What is a day in your life like?

I get up at 3:00 a.m. to write on my novels. It’s my best time of the day, when it’s quiet and my creative brain is fresh. By 6:30, I’m working at my day job, where I am a manager for a software company. In the evenings, I try to relax with my husband, cat, and dogs. As you can imagine, I go to bed early—no later than 8:30 p.m.

Where do you write?

I have a home office with a nice wood corner desk and an overhead bookshelf that contains pictures of my husband and animals—as well as books, of course. My cat Minnie always sits with me while I write.  

What advice can you give aspiring writers?

Write every day, even if it’s only for a half hour. Don’t give up because it takes a long time to learn your craft. You have to be patient with yourself during the process. Read some books about writing, both practical and chicken-soup inspirational. Read lots of novels in your own genre, and when something is really great, try to figure out why.  

What keeps you motivated to write?

I love the process of writing. In the beginning, it was all about getting published. When that didn’t happen, and didn’t happen, and didn’t happen, I kept writing because I still loved it.  

How long have you been writing?

I started writing in elementary school. I wrote stories and convinced the teacher to let me read them to the class. (I still have them. You can read more about them in my blog post: Don’t Stop Believing.) My parents gave me an electric typewriter for Christmas one year because they realized this creative writing thing was going to stick. I wrote stories through middle and high school, studied creative writing in college, and continued writing through my adult life.

I’ve been writing for decades. Long enough. 

Where do you get your ideas?

I start with some sort of “issue” (depression, academic pressure, teen pregnancy, human trafficking, self-harming, anorexia, and so on), and I let my imagination take over from there. My stories are crafted from a blend of Internet research, creative inspiration, and reading lots of books, and then I add plot, characterization, dialog, and the other elements that make a good novel. I write across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, and adventure.

What do you do when you get stuck?

I play with the cat a lot while I’m mulling over something that’s not working. She really enjoys helping me with that. I don't suffer with "writer's block" exactly; I'm usually doing something: revising, outlining, writing, or thinking. I don't stay stuck for long.

Do you have any hobbies?

Writing, reading, puzzles, and playing with my animals. I also watch too much TV in the evening.

Who’s your favorite author?

It seems so hard to pick because there are so many wonderful authors that I love. But if you came into my house and stood in my home office, you would see a tall bookshelf that contains every Steven King novel in hardcover. He wins (especially his earlier works). I've been reading him from the beginning, and I still do. In 2023, I finally had a chance to see his home in Maine where the magic behind the books happened.

If you’re interested to know what I’m reading lately, check out my Other Good Reads blog.

What’s your favorite book?

I’ve read The Stand at least 7 times, maybe more, and that book is over 1,000 pages. I love that story.

Additional Author Interviews

Alumna's Double Life Is One for the Books - June, 2017

How Novel! Straddling the Worlds of Technical & Creative Writing - December, 2016

Huntsville software company manager leads a second life as award-winning YA novelist - July 22, 2016, Carla Jean Witley at al.com

Interview with Author Khristina Chess - August, 2015 on Reading for Fun

Interview: Khristina Chess, Author of STRAIGHT A's, Hollow Beauty, and Drive to June - June, 2015 on i read indie