15 Question E-Mail Interview
with Katrina Kittle
author of Traveling Light and Two Truths and a Lie

GirlPosse When did you know you wanted to be an author?

Katrina Kittle I have always written. I can't remember a time that I didn't keep a journal, and my sister and I often wrote stories for our parents and each other as gifts. But, I was finished with college before I thought about writing with publication as the goal. As clichéd as it sounds, a story had kind of grabbed hold of me and needed to be told, and I finally gave in and listened.

GirlPosse What made you finally sit down and start writing a novel?

Katrina Kittle The story itself had become very important to me, and I felt an obligation to start writing it. My first novel dealt with AIDS and I felt compelled to write about AIDS because I had lost many friends to it and felt it had really touched and affected my life. And although all my subsequent stories have also started growing around a social issue, I do feel very strongly that a novel is not a forum for a "message" and so I really struggled to find the story and the characters who could tell that story. My goal, first and foremost, is to tell an engaging story, and if it happens to make people think about issues I care about, then that's a fringe benefit.

But, honestly, it was advice from Sue Grafton that really charged me and made me buckle down and get disciplined. She was a teacher one summer at the Antioch Writers' Workshop and she had us write a five-year plan with numbered goals. My #1 goal was "Finish the book." That says it all--I could sit around and talk about this story forever, or I could get busy and put it on paper. And oddly enough, it was nearly five years from that very summer that Traveling Light was a real book for sale in stores.

GirlPosse Which of your characters most closely resembles you? Do any?

Katrina Kittle Although none of the characters are based on me, or meant to be me, some of them probably share some of my traits. The most clear to me is Summer, in Traveling Light, particularly in her relationship to her Grandma Anna. In my early drafts, Grandma Anna was a cartoon villain, one-dimensional and cardboard because, like Summer, I had made Grandma Anna the dumping ground for all my own intolerance. I was intolerant of her intolerance, if that makes sense, and like Summer, I had never considered what it meant to ask people to change, what a monumental task that is, what a true struggle. Fortunately, I had a writers group of writers I trusted, who called me on it. I had to change in order for Grandma Anna and Summer to change, and I think the book became richer as a result.

GirlPosse Traveling Light was so different from Two Truths and a Lie - both in feelings, characters and stories. Was the writing process the same?

Katrina Kittle The processes were very different. I worked on Traveling Light nearly seven years, never knowing if it would ever see publication. Two Truths and a Lie was the second book when I was blessed with a two book deal with Warner Books. Although Two Truths already existed in a sketchy draft and character studies (I would often put Traveling Light away during those seven years and work on other projects), it was basically written in a little under two years and I knew during those years that it would be published (unless I really messed something up!). I was very nervous about it because I never had the opportunity for a "break" from it--time to put it away and come back to it with fresh, objective eyes. Don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining! I felt so grateful to be in that position and I feel I rose to the challenge, but the processes were very different. One was not better or worse, just different, and I feel lucky to have experienced them both.

GirlPosse Do you know how your books will end when you begin, or do the endings sometimes surprise you?

Katrina Kittle The endings always surprise me. It was a joke with me and my husband for a while that I wouldn't start writing Traveling Light until I figured out how it would end. He would tease me all the time, if we were discussing going to see a movie or something, he'd say "I dunno...I don't know how it will end...." And it was a huge relief when I found this great writing quote. I think it was Annie Dillard who said this, but I'm not quite sure, but someone wise said that writing a novel was like driving your car in heavy fog. You may only be able to see 20 yards ahead of you, but it's possible to make a journey of a hundred miles only seeing 20 yards ahead at a time. I'm no good at outlining or plotting things out; I have to actually write it to find out what happens.

With Traveling Light, I knew Todd would die, of course. One review (and it was a positive review) referred to it as a "medical Titanic," and that's true--it wasn't going to be the kind of book where they would find a cure and Todd would live. But I didn't know what else would happen in the story, or how his death would affect the other characters, until I wrote it to find out.

GirlPosse Your books evoke so much emotion from the reader. Are you surprised by that as you're writing - or is that the intention all along?

Katrina Kittle I guess I'm relieved and happy to find out that the books evoke emotions from the reader. I know how they affect me emotionally, but so much of writing is so solitary and you just never know how readers will react to the books once they're out "in the world." That's one of the reasons I feel like I'm getting a gift every time I get a letter from a reader or attend a book club discussing one of my books--it's amazing (and still always surprising) to hear how readers respond. I'm always overcome with gratitude.

GirlPosse Your characters seem perfect for the big screen. Any movie plans?

Katrina Kittle How I wish I had a different answer, but no, not yet. Hope springs eternal though!

GirlPosse Which authors do you read?

Katrina Kittle I've always been a voracious reader. I read everything from trash to classics. My only requirement: tell me a story. My favorite authors are currently Barbara Kingsolver and Alice Hoffman. I've been on a kick rereading them both. Every time I reread one of their novels, I feel I learn something new...and every time I get swept up into a wonderful story all over again.

I'm also a big fan of John Irving, and his major influences: Dickens and Graham Greene.

GirlPosse What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Katrina Kittle To have a story that you're passionate about and then to write the book. I don't mean to sound flippant, but 9 out of every 10 people you meet says they want to write a book one day, but few of them will ever start it, and even fewer will ever finish a book. And if you do finish a book, then you're in a place for amazing things to happen: it's much easier to learn from classes and conferences when you have an actual piece of writing to revise and apply all you're learning to, instead of just talking about writing in the abstract.

And once I had my manuscript in a pretty strong shape, I was at a conference where I met the woman who would become my editor. I was on a work fellowship and was assigned to drive her to the airport. In the course of our conversation, she invited me to send her my manuscript, which I did, and that little 5:30 AM airport drive turned into a two book deal with Warner Books. People tell me I was in the right place at the right time, and that's true, but I was at the right place at the right time with a finished manuscript. It wouldn't have done me any good to be placed in that wonderful position, would it, if I hadn't already written the book?

GirlPosse What do you do when you're not writing?

Katrina Kittle For the past several years, I've been the Education Director at a children's theatre I helped to found. What started as a couple of theatre classes funded by a Recreation Center is now a fully staffed theatre that produces nine productions a year. I've been teaching their acting classes and directing one or two shows a season. Recently, though, I accepted a new teaching position at a wonderful local independent school, where I will be teaching 6th and 7th grade English starting in the fall of 2002.

And when I'm not working or writing, I'm usually outside--backpacking, camping and kayaking with my husband, or playing with horses and trailriding with a friend I've known since fourth grade. She has her own horse farm and has been fostering horses for the local Humane Society, which means there is always an interesting cast of characters coming and going, including two miniature donkeys recently. Last July, a foster foal was born on the farm, and wouldn't you know it, we couldn't give her up? She lives there permanently now and it's been a blast raising and schooling her.

Now for the fun questions.........



GirlPosse What's the biggest perk to being a famous author?

Katrina Kittle Well, I'd hardly call myself "famous," but there have been some fun perks--mostly being asked to take part in fun projects as a local "celebrity." For instance, when Nick Bantock came through town on his book tour for The Gryphon, I was asked to read the parts of Sabine and Isabella at his reading And when I've done some gigs as a writer-in-residence for some local schools, the kids treat me like a rock star just because I've published a book! But then...you've always got to come back to your desk and the blank page, which keeps you humble.

GirlPosse Who's the worst person to be stuck in an elevator with?

Katrina Kittle Anyone who thinks they know everything and refuses to consider other points of view.

GirlPosse What's your biggest pet peeve?

Katrina Kittle Well, there's prejudice and cruelty to animals...but in all honesty, the one I'm most aware of on a daily basis is the lack of simple courtesy that has become so pervasive in our society.

GirlPosse Chocolate or popcorn in the movies?

Katrina Kittle Chocolate--Junior Mints! (And I should have mentioned in #10 that I'm a total movie-holic. I love to go to the movies).

GirlPosse What question is never asked of you in interviews that you would like to answer?

Katrina Kittle You know...I've thought about this for three days now and I just can't come up with one. I guess I love it whenever anyone asks me a new question that I haven't answered a million times already (like you have), but it always surprises me; there isn't one I can think of.

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