Author Interview ~ Kristin Billerbeck

Kristin Billerbeck, one of the first Christian chick lit authors, has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, World Magazine and on the Today Show for her work. "What a Girl Wants" was the 2004 book of the year for American Christian Fiction Writers. Her current series, The Spa Girls Series, starts with "She's All That". Kristin makes her home in California with her husband and four children.








Plug time. What book or project is coming out or has come out that you’d like to tell us about?

I just finished “A Girl’s Best Friend” the second in the Spa Girls Collection, which comes out in April and now I’m working on the third book, “Calm, Cool & Adjusted” which follows next October.





Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

I wrote a historical and got it published within a year, but that wouldn’t have happened in this saturated marketplace. I had a lot to learn. A lot of POV shifts, and trouble with telling, but Becky Germany showed me how to fix it, and then published “Strong as the Redwood” in 1997. It was a God-thing because I doubt I would have stuck with it for long amidst the rejection. I have a short attention span.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Every single day. You know what helps? Enjoying what I’m writing and being passionate about it, because then it’s easier to withstand the criticism because I know I wrote the book that I wanted to write. No book is going to please everyone, so know the reason you’re writing it.

Define Chick-lit for us.

Chick lit embodies a multitude of women’s fiction. Some chick lit is deep and full of real angst, and some is lighthearted, fun beach reads. The thing they all have in common is “voice”. Chick lit is generally told in first person, and it’s about the way one character sees the world. It’s her worldview. Her character study. It has been said Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the mother ship for all chick authors. She skewered the society of her day (when a woman’s value was only in how well she married). The humor is wry and ironic –very much like today’s chick lit.

Is there a secret to writing good chick-lit?

Good chick lit has a plot! It’s not just whining in voice. The character should be on a journey and navigating through the waters of life, bumping up against obstacles to her goal. Most of all, it should be funny. Not slapstick, that’s romantic comedy.

Do you see new trends in this genre?

I see a lot of mom lit in the CBA, but not so much in the regular market. In the secular market, I’m seeing the trend towards Spy chick lit. Chick lit mystery is hot in both markets.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

Read everything. I think it’s impossible to write well without reading what’s out there, and what appeals to the world. And the classics, why are these books still around? There’s a reason, and I love finding out why. (Hint: if the writing is cumbersome for you as a reader, rent the PBS versions of the classics and then read them.)

Writing is a business, and there’s a certain sense of the analytical that must come into play. I’m a big believer in writing your passion, but if your passion is collecting coffee tins, you might have a little trouble translating. So think, half passion, half business.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard?

“No one cares about that “People Magazine” stuff.” It was from an agent who was rejecting me at the time, and what it taught me is that just because it doesn’t appeal to that one “expert”, it doesn’t mean they’re right Now, if you start to hear it from a few experts, you’re probably wrong.

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

I wish I knew how important story was to the sales end of the book business. I’d wish I’d known that it’s not enough to just write a story like the others in the marketplace. That to stand out, you have to do something new or different. You are completely unique, but I think we’re afraid to show our real fears and foibles on the page, and those are the emotions that make characters come to life.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

I try to remember from this verse that worldly success is nice, but it’s not what I’m about in terms of ministry and my passion. Writing as a ministry is such a public thing, but I do it for Him and I’m holding out for my diamonds in the sky.

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

Let’s just say I got a little too caught up in the business end of things and forgot to enjoy the process. And without that joy, you just can’t keep moving forward.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

The Thorn Birds
Far from the Madding Crowd
Pride and Prejudice
The Poisonwood Bible
The Forsyte Saga

If your authorial self was a character from The Wizard of Oz, which one would you be and why?

I’d be an angry, flying monkey. Can you hear the music now? I want to always be in movement, and to always be pursuing a goal. The monkeys did so with passion and zeal.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

This is going to sound strange, but I’m proud of my “letters to the editor” because using words to debate an argument is an amazing show of the pen’s power.


Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

The literary folks who must put down genre writers to make themselves feel more important. Really, if you’re writing is that fabulous the world will figure it out. You don’t need to tell us. If I tell you I’m brilliant, it doesn’t mean a lot, does it?

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

I get the kids off to school (husband drives them) and then I go through email and get caught up on the business aspects of life, have a morning coffee gabbing online with my friends, and then get down to business.

I have to be done by 11:30 when I have to pick up my daughter from kindergarten. If I’m behind, I’ll work in the evenings, and be the proverbial bad mother who ignores life around me.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

I envy writers who have bigger worlds. Meaning, people who have experienced more than I have and have so much more knowledge to pull from. If I could pull from anyone, it would be Dickens, and his amazing insight into the mundane. Set your goals high I always say.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I would love to write a family saga type book someday (ala Thorn Birds, Forsyte Saga) or perhaps write a situation comedy. We’ll see. I don’t want to live in Los Angeles, so I doubt that will ever happen. It’s good to have a goal regardless, even if it’s ridiculous. I suppose I could have the goal of being a size two again, and these dreams have an equal chance of happening, but hope’s a good thing.

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Pretty much everyday. Usually, when having to keep up with the business end of things. I think to myself, you know I really miss painting, and no one would care what I painted. I usually feel this when doing radio interviews. This is so out of my comfort zone. I’m a writer. There’s a reason I put to the page what I’m not eloquent in conveying.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

I’m my own boss. My least favorite is anything to do with self promotion: book signings, media interviews (not this kind, I can do this!) Anything where I have to speak publicly because I am missing an edit button and always worry what I’ll say.

How much marketing do you do? Any advice in this area?

My background is in marketing, so I should have some great advice here, but I don’t. I do e-newsletters and keep in contact with my readers through the blog, but mostly I believe in writing a book that will resonate with my audience. I also “dress” my brand whenever I go out representing the books.

Parting words?

Go out and buy yourself some good books from different genres. Enjoy the art form of words and, if you’re stuck on where to go next, pull away. Go see a movie, watch television, get away from the work and allow God to speak to you about what’s next.
Don’t panic.

Getting published doesn’t change anything. Yes, it’s nice to have the recognition, but then you worry about selling enough to earn out, and if you’re earning out, you worry about negotiating the next contract, and if you get a great advance, you worry all over again about earning out. Writers are neurotic people. Embrace it.