Kristan Higgins

How did you become a writer?

By writing! I’d always been an avid reader but I’d never imagined being a writer. Then came the day when I thought, “Why not? I’ll give myself a couple of years and see what happens. If I sell a book, great! If not, I’ll bartend a few nights a week.” 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Michael Hauge is my best teacher. Stephen King has a way of creating a powerful emotional response, and I think I learned through reading. Elinor Lipman can say more in five words than most writers can say in five pages. Reading has always been my best teacher. I love me a good class or workshop, but there’s nothing like the finished product to show you how it’s done.

When and where do you write? 

I write in a small office with a big comfy chair over my neighbor’s garage. It’s a tiny apartment that I rent from her, and I filled it with pictures of my kids, books, and houseplants. When the weather is nice, I write on the front porch.

What are you working on now? 

I’m wrapping up a big book tour and working on novel #20.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Not really. I can always write something. It may be deleted the next day, but it’s like digging for gold. You have to shovel a lot of dirt to get to the good stuff. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Keep your head down and do your thing. Don’t listen to what’s popular or what’s selling. Just be true to what you want to write.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Read. Read, read, read.

Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of 18 novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. Her books have received dozens of awards and accolades, including starred reviews from Kirkus, The New York Journal of Books, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist. She is the three-time winner of the RITA Award and a five-time nominee for the Kirkus Prize for best work of fiction. Her books regularly appear on the lists for best novels of the year of many prestigious journals and review sites. The proud descendant of a butcher and a laundress, Kristan lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband, two entertaining and good-hearted children,a couple of frisky rescue dogs and an occasionally friendly cat.