Posts by Kristina McMorris
Kristina McMorris is the recipient of more than twenty national literary awards. A host of weekly TV shows since age nine, including an Emmy® Award-winning program, she penned her debut novel, Letters from Home (Kensington Books, Avon/HarperCollins UK), based on inspiration from her grandparents’ wartime courtship. Her second novel, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, was named a 2013 nominee for the prestigious RITA® Award and is frequently an official reading selection among book clubs, universities, and libraries throughout the country. Most recently, her novella, The Christmas Collector, appeared in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling anthology A Winter Wonderland.
Kristina’s latest work is a beautiful novel called The Pieces We Keep. What’s the book about?
Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes’s grief over her husband’s untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying–but it’s just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him.
As Jack’s fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become. Desperate, she traces snippets of information unearthed in Jack’s dreams, leading her to Sean Malloy, a struggling US Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Together they unravel a mystery dating back to World War II, and uncover old family secrets that still have the strength to wound–and perhaps, at last, to heal.
Today Kristina shares the benefits—professional and personal—that can come from authors working as a team. Follow Kristina on Twitter @KrisMcmorris and on Facebook. See a book trailer for The Pieces We Keep here.
Power in Numbers: Authors promoting as a team
Writing, they often say, is a lonely business. But does it have to be?
Not at all, I’ve discovered. In fact, it seems to me—thanks largely to accessibility through social media—authors have never been more open or creative when it comes to boosting each other’s spirits, as well as careers. Perhaps the most evident forms of these are found in blog posts, tweets, and Facebook shout-outs about a fellow author’s new release. Between Yahoo Groups and Facebook, it isn’t difficult to find an online writers’ group that offers support in various ways. And for those who don’t mind traveling, writers’ retreats can be as rejuvenating and inspirational as they are productive.
Many writers also combine forces by speaking on panels together at literary conferences, museums, libraries, and readers’ festivals—but keep in mind, you can always take those opportunities a step further. Last year, for example, Diana Gabaldon, Jenna Blum, Sarah McCoy, Ruta Sepetys, and I were scheduled to speak at the Tucson Festival of Books. Since we had all penned novels that are frequently read by book clubs and share a WWII setting, we decided to organize a group giveaway. The winning book club won a box full of our novels, loads of 1940s goodies, and a Skype party with us while we were together in Tucson.
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Today’s guest is returning author and WU friend Kristina McMorris. Kristina’s second novel, a dramatic WWII tale called Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, released just yesterday to high acclaim.
“[Bridge of Scarlet Leaves] gracefully blossoms through swift prose and rich characters…this gripping story about two ‘brothers’ in arms and a young woman caught in between them hits all the right chords.” — Publishers Weekly
“A sweeping yet intimate novel that will please both romantics and lovers of American history.” — Kirkus Reviews
Imagine the scene: two lovers–one American, one Japanese-American–on the eve of Pearl Harbor. Imagine life for these people forever changed after that day, as they try to pursue some form of happiness–and find some form of justice–at a war relocation camp. Kristina’s book is truly a page turner, imbued with real-world tensions, unique perspectives, and characters worth rooting for. I’m so glad she’s here with us today to talk a little about how she developed as a writer–not with a “bought a craft book” type of story or a “how my literary degree helped me in one hundred ways” type of story, but a “how a unique real world experience helped develop writerly bones” story. Enjoy!
The Author’s Arsenal
I was nine years old when my mom heard our local ABC affiliate was holding auditions for a co-host spot on a new kids’ weekly TV program. Urging that it would be a fun experience to merely try out, she dressed me up, feathered my hair (hey, it was the ’80s), and carted me down to the station. There, amidst the intimidating mass of stage parents and seasoned Mini-Me thespians, I was matched up with a boy who clearly wished his audition partner had a little more…make that, any experience in the biz.
Regardless, we ran through our scripts together, received a five-second lesson on teleprompters, and soon were ushered into a dark studio with two monstrous cameras pointed at a pair of chairs, not unlike a CIA interrogation room. On cue, we were to sprint into the spotlight and hop into our chairs, pretending to arrive just in time to host the show, then immediately read our lines.
Sounded pretty straight-forward. Except for one tiny detail: They’d neglected to inform me the chairs were on…ah, yes…rollers. And so, at the floor director’s hand cue, I flew into the spotlight and hopped into my chair—which then shot to the side, nearly launching me, splat, onto the floor. What did I do? The only thing that came naturally. I laughed. Heartily.
(Oh how I wish I had a copy of that tape, just to see the horror in my audition buddy’s face.)
Scooting my chair back into place, all while still giggling, I launched into my lines. A few days later, lo and behold, the producer requested a callback. My mom was thrilled. I was shocked. This time, there were no rolling chairs. More confident than before, I gave my audition and ultimately landed the job. Whoopee! Time to celebrate! Until…my first day of actual shooting.
Fashioned to be a kid-style “Entertainment Tonight,” the show required some on-location reporting. This one was in a restaurant—with people, lots of them, pointing and staring as though I were the latest attraction at the local zoo. […]
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Today’s guest is debut author Kristina McMorris, whose novel, Letters From Home, releases today! Publisher’s Weekly has called Letters From Home “Ambitious and compelling…[a] sweeping debut novel.” Not that we’re surprised. Kris’s book has already received a dozen national literary awards, and an RWA Golden Heart nomination; had book club rights sell to Doubleday and Reader’s Digest; and had foreign rights sell to publishers in China and the U.K. I’m thrilled she’s here with us today to talk about the road to publication–and give a signed copy of her book to one randomly chosen commenter, too. Enjoy!
The Ride
Clearly an overload of hormones was to blame. I was pregnant with my second child (which means I had no logical excuse not to know better) when I decided I would fill my imaginary surplus of free time by writing a novel. I wasn’t a creative writer. I was barely a reader—unless you count such literary gems as Hippo Goes to School or Where Is Ducky’s Tail?
Yet, somehow it occurred to me that writing—and publishing—a novel couldn’t be that hard. Besides, I was inspired. A discovery of my grandparents’ wartime courtship letters had gifted me with an idea for a great movie. But since I seemed to be short on a film crew…and cameras…and a craft service table at the time, I decided instead to write a book. Because that’s what a non-reader/non-writer should tackle as her first project: a novel-length book set during an easily researched era like, oh, World War II. I had, after all, seen Saving Private Ryan at least twice, which certainly added to my qualifications.
“If nothing else,” my husband had assured me, “we can print copies at Kinko’s and give them away to the family.”
Come to think of it, based on my not-so-brilliant first draft, that might have been his gentle way of preparing me for the slew of form rejections he foresaw streaming in from New York. Fortunately—for many people’s sake—that manuscript underwent many a revision. Along the way, I learned about writing, I researched obsessively, I watched “Band of Brothers,” and yes, I read books (a profound concept, I know.)
See, by the time I figured out WWII women’s fiction wasn’t “hot” in the marketplace, it was too late. I’d already finished the book, and I wasn’t about to give up without a fight. Thus, I continued on my mission until the planets aligned, the market shifted (in my favor), and my agent called with a contract offer.
My second child is now almost five, and release day is but a few weeks away. When a box of the finished copies arrived at our house this week, both of my sons gave me a huge hug, and the oldest one said, “Mommy, I’m so proud of you. You worked sooo hard for this.”
And that’s when I realized my greatest accomplishment: I’d managed to provide my children with tangible proof of what hard work and determination can bring.
So thank you, pregnancy hormones, for sparking this insane journey. Had rationale been calling the shots, I would have run screaming the other way—and I would have missed out on an incredible ride.
What spurred your own literary journey? Had […]
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