1. When you started this series, did you always know what trajectory book 4 was going to take? The breadcrumbs you left for your readers were torturous! I wondered if this story was what you always thought it would be, or if it changed along the way.
I had a general idea from the very beginning of where I wanted to go, but over time, the plot took a few little turns along the way, and I ended up changing some of the settings and some of the background based on discoveries I made as I wrote this series. So, I went back to the drawing board once it was time to write Throne of the Heavens and took what I wanted to keep from the original plan and wove that together with new, fresh ideas, and came up with a story that I think was quite a bit stronger than the one I originally started out with.
2. Did anything surprise you as you wrote this story?
Well, this was the first time that I wrote a series that connected in such a detailed fashion and had an overarching storyline that took us from book one to book four, so it was a unique challenge to make sure everything flowed together and that I didn’t lose any plot points along the way. I had to do a lot of rereading, not only of the first three books, but also of the novellas that I wrote to go along with this series. So, truly, there were a lot of surprises that popped up. But all good ones!
3. What was the most interesting piece of research you uncovered while researching this book?
The beginning of this book starts off in a new setting that I had never written before. Without giving too much away, there is a shipwreck within the first chapter that lands on an island in the Mediterranean, and I discovered that there is really not a whole lot that is known about this island other than there was a civilization there during this time that built really intriguing towers that are still there to this day. No one really knows exactly what these towers were for. There is a lot of conjecture; of course, they were probably used as watchtowers to protect from invaders, possibly for religious uses, storage, or meeting purposes, but that civilization left no written material, so everything that we know about these people is pure speculation, which in some ways makes research difficult, but in other ways, it gives me a wide-open space to imagine who those people could’ve been, why they disappeared from the record, and what ties they had to the ancient world of the Levant Coast. And I discovered along the way that there was at least one ancient Phoenician settlement on the island that just so happened to merge perfectly with my plot. It’s always fun when my research ties neatly together with my imagination.
4. What was the inspiration for this story?
Way back in 2020, when I was plotting this series with my plotting group, we were exploring different tropes, and the idea of amnesia popped up. I always say that some of our craziest ideas end up being the most interesting to write, and that sounded like a fun challenge— so the idea of having one of the cousins who ran off to fight for King Saul end up with the loss of memory is what inspired the story in the beginning. And then I also thought it would be fun to explore a forbidden romance theme, so the idea of a slave who doesn’t know who he is and the daughter of a king came into being. The unequal balance of power in this story was definitely a unique storyline for me to develop, and I am very satisfied with the way it turned out.
5. Which character in the story was easiest to write? Which one did you best relate to?
Mattaniel was definitely the easiest for me to write because I had explored his character from childhood, so I knew him fairly well. Although writing from the perspective of him as a man instead of a child/teen who disappeared a long time ago was the greatest challenge. I had to kind of discover him all over again. I think both of these characters are quite different from me in most ways, so I can’t think of a way that I personally relate to them, but certainly the idea of discovering ways God has worked in my own life in the background and guided my life’s path in specific directions that I am just now beginning to understand is a theme that resonates with me.
6. Which character was most difficult to write? Why?
I would say that Elissa’s character was probably the most challenging, because I am not a princess, and certainly not one who grew up in a foreign idol-worshiping household. But it was certainly interesting to dig into the background of some of the ancient religions and imagine what life might have been like for her, living in a palace and sequestered from most of society. I think I ended up unconsciously weaving a bit of “Tangled” vibes into her story. And hey, there’s even a tower in there!
7. What are you hoping readers will glean from this story?
There are a few different themes in the story, but I think the strongest one is, like I said before, that God is always moving and always working invisibly in our lives. We have a tendency to only see the steps that we are on in the moment, but he sees the past, the present, and the future all at once and is writing a story for us that has lots of plot twists and details that only the author understands. Sometimes he makes those story threads obvious to us, as we look back at the road we’ve traveled. But there are probably many more we will not understand until we are standing with him in the kingdom to come.
8. Was there any particular part that ministered to you in the writing?
The writing of this series saw me through some of the most difficult seasons of my life, and writing this final book in the series was not only extremely satisfying, after all the difficulty that I went through from page one a voice of the ancient to the last page of throne of the heavens, but a beautiful reminder to me of how God carried me through every step of the way. The theme of his steadfast love became very prominent both in these books and in my own life. There is nothing like walking through the valley of the shadow of death that will teach you more about his faithfulness and I think that that comes through in this last book most of all.
9. Is there any other fun "behind the scenes" trivia you'd be willing to share with my readers?
There was a particularly interesting festival that happened among the Phoenicians that I happened across. They celebrated a festival for one of their gods that, every spring, “died” for three days and then came back to life. It was a pretty complicated ritual, that I won’t go into here but suffice it to say it is so interesting to me how the Enemy loves to copy God’s divine plan and then twist it for his own purposes. We see shadows of the Resurrection in many different religions all over the world, long before Jesus stepped foot on the Earth. But the story God wrote from the very beginning, about the death and resurrection of his Son, is far and away more beautiful, life-giving, and triumphant than anything the copycat Enemy could ever come up with.
10. What are you working on next and when can we expect it?
I haven’t revealed too many details yet about my new series but I will say that it is much more female focused. After writing four hero-centric books and four novellas, I was ready to slip back into the minds of some intriguing women who are vastly different but have to come together to protect those they love. It was inspired by a group of young women who heroically protected a town, by themselves during the tragic events of October 7. It takes place a few years after the end of the Kings Men series closes, but is not a direct spinoff. We are starting in a new place, with new people, and shifting into the period of time when David was coming onto the scene. I’ll be revealing more in weeks to come.
This book releases October 6,2026. Be sure to check it out wherever books are sold! For more information, check out the following links:
Connilyn Cossette's website: https://www.connilyncossette.com/
Connilyn Cossette's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ConnilynCossette
My full 5-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8756967260
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