JF Kristin - Author of "Rock Star's Girl"
J.F. Kristin is the author of Rock Star’s Girl
WQ=Wraith Queen
JFK=J.F. Kristin
WQ: What’s your favorite book?
JFK: My favorite book of all-time, for any genre, is Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. As a writer, the different levels of what is going on in that book leaves me inspired and in awe. If you saw my copy of Anil’s Ghost, you’d see flags on hundreds of pages, passages highlighted, and notes scribbled everywhere!
For chick lit, I have to say that even years later, I remain loyal to The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. It was one of the very first chick lit books I read, which led to me seeking out and enjoying more chick lit books.
WQ: What do you like most about being a woman?
JFK: The non-serious answer: I think in L.A., the fact that I don’t have to get a table and bottle service to go to a club if I want to! It can be a little more complicated for guys.
The serious answer: Probably the take on things, or so-called “woman’s perspective” from which we see things, or so I’m told. My editor for Rock Star’s Girl was a man, and one of the first comments I got back from him was that it was really eye-opening to see a woman’s perspective on dating while reading my book. I’ve had similar comments from other men who have also read it.
WQ: What’s your idea of the perfect ‘girl’s nite’?
JFK: This depends on if my friends and I are in a “staying-in” mood or in a “night-on-the-town” mood. My favorite girls’ nights have been with my best friend, having popcorn and wine and watching funny or cheesy movies or reality shows, and just talking about anything and everything for hours. If it’s a “night-on-the-town” girls’ night, dinner at a favorite restaurant followed by a great comedy show is always really fun.
WQ: What are your guilty pleasures?
JFK: Frozen yogurt, Dairy Milk chocolate, and a recent addiction to the show Million Dollar Decorators. Which I guess makes eating frozen yogurt or Dairy Milk chocolate while watching Million Dollar Decorators a doubly-guilty pleasure?
WQ: What’s your favorite word and why?
JFK: For years, my favorite made-up word has been “revidescent.” I didn’t make it up. It comes from the song “Tangerine” by a band called Moist, who were big in Canada in the 1990s. It’s just a beautiful word, and I really loved that song when it was released. And actually, I think the singer from that band used the word again a few years later in a song on one of his solo albums. It should be a word.
My favorite real word is “syzygy,” because really, who doesn’t love a word that uses the letter “y” for every second letter?
WQ: What was your inspiration for the theme of this book?
JFK: Something that happened a while ago while spending time with a friend who was in a fairly popular band left me thinking about all that can come with fame. While we were hanging out one afternoon, I remember he was on his computer reading through posts on a message board about his band to see what people were saying about him and his bandmates that day. It was strange to see fame from that angle, even second-hand. After that, I started thinking about what it would be like to know that complete strangers spend time discussing you, your life, who you’re involved with, and even what clothes you happened to be wearing one day.
There are people who will argue that if your career is in the spotlight, then this comes with the territory. I tend to argue on the side of privacy. Thinking about this raised another question, though: What if through no career choice of your own, you suddenly found your life on display for the world? By writing Rock Star’s Girl, I got to explore that angle.
WQ: Who did you base the characters Emily and Jesse on? What about Cory?
JFK: I’ve been asked this question a few times lately. It’s kind of funny because people who have known me for years also know that I’ve dated a few musicians and have a number of musician friends, and I think there’s a tendency for them to try and associate Jesse and Cory with some of those people. Emily, Jesse, and Cory are each very much their own characters though, and aren’t portrayals of anyone I know. That’s not to say that I haven’t taken observations on different people I’ve encountered or been friends with or dated over the years, and worked traits, behaviors, and motivations into the characters. It’s those aspects of the characters that help bring them to life and make them real for the reader. I will say that Jesse was inspired by the rare times I’ve met or formerly had friendships with someone who has shown in different ways that they would basically sell their soul and the souls of their loved ones to achieve success and fame in their chosen career. These are the people who place the most value on those who can help them achieve that goal in some way, rather than on those who genuinely care about them and their success and happiness.
Thankfully, though, the number of people I’ve met who fit that description is very few. And having said that, I think it’s only fair to say that I adore and have nothing but respect for all of my friends who are musicians or who are part of the entertainment industry. Many of them have been very supportive of this book, and I appreciate that more than I can say.
WQ: What parts of Emily did you base on yourself, and how are you two different?
JFK: Emily’s experience with web design, her writing ability, and her tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt for sometimes longer than is really warranted are things we have in common. Unlike Emily, though, I’ve never had my dating life end up in celebrity gossip columns, and my best friend has never once questioned the character or motivations of anyone I’ve dated. If I was Emily though, the book probably would have ended before her outing with Jesse in Santa Monica, because at this point in my life I would have stopped taking Jesse’s calls or answering his text messages before then.
WQ: What was your favourite part of this book to write and why?
JFK: My favorite part of the book to write was the dinner scene at Koi with Emily and Jesse. Even though it’s very early into the story, it wasn’t written first. Partway through writing the first draft of the book, the scene and their banter just came to me, line after line like I was watching them have dinner instead of writing the scene, and it was a lot of fun to write. It’s where a lot of the initial character establishment for both Emily and Jesse occurs, too.
WQ: What part of novel writing do you like as oppose to the other types of writing you do?
JFK: I like that novel writing lets me create an entire world in which to engage other people. That world and those characters didn’t exist before they took shape in my mind and I started writing, and now they’re out there for other people to hopefully enjoy. The best part of novel writing for me happens after hitting 30,000 or so words in the first draft. That’s when things really seem to take shape, and more scenes that I didn’t even envision when I started come to mind. The other types of writing I do are very different, being non-fiction. That writing all has its basis in journalism, product development, and even marketing in some cases. It’s a completely different style and frame of mind, and geared to a very specific audience.
WQ: What one piece of advice would you give women who want to chase their own dreams the way you did?
JFK: Take the time to get to know yourself for who you are and what you want in life, apart from anyone else in relation to you or what anyone else feels your dreams should be. Most importantly, believe that you can achieve absolutely anything you want to. Then surround yourself with the loved ones and friends who are what Noah St. John, author of The Secret Code of Success, calls “loving mirrors.” These are the people who will see you for the potential that you have and what you can be, and who will support you and cheer you on as you achieve your dreams.
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
Samantha
Great interview!
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