loved how you did that.
[00:06:49] Kelly Irvin: Yeah, and there's humor. I was a newspaper reporter and my husband's in the news business and we talked about newsroom humor. It's dark humor, but that humor is there and we have to hang on to it as well.
[00:07:02] Lainey Cameron: Great. Absolutely. This is the latest in an amazing body of work where you've written across multiple genres. I'd love for you to tell those who are not familiar with your work a little bit about the different genres that you write in. And if you want to highlight any particular books they might've missed that are your favorites, feel free.
[00:07:19] Kelly Irvin: It's been an interesting journey. I actually was first published in Amish romances. And so I've written Amish romances, romantic suspense, and now women's fiction. And people find that to be a really odd, long spectrum of writing, but all of my stories have the same basis. And that is what these women are telling.
[00:07:41] Kelly Irvin: Stories and they're strong women who tell strong stories. And so each one I love writing romantic suspense because that's what I originally thought I was going to do. That's what I like to read. I love to read mystery and suspense. And so I thought that's what I was going to write.
[00:07:57] Kelly Irvin: And my career took a different turn. I love writing Amish romances. I've written 25 or more of them, and have a couple more coming out. But women's fiction, my editor says that's what she truly thinks I am a women's fiction writer.
[00:08:12] Lainey Cameron: Isn't that interesting though? But you've written so many of these Amish romances that I imagine you may have more readers who know you from that side than from your women's fiction.
[00:08:19] Kelly Irvin: Yeah, that's true. And the thing is that the women's, that Amish romances typically are sweet romances, but mine tend to have a lot more, Issues in them that women are dealing with within the context of the Amish lifestyle and so my editor kept saying, you're really a women's fiction writer in disguise.
[00:08:39] Kelly Irvin: And so when I had the opportunity the publisher agreed to let me do women's fiction. I was very excited.
[00:08:47] Lainey Cameron: Oh, that's exciting. And, you are the 1st person to say that. In fact. I'm thinking Jamie Beck and Barbara O'Neill, Barbara Samuel. And there's been at least 3 other writers that we've chosen for the podcast who've said they write romance but really I write women's fiction and we call it romance, which has been interesting.
[00:09:03] Lainey Cameron: Yeah. What advice might you have for other writers who would love to create such an amazing body of work and be able to write such a poignant book as this latest one? What do you advise other writers?
[00:09:14] Kelly Irvin: Writers that are just starting out, I would give them the same advice that I received, which would be to hone your craft, attend conferences and writing workshops, do your best work before you start submitting it, to write, put your behind in the chair and write, to Join a critique group and get a thick skin.
[00:09:39] Lainey Cameron: I suspect that there's something that you would have to teach us about writing the stories you want to write. I find it very interesting that you took on this topic. That was so personal and that you've written Amish romance and that you've written romantic suspense. And I think many writers feel like they have to stick to 1 genre and they feel like they've been told, right?
[00:09:55] Lainey Cameron: If you could ever write in another genre, you have to have a pen name and you can't be the same writer. And I think. Yeah.
[00:10:01] Kelly Irvin: Yeah, I can address that. It is difficult when you're starting out with a publisher. And even within my situation, you've built an audience. In my case in Amish romance readers and publishers spend a lot of time, effort and money helping you build that audience.
[00:10:19] Kelly Irvin: As a new writer. It's likely that they're going to want to specifically look at a particular genre. I was very fortunate that my publisher agreed to go out on a limb with me and do romantic suspense. And then as time went on, we talked about this women's fiction and my editor really went to bat for me with the pub team and so forth.
[00:10:41] Kelly Irvin: Writing in a particular genre, when you start out, it's important to identify what that genre is and have, know who your audience is in order to get your foot in the door.
[00:10:51] Lainey Cameron: And then over time, you've got the power to ask for a little more and expand. And that's a really interesting perspective that
[00:10:57] Kelly Irvin: As you develop your reputation and show that you can do the work and that you're a writer that they want to build because publishers and agents both are looking for writers that they can build a career with.
[00:11:11] Kelly Irvin: They're not. It's not a 1 book thing. It's building a career around the writer.
[00:11:17] Lainey Cameron: That makes perfect sense. What do you like to read and have you read anything good recently?
[00:11:22] Kelly Irvin: Oh, my goodness. I have just been on a tear recently. I loved The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip was one of them which is an unusual topic.
[00:11:33] Kelly Irvin: It's a split time, but it delves into the life of a woman who's in hospice and a reporter who's sent to write her obituary before she's died. And I. Really recommend it. I also have recently read William Kent Krueger's new book, The River We Remember, which is just incredible, all of William Kent Kruger's books are incredible.
[00:11:55] Kelly Irvin: I highly recommend them. This new one is this stand alone that is set in 1958 and really looks at the biases and bigotry that was found at that time against the Japanese after World War II and also Native Americans. So it's a book with a, with some big issues that it deals with.
[00:12:14] Kelly Irvin: Those are two that I've read recently that I have just really enjoyed.
[00:12:17] Lainey Cameron: Thanks. You introduced me to two authors and books that I'm not familiar with. I always love when I get my mind expanded to new authors for me. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you especially like to talk about relevant to this new book or to your writing in general?
[00:12:32] Kelly Irvin: I would just say in regard to The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos that part of my underlying thought in writing this was to really draw attention to ovarian cancer and to remind women that this is the most deadly gynecological cancer and that. It's that when they go to get their pap smears, they are not being screened for ovarian cancer.
[00:12:56] Kelly Irvin: And I don't think a lot of women realize that it has some very it has its symptoms always seem to be something else. People think it's something else. So I just really encourage women to listen to their bodies and to go to their doctors and insist that some action be taken if you're not feeling right because it's almost always found in the later stages and that makes it much more difficult to treat.
[00:13:21] Lainey Cameron: There was actually a line in this book where you taught me something that to your point, I didn't know. I think I was in the category of women who thought that I get my pap smear and I'm doing what I can. And there was a line when you said in there that very often it often looks like IBS, like irritable bowel syndrome and bowel issues.
[00:13:38] Lainey Cameron: And as someone who has IBD, I have Crohn's disease. It really struck me because I was like, Oh, wow. Yeah. I would just write that off and think it was no big deal that I wasn't feeling well and I was losing weight. And I think a lot of women might just go, okay, my stomach's not doing well these days.
[00:13:52] Kelly Irvin: And doctors tend to do that because they don't think of it.
[00:13:55] Lainey Cameron: That was a learning experience for me. Thank you for that gift of teaching me something that I didn't know anything about. So I'm in the category of women that you have Taught through this book. So thank you is there anywhere else that people that you recommend that women go to educate themselves about ovarian cancer?
[00:14:10] Lainey Cameron: Is there a place or a set of reading that you recommend to people?
[00:14:13] Kelly Irvin: There's some really good organizations out there. Ovarian is one, the National Coalition. They're listed in the book. But there's several online organizations where you can just Google ovarian cancer. And they will come up as organizations that are reputable and can give you information.
[00:14:35] Lainey Cameron: Wonderful. I'll put the links to the first couple of those and maybe pull a couple from the book and put them on the page. The notes for your episodes here. I really appreciate you joining us and also you writing such a beautiful book and giving me the chance to be an early reader of it before it even came out.
[00:14:51] Lainey Cameron: I would love to let people know where they can follow you. I know you're on TikTok, which is actually unusual for women's fiction writers. Is TikTok the best place? Are you more on Instagram, your website?
Kelly Irvin: I've been getting my feet wet in TikTok. It's because of BookTok that has become one place that you can reach out to readers that is really being recommended for, especially as I'm trying to grow a new audience with women's fiction.
[00:15:19] Kelly Irvin: But I am on Instagram and Facebook and they can get all the information about my books, of course, on my website at kellyirvin.com.
[00:15:29] Lainey Cameron: Super. And we'll put the links to all of that as we always do on the website at bestofwomensfiction.com. And it's been a delight chatting with you. And I feel like you've educated me on something that I was pretty uneducated around and so important.
[00:15:42] Lainey Cameron: Thank you so much. And just thanks for joining me today.
[00:15:45] Kelly Irvin: Thank you for having me.