A few months ago, I wrote a post about my favorite YA books set in New York City. On that list: the Kiki Strike series, by Kirsten Miller. So imagine how thrilled I was when Kirsten found the blog and commented! Since then, not only has she become a reader of our blog, but she also agreed to be interviewed for Verbal Pyrotechnics Issue #2. 

Here’s a teaser of what Miller, who’s also the author of The Eternal Ones and its sequel, the just-released All You Desire, had to say in our interview: 

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VP: On your website, you refer to yourself as an “author of bizarre young adult fiction.” Did you read “bizarre fiction” as a teen? What drew you to that category?

KM: [When I was a teen], we didn’t have the vast YA literature world that exists today. There were great books and fantastic writers, but just not as many of them. I kind of read everything that I could get my hands on, and very quickly branched out into the stranger parts of the library. I spent most of my childhood reading about ghosts and aliens and mythology. I read a lot of Stephen King. 

VP: Were there any books in particular that captured you? 

KM: The book that I read more times than anything else as a kid was Half Magic, by Edward Eager. It’s about four kids who find a magic coin, but it only grants half a wish at a time. You have to be very careful what you wish for and have to calculate to get what you need. The thing I loved about it—and still do—is that the kids were kind of horrible little creatures! The oldest kid was very sullen and serious, much like I was as a kid; the others were naughty. It was a very real depiction of what kids are like. A lot of the other stuff I read at the time felt like I was getting a moral, whereas there was a playfulness in Eager’s writing that I didn’t find anywhere else. I’ve got the book here and can’t wait to read it to my daughter, when she’s old enough! But it’s well worth reading as an adult, too. 

VP: When did you start writing? And when did you know writing was “it”? 

KM: I always wrote little stories. A couple of years ago, my parents moved to a smaller house, and they sent me a number of boxes of stories I’d written in first and second grade. The stories were all about aliens and ghosts, which is when I came to the realization that my interests hadn’t really changed much! So I always wrote, but never intended to do it professionally. Around 2003/2004, I sat down with an idea for the first Kiki Strike book. I didn’t think I had it in me to write anything longer than 20 or 30 pages, but I got so into it that I just kept writing and writing! I think you become a writer when you actually manage to finish something, and that was the first thing I finished. 

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Want to learn more about Kirsten’s love of ghost stories, her path to publication and what’s next for her? Keep an eye out for Verbal Pyrotechnics Issue #2, coming your direction this fall. We’ve also got new fiction, nonfiction and poetry from an array of up-and-coming writers, and we can’t wait to share it with you! 

But that’s not all! We’re planning a special contest for you, our wonderful blog readers. Check back soon for details on how you can win a copy of one of Kirsten’s books (generously donated by the author herself)!  

Happy Reading, 

~Kathryn