Thriller author Krista Wagner joins me today
to talk about her spiritual dramatic thriller, Intent.
Bio:
Krista Wagner is a
70's product who lives in Southern California with her supportive Marine Corp
veteran husband, three entertaining and very bright children, a suitcase of
stories begging to be finished, and an indispensable faith in Christ. She
graduated from National University with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Since
2008, she has been an English Instructor. Her debut novel, Intent, was
completed during a 2013 summer road trip, Rian Field, a psychological
thriller, was released January 2016 and The Gold, a middle-grade
fantasy, released Summer 2016, and her YA realistic issue-driven novel, indigo,
released December 2016. Krista enjoys suspenseful films, reading the Bible, and
spending time with her family.
Welcome,
Krista. Please tell us about your current release.
Trying to deal with
small town life and feeling that she has no real purpose, Raylee Johnson finds
a new source of confidence when her former high school crush returns to town.
When she begins to feel better about the direction her life is going, Raylee is
thrust into a maze of doubt, uncertainty, murder, and deceit where the only
thing she does know for sure is that her life is engulfed in lies.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have always enjoyed
the suspense genre and so the story fell into that kind of atmosphere. At some
point, we all experience doubt and deception and sometimes a loss of faith, so
these elements helped laid the foundation for Raylee's story.
Excerpt
from Intent:
Thunder vibrated
against the building and the rain was coming down more urgently. She whipped
her head toward the window as if expecting something to come through it.
She had been uneasy during thunderstorms
since she was a little girl. Her grandmother used to try to soothe her by
taking her out to her front porch and sitting next to her as they watched the
lightning. They would count "one-one thousand, two-one thousand," and
they usually got to five-one thousand before the thunder rolled again. But it
was when they didn’t get past two that Raylee would get edgy. She hadn't liked
the thought that any moment lightning might zap her. It reminded her of her
fear of death in the way that it was so unpredictable, and she didn’t like
surprises.
Raylee shuddered and
hurried toward the back of the restaurant to the office. She passed a young
couple entangled in each other’s arms. “Everyone has someone but me,” she
whispered as she walked faster.
What exciting story are you working on
next?
A sequel to my
middle-grade fantasy, THE GOLD, entitled THE FOREST. The protagonist is the
bully from THE GOLD, so we get his story and see how the magical forest changes
his life. I am also planning to publish a short story anthology.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I was seven years old. This is when I began to write short stories,
plays, and songs.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day
like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to
write?
I do write every
week. I am also an English professor. The best time I find to write is at
night, when the kiddies are asleep.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
My characters tell me where to go in the story and they surprise me
with how they grow!
As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up?
An actress, then an
author. I did perform in many plays, but I never seriously pursued that route.
I did have many short stories and poems published, but it wasn't until 2013
when I earned my MFA in Creative Writing that I became serious about publishing
novels.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Writing and reading is medicine for the soul.
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment