Episode 42: Kathleen West, author of Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes and Are We There Yet?

Kathleen West, author of Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes and Are We There Yet?

Key Topics: The inspiration for her second novel Are We There Yet? book recommendations, how sometimes it takes writing 250,000 words to get to 90,000, the origin of her book’s title and writing advice.

Interview Notes:

Kathleen’s debut last year, MINOR DRAMAS AND OTHER CATASTROPHES was received with great acclaim and was chosen as a best books pick by Real Simple, Newsweek, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and the New York Post.

In this interview we chat about her second novel ARE WE THERE YET? hits the stores, and we chat about her inspiration, editing and how it feels like it sometimes it takes 250,000 words to get to 90,000!

She has some great book recommendations including a middle grade novel by another Minnesota writer- AHMED AZIZ’S EPIC YEAR by Nina Hamza.

THE CHICKEN SISTERS by KJ Dell’Antonia, which Kathleen loved because of the book not only delivering on its premise  but a deep and emotional sister story; a two in one.

Her writing advice is to focus on the things you can control, and the truly that is putting words on the page. Give yourself time to write the story you want to write and try to keep your eyes on your own paper, versus comparing to others. Also be nice; being kind and cultivating relationships is important.  

Lastly, we chat about how the book ended up with its cool title ARE WE THERE YET?