Katie Keridan
Katie Keridan made her literary debut at ten years of age when she won a writing contest by crafting a tale about her favorite childhood hero, Hank the Cowdog. After that, Katie continued to write, through college and graduate school and during her career as a pediatric neuropsychologist. While Katie enjoyed being a doctor, scientific research didn’t bring her nearly as much joy as did creating her own characters and worlds, so she slowly left the medical world behind to focus exclusively on writing. In 2018 she self-published a poetry book, Once Upon a Girl, and her work has been featured in Highlights Hello Magazine, The Blue Nib, Youth Imagination Magazine, Red Fez, The Red Penguin Review, Sand Canyon Review, and Every Day Fiction, to name a few. She loves sharing her writing with others who feel different, misunderstood, or alone. Katie lives with her husband and two very demanding cats in San Jose, CA.
Twitter: @KKeridan
Instagram: @KatieKeridan
Not all books are for all readers…when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
This is a tough one, because I hate not finishing a book…usually because I’m empathizing with the author (I know first-hand just how hard it is to create a book!). That being said, every book isn’t for every reader, and if I’m just not feeling a book for whatever reason, I’ll hang in there for a chapter or two before I bail and move on to something else. There are so many books out there just waiting to be discovered, there’s no point in forcing yourself to suffer through something that doesn’t interest you. I’ve also found that sometimes it’s not the book so much as it is the timing…if I try a book and it doesn’t immediately grab me, I’ll try again a few months later, and I’ve often been surprised at how something that initially didn’t seem interesting later ends up becoming a new favorite I’m recommending to everyone.
Favorite non-reading activity?
Traveling! I love visiting new places and meeting new people. Outside of reading, traveling is the fastest way to truly put myself in a new world with unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. I love doing the touristy things, but I also love immersing myself in a new culture, and it always amazes me how similar people are all across the world…people love to eat and laugh, and they can’t wait to tell you about a certain restaurant you should try or the book they just finished reading, and I’ve learned so much just by being respectful and keeping an open mind.
I don’t think I could pick a favorite place I’ve traveled, but I do have a top three list (although these are always subject to change): Morocco had the most amazing, soft red sand in the Sahara, and the people were so warm and welcoming (and made the best mint tea I’ve ever tasted!). Bali was full of incredible jungles and beaches, and the people were so friendly and engaging, meeting people felt like reconnecting with a long-lost friend. And Costa Rica had the most fantastic and diverse wildlife and will always have a special place in my heart because it’s where I learned to surf. The people there are passionate about conservation and eco-tourism, and they’re so willing to share what they know, it’s a wonderful learning opportunity. I wished I’d started traveling decades ago, but better late than never!
Vacation druthers…city or rural destination? Why?
Definitely rural…I love nature, and my husband and I are avid bird-watchers, so we always want to be as close to wildlife as possible. In my everyday life, I live in Silicon Valley, which is loud and bustling and full of cars and people, so when I take a vacation, I want the exact opposite, some place where the loudest thing I’ll hear is a parrot or a waterfall and traffic jams are due to iguanas or camels blocking the road. City lights also make it difficult to see the stars (which I love), so I purposefully seek out vacations where I can look up at night and see the constellations instead of neon lights or pollution.
One of my favorite vacations was in Quepos, Costa Rica…my husband and I took a nighttime boat tour of a mangrove swamp, and the boat driver took us out to where the swamp met the ocean. Even as an author, I struggle to find the right words to adequately describe the sky that night…the sky was so black, and the stars were so silver, it looked like someone had liberally thrown glitter and ice chips across swaths of black velvet. The boat driver turned off the engine, and we all sat in silence, listening to the water and the night birds and watching the stars, and it was just incredible. I don’t always pull directly from my travels when I’m writing, but don’t be surprised if a similar scene makes its way into one of my future books!
4) What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?
There’s no absolute right or wrong answer when it comes to how people define these terms, and everyone you ask will likely have their own opinion, but for me, it comes down to intention…why are you writing? Or put another way, what do you want to get out of your writing? To me, a writer is focused on writing and creating and getting words out to tell a story or express a feeling. Maybe they share their work, maybe they don’t. Maybe they put it on Wattpad or A03 or another online site, or maybe they even publish it, if it’s always been their goal to hold their own writing in their hands. For a writer, the act of creation is the end goal…they aren’t tied to any specific outcome for their work, and they don’t need or expect it to do anything for them. Their work exists, and that’s enough.
An author, on the other hand, is a writer plus a businessperson…they write to create, but they also want their books to sell, and they take active steps to make that happen. Being an author is being in the business of writing and doing all the things that go along with that…working with publicists, doing interviews, engaging with readers through social media, actively seeking trade reviews, learning about marketing, making connections in the book publishing industry, and treating your books as commodities that actively contribute to a financial bottom line. It’s not nearly as glamorous as people think, and often the activities associated with being an author actively take away from writing time, so it can be difficult to balance, but I think everyone figures out what works for them.
For me, when I’m drafting a new book, I’m first and foremost a writer…it’s all about getting the words on the page and capturing every single thing I can think of, regardless of if I ultimately keep it. I don’t worry about anything other than creating scenes, coming up with dialogue, and advancing the plot. When it comes to editing (and re-editing), I shift into being an author. There may be scenes I absolutely love, but if they don’t actively contribute to the story (meaning, if they don’t make this a book people are likely to buy), they get cut. Cover decisions, choices about font and text layout, cover art…I consider all of these through the lens of my intention, which is selling the book. Once I’ve completed a book and it’s publication time, I’m in full author mode, working with amazing people like you, Elizabeth, and other bloggers, influencers, media outlets, etc…to ensure word of my book gets out there so hopefully readers will want to add it to their shelves!
What brings you great joy?
When people connect with my characters. I love when people see something in my characters that prompts them to share a personal anecdote with me, like noticing when a character bites their nails and sharing how they were an anxious child who also bit their nails and worked for years to overcome the habit. I write characters specifically so people will know they’re not alone, so they can see aspects of themselves reflected on the page, and it’s always my hope that by seeing themselves represented, readers will feel seen as a result.
As a child and teen, I felt so alone and misunderstood that I escaped into books where you didn’t need to be perfect in order to save the day. I read books where it was okay if you had flaws because those flaws were a sure sign you weren’t meant for the world you were living in…you were different because you were destined for so much more. Nothing brings me greater joy than when a reader tells me one of my characters inspired them to be brave, to speak up to someone about something, or helped them realize they didn’t need to be loud and outgoing in order to make friends, or that they finally understood being kind isn’t a weakness but a strength you choose to exercise. I will never get tired of hearing how people connect with my characters, and it’s such an honor to create stories readers can (hopefully) immerse themselves in!
