Tell us about yourself.:
I'm Kristina and I'm a YA fantasy author based out of Ohio. I'm originally from Flushing, Queens, and I've lived in both Wales and Japan at different parts in my life, which shapes the stories that I write.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
I had sort of a dual home growing up: my mother in Ohio, and my father in Queens. Though Ohio is predominantly where I grew up, we visited NY a few times a year to see Dad and our childhood home, so I felt really lucky to have "two homes." Childhood locations in both places have influenced my writing, popping up as settings or historical inspirations in my books!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I used to have a "writing cap" — an old seafaring cap that I got on the pier in Baltimore — and before I would write I would put it on my head to be prepared. When I moved to Japan, I lost touch with the hat and haven't been able to replace it, which makes me sad.

What authors have influenced you?
I had sort of a dual home growing up: my mother in Ohio, and my father in Queens. Though Ohio is predominantly where I grew up, we visited NY a few times a year to see Dad and our childhood home, so I felt really lucky to have "two homes." Childhood locations in both places have influenced my writing, popping up as settings or historical inspirations in my books!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am currently struggling with this right now since my first book just released, but try not to read reviews of your book if you know that bad ones are going to break your heart.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
When I was starting undergraduate college, my father was touring campus with me and told me that college wasn't just about studies, but very much about the people I would meet. He was absolutely right. It's the people who make or break your college experience.

What are you reading now?
I'm catching up on the webtoon series STEEL UNDER SILK by snob. You can read it on Lezhin Comics. It's an adult historical BL manhwa about a former noble who has lost everything and plans vengeance on the man who took it from him. The story is intriguing and the art is beautiful!

What’s your biggest weakness?
I'm a terrible plotter. The best I can do is make little bullet points of some of the things I want to have happen in the novel, but I rarely follow a plan and prefer to discovery write as I go along. I have tried plotting software, Save the Cat!, the Hero's Journey, etc., and cannot plot and plan for the life of me. I'm just too impulsive and changeable!

What is your favorite book of all time?
It's hard to choose but it's got to be a foundational book for me– DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST by Juliet Marillier. I read this novel in college and it made me want to write fiction.

When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
I love reading manga and watching anime. Currently I'm doing a rewatch of CHAIKA THE COFFIN PRINCESS and watching new episodes of DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON. Anime has something for everyone, and it's an absolute comfort to me. I hope you give it a try.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I remember the first book series I read in elementary school, MORTIMER THE FROG. The only thing I remember thinking is that art looks great in books.

What has inspired you and your writing style?
Fairy tales, anime, and manga have shaped my storytelling and writing style, mostly with inspiring me to write about specific things, like demons or alchemy or fae…if I saw it or read about it and thought it was cool, odds are I'll try to write about it, too. ..just in my own way.

What are you working on now?
I'm working on the first book in my trilogy. It's called THE NAME AND THE KEY. It's about a girl named Lily who finds her mother's body in the marshes, and since that day is haunted by the corpse of her mother in every reflection, begging Lily to "open the door." Her best friend Andresh may be the key to breaking the curse, but his own secrets may destroy them both.

What is your favorite method for promoting your work?
I like doing book tours and interviews. MTMC Tours is featuring my debut SON OF THE SIREN July 29-August 7 over Instagram and TikTok and it's going to be beautiful. And there are a wide variety of places online that will kindly interview authors (like this one!).

What’s next for you as a writer?
I'm an incredibly slow writer so my next big goal is to have a trilogy written and chosen for traditional publication. I know a lot of people are waiting for it.

How well do you work under pressure?
Either I curl up in a fetal position or I batten down the hatches and get things done. The former is if things feel hopeless, and the latter is when there's a sliver of success.

How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
I think it all depends on what's happening in the story. For example, I used a more lighthearted, third person POV for SON OF THE SIREN since it's a fairy tale retelling. I wanted to evoke the sense of "once upon a time, long ago and far away" so I tried to keep to a storyteller-like narrative voice. It all depends on what you want to have happen and what kind of story you want it to be.

If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
Everyone should look up the artist Juhaihai. I commissioned Juhaihai to do original character art for SON OF THE SIREN and the work is beautiful. You can find Juhaihai all over the web–please show your support!

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