Jun 5, 2023
With Kathleen Grissom, Bestselling Author
Having a passionate dream and believing in yourself could transform your daily life. It provides a reason to spring out of bed in the morning and it can motivate you to keep going late at night, working overtime in pursuit of that dream. That passion may even change how we see the world by letting us imagine what our life might look like, if only things were different.
Maybe your passion involves the arts and your dream is to become a dancer or a singer. Perhaps you’ve dreamed of writing a novel and even submitted a written draft to a publishing company. Years ago, I dreamed about writing a book, and one day, that dream became a reality. When I was first approached about writing the memoir that eventually became my book, “Talk to The Mirror,” I was already a well-known businesswoman. I was fortunate to meet with several publishing companies in New York who expressed an interest.
But what if you’re an unknown author? How do you get your foot in the door with a publishing company? How do you convince a publisher that your debut novel might just become their next bestseller?
When I’m reading a particularly enjoyable novel, I often wonder about the writer’s process. How did the author come up with the theme for their novel? Where did they find the inspiration for their characters or come up with those shocking plot twists? If the author is writing a historical novel based on a real-life person, how do they go about researching the characters? If you want to learn more about what it takes to write (and publish) that bestselling novel, you’ll want to listen to my interview with New York Times Bestselling author, Kathleen Grissom. Her very first novel, The Kitchen House, was originally published in 2010. It went on to become a bestseller and by 2016, her book was already in its 21st printing and had sold more than 400,000 copies. That’s quite an accomplishment for an unknown author! Kathleen’s with us today to talk about her newest historical novel, Crow Mary.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode:
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What was the inspiration behind The Kitchen House?
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What is the book about?
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Does Kathleen have any history with writing?
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Kathleen was raising cashmere goats before she became a best-selling author.
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What are the things Kathleen learned when studying the publishing industry?
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What types of research did Kathleen do when writing The Kitchen House?
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How did Kathleen find an agent?
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How did The Kitchen House develop legs? Did Kathleen go on book tours, go to book clubs, etc?
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What is Kathleen’s book Crow Mary about?
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Is Kathleen disciplined in her writing process?
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What's the biggest challenge in writing a fictionalized historical account of an actual person?
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How does Kathleen balance the need for historical accuracy against the commercial desire for a readable and interesting storyline?
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How did Kathleen go about recreating Crow Mary’s life, and obtaining such detailed information about the language, the clothing and the food, and the customs?
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What does Kathleen want readers to take away from Crow Mary?
Today’s Takeaway:
Crow Mary provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives, customs, and rituals of Native American culture during the late 1800s. It’s based on the true story of a brave woman and the personal sacrifices she made standing up for what she believed in to protect the lives of others. Kathleen’s passion for strong women and their place in history led to her career as a bestselling author. Following your passion won’t always lead to becoming a bestselling author. But finding something that brings you pleasure and enjoyment can be its own reward. In addition, you might find others to connect with who share that same interest or passion. Remember that every day is a gift and the gift we get from following our passion can bring excitement, joy, and fun into our daily lives simply by spending time doing something that we enjoy. And sometimes, if we’re very lucky, we might even get to pursue our passion to the point where it becomes a full-time endeavor and financially rewarding as well. I’m Florine Mark and that’s “Today’s Takeaway.”
Quotes:
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“A movie started to play in my head and in my mind's eye; I was just pulled right into the story.” — Kathleen
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“I came home and I sat down and I said, ‘Where are you?' And with that, the movie started to play. I picked up my pencil and I followed behind. So that's how I came to write “The Kitchen House.” — Kathleen
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“I was ill-equipped to write when I think back now. I really was.” — Kathleen
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“I just knew from the beginning that I was meant to get it published. And so I studied the publishing business.” — Kathleen
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“My main concern was that I would stick to the facts. The rest of it, I pray, and I asked for guidance.” — Kathleen
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“I didn’t know that I could become a writer. I thought those were extraordinary people. And then I discovered that writers were just ordinary people who might write something extraordinary. I realized I could be a writer.” — Kathleen / Susan Isaacs
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“I needed to be able to understand the nuances and the subtleties of her [Crow Mary’s] culture, to be able to allow her voice to authentically come through. And so that was my goal, to really authentically understand the culture.” — Kathleen
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