Mysteries

Guest Chick: Kristin Kisska

The Chicks are delighted to welcome author Kristin Kisska, whose debut novel The Hint of Light is out now! Kristin very kindly agreed to answer some of our questions; she’s also offering a giveaway today and will choose one commenter to receive a copy of The Hint of Light. Read on for more!

In the wake of her son’s sudden death, Margaret Dobrescu struggles to keep it together in the face of her grief…and her guilt. She can’t help but blame herself for Kyle’s own lifelong struggles—namely, the alcoholism that plagued him.

But within mere days of his funeral, secrets and suspicions begin to surface, and Margaret’s husband admits that Kyle once confessed to having a daughter. Clinging to the hope that some part of her son is still out there, Margaret embarks on a search to find her rumored granddaughter.

What Margaret hasn’t prepared for, however, is the deluge of secrets that keep coming. And as she digs deeper and deeper into her son’s life to find the truth, what she finds instead is that her own secrets can’t stay buried forever.

 

What drew you to write this particular story?

This novel was my passion project. You could even go so far as to call it my personal therapy! Before I started writing The Hint of Light, I only wrote straight-up suspense and thrillers (three novels and counting). So when my muse inspired me with a little nugget of an idea—what if someone had a child their family never knew about—I set out to write a novel about unconditional love, secrets, and second chances.

Oh, and there’s domestic suspense in the story as well because that’s how I’m wired.

How did you develop the character of Margaret Dobrescu? Did you know everything about her upfront, or did she take any unexpected turns?

Oh, I had a solid take on Margaret by the time I started writing her journey. Nurse. Mom of two adult children who desperately wanted to be an empty-nester. Her dream was to spend her free time spoiling her grandkids. She’d suffered a lot of life’s wildcards but was still thriving.

That said, the character who surprised me the most was Margaret’s son, Kyle. He took a left turn early on during the first draft of the manuscript, and I had to sit back and let him take control of his chapters. While I’d planned for readers would meet him at his personal low, I didn’t expect him to become so endearingly vulnerable over the course of the story. I hope that readers embrace him as the unlikely hero I came to understand and respect.

What was the most interesting part of this story to tell?

No spoilers, but for me, the most exciting part of the story to write was the domestic suspense plot line. I knew, before penning the opening words, what the ending was going to be, so I was super impatient to actually get there and finally write it. Each time I sent the novel off to one of my beta-readers, that was the first thing I asked them about, so I got to fine-tune the reader experience. I hope they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed dreaming it up!

Whom would you cast as your main characters in an adaptation and why?

That’s a great question! The Hint of Light has four main characters. When I wrote it, I didn’t have any celebrities in mind. But now, I’d love to cast them with these A-list actors:

Margaret – Andie McDowell

Kyle – Chris Evans

Ally – Mackenzie Foy

Hannah – Anna Kendrick (with her hair dyed ginger)

What’s your process for writing a novel? What are some of the challenges and/or happy surprises encountered along the way?

In a perfect world, I’d love to be a plotter. I work most efficiently when I’m drafting with a detailed outline, completed research, and fleshed-out characters. After writing my first two novels, however, I learned that no matter how much I outlined, at least one of my characters was determined to steer the story in a new (and improved) direction. Every time they did something I didn’t expect, I had to reconfigure the rest of my outline. Not efficient! But the alternative—being a panster—was way too freeform for Ms. Organized.

So, when it came time to write this novel, I tried something new. Instead of building a detailed outline ahead of time, I decided to loosely chart out the beginning of the story, the ending, and a few different twists along the way. The high tech way I figure it out was by using post-it notes on my dining room table.

Et voila! I like to call this new and improved technique “plantsting.”

You’ve published short stories, too–are your approaches to writing short and long fiction similar or different?

I’m more confident in my novel-writing skills than in my short-story writing. In short stories, by the time I’ve laid the groundwork on the setting, characters, and conflict, I’ve exceeded the maximum word count limit. That pressure is super intimidating! So, I tend to over-write the first drafts of my short stories and then hit my delete button ruthlessly.

With novels, details can be layered in as the story progresses, and it’s an art form to reveal only the information that the reader absolutely needs to know at that particular scene. Novels develop more organically for me.

What’s your favorite writing snack?

Wine. Just kidding. My muse tends to be most creative in the morning, so she works better with several mugs of strong black coffee. But whenever she goes on strike, and I suffer from writer’s block, then all bets are off. Then, I reach for a wedge of brie, which of course, pairs well with a glass of chilled Pino Grigio.

What’s next for you?

I’m plansting my next idea now, but it’s shaping out to be another character-driven, domestic suspense centered around long-lost sisters who reunite under the most unlikely of circumstances. Wish me luck!

Kristin Kisska is a native of Virginia, where she currently resides with her family and their moody tabby, Boom. She holds a BS in commerce from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Northwestern University. She is the author of a dozen short stories published in anthologies. The Hint of Light is her debut novel. Kristin loves hearing from friends and readers at www.KristinKisska.com.

Website – KristinKisska.com
Twitter – @KKMHOO
Facebook – @KristinKisskaAuthor
Instagram – @kristinkisskaauthor

35 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Kristin Kisska”

  1. Excellent premise and storyline, Kristin!

    I love your new and improved technique “plantsting,” and in the past, I’ve used a similar method. Now I add a bit of digital magic with Scrivener. Alternatively, using a spreadsheet where I can move the equivalent of the post-it-notes as the story unfolds. In my next post, I’ll refer to your method because I know several people (me included) like the organic insights that come from letting characters have their way.

    I’ve put The Hint of Light on my digital TBR and I’m looking forward to the read. Thanks!

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    1. Hi Grant, I haven’t tried Scrivener yet, but am a big fan of using Excel in tandem with my manuscript’s Word document. Happy “plansting” & reading!
      Kristin

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      1. Using one of Scrivener’s key features, you can set up the equivalent of 3X5 cards in Scrivener, then sort based on story plot (main and subs). It will literally move the entire scene without having to cut and paste. One of my favorites is to create the 3X5 card for the character that has the scene’s point of view. A real time-saver if you like to write multi-POV stories. The same can be done with a spreadsheet, but not as elegant.

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      1. Just got back from a short vacay in Chicagoland–and I miss my hotel-room Lake Michigan view. I did stick my toes in the water at the beach.

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  5. I started out as a plotter, but am most definitely a plantser now! (After my second book, I became far too impatient to remain the simply plotter I was.)

    Congrats on the new book–which looks terrific!–and thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today!

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    1. Leslie, There’s value in having at least a little direction, right? I, too, plotted my first novel scene-by-scene, but gave up soon after. Now I love the freedom of “plansting.”
      Thanks for the enthusiastic welcome!
      Kristin

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  7. Kristin, thanks so much for visiting Chicks today–very pleased to meet you and your amazing-sounding book. (And what a cover, btw.) It’s now on my TBR. I’m a plantser also–though I only make those/notes bullet points a chapter or 2 ahead as I go.

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  9. Congratulations, Kristin! The book sounds wonderful. I’m a full-on plotter, with almost-30-page outlines, single-space and broken down by chapters. A lot of former TV writer friends tend to be outliners too. It’s imbedded in our writer DNA from the outline being such an important part of the TV/film process. But I call mine a fluid outline. It morphs as I go and I allow the story that freedom. I’ve even added new characters in my first draft! But the story bones never seem to vary that much.

    I actually created a workshop called “The Organics of Outlining” that I’ve led for various mystery chapters. An attendee once said, “So your outlines are like your first draft.” And I thought, yes! That’s exactly right.

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  11. Hi Kristin! I love hearing about everyone’s process. I’m an outliner which I’ve found speeds things up considerably. Basically, I expand a story I’ve told in 30 pages into 300. The added benefit is that my beta readers can turn my 30 page outline in just a few days to point out any tactical errors I’ve made! Not that that ever happens, of course …..

    Thanks for hanging with us today!

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