I’d like to welcome author Kalee Boisvert back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.
Hardest thing about being a writer: Battling my own perfectionism enough to actually share my work. I have to remind myself that if I wait until something feels absolutely perfect, it may never leave my computer. At some point, I have to trust that it’s ready, let it go, and know that perfection was never really the goal anyway.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with ideas. They tend to find me everywhere, usually when I’m doing something completely unrelated to writing. The real trick is remembering to write them down before they disappear.
Things you need for your writing sessions: A laptop, a little quiet, and several beverage options. It might be the ADHD in me, but I like to have a hot drink, a cold drink, and something fizzy all within reach. Apparently one beverage is simply not enough.
Things that hamper your writing: Having my email open, overthinking, and my little sidekick Jax suddenly needing something that, despite other capable humans being nearby, apparently only Mom can do.
Words that describe you: Curious, sensitive, creative, optimistic, a little unconventional, and an unapologetic french fry lover.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Impatient, perfectionistic, and easily distracted.
Last best thing you ate: Hand rolled sushi from a fabulous little sushi spot in Vancouver. So simple, so fresh, and so good.
Last thing you regret eating: The unlimited ice cream at the Museum of Ice Cream in Vegas. Turns out “unlimited” is less of an invitation and more of a warning once you’re over 40.
Things you’d walk a mile for: A crazy adventure with my kiddos and pretty much any ride at Disney. Disney is probably the only place where I can put in an outrageous number of steps and somehow not mind at all.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Most bugs. Although I’m really working on this fear. I’ve rescued several spiders and safely sent them back outside this summer, so I’m calling that progress.
Things you always put in your books: Heart and authenticity. Whether a story is silly, serious, or somewhere in between, I want there to be something real underneath it that readers can recognize in themselves.
Things you never put in your books: Anything that talks down to kids or tells them exactly what they’re supposed to take away from a story. I’d rather give them something to think about and let them decide what it means to them.
Things to say to an author: That something in their book made you think about something differently or stayed with you after you finished reading. I can’t imagine a better compliment than knowing something you created meant something to someone else.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Point out a typo immediately after they’ve finally convinced their perfectionist brain to stop editing and release the book into the world.
Favorite things to do: Travel and pretty much any adventure with my kids. They are genuinely two of the coolest and most fun people I know. I also love eating really good food and going to Disney, which is absolutely my happy place. I recommend Disney to people of literally every age. There is something about it that forces you to be present, have fun, and get excited about whatever is coming next.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Paperwork. Especially paperwork that has to be printed, filled out by hand, and returned with an original signature. Also returning things. I would almost always rather just keep the thing. And cutting up a full watermelon. I can’t explain it, but simply looking at one feels like a task I am not prepared to take on. I am deeply grateful to whoever decided pre-cut watermelon should exist.
Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I recently created a full rap song for my 12 year old daughter, completely unprompted. I was very committed to the concept.
A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: That same rap song. I somehow ended up performing it myself with her little brother as my backup dancer. She has officially passed on a career as a rapper, but she did thoroughly enjoy the song and our performance, so I’m still calling it a success.
Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: My daughter once told me she wanted to become a YouTube star and join all the kids making the big bucks, but she wasn’t sure she had any big talent to build a channel around. That conversation became the inspiration for Spectacularly Mediocre Maisey. It made me think about how most of us won’t be extraordinary at everything we try, and that was never supposed to be the point. We can do things simply because we enjoy them. We can be mediocre at something and have an absolutely spectacular time doing it.
Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Some readers might suspect that Bernice, the Busiest of Bees is based on my own tendency to be constantly doing something and struggling to just slow down. But Bernice is a bee, and I am not, so I think I disguised that one pretty well.
The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: New Kids on the Block. I was completely obsessed. I’m pretty sure knowing all the words and having a favorite New Kid was basically a requirement at the time.
A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Country. No offense to the country artists out there because I appreciate all forms of art. It’s just never been the soundtrack for me.
