Author Spotlight: Kristina Horner
Meet Kristina!
She’s the one who originally started this whole thing, though she could have never done it without the other writing-group diehards.
A former YouTuber, Kristina is a mother and Minecraft Community Manager by day, but very much looks forward to that tiny bit of quiet time in the evening when she can write (or binge reality tv shows, let’s be real).
How old were you when you got into writing? When did you decide you were a writer? I remember in first grade we were given this worksheet where we could list the names of story ideas that we had. I am pretty sure I still have that piece of paper stashed away somewhere, but I distinctly remember dreaming up all sorts of books I wanted to write on it. As a voracious reader at a young age I was gobbling up books like Goosebumps and The Babysitter’s Club: Little Sister, and I’m not sure it occurred to me that I could someday write a book myself, at least not until that work sheet. The only idea I actually remember from the list was a story about a young girl who’s stuck going on a long cross-country roadtrip with her family (something my own family did every summer) called Why’s the Sun Always in My Eyes?
What’s the first thing that you wrote that you consider your first story? My friends and I were super into role-playing in middle school, or at least something we called role-playing. We had one of those old free message boards, and we each created a character and just dreamed up a whole world and conflicts around those characters. Eventually most of my friends moved on from it, but there were two of us who would still get together and have sleepovers, drawing maps of the kingdom and arguing through the various plot points. Fast forward to 2006, when I finally wrote a real draft of it for my very first NaNoWriMo. It was called “The Forgotten Kingdom”.
What’s your approach to writing / Do you have any writing rituals? Hmm. Generally my approach is “write 50,000 words in November and then lament the rest of the year that I don’t write enough”. My writing group helps a lot with that though, as I can ensure I’ll at least write a little bit every Monday. I don’t really have any traditions, aside from always using Scrivener and always spending way too much time formatting and setting up my project file (which is obviously the best part). I also tend to spend too much time on Twitter when I should be writing. It’s legitimately the only time I go on Twitter—so if you ever see me tweeting, you should probably reply and tell me to stop procrastinating.
What’s your favorite genre to write/What do you write most often? I usually write young adult or new adult, though I’ve dabbled in middle grade. I like to write contemporary, or paranormal/urban fantasy. Basically, my favorite kinds of stories are usually the ones that take place in the normal world we live in, but maybe just one thing is different. Like, for instance, ghosts exist. Or an evil witch in town is shrinking people down to live in the miniature version of the town she built in her attic.
What was your first nano about? I guess I already talked about this one, but I can go more in depth! The Forgotten Kingdom is a story about a small kingdom surrounded by other countries, bordered by this magical misty ridge called Remembrance Pass—basically, if you cross through it, you lose your memory. So people leaving can’t take any secrets with them, and people sneaking in don’t remember why they came. Pretty good security, if you ask me. The story itself was about a young boy who turns up in the woods late one night, with no idea who he is or where he’s come from.
What was your most difficult NaNoWriMo? Phew, since I’ve been doing it 2006, I’ve had my fair share of difficult NaNos. I’d say though that the toughest year was the time I decided to write short stories instead of one long novel. I thought the change from the norm would be fun and freeing, but it ended up just not feeling like NANO to me. The writing I did that year was so disparate and I ended up not actually finishing many of the stories, so I ended up with a bunch of mess instead of anything even remotely connective.
How did you get involved with 84th Street Press? I was definitely that person at the writing group who kept saying “Guys we should make a zine. Or self publish something together. Oh! We should all write similar stories! What if we KICKSTART it?” As usual, I tend to take on the role of “talking my friends into my crazy ideas”.
What are your favorite books? This is a hard one! I have a lot of favorite books. Most recently I absolutely adored V. E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have also been enjoying the trip down memory lane with Scott Westerfeld’s Imposters series. The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern is always a favorite. And Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson is definitely an underrated favorite of mine.
What is your day job / How do you sustain writing with a job? I work in video games, actually! I’ve been at Microsoft since 2014, and I’m currently on the Mojang Studios/Minecraft team. I run editorial community content, which is the closest I’ve ever had to a writing job. Any of my personal writing just comes after work — and these days, after my son goes to bed.
Why do you write? Books have done so much for me throughout my life… from a child just learning about the world, to an adolescent figuring out how I fit into it, to an adult just sometimes needing an escape… books have always been there to take me away to fantastical places when I need them. And I’ve always felt like I have a story inside me, so I just hope I can someday write something that gives that to other people, as well.
Favorite mythical creature and why? This might be controversial, since I’m known for being a unicorn lover on the internet. But… it’s gotta be mermaids. They’re just so AESTHETIC.
If stranded on desert island what 3 items would you bring? Some kind of word processor that runs on solar power so I can write an epic survival novel while I’m there. A hammock, obviously. And maybe the comfiest pair of lounge pants that I acquired while in pandemic self-quarantine?
Everyone has a worst-case-scenario disaster you plan in your head. What is the end of all ends / end-day scenario you think about a lot? Well, I used to think I was brilliant, coming up with the plan to take refuge in a Costco during the end-times, until I learned that this was everyone’s plan. Since then I’ve considered just how long a person could live on a boat. Zombies cant swim, right? I could be a boat person.
Find Kristina online on twitter, instagram or kristinahorner.com. <3
