Interview with Author Kari Trumbo and a Giveaway!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I’m so excited to introduce you to Kari Trumbo! Kari and I cross paths regularly inside the Christian writer community, and I’m thrilled that she agreed to be a guest on my blog. She’s giving away a signed paperback of her latest release, so make sure you read on to see how you can enter to win!

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Hello everyone! I am Kari Trumbo, a writer of sweet Christian stories, with swoony heroes and heartfelt romance. I’ve mostly written historical westerns, but I’ve been writing a few contemporary stories lately.

Tell us about your current release: My newest release is for Christmas, Better Than First, Olympic Hopefuls book 1. Better Than First is like Hallmark Christmas Movie meets Touched By an Angel. Isla Flores has been a paraplegic her whole life and she needs to earn her place in the Paralympic games. When her best friend and coach, Duncan Schmitz challenges her to make a twelve item bucket list to complete before Christmas, she’s not only forced to see life off the track differently, but her coach, too.

Do you feel pressured to compromise your standards in order to reach a larger audience or be more successful? No. In fact, I’ve got many friends who write to market and sell a lot more books than I do. I write the stories the Lord has placed on my heart. I figure there is a reason for that. Each story much touch someone.

With all those characters in your head screaming to get out how do you write fast enough to get it all down? For the last two years, I’ve released almost one book a month. While I’m proud of the accomplishment, I’m tired. I still have daily writing goals, and a schedule, but sometimes it’s hard to ignore a story that wants to be written out of schedule order.

What is your preferred method of writing? (computer, pen & paper, etc.): I love the computer, because I tend to write very quickly in first draft. I write it like it “looks” in my head. On my second pass, I add in emotion and senses, deepen everything.

Sometimes, when I’m distracted by pain or I’m outside I’ll just grab a notebook and start writing, but I have neuropathy in my fingers from twelve years of spinal issues, so I can’t write more than a couple pages at a time, whereas I can write most of a chapter in one hour if I’m typing.

How did you make the initial step into writing your first novel. What were some of your major roadblocks and how did you overcome them? I didn’t tell anyone when I first started. I had an idea (and that book has never and probably will never be published) and I wrote it in the span of one month. It was awful, but that didn’t matter, I’d done it. I told my closest writing friend and she challenged me to write another one for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) the following month. I took up the challenge and wrote my first published book the following month. That was probably what got me started writing fast. Two books in two months to start is a big task and pretty much broke any notions I’d had about what speed I “should” write.

I assume when you start a book, you pretty much have the plot laid out. Do you ever change your mind later on in the book, and go in a different direction? I’ll be honest. I don’t. I know the two characters and I might know a little of their history (if it’s a series and the character has been introduced before). But I have started a book literally with two names and nothing else. Now, I write romance so *spoiler alert* I do have some idea of the ending when I start, but I usually have no clue what is going to transpire in the story to get them there.

My absolute bestselling book, with over 11,000 copies sold, was written in just over two weeks. I knew the names of the two characters, but only that. The group I was writing with decided we’d release a book every three weeks, and I was up first. I had no choice. Sometimes it just comes.

Find Kari online:

Find Kari’s latest release online:

Kari is giving away an autographed paperback of Better Than First! Here’s how you can enter to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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11 comments

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  1. Thank you so much for having me on your blog today!

      • Alexa Verde on November 15, 2018 at 10:46
      • Reply

      Great interview!

    • Kimberly Werntz on November 14, 2018 at 14:32
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    That is so cool ! Writting a book is a big task to begin with and you have written one in two weeks, was that with editing? Thanks for sharing you experience.

    • Kimberly Werntz on November 14, 2018 at 14:39
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    Thank you Kari for sharing your writting experience. Its amazing that you can write so quickly ! God really gave you an amazing gift.

    • Paula Dye on November 14, 2018 at 16:51
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    Awesome post, book looks wonderful!

    • Julie Jobe on November 14, 2018 at 19:26
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    I LOVE the cover of this book! And the premise sounds great! I can’t wait to read it. It’s going on my TBR list!

    • MS Barb on November 14, 2018 at 22:16
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    I am challenged by the coach’s challenge for Isla to write down 12 bucket list items…hmmm…

  2. I am in LOVE with this cover! It looks like a wonderful read!

    • Alexa Verde on November 15, 2018 at 10:45
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    I loved this interview! It was great to know more about you, Kari. And the cover for Better Than First is absolutely fabulous.

    • Vivian Furbay on November 16, 2018 at 08:00
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    Sounds like a sweet romance. I enjoyed watching some of the parolympics.

    • Phronsie on November 16, 2018 at 23:01
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    I am currently doing NaNoWriMo! I feel like my writing sucks, but like you said, just getting it done is a huge accomplishment. I’m “behind”, but it’s about getting something on paper. Any tips for us first-timers?

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