Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Christenson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2nd grade, my teacher, Miss Lewis, told me I was a gifted writer. Even after I moved out of her class and on to 3rd grade, she gave me a notebook and pen and encouraged me to keep writing, to bring my stories back to her. She read them and made encouraging notes on them. She instilled in me a confidence that has never left me, and it paved the way for a fulfilling career in writing. It began with writing for school newspapers, entering short story contests, and pursuing print and broadcast journalism in college.
After I graduated, I worked as a publicist and audiobook narrator for a publisher, then as an associate editor for Utah Valley Magazine. Writing has always been a form of powerful therapy for me since the time my mom gifted me my first journal at five years old. It was also the time I gained a new step-dad and step-siblings. Journaling can decrease stress, ease symptoms of depression and anxiety, and serve as a way to process traumatic experiences. My friends know me as the girl who is always pushing journaling as the answer to their emotional problems.
I had the opportunity to start a journaling company with a couple of friends. It started with a parent-child connection journal called the Loom Journal, which we launched successfully on Kickstarter. After releasing one for couples, we merged with Promptly Journals, where I continue to create journals. It’s been deeply fulfilling to take something I’ve been passionate about my whole life and build a business around it. I love thinking of the adults and children using our journals and finding more peace and strength through them.
Now, I’ve turned my sights on writing novels. Fiction is not easy–you have to make stuff up and hope it resonates with today’s picky readers. (I’m one of them!) I’m pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing in 2023, which will help me better write the kinds of stories I love to read. I share those favorite books with my online community of like-minded book nerds, Talk Wordy to Me. I also teach kids creative writing classes in my community and am launching an online creative writing course for kids in October!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Growing up in a blended family of fifteen siblings wasn’t always a smooth road. But it taught me resilience, and it made me latch on to writing as a way to get a word in amidst the chaos. No one can interrupt you when you’re writing! Unless that is, you have kids. I have three and sneaking in writing time over the years, especially when they were really young and sleep and sanity were hard to come by, but I always felt better and was more present, fulfilled mom when I carved out precious time for it.
Starting a business and merging ours with another one definitely came with its challenges, but again, they made me more resilient and taught me how to do better next time. They prepared me for future challenges and helped me find more gratitude for the times when the going isn’t so tough. Life is all about those ebbs and flows, the dips and the peaks. I’m just learning to enjoy the ride.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My first novel, The Place Between, was based on an experience I had visiting the Cotswolds in rural England. There are all these tiny, ancient villages, and when I stepped into a particular one, I felt like I’d traveled through time. I wanted to capture the magic I felt there, so I wrote a dual-timeline story about a woman from America, Tessa, who visits this small village in order to tear down an old manor and build a 5-star hotel in its place.
But when she learns she has personal connections to the place through her ancestry, she wants to save the manor, not destroy it. I also follow the story of Tessa’s ancestor, Arabella, who worked as a maid in the manor two hundred years before. Both of the stories have romance in them because that makes reading more fun.
My second novel, How to Charm a Bookworm, is a rom-com about Nell, an introverted, bookish woman who works in a charming used bookstore in New England. The shop is starting to go under, and Nell’s boss decides it’s a good idea to bring in a sock salesman to amp up the store’s offerings. But Nell thinks tacky socks will break the spell of her precious bookstore, and it turns out the “solopreneur” is Nell’s old flame. They butt heads over the best way to save the bookstore and try not to fall back in love along the way.
I’m working on finding an agent to represent me for these books so they can see the light of day! Getting published isn’t a quick or easy road, but I’m hopeful I’ll get there someday. In the meantime, I’m launching an online creative writing course for kids in October. I can’t wait!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The Covid-19 crisis caused me (and many others) to assess my life and what really matters to me and let go of the rest. For me, that included re-calibrating some relationships, habits, and ways of showing up in my community and spirituality.
It also taught me how to practice differentiation. People I love have different views than I do on religion, politics, and health, which can cause friction and lead to some heated discussions, but I’m learning how valuable and vital it is to surround myself with people who have different views than I do and still find love, acceptance, and common ground between us. That’s ultimately what brings peace to our lives and the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.talkingwordy.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/talkwordytome_
Image Credits
Kelli Haub Photography
