Interview with Kerstin Lindquist, Author of Where’s My Crown for Acting Like Everything is Fine: Royally Surviving Life’s Waiting Periods
At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?
When I was a news anchor at ABC I went on maternity leave twice in the span of six months. I started writing as a means of sharing with my viewers why this was happening, and it turned out my honesty about infertility touched a nerve with so many women who were facing the same struggles. This eventually became my first book “5 Months Apart: A Story of Infertility, Faith, and Grace.”
What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book?
I always write it down! I have lists and folders and beginnings of essays and articles and books all over the place.
Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project?
I’m pretty disciplined in finishing the task at hand. I respect and crush deadlines. But I never ignore a shiny squirrel that runs across my computer. I build time into my life to document every idea.
Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?
In the beginning its very organic. My ideas really lead. Once I have a solid concept of where these crazy thoughts are going, I do an outline like a boss and beef up each bullet and chapter.
What are some books or authors that you would recommend to our readers?
I read for both escape and education. Currently I devour anything by Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Weiner, Emily Griffin, Elizabeth Gilbert & I can’t stop talking about Sea Wife by Amity Gage go read that now! For education I love Max Lugavere because he makes hard wellness ideas easy. Also, Dr David Perlmutter. Shauna Neiquist is my spiritual guru and straddling the line between education and escape; I loved and respected Jessica Simpsons memoir.
Tell us what you enjoy most about writing.
You know that’s hard… hmmm…finishing. Ha! The feeling of completion is very rewarding. When I can go back and read what I wrote weeks, months, years later and be moved to tears or learn something again, that’s huge. I write the books I need to read in order to learn and become a better person. Turns out I’m just like every other girl out there so it works.
What have you found to be most challenging about writing?
Not being able to stop!!!! I have a full-time job that I love. I have three kids and a husband I’m addicted to. I love beach vacations! Yet, I can’t seem to stop writing even though it is a huge commitment. What I write about is often emotional and it can really impact me. There are many times where I have known I needed to take a break and let myself rest a while but that’s really hard for me to do. The Lord keeps putting these ideas on my heart and I can’t ignore the Holy Spirit no matter how hard this writing life can be.
Describe your book in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it.
Tangible advice to thrive through all of life’s waiting periods.
Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
There are twenty-five chapters in this book and each one has a to do list at the end. I want every human who reads this to do the work. These are proven techniques to make life easier! If I could boil it down to one take away it’s that it’s okay to not be okay.
What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author?
I’m really good at taking criticism as a way to improve so I can better serve others. So, it’s not the criticism that’s tough, but the mean people. Bad reviews, people on social media who are cruel. I know these are the people that need my books the most but the personal attacks on me and my family can hurt. And the best compliment is easy; every woman who says my writing is like I’m talking just to them and that I’ve in turn helped them become closer to Jesus or make it through a tough season of life. Every time I write I remind myself; I don’t need to sell a million books (though wouldn’t that be a dream?) I just need to help one person. And I have, many times over, so that’s my best compliment.
Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give your younger self?
Just write. Stop the planning and questioning about what to do to get a book published or how it’s going to all play out. Just write the damn book kiddo!!!
To date, what is your favorite, or most difficult chapter you’ve ever written? Hardest question so far. Favorite chapter is probably in the middle of Crown – Remember. It walks the reader through a practice that helps bring gratitude to the front of fear and pain. Every time I read it; it helps me. Most difficult is from Five Months Apar – Long Nights Apart. It documents the lowest point of my life. When I hurt the most and what I am to this day most ashamed of. I can’t believe it’s in print for the world to see. But I also know that sharing your story helps others and that’s my purpose in life.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block?
Yes. And I give in. I stop and walk away, and I pray like crazy but also don’t put pressure on myself to be perfect. If it goes on for too long, I just start writing again. Anything! And I don’t consider every word so precious. I just get it out. So far, this has worked, and the right stories find me again. I’m not in control, l learned that a long time ago.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Other than a full-time job on TV, and three kids I’m currently part-time homeschooling, I make seeing water a priority. There is science in the stress relieving properties of horizons. And those are hard to see in front of a computer screen. My family spends at least one or two days a week at the bay or on our little boat and though I often write while I’m there, it’s a very happy, calming place. We are professional vacationers. Every free minute and extra dollar go to this traveling family. We even have an Instagram page dedicated to just gorgeous water views called “Sandeverywherefamily.”
Thanks for having me!! I super humbled.
Xoxo
Kerstin Lindquist
Title: Where’s My Crown for Acting Like Everything is Fine: Royally Surviving Life’s Waiting Periods
Author: by Kerstin Lindquist
Blurb: Making it through the tough waiting periods that string together, can leave us feeling anything but fabulous. But oh queen, you are!
Four-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and TV host Kerstin Linquist helps us break out of our most painful waiting rooms by delivering raw truth (When did making women friends become so hard?), attainable faith (For two excruciating, sweat-inducing minutes, I publicly prayed a prayer so disjointed I can’t even recreate the sounds, it was that bad), and real-life humor (My text read: “Just realized I’m naked in my kitchen making myself a martini”).
Through the pages, Kerstin shares her own stories with the honesty of your best friend. She explains what has worked for real, overwhelmed, under-supported women just like you, who are living through unbearable waits: unemployment, illness, infertility, death, even seasons of joylessness that seem to never end. You will learn how to manage all the little waits that come daily, the ones that make you feel like you’re missing out on your life. Where’s My Crown offers tangible advice and actionable steps for coping through each season, including:
Where’s My Crown considers that those waiting rooms of life that we so dread are full of gifts we’re just too frustrated to find. Maybe you aren’t getting out because there is something inside you’re meant to discover—a person, a place, a situation that will change your life, or theirs, for the better. You just need to take a break from trying so hard to find the door.
About the Author
