Seattle author Mark Holtzen interviewed Kristi Wientge; the two are long-time critique partners and long-distance friends. Best Friends, Bikinis, and Other Summer Catastrophes is available at bookstores around the country as of May 17, 2022.
Mark Holtzen (MH): You have a new middle grade children’s book. What first inspired this story idea? What caused the first ripple in the pool?
Kristi Wientge (KW): My cousin Will and I are the same age, and we were lumped together often growing up. He was like another brother to me, but better– I didn’t have to live with him, and we could goof off in a way I couldn’t always with my brothers. This entire book was born from a memory I have of that first summer things started to change between us– the summer he started to like girls.
MH: Is it true or false that you recently tried to hide the fact that you are a published author while working in a bookstore? After you answer true, please explain this behavior. Follow up, after they uncovered your secret, were the indie booksellers (aka fellow book lovers) as thoughtful and wonderful as they usually are? If so, how?
KW: Remaining anonymous is how I can get anything accomplished. I’m sure you can imagine how throngs of fans get in the way of even simple tasks like going to the grocery store and the likes. No, in all honesty, I STILL– even after three books– struggle to recognize myself as an author. It happened again just the other day at the bank while filling out really boring paperwork. I was asked what I do. I mentioned the part-time teaching I used to do, but couldn’t make myself say I’m an author. BUT, as you say in your question, booksellers are fantastic. They were all so happy and surprised and kept asking me why I hadn’t said anything earlier. One day I will learn to just claim it! And a BIG thank you to booksellers. Your enthusiasm makes it all worth it. Thanks!
MH: I’d love to acknowledge that we’ve just come through a particularly rough couple of years of pandemic living. I know creatives who were able to work and others who couldn’t at all. Do you remember what your attitude was about writing as the pandemic set in? Were you able to write all the way through?
KW: It’s kind of hard to think way back to the beginning. I did have to claim a new space– a physical space in my house that was as separate from the family as possible so I could focus. It ended up being a little closet with a window that is to the left of my bedroom door. It’s kind of nice because no one really ever walks that way, so I was in a forgotten little space. Something about a small, forgotten place made me excited about writing. BUT, then came the burden of finishing a book I’d sold on a very short chapter and a separate scene set later in the book. I loved both, but now I had to actually piece it together and write the entire thing! Sometimes the reality of writing a book takes away from the enchantment of writing. Then, of course, there was the fact that nothing was normal. I’m not sure if I can say I wrote my way through it because there were definitely moments when I couldn’t see ever getting through the middle, much less to the end of the book. It was definitely a struggle, but not full-on paralysis– because I did finish it. It just took a lot to get there.
MH: What helped? What didn’t?
KW: Loooooooong walks. And equally long talks with my people. Also helped to keep in contact with critique partners and set goals and mini-deadlines. Thankfully one of my critique partners with the initials MWH is excellent at pestering me until I get stuff done.
M(W)H: Was there anything about living this experience that showed up in your work in surprising ways?
KW: The mom in my book works from home. She is often asking Alex, the main character, to help out with things or keep the younger brothers outside while she gets on calls. This was all born from my husband and me having to manage the noise levels in our own home.
MH: One nice thing about having an accountability partner in the oft-lonely job of a writer is that one partner can boost while the other is feeling down. We were like yo-yos/teeter-totters for a long while there. There’s a kind of beauty to that. Thoughts?
KW: Yes! I one hundred percent agree with this analogy. There were definitely moments when I felt super sorry for myself, and you’d be having a breakthrough and vice versa. Plus, we’ve been swapping work for a while now and there was a lot of room for us to tease one another, which always makes things fun and light. And honestly, it felt good to know you got it no matter what I was feeling. Plus, we also got better about asking each other for what we needed like setting word count goals and days to swap so we had to stay on task.
MH: Other observations from working during a pandemic?
KW: There were definitely long stretches of time I didn’t have to do anything outside of my house and it worked in my favor when it worked in my favor, but it also didn’t – you know, when it didn’t. Not having to run children all over creation worked. Not seeing other human beings who care about books and writing didn’t.
MH: Lately, we’ve been joking that in the fickle world of publishing at least by writing we are becoming better people. What does this mean to you personally?
KW: It’s difficult to remember that our audience is kids– not the gatekeepers. Maybe gatekeepers are the ones we hear from the most and that’s why we get so bogged down, but since both of us have a background in teaching we know that kids could care less about most of the things gatekeepers are making a fuss over. Writing to the core of our emotions while being truthful and open, brings us closer to who we really are. And, to be honest, I’d rather be closer to my true, kid self than an edited, polished adult self. So, being a better person just means being more honest and in tune with who I’ve always been. Plus, kids call out [BS] when they see it.
MH: For BIKINI, we recently spoke about depicting realistic parent characters, marking the passing of time, and other fixes you had to make as you revised this manuscript. Anything to share?
KW: If by “anything to share” you mean “wisdom to impart”– no. This is something I struggle to get right every time. I will say when I find it done well in another book I’m reading, I pay attention and try to emulate it.
MH: What was the most challenging part of this tale? When did you feel the most stuck and how did you break through? What can you share about your revision process?
KW: It’s funny to be answering this question after I’ve done all my final edits and it’s completely done. Part of me is like, “What problems?” Ha! I know I struggled with many things in this book, but I’m seriously trying to remember specifics. Maybe it’s like childbirth and I’m just enamored with the result and kind of forgot all the pain? Little-known secret is that I sold this book on a couple of paragraphs and a detached scene– so pretty much the opening scene and a scene that happens about halfway through the book. Both scenes gave me all the feels. I knew they were right, BUUUUUUUUT after getting the green light to write the book, I realized that I had to fill in all the gaps. Whoops! I kinda forgot that there was like 98% of the book to still write. I pretty much wrote most of the second half of the book, thinking it was the first half. My agent, Patricia Nelson, was the one who had to remind me what my book was supposed to be about– more specifically who. So, I had to figure out the relationship between my main character, Alex, and her best friend, Will, and then weave in the stuff I’d written between Alex and the girl who kind of shoves her way into their summer.
MH: Any brilliant ideas that your critique partner gave you that you want to acknowledge here?
KW: If I didn’t have such a bossy, persistent critique partner, I never would have finished this book. Seriously! It was him (you) pushing me to get words down AND to remember the emotions and feels that were the seed and life of this book. So, yes, spotlight back on Mark Holtzen, please. He’s getting cold without the warm glow washing over him.
MH: Any realizations about stories or genres you’re drawn to now that you’ve published three novels for children?
KW: I am VERY comfortable in my little MG contemporary niche. Please do not disturb me.
MH: Some of my favorite scenes in BIKINI involve Will, Alex’s best friend, being such a clueless, good-natured boy. As a formerly quiet, slightly geeky, clueless boy these were really entertaining and took me back. Can you speak to writing the boy character?
KW: Since I cannot pretend to know what it’s like to be a boy, I just took cues from the boys in my life. I have two brothers, a bunch of boy cousins (one of whose name is Will and the inspiration for the Will in the book), growing up I’ve had a lot of friends who were boys, and I now have a son. It took me back to when I was a YMCA day camp counselor and I’d request the all-boy group each week. They were so, so easy to keep happy. I’d make up games off the top of my head and give them challenges, and they’d rush to do anything. If there was ever any drama, they’d get it out and over with and we’d move on. But, there were also so many moments of wonder and tenderness they’d show so unashamedly, and I just love that. One boy, who I’ll never forget, told me his favorite color was pink, but he didn’t like to tell other people that. No one in the entire group made fun of him. Oh my goodness! I really wanted to capture these moments of navigating growing up, how I saw boys experience it.
MH: I read this to my daughter during our dark Seattle winter. She loved the tension that grew between Rebekah, Will, and Alex. How did it go writing their ever-changing relationships?
KW: Honestly, this was easy and difficult. It was easy to imagine all the emotions and tension, but difficult to write it so the mood was exactly right. It was just a bunch of words that, with the help of you (Mark), Patricia, and Krista (my editor) slowly shaped into the just-right moments that I was finally proud of.
MH: Do you still race your friends for diving sticks when in a swimming pool?
KW: Since moving back to the Midwest, I haven’t been hot enough to jump into a pool.
MH: Have you ever been paid to pick up dog poop?
KW: No, my dad was a firm believer in doing chores without receiving an allowance. It’s okay, I’m not bitter about it. At all.
MH: What do you think makes a great middle grade book?
KW: I’m sure I’m supposed to say a riveting plot, but I’m all about the heart and soul of a book. It’s got to tug at me and pull me wherever– into fantasy, into laughter, into sadness, but it’s got to have a big, beating heart.
MH: Contrarian Lightning Round:
Balmy swimming pool or frigid mountain lake? Hot tub
Ice cream or frozen yogurt? Gelato
Hot dog or hamburger? IKEA veggie hot dog or homemade veggie burger
Do you have any favorite critique partners with the initials M.H.? Mary Henkleburg has just been an absolute angel— Ok, ok. Sigh. Mark Holtzen.
MH: And joking aside, having a supportive writing partner to create alongside meant everything to me during a stressful time. I found disappearing into my projects and being able to get your immediate, often snarky but genuine feedback was a life-saving way to escape the day-to-day stressors of pandemic life. If I may compliment us – we’re great cheerleaders for one another when the chips are down and great with reality checks when feeling too confident (rare to nonexistent). Agree? Disagree?
KW: Agree.