An Interview With Author Kristy Cambron

Everything is new when you become an author for the first time. It’s as if you’ve had this momentum driving you toward publication and when you reach it, there’s this an entirely new world that opens up.

How long were you writing before your first publication?

I spent fifteen years as a professional writer and speaker before my debut novel was published in 2014. The years spent as a corporate trainer, instructional designer, and communications consultant for a Fortune-100 Company helped me gain experience that I hope will make me a better fiction writer. As for pursuing publication? That journey began in 2011 when I pitched my work at the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference and signed with an agent about a month later. It was almost two years down the road before I signed my first contract with my publisher. The Butterfly and the Violin was the first book I’ve had published, but it was the ninth full-length manuscript I’d written.

Have you published any of your early works since?

I haven’t, mainly because I feel called to write historical novels, and I actually started out writing contemporary fiction. Interestingly enough, those early manuscripts always had some sort of vintage inspiration or a tie-back to history (such as Jane Austen’s England as the back-drop). I decided to give historical fiction a try after that and felt at home almost immediately. As for publishing those earlier works – who knows what the future could bring?

Do you ever read your dialog aloud to see how it sounds?

Absolutely! You’ve probably heard that writers have their quirks. Well, one of mine is that I have a “reading” voice. That is, I regularly read my manuscripts aloud – only with a British accent. (I know, I know. #majorwriterquirk) But it works for me.

What aspect of being a writer is the most challenging for you?
I think it’s feeling brand new at something all over again that holds the biggest challenge. There’s a certain amount of vulnerability that accompanies stepping out of your comfort zone. I’d been in my corporate career for quite a while, so I was used to traveling and speaking for that role. To enter a brand new industry – even if it is for your dream job – brings a measure of uncertainty with it. You have to be okay with living in a “fail fast” environment for a while, and try to learn as you go.

What steps have you taken to overcome this hurdle?

The best advice I can give aspiring authors about overcoming the rookie hurdle is to be teachable. I learned a tip from my time in Corporate America that has been indispensable in my first year as an author: develop your own “board of directors” to help guide you. Seek wise counsel from author friends, mentors and industry professionals who understand where you want to go. Rely on your agent, the sales, marketing and editorial teams at your publisher, and other authors who have experience in the industry. They’ll help you learn and will provide invaluable encouragement along the way.

If you’re a pantser, have you ever given plotting a try?

I am a self-professed hybrid writer. I’m mostly a pantser, as I love the unanticipated flow that a story can have when you’re free-form writing. But because I’ve spent so many years developing within the structure of curriculum design in a corporate setting, I storyboard through the editing process. I also map out my story timelines to stay consistent between novels. I guess that makes me a part-time plotter?

Do you prefer writing the initial draft, or do you enjoy the revision process more?
I enjoy both, but there’s a certain magic in meeting your characters and telling their story for the first time. I wrote The Butterfly and the Violin during the eight weeks I was on maternity leave with our youngest son. Because I was up late most nights to feed him his bottles and wanted to use all the writing time I could, I began typing those first chapters on my iPhone. With A Sparrow in Terezin, I was traveling for work so much that I had to write on my phone wherever I was – at the airport, in hotels late at night, even an elevator ride could turn out a few sentences. Both experiences of writing were on-the-go, but I loved finding out what the stories would become.

Kristy Cambron fancies life as a vintage-inspired storyteller. Her debut historical novel, The Butterfly and the Violin (Thomas Nelson, 2014), was named to Library Journal’s Best Books of 2014, Family Fiction’s Top Ten Novels of 2014, and received nominations for RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards Best Inspirational Novel of 2014 and the 2015 INSPY Awards for Best Debut Novel. Her second novel, A Sparrow in Terezin (Thomas Nelson, April 2015), was named Library Journal’s Reviews’ Pick of the Month (Christian Fiction, February 2015) and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews.

Kristy is an Art/Design Manager at TheGROVEstory.com and holds a degree in Art History from Indiana University. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a coconut mocha latte and a good Christian fiction read.



You can connect with Kristy at: Facebook: Kristy Cambron

Twitter: @KCambronAuthor | Instagram: kristycambron
Pinterest: KCambronAuthor | Web: KristyCambron.com | TheGROVEstory.com

Read More

Fail Like You Mean It! by Kristy Cambron

I fought against my slumping shoulders as I stood in the line at Panera Bread. I had a handful of change – dimes, nickels, and pennies – I’d swiped from the kids’ piggy banks, just to have enough to buy the pastries I needed.

It was the morning of the holiday party at my former office in the career I’d walked away from to focus on writing full time. I hadn’t anticipated that the day would come that I wouldn’t have enough money to buy a cup of coffee, let alone a box of breakfast goodies to share with old friends. I kept wanting to embrace authenticity. To get real and say, Yes! This is it – our new reality. Everything’s changed. I’m not that girl in a suit that I used to be. Dream chasing is hard, I’d been warned. But I never knew it could be like this. I thought I’d be gloriously happy to look through life with a new lens, not battling my pride as I stood in a bakery line. 

In truth, I felt like a failure.

It wasn’t about putting on a brave face that bothered me. I could do it. In some ways, I was a master at it. I’d been so afraid to fail in God’s calling to become a writer that running from His will had become a companion in my long corporate career. The possibility of failure was always right in front of me, blocking my view and holding me to a future I’d chased– not one that God was leading me to. So if I had to go to the office party and gloss over our struggles, I supposed I could find a smile before I walked in the room.

But that’s not what happened.

Instead, I sat in my car in the parking lot with a box of pastries in my lap, tears in my eyes, and prayers tumbling from my lips. I made a decision right there that if I was a failure, then I was going to be the best I could at it. I wouldn’t go down easily. I was going to get real and say, “This is my first attempt at something really BIG, and I’m scared out of my socks!” We were trusting everything to God like we never had and it felt both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. It was a whole new level of faith walking that we’d only heard about before.

I realized then that failure is not the enemy; regret is.

It’s like picking up a camera and looking at the world through its lens. You see things differently with new eyes. Priorities shift. Expectations topple. The potential of a new path is revealed and sometimes, it humbles you into submission.

That was the new me. I realized that if I didn’t step out and embrace the possibility of failure, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 NIV

Failure can be discouraging. Fear? Debilitating. Pain, pride and even regret… They can prove consuming. But it’s the strength from a loving, all-powerful, gracious, omnipresent, heart-healing, restoring, teaching, comforting, courage-infusing and victorious God that picks you up again! Joshua 1:9 is a constant reminder of why failure is a good thing – because He’s always there to fight on our side.

I went to the office party that morning and smiled because I really meant it. It didn’t change our circumstances or add coins to my pocket. But as I sat there eating my cherry danish, I couldn’t help but think how sweet that moment was. To get real. To be authentic with myself. To embrace the bumpy failure-laden road that leads to leaning solely on His grace.

Our road hasn’t been perfect since that day. I’ve tasted a bit of failure, but I’ve had incredible sweetness too. And maybe you’re weathering the storms of rejection in your own dreams. Perhaps failure and fear have a tight grip. If that’s you, I encourage you to pick up the camera. Look at your world through the lens of God and see how different failure is through His eyes. Yes, it shakes us to our core. But that’s what’s so amazing! He’s there, in the thick of everything, waiting to pick us up every time we fall.

Kristy Cambron fancies life as a vintage-inspired storyteller. Her debut historical novel, The Butterfly and the Violin (Thomas Nelson, 2014), was named to Library Journal’s Best Books of 2014, Family Fiction’s Top Ten Novels of 2014, and received nominations for RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards Best Inspirational Novel of 2014 and the 2015 INSPY Awards for Best Debut Novel. Her second novel, A Sparrow in Terezin (Thomas Nelson, April 2015), was named Library Journal’s Reviews’ Pick of the Month (Christian Fiction, February 2015) and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews.

Kristy is an Art/Design Manager at TheGROVEstory.com and holds a degree in Art History from Indiana University. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a coconut mocha latte and a good Christian fiction read.

You can connect with Kristy on Facebook: Kristy Cambron 

Twitter: @KCambronAuthor | Instagram: kristycambron
Pinterest: KCambronAuthor | Web: KristyCambron.com | TheGROVEstory.com

Read More