Kristi and her husband live in Eastern Wisconsin. She homeschooled their children until they entered college. At one point, three of their children were teenage boys and the youngest was a pre-teen girl. Along with a slight twitch, this gave her plenty of stories! She will probably not live long enough to write them all. Kristi works part time at the local public library. This does nothing to help her rein in her reading addiction.
She can be reached at kristiscorcio[at]gmail[dot]com
interview by Marcia Peterson
WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Q2 Creative Nonfiction essay competition! What prompted you to enter the contest?
Kristi: If I don't set tangible goals, I rarely get things accomplished. I actually made entering a WOW Writing competition one of my goals for 2019.
WOW: From the title of your essay, “He’ll Kill Us When He Wakes Up,” I wasn’t expecting to laugh. What inspired you to write this particular story?
Kristi: I hope that my stories encourage others to look at their lives in new ways and to realize that we all have unique stories to share. My brother Randy died of cancer four years after this accident happened. I hope that this story somehow honors our friendship.
WOW: You mentioned that you work part time at the local public library, and that it does nothing to help rein in your reading addiction (love that). What have you read lately that you can recommend?
Kristi: I just purchased Austin Kleon's new book "Keep Going." I already owned "Steal Like an Artist" and "Show Your Work." These books never fail to encourage and challenge me. I highly recommend them all.
WOW: I didn't know he had a new book out. I may have to add it to my collection.
Are you working on any writing projects right now? What’s next for you?
Kristi: I am working on a collection of essays. It took me ten years to write the story of my dad's accident, so I may need to pick up my pace a bit to get them all done. I guess I'll have to set some more tangible goals!
WOW: Yes, keep at it! Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Kristi. Before you go, can you share a favorite writing tip or piece of advice?
Kristi: Several years ago, I was in a writing class in a neighboring town. A woman read an essay about her family that was more like a historical document (lots of names, dates and geographic information) than a story. When she got done reading, she paused and began to tell us this very funny incident that had happened to one of her family members. We all laughed and shouted "THAT'S the story you should tell."
I am always trying to get to THAT story!
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For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.
3 comments:
Marcia--Thanks for doing this interview and for providing the link to Kristi's essay.
Kristi--Congratulations. I think you should set some more goals with shorter time frames. A book full of essays like this?
I'd definitely buy a copy.
Thank you very much for your encouraging words. I appreciate it!
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