Hello, hello everyone! I get to host another author spotlight, this time on Katja H. Labonté, author of what is definitely one of my top reads for 2025, A Noble Comfort! In this interview, Kat and I talk about things from Sherlock, the Titanic, how she got started writing, and of course, her book. Kat also has an article about writing single characters in A Noble Comfort at the end of our interview, so don't miss that! And be sure to follow her on her socials  at @oldfashionedbooklove/Katja H. Labonté. Now without further ado, the post! C: Hi Kat! Thanks so much for doing this interview!
K: Hi, Cate! Thank you for having me; I’m thrilled to do this! 
C: Okay, let's get started. How did you get started writing? When did you begin to seriously write? (As in, with the mindset of “this could be published”?)
K: I started writing around the age of 7 or 8, copying passages from books I loved and sewing them together with a few horrendously misspelled words of my own. My first original work was done probably around 10. I started writing for publication at 12; stopped writing for publication around 15; and restarted around 18.
C: Now before we get too far into the interview, I've always wanted to know: how did you become such a Sherlockian and Titanic nerd? (We connected over a mutual love for the Great Detective, for those of you who may not know. :D)
K: Okay, funny story. As a kid I discovered Sherlock by accident; I read like a kids’ collection of abridged stories (The Engineer’s Thumb, Silver Blaze, and The Musgrave Ritual) and was scared out of my senses—but also obsessed. A few years later I read A Study in Scarlet and was even more discombobulated… and still fascinated. Finally, in my mid-teens, I got hold of The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes (containing one novel and the four main short story collections) on vacation and read the whole thing in like two days. I was officially OBSESSED. (Also terrified—don’t read The Hound of the Baskervilles alone at night in a strange house during a thunderstorm, kids.) A few years later I discovered the other two Sherlock novels and the last two short story collections, and I just read those books over… and over… and over… becoming somewhat of a Sherlockian, indeed. I didn’t discover films and other Sherlock media until I was a little older.
As for the Titanic, I discovered it as a kid, too—read about it in Amy Puetz’s “Heroines of the Past” e-zine. I was instantly struck by the drama, and read every library book about it that I could get my hands on. As I grew older I found more Titanic books and eventually read Walter Lord’s Titanic duology—and from then on it was game over; I was officially hooked as a nerd.  
C: That is so neat! Yes, I read Baskervilles at night and it was... interesting. XD What genres do you primarily write in?
K: Christian contemporary, Christian historical fiction, Christian contemporary fantasy, and Christian historical fantasy. I also write Christian nonfiction on my blog, and I’ve played with the idea of a devotional.
C: And who is your current favorite author? 
K: Lucy Maud Montgomery. Close second is Jane Austen, but Montgomery has and always will be my favourite. 
C: She's definitely in my top ten, that's for sure. What was your first ever completed writing project? (And where is it now?)
K: A story (maybe 1,000 words?) about a little French boy who went to the palace, asking the king for a job. Don’t judge pre-teen me; it was for a writing contest and based on the contest’s highly unrealistic illustration prompt. I have no idea where it is now, but I think I have a revised, moralistic version I redid around 12, somewhere in my documents??? 
C: What was your first ever published project? 
An Old-Fashioned Christmas. I wrote it randomly for fun from a writing prompt by Rebekah A. Morris, during a Camp NaNo when I was around 18. She loved it and begged me to publish it so I made it available as a free download on my blog. It is now on Amazon as well. 
C: How did you get the idea for A Noble Comfort?
K: Well, when we joined the Cornerstone series, there were some pre-picked fairytales for us to choose from. The ones I wanted had already been picked, so I was left with The Wounded Lion, The Blue Bird, or finding something new; and as I’m very unfamiliar with fairytales I decided to simplify my life and take The Blue Bird. I also drew a lot of inspiration from The Three Musketeers, which I’d just read and really wanted to retell. And the rest was just me having fun and throwing in mounds of my favourite things. ;) 
K: Which you can find if you buy the special hardback; Kat put a list of the many Easter eggs from ANC in the back of the book, and I loved figuring out who all of the main characters were based off of.
Now, you’ve been published alongside other authors before. There was Seize the Moment, and then Wild Blue Wonder Press’ three anthologies: Springtime in Surrey, Novelists in November, and Fingerprints in Frost (which just released yesterday!). Was there anything different about writing historical/contemporary fiction, versus a full-fledged nonmagical fantasy novel? 
C: Much as I enjoyed and appreciated being in anthologies, and as glad and grateful as I am to have had that experience first, there’s something very special about holding a book and knowing YOU did it all, start to finish. It’s really surreal. (It’s also easier to sell it because people are more interested in YOUR story than having to buy a bunch of other people’s stories along with yours ;P). Another difference was the work—and expense—all rested on me, instead of being divvied up with others. I got to see the real “indie author” experience that I’d never fully had before. As for the genres, it wasn’t very different for me personally. I still had to research stuff, I still had to make things make sense, I still included a lot of historical facts and contemporary feelings. I enjoyed writing fantasy and I’ll do it again, but I didn’t love it more than historical or contemporary—I’ll keep writing all three, because I enjoy them equally. 
C: And now for the part we've all been waiting for... Tell us all about A Noble Comfort! 
K: As lady-in-waiting to the crown princess, Thalassa d’Acton is used to hectic palace life. The bustle is a good excuse to avoid thinking of the insecurities that plague her. But when a usurper takes over the throne, Thalassa finds herself and her princess imprisoned in a lonely tower—and with all the time in the world to worry.
Outlawed Azaziah has roamed the land for years with his band of Inseparables. Playing knight errant was a God-given task, and helps him bear the knowledge that evil is spreading over his land unopposed. But now he alone knows the secret plans of the usurpers… and he isn’t enough to overturn the peril himself.
As personal and political turmoil heightens, despair floods over the hearts of Thalassa and Azaziah. What can comfort them even in the face of defeat? And can their inadequacy and loneliness possibly be the very opening the Eternal needs to change the course of their country’s destiny?
A Noble Comfort is a nonmagical Christian fantasy retelling of The Blue Bird and is Book #16 in the Cornerstone Series. Each book can be read as a standalone.
C: Eep! So in love with that blurb, by the way. Are there any other upcoming projects you're working on that you can tell us about? :D 
Yes! I’ve actually got a sequel to A Noble Comfort planned for sometime soon. ;) Right now I’m focussing on an unplanned project that took me by the throat and demanded to be written—a contemporary detective novel reimagining of Tintin—but the other WIP on my plate is Something Bright in All, a WWII novel reimagining of A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and The Railway Children, connected to the stories I have in Springtime in Surrey, Novelists in November, and Fingerprints in Frost. Other than that I have dozens of projects in mind, and lots of Pinterest moodboards to keep them in my memory. ;P
C: Those all sound amazing! Well, thanks so much for doing this interview! I appreciate getting to know you and your books better! 
K: Thank you for having me! I appreciate it so much :) From the Desk of Katja H. Labonté: Why Did I Write Single Characters? When you pick up the average Christian YA novel, you tend to expect there’ll be romance. Especially when there’s a male and a female name mentioned in the blurb. And especially if there’s both a male and a female POV character. 
But A Noble Comfort doesn’t follow that pattern. Why? 
Most fairytales are centered around romance, and The Blue Bird definitely is. The crisis point is a wedding, after all! As for The Three Musketeers, the whole reason why I wanted to retell it was because of all the improper romantic content.
So why did my retelling of these stories only have a very light, off-screen romance—and that between side characters only? Why are the two main characters single from start to finish? 
I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book about singleness for a while, inspired by Sarah Holman’s Fanny’s Hope Chest and Amanda Tero’s Wedding Score. However, when I actually started A Noble Comfort, I had every intention of marrying the two MCs by the end. Along the way, I accidentally started writing about singleness… and suddenly decided to keep them platonic friends. Why?

1. There’s Not Enough Romance-Free Fiction
Singleness isn’t a disease or a problem. But it is a state of being, an identity. Often, it’s something that’s hard for women, something they can even feel discontented about. There’s plenty of Christian Fiction out there with more or less romance, from middle-grade school crushes to rom-coms focussed exclusively on love, with everything in between. I’ve often heard single women say they avoid or limit their intake of such books, as a safety measure to guard their hearts from discontent or dangerous thoughts. There’s nothing wrong with a good romance, but there is a gap for romance-free YA novels, and so I chose to write one. 

2. There’s Not Enough Fiction About Platonic Friendships
I love a sweet romance as much as the next girl (okay, maybe not, but I do enjoy them in moderation) but one thing I’ve noticed is an over-consumption of romance in fiction. Every book or series, TV show or movie has to include romance, especially if there’s male and female MC. Fans are always “shipping” and asking for it. There’s nothing wrong with romance! I enjoy shipping characters too! But I feel there is a lack of portrayal of simple, wholesome, platonic friendships between men and women, such as exists in real life. That’s something I struggled with when I first became friends with guys, because all I’d ever seen in fiction was “if he pays attention to you, he’s in love.” So in the spirit of Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick’s Emily Abbott series, I wrote a budding platonic friendship, because friendships are important relationships too. 

3. There’s Not Enough Fiction About Supporting Characters
This sounds weird, but it makes sense, I promise. Books, very rightly, often focus on the lives of the MCs. It’s all about their problems, their relationships, their jobs, their ideas, their lives. That’s quite normal. But in this book, I wanted to highlight being a supporting character. The whole point of this retelling is that instead of being from the POV of the prince and princess, it’s from the POVs of  her lady-in-waiting and his outlaw leader. Thalassa and Azaziah spend the whole book supporting. The ones who really move the plot are their friends, the deposed heir to the throne and the neighbouring king with a target on his back. I wanted to highlight how sometimes in life, you’re just caring for others and watching them succeed while waiting for your turn. Being in my early twenties, watching everyone else marry and chase careers and have kids and move and all those other fun successes, I’m in my supporting era, and I wanted to see that represented in fiction.

4. There’s Not Enough Fiction About Unrewarded Christian Growth
I know that sounds horrible. Please hold back on the stones; I’ll explain. Most Christian Fiction I’ve read includes more or less deep, awesome character growth. People face obstacles, conquer flaws, and beat their besetting sins. However, usually at the end there’s the big reward. They get the job, they save the country, they win the contest, or they marry the guy. It’s satisfying, it’s a conclusion, it’s the pretty bow we all want to finish the story with. In real life, it’s not always like that. Just because you better yourself and get to know God more, he doesn’t automatically, immediately drop your ambitions into your lap like ripe apples. Sometimes it takes time; sometimes that’s not what he has for you. So in A Noble Comfort, I wanted to remind myself that God doesn’t owe me anything for growing as a person. He’s enough and fully satisfying for me. He is my reward! 


5. There’s Not Enough Fiction About Singleness
Quite simply, I have found very few Christian Fiction books that not only are romance-free but specifically deal with singleness. It’s a common, prevalent situation, which often gives rise to difficult thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. There is nothing lesser-than in singleness. Marriage and motherhood are not the end-all of Christian women’s lives. But many women feel that way, and often struggle with the idea of being unwanted, unsought, and unseen, possibly even unfulfilled. I’m one of those women, and I wrote this to remind me of the truth. 


Frankly, though, the singleness aspect and lack of romance in my book isn’t its defining feature. It’s full of adventure, friendship, themes of self-worth, and trust in God. Singleness and romance is just a side theme—like it is in real life. ;)
The ebook for A Noble Comfort is currently only 99¢ USD/$1.40 CAD, so snap it up. It’s also
available on Kindle Unlimited for free! The paperback is $13.99 USD/$19.86 CAD. It’s a beautiful 239 pages, with a lovely map (which is also in the ebook, but can’t be admired as well). The hardcover is $16.99 USD/$24.10 CAD. This is a SPECIAL EDITION with bonus content,
including an extra epilogue! (I own the hardcover, and I can safely say that the bonus content is so worth it. ;D)
You can also add the book to your shelves on Goodreads, Bookbub, Fable, and StoryGraph, or
check out the mood board on Pinterest!
From authors Kendra E. Ardnek, E.G. Bella, Madisyn Carlin, Kirsten Fichter, Olivia Godfrey, Kendall Hoxsey, Abigail Kay, Katja H. Labonté, Laurie Lucking, and Lucy Peterson comes A Noble Collection, a New Adult Christian, non-magical, fairytale retelling anthology coming this March! These short stories are prequels, sequels, or otherwise connected to the Cornerstone books. Katja’s is A Noble Inheritance, a sequel to A Noble Comfort set the following spring. Here’s the blurb:
When he wanders back into his friend Thalassa’s duchy and is invited to stay at the manor house, Alexios is pleasantly surprised to find two other old friends there... and unpleasantly surprised to discover that the duchess may not remain one after all. Her installation ceremony is coming up, and to prove her competency she must have the answer to an old riddle. But she can’t find the answer, and worse, there’s a contender who’ll do anything to win the duchy from her. If the four friends ransack the manor, can they find the answer in time? And if they don’t, what will happen to the duchy?
About Katja Katja H. Labonté is a bilingual Québécoise (a.k.a. from the francophone province of Canada), and
although she doesn’t call herself a Mixed Culture Kid, she certainly is one. To make things more
interesting, her first name is Scandinavian, which causes some diffculties in both languages; but she
loves how it looks when it is hand-written, so she doesn’t complain too often; and she is more than
willing to accept nicknames.
Katja’s main points are that she’s a disciple of Jesus Christ with a deep love for words; an extreme
bibliophile who devours over 365 books a year; and an exuberant writer with a talent for starting short stories that explode into book series. She was homeschooled all her life the Charlotte Mason way and graduated university as a copyeditor, which gives her both heart-eyes happiness and
hair-pulling frustration. She spends her days obsessing over dozens of topics she’s excessively passionate about and discussing with anyone long-suffering enough to participate (that’s why she writes books and blog posts).
For a more complete list of her obsessions (we didn’t even mention Sherlock Holmes or the Titanic yet), or to find her on social media, head over to littleblossomsforjesus.wordpress.com. 
You can also find her on ...
~ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Katja-H.-Labont%C3%A9/author/B0C67VNTG3
~ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/118578359-katja-labont
~ BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/katja-h-labonte
~ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldfashionedbooklove/
~ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086340767565
~ Newsletter: https://sendfox.com/katjahlabonte
~ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/OldFashionedBookLove/