Today we get the pleasure of meeting Krysten Lindsay Hager!
Author of True Colors!
Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict
who has
never met a bookstore she didn’t like.
She’s worked as a journalist and also
writes middle grade,
YA, humor essays, and adult fiction.
TRUE COLORS is her bestselling debut novel from Astraea Press.
She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota,
Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can
find her reading and writing. She received her master’s in
American Culture from the University of Michigan-Flint.
A
little competition can really
bring out people’s true colors.
Landry Albright just wants to be one of the interesting girls
at school who always have exciting things going on in
their lives. She wants
to stand out, but also wants to fit in,
so she gives in when her two best
friends, Ericka and Tori,
push her into trying out for a teen reality show
modeling
competition with them. Landry goes in nervous, but impresses
the
judges enough to make it to the next round. However,
Ericka and Tori get cut
and basically "unfriend" her on
Monday at school. Landry tries to
make new friends,
but gets caught up between wanting to be herself and
conforming to who her new friends want her to be.
Along the way she learns that
modeling is nowhere
as glamorous as it seems, how to deal with frenemies,
a new
crush, and that true friends see you for who
you really are and like you
because of it.
While I was deciding whether or not to chicken out, the
stage manager, Georgia, started having the girls go out on stage. I overheard
somebody say one girl fell out of her shoe as she stepped on the runway.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She just pretended to have two heels on and
walked on her tip toes,” Georgia said.
I would have burst into tears and run off the stage — kind
of like I did when I was four years old and in a dance recital. We were
supposed to be little ballerinas and have scarves attached to our tutus, but my
mom was still in school at the time and she came home late and forgot to give
me my scarves. So all the other little girls pulled out their scarves, and
there’s a video of me looking on either side of my tutu for my scarves and then
bursting into tears crying “Mommy!” as I ran off the stage. My grandmother said
I was adorable, but I don’t think it was any coincidence my grandfather died
two weeks later.
At least I didn’t have to worry about missing scarves
tonight. All I had to do was focus on not tripping. If I could just make it
down the runway and back, I’d be fine. Unless, of course, I suddenly came down
with Tourette’s Syndrome and started swearing live on the air… but I’d know if
I had Tourette’s, right? It doesn’t just come on out of nowhere, does it?
“Okay, girls. Your group is next,” Georgia said.
I took a deep breath. All I had to do is say, “My name is
Landry, and I’m from Grand Rapids.” Easy—as long as I didn’t get the dry heaves
or puke into the microphone and electrocute myself…or get diarrhea on live TV.
Why did I ever go to the audition in the first place? Everything was fine when
I was just boring old Landry fading into the background. The girls at school
were a lot nicer to me when I was nobody special. I mean, before this stupid
competition I had friends, but now it seemed like there was no one I could
trust. Maybe if I lost this stupid thing I could go home and everything would
be back to normal.
“Okay, girls. You guys are next.” Georgia pushed me in the
back. “Don’t forget to smile,” she said in my ear.
Then the girl in front of me morphed into a different
person. She straightened her spine and walked with a little skip in her step.
“I’m Desiree, and I’m from Sterling Heights,” she said in a low sexy voice.
Great, I had to follow her.
“I’m Landry, and I’m from Chicago, Illinois,” I said. I
moved away from the microphone and realized I said “Chicago” instead of “Grand
Rapids,” so I went back to the microphone to correct myself and slammed into
the next girl. She acted like she didn’t notice, but I had hit the microphone
and it made a shrieking noise. I heard laughter. People were laughing at me. On
television. I wanted to die.
I saw Georgia gesturing at me to
get off the stage, and I walked off. I had been practicing my stupid runway
walk for weeks and for what? A chance to humiliate myself on live TV? I’ve
always been sorta accident prone. If anybody was going to do something stupid
and embarrassing it was probably me, but I thought I could control myself for
two seconds on live television. I’m such an idiot.
Hi Krysten! Thanks for hopping on the blog with us!
Lets Chat!
Where did you get your
inspiration for writing? All over. It could be a quote I see somewhere, a bit
of conversation that jumps out at me, a photo of someone in a catalog or
magazine. One character came to be because I saw an athlete with an interesting
expression on his face and it made me wonder what was going on behind that.
What do you see in
your future of writing? I see me continuing writing the True Colors/Landry
series and also writing older YA and adult women’s fiction as well.
What genres do you
hope to explore more of? I want to also write older young adult fiction and by
that I mean characters in high school—ninth graders specifically. So I am
working on YA, new adult and adult fiction as well—all with humor, of course!
Are your characters based on anyone? No, it’s
impossible to base a character on someone for me because people are so
multi-dimensional and complex. It’s easier for me to create my own characters
where I know what they think, feel, and would say than it is for me to base a
character on someone.
How did you publish
your books? Do you recommend others do this? I went with a publisher, Astraea
Press and that was the right choice for me. I think it depends on what you are
looking for and how outgoing you are, etc.
Tell us a little about
you...
A)
Did you always want to
write? Yes, I used to make up stories with my Barbies. I would watch prime time
soaps with my parents as a little girl and finish up the cliffhangers with my
dolls. My parents thought it was funny, but I was so into it.
B)
Do you have a
family? I’m married
C) Do you work besides being an author? Freelance writing
D) What kind of
hobbies do you enjoy? Reading and I like to make cards. I also really like art
and decorating.
E) Do you have pets? Nope.
F) What is the most embarrassing thing you have done/participated in? There was
a Christmas dance recital where I’m in a Minnie Mouse costume and my mouse ears
flew off mid-performance. That Christmas show used to include all the dance
studios in the city and it was filmed...ugh.
G) What is something humbling you have done and learned from? I think anytime
I’ve been in a situation where you’re seen at your worst would have to be it.
When you’re sick or injured—that sort of thing. It takes the vanity right out
of you and you learn what’s important.
H) Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Still writing and hopefully
still loving it
1) Silly fun: You just won a million
dollars- what do you do first? Pack my bags while booking a trip to somewhere
fun!
2) You won a trip
around the world, but you pick the destinations, where are you visiting and
why?
Around the world?
Okay, then I want to hit Poland because it’s where my great-grandparents were
from (all on my mother’s side) and I have always wanted to visit. London
because I want to go book shopping, visit places where Jane Austen and the
Brontes lived, and see friends who live there.
3) Its
Halloween...people can find you dressed as? 30’s movie star. I love the clothes
and makeup from that era.
4) Morning person or
night person? I don’t like mornings. Once a friend came to visit and she didn’t
want to admit she liked to sleep late so when I asked what time she wanted to
get up she said 8 or 9 am. So I got up then and she wasn’t up…two hours
pass…nothing. Then she got up and we went out and we were both dragging.
Finally, I admitted to her I never get up that early and she said, “Oh me
neither, I’m so exhausted!” So we were laughing the whole day that we should
have just been honest about being late sleepers!
5) Favorite cold
breakfast food? When I lived in Portugal there was this French chocolate cocoa
cereal that was gluten-free and came in a little bag. I had no idea how to
pronounce the name of it so I used to call it, “Choccie Cereal.” It was kind of
pricey, but it was impossible to find gluten-free cereal over there and it was
soooo good! I used to start my day with it. I’d pour it into a cup (no milk) go
back to bed and eat it there.
6) Authors have
multiple personalities...what are some of yours, and how do they behave? F.
Scott Fitzgerald talks about how writers are a whole bunch of people trying to
be one person. I have my extroverted side, my outgoing side, my observant side,
my crazy/funny side, and my I-need-solitude side.
7) Describe yourself
using these letters Krysten (yes, like the game in grade-school) Can I say that
I have the most unfortunate letters in my name for this game! Haha!
K: kooky R: reflective
Y:yearning S: sensitive T:thankful E: enthusiastic
N: nostalgic
8) Favorite Drink
(non-alcoholic for Kidtales) I pretty much just drink Evian all day. I used to
love soda though.
9) Do you like to
cook---if so what kinds of food...if not-what do you like to eat? I used to
cook all the time when I lived overseas and sort of got bored with it. Now I do
on occasion. I usually make pasta dishes—something with lots of fresh tomatoes
(my fave) and olive oil. I actually have had recipes published, but lately I
have so much going on that I don’t have the time. I used to bake a lot, but my
husband had to stay fit for work, so I stopped. I sure do miss lemon cakes
though!
10) What is something
unique about you?
I once lived on an
island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and I have been making up stories
since before preschool.
11) A genie granted
you 3 wishes...what are they?
Health and healing for
my family and friends, the ability to do what I love for the rest of my life, and
to be able to create my own TV show.
12) What is your
favorite quote in life? "Just don't give up trying to do what you really
want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go
wrong."--Ella Fitzgerald
13) If you could tell your
childhood self some advice for the future-what would that be?
Not to worry so much
about what people think or say about you. Don’t make yourself small to fit in.
14) If you had to give advice to children out there wanting to
become an author, aspiring to get their books published... what would that
be?
**Don’t put the pressure on yourself to get published because
you will miss out on the amazing journey and joy of creating the story. Once
you put your focus on the business side, the creative part of you has to
compete with that and you really take the joy and sensitivity out of your work.
The goal should be to write the best story you can and take it from there.
15) Favorite book? Good-bye,
Glamour Girl by Erika Tamar
16) If you had to recommend a classics reading list what would it contain?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, War and Peace by Leo
Tolstoy, Persuasion by Jane Austen
17) What are your go-to children's books to share with
families? Judy Blume’s Just as Long
as We’re Together is a favorite of mine. And for younger kids you can’t
beat, “The Monster at the End of This Book” with Grover from Sesame Street.
We hope you enjoyed our blog feature!
And even more so-we hope you pick up Krysten's incredible book.
And that you check out all the other wonderful reads she has written!
