The difference between a reader who stays and one who moves on to the next book happens in seconds. The right first line can pull you in like an undertow, punch you in the gut, or whisper in your ear, hinting at irresistible secrets. Kate Christensen knows how to do just that.
An acclaimed novelist and seasoned writing instructor, Kate has spent her career crafting openings that demand attention. This October, she’s bringing that expertise to SPARKS FLY retreats with the Beautiful Beginnings workshop in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. We caught up with Kate to talk about the books that shaped her, the rituals that keep her writing, and her tips for writers.
SPARKS FLY: Kate, let’s start at the beginning. Was there a pivotal book that made you want to be a writer?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: There are too many to count, starting in childhood—Fletcher and Zenobia, The Secret Garden, Jane Eyre. As soon as I knew there was such a thing as a story, I wanted to write them. Maybe the first “grown-up” novel was W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. I first read it when I was thirteen. It blew my young mind that a book could be so dark, mordant, atmospheric, and enthrallingly true. It drove me almost crazy how much I wanted to do that. I think that’s the novel that set me on my course as a writer. I always knew I wanted to be a novelist, but that book told me what kind of books I wanted to write.
SPARKS FLY: Once you knew you wanted to be a writer, how did you navigate the early years? Did you always know where you were headed, or were there some unexpected turns?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: I grew up in California and Arizona, graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1986, got my MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1989, and moved to New York City at the age of twenty-seven. For the next decade, all through my late twenties and early thirties, I was poor and struggling. I wrote in the mornings before work and on the weekends. I worked as an office temp, a publishing editorial assistant, a personal assistant and ghostwriter, a teacher of English as a Second Language, a Wall Street legal secretary, and a receptionist and English teacher at a private school. I finally became a full-time writer at thirty-seven, in 1999, when I published my first novel, In the Drink, and I’ve been a full-time writer ever since.
SPARKS FLY: That must have been quite a shift in your life, too.
KATE CHRISTENSEN: I lived in New York for twenty years and New England for ten. In recent years, I’ve come back to the Southwest. I live in Taos with my husband and our two rescue mutts, and I think this is where I’ll be for a long, long time.
SPARKS FLY: What does your process look like on a day-to-day basis?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: Disciplined and loose at the same time. I’m pretty much always working. I don’t have a set schedule. I write all day, propped against many pillows in bed, doing online word puzzles, answering emails, and playing computer bridge to refresh my brain along the way. I often dictate whole scenes in emails to myself on my phone, in the bathtub or on hikes with my dogs. When I’m not actively writing, I’m thinking, taking notes, reading, and planning the next project. One book flows into the next, sometimes overlapping. For example, I just published my first detective novel (The Arizona Triangle), my first YA novel comes out next fall (The Sacred and the Divine), I just sold a new literary novel to my editor (Good Company), and I’m working on the second detective novel in the series (Saguaro City). And as soon as that’s done, I want to write the next book in the YA trilogy, and I have another literary novel brewing in my imagination.
SPARKS FLY: That’s a lot of creative energy! How do you stay motivated?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: Writing is the singular passion of my existence, and I never get tired of it.
SPARKS FLY: Many aspiring writers struggle with it. What do you think are the biggest traps for them?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: Waiting for the muse to strike, and feeling that crushing pressure to be great.
SPARKS FLY: If you had just one piece of advice to help them push past those struggles, what would it be?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: It’s actually two pieces of advice: write every day, or as close to it as you can. Even if you just rummage through your work in progress, move a sentence here, change a word, write a few lines of dialogue, make some notes—that all counts. If you neglect your work for too long, it hardens and dries up and gets mad at you. It’s like a Tamagotchi pet. Keep it alive, warm, and friendly. And two, don’t try to be Great. Don’t burden yourself with the anxiety of influence. No one is watching. Make it fun. Find your real voice, the things you really want to write about. Write every day, and give yourself permission to have fun. That’s the best advice I know.
SPARKS FLY: Workshops are also a great way for writers to grow their craft. In your experience, what makes a writing workshop truly valuable?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: Community, first and foremost. A teacher can only impart so much, I hate to admit. The truly valuable thing about being in a group of writers is the other writers. Writing is a lonely, solitary pursuit. The more company you have in it, the better. It’s great to share manuscripts with trusted peers whose work and feedback you respect. It’s great to sit at a table drinking coffee or beer with other writers, commiserating and encouraging each other.
SPARKS FLY: You have led quite a few workshops yourself…
KATE CHRISTENSEN: I’ve taught fiction primarily at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, twice as a visiting professor (2013 and 2023), as well as a summer workshop (2024). I’ve taught short (from one day to a semester) fiction and memoir workshops at various retreats, universities, and literary festivals: the University of Miami, SOMOS in New Mexico, Harvard University, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maine Farmington, Colby College, Stonecoast, The Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, the Birds and Muses Retreat, and more.
SPARKS FLY: And soon, you’ll be teaching at SPARKS FLY. What can participants expect from your workshop?
KATE CHRISTENSEN: Beautiful Beginnings is all about crafting openings that pull the reader in—whether it’s a novel, a memoir, or a short story. We’ll explore the power of first sentences, first paragraphs, and first pages, working together to make sure each participant’s beginning is as compelling as possible.
SPARKS FLY: Sounds fantastic. We can’t wait to see you in Lunenburg this October!
Join Kate Christensen for Beautiful Beginnings, a creative writing workshop focused on crafting powerful openings, from October 14 to 19 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
