I had decided to retire the literary Would You Rather series, but didn't want to stop interviews on the site all together. Instead, I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!
We are joined today by Kirstyn Petras. Kirstyn is a Brooklyn-based fiction writer but primarily identifies as caffeine in a
human suit held together by hair spray and sheer force of will. She has been
published in Punk Noir, Hoosier Noir, Alien
Buddha Press, City Lights Theatre Company, and A Thin Slice of
Anxiety. Her debut novel, The Next Witness, was released
in May 2022 by Cinnabar Moth Publishing. When not writing, she trains
contortion and aerial hoop. She is
also the co-host of Dark Waters, a literary podcast exploring all that is dark,
dreary, and wonderfully twisted. You can find her on Twitter and check out her work on
her linktr.ee
Why do you write?
Because it’s impossible not to. It’s
not a question of write or not write, it’s always, since I was a kid, been a
question of writing what. I was
always scribbling in notebooks when I was younger, starting to write stories
and abandoning them halfway through. There have always been ideas brewing in
the back of my mind, waiting for me to put pen to paper and let them loose.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
I don’t do well sitting still, so I’m
constantly working on different things. I train aerial hoop and contortion,
bake and experiment with new recipes, read new thrillers/horrors, and work on
my podcast Dark Waters (a literary podcast focusing on dark fiction), among
other things.
What’s your kryptonite as a writer?
I’m not very diligent in my writing. I
don’t sit down to write every day. If I have an idea of where the story is
going to go next, that’s when I’ll start to go, and then I can crank out a few
thousand words at a time. Otherwise? The document may sit untouched for quite a
while. I really need that moment of inspiration to get started. I’ve talked to
so many authors that really are able to wake up and write every day at a
specific time or have daily word count goals that they’re able to meet, and I
really admire that.
Describe your book poorly.
In the words of a dear friend who offered this suggestion when I was struggling with cover letters; “Read it because it’s bloody and shit.”
If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?
Well, I don’t think Melody would have
any desire to talk to me. Derek would probably half-heartedly through a punch
at me, to which I’d just kind of shrug and say “Listen, everyone warned you.”
Covington…..I think I’d bypass any of his concerns and make sure Jordan was
getting some semblance of therapy.
What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?
Authors would be Don DeLillo, Chuck
Palahniuk, and Joe Hill - for books I’d add The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, City of
Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, Sadie by
Courtney Summers, and After the Lights Go
Out by John Vercher.
What are you currently reading?
I’m always reading multiple books at a time, right now it’s The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay and Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee.
What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?
There are so many, but I’ll try to
limit it to these 3. “Resist change at your own peril,” and, “at some point in a woman’s life,
she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time. After that, she is free to
become whoever she truly is,” are two of my favorite quotes from City of Girls. But I also have to give a
lot of credit to a piece of dialogue in Island
by Aldous Huxley. It’s too long to put it all here, so readers should
definitely look it up in full but it starts:
“It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do
everything lightly…Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.”
Which literary invention do you wish was real and why?
The babel fish. I know google headphones are getting close, but. I would really like a babel fish.
What are your bookish pet peeves?
When a character orders “a whiskey” or “a scotch” says something like, “Give me a beer,” at a bar. As a former bartender this really bugs me - what beer? What whiskey? There’s no way a bartender just knows what to give you, without at least a follow-up of “House whiskey okay?” or something similar. It’s one of those smaller aspects that I know doesn’t bother everyone but really pulls me out of the scene.
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Alexander Covington is hunting
a traitor: Melody Karsh, a missing girl accused of treason, a Party member who
has forsaken her country. But, letters are appearing in mailboxes, being
slipped beneath doors, and in the pockets of passersby. “Free Melody” is being
spray painted on walls. Her image – cold, shivering, pathetic – has captured
the public’s attention and sympathy.
Melody has no idea that
her name is being used to start a movement, not until the executions of those
demanding her freedom start airing on television.
Derek Lin would feel
sympathy, if he didn’t blame Melody for the deaths of those who have
disappeared without a trace, caught up in the investigation to find her.
Melody must choose to
join the fight or stand aside. Derek will become a leader or break under the pressure.
Alexander will decide how many bodies must fall to save his own life.
buy a copy here
https://cinnabarmoth.com/the-next-witness-kirstyn-petras/
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