This month I had the pleasure to interview bestselling author, Kristin Billerbeck. A fourth generation California girl who’s made a name for herself writing Chick Lit !
Nikki: Hi, Kristin. Welcome. When did you first feel “called” to write, and how did that evolve into the writing life?
Kristin: To tell you the truth, I still don’t know that I feel “called” to write, but I do it in my sleep. When I’m not writing books, I write letters to the editor in my sleep. I constantly want to communicate something and my mouth doesn’t work nearly as effectively. I wrote my first book to prove to my husband that I could finish it. Slowly, steadily, it became a career, which I was not expecting, but I’m grateful for because I love it that I get to suck down espresso at nine p.m. and call it necessary for my work.
Nikki: Tell us something most people don’t know about you and would be surprised to learn.
Kristin: I love the PBR (professional bull riding) and I really get into it when it’s on television. Also, I really don’t care about clothes and shoes, and dress like a writer for the most part. In fact, I have this beloved cashmere sweater that has holes in it and is filthy and my friend told me yesterday, “Kristin, I’m going to say something hard, but you have to hear it. It’s time to get rid of that sweater.” I told her, “I’m not getting rid of this sweater. I like the statement it makes. It says I reject your conformity world!”
Nikki: What do you think will people enjoy most about reading your books? What do you have in mind for your reader as you write?
Kristin: I think most people enjoy the humor and the friend relationships within the book, and hopefully, that I surprise them with each title because something different motivates me to write each one. I’m not content with the romance plot line, I always want to have something more for my readers to take away. I try to be subtle in my message. I take the chance, sometimes people will miss it, and I get nasty reviews where it’s clear people did, but that’s how I work and I’m not going to change it for those few.
Nikki: Tell us one of the high points of your career and what it meant to you?
Kristin: The best day of my writing career was when I sent “What a Girl Wants” to a NY agent. He was an older Jewish man (ie., NOT my market) and he said, “I laughed out loud several times. I could sell this in three weeks.” That was better than actually selling it, believe it or not. The other time was when I was on the “Today Show” and the producer said that she’d read the book and she goes, “This was really well written. I wasn’t expecting that.” I beamed about that for a while.
Nikki: If people want to follow your writing journey, where are you on the Internet and what appearances do you have scheduled this year?
Kristin: I don’t really make “appearances”. I mean, unless you show up at my coffee shop. I sort of think, who cares? I also have this terrible problem of saying what I think and my brain works faster than my mouth, so I don’t speak for fear of what I might say. The good aspect of that is if I tell you that you look like you lost weight. Girl, you look like you lost weight! Kristin
Kristin’s latest release, Split Ends, is in bookstores now.
Sneak Peek -
Sarah Claire Winowski was born and raised in Wyoming, the daughter of the town’s most notorious “other woman” and now, a hairstylist by trade. Sarah is obsessed with the Golden Age of Hollywood and plans to change her fate just as Archie Leach did (becoming Cary Grant to the world.) Will momentum thrust her forward, or will the chains of yesterday bring her home? A comical journey of realizing one’s full potential.
To order: Amazon.com.
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About the Author:
Nikki Arana is an award-winning author living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She is the recipient of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for Women’s Fiction, The Beacon Award, nd the Jessie Cameron Alison Writer of the Year Award. |