SUITE: What part of you shows through in your writing? What does your writing say about you?
KRIS: I always say that Tracy is my inner adolescent, and there's no question that she cuts a wide swath through me. Hers is the voice I hear in my head. But all of my beliefs, my passions, my irritations -- they all come out in my writing. But I can't say what my writing says about me. I'm too close to it -- that's for others to decide.
SUITE: Where do you get your character names?
KRIS: I use what I assume are the same sources as other writers -- baby name books, phone books, etc. But I've also set up my own name notebook. When I go to the theater or a concert, I rip out the pages from the program that list names and keep them in my notebook. Anything I come across with a lot of names, I put in the notebook. If I hear pages at the airport with interesting names, I write them the book; I'm very name-aware. But ultimately, at some point the right name just pops in my head. When it fits, I know it. A character doesn't really work until she has the right name. I can't say where the name Tracy Eaton came from, but I used to have a cat named Tracy. I've also recently completed a standalone with a character named Zoe Morgan, and I also used to have a cat named Morgan. Hmmm...maybe there's a connection there.
SUITE: What about writing is important to you?
KRIS: I guess that I get to create worlds in which justice, in its most important sense, will always be served.
SUITE: Advice to unpublished writers?
KRIS: Be true to your own vision. Don't try to imitate a successful writer, because the world already has the original version of that person and doesn't need a copy. I'd also like to encourage newer writers to explore alternative routes to publication. Not everyone can secure a dynamite deal from one of the big New York houses. The alternate routes I've followed -- magazine nonfiction, short mystery fiction and small press novel publication -- have really worked for me. And lastly, to be persistent. For every overnight sensation, there are thousands of writers who take years to secure their first real break. But while I strongly believe in the necessity of persistence, dogged
