An Interview with Colin Kersey

Growing up near a reservation in Washington State inspired Colin Kersey to write stories about fairness, underdogs, and spirituality. His first novel, Soul Catcher, featured a legendary, vengeance-seeking Native American spirit wind. His second, Swimming with the Angels, explored themes of loss, betrayal, and the search for an Eden. It won Finalist Awards in the National Indie Excellence Awards and the American Fiction Awards.

In addition to degrees from the University of Washington and Western Washington University, Colin studied with best-selling mystery writer Elizabeth George and earned a certificate in Novel Writing from Stanford University. He now lives on the Southern California coast with his wife, Vicki.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Charley Grace is a fourteen-year-old orphan from China whose family sent her to live undercover with an aunt in Mexico before being arrested for unauthorized DNA editing. Her genetic composition is rumored on the dark web to hold the secrets for eliminating disease and maybe even extending life. Using their vast resources, Chinese MSS agents eventually find her and murder the aunt trying to protect her. Charley manages to escape, fleeing north.

For the title and name of the main character, I borrowed the name of a dear friend and neighbor’s lovely daughter. It rang true to me as a name that someone under intense threat might use to hide the miraculous secrets hidden within their precious child’s DNA.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

Holding a book you’ve written in your hands for the first time is almost like holding your child for the first time. Miraculous.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

Making a living was always my first priority. My passion, however, was writing. Over the years, I joined several novel writing groups in Seattle and Orange County, California. A class taught by best-selling mystery author Elizabeth George (A Great Deliverance) led to her inviting me to Fictionaires, Orange County’s largest and oldest professional organization for fiction writers, and later to her own private workshop group. I also hosted a group that included novelist Jo-Ann Mapson (Blue Rodeo) in our home called Camp Pine Writers for its location on Pine Street in Huntington Beach, California, and the pine-paneled walls.

While writing my first novel, I learned about and applied to the Squaw Valley Writers Conference hosted by instructors from UCI’s renowned fiction writing department. My good fortune was in drawing a number that gave me the opportunity to read my first chapter in front of a packed residence of fellow writers hosted by author and educator James N. Frey (How to Write A Damn Good Novel). A standing ovation led to short-term notoriety and being followed around the next day by an agent. While I didn’t receive a contract, I did receive the much-needed confirmation that I was in fact a “writer” which was a huge confidence-builder for finishing and publishing my first novel, Soul Catcher.

By far the smartest thing I did to further my writing career was to research college online classes where I discovered the two-year Stanford Novel Writing Certificate Program. I found the encouragement and instruction by acclaimed authors like Caroline Leavitt (Pictures of You) to be invaluable in writing and publishing my second novel, Swimming with the Angels.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

Inspired by animals, their families, warfare, and their myths, the earliest humans told stories using cave paintings. Today, we have books, movies, TikTok, YouTube, Substack and a thousand other storytelling mediums. To these, you can also add advertising and branding. What best-selling novels, memorable ads, and successful companies all share is great stories.

I began writing ads while attending classes at the University of Washington when my professor, the vice chairman of a large West Coast agency, hired me as an intern. The first ads I wrote professionally were for a large international hotel chain. Since then, I’ve written hundreds of ads, videos, commercials, brochures, press releases, web pages and emails for companies large and small and, in the process, won numerous awards.

Over the years, I learned how to tell a good story in broadcast, print, various electronic media, and, in the process, traveled not only in the US, but in much of the world. But making ads didn’t fulfill me and I began writing stories in the office of clients while I waited to see them. My first novel, Soul Catcher, was written in fifteen minutes—fifteen minutes here, fifteen minutes there, etc., etc.

Learning to tell a story helped me succeed not only in advertising but eventually in writing novels.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

Writing a novel is such a long, difficult, and lonely journey. So, when someone tells you that they couldn’t put your book down, stayed up all night reading, can’t wait to read another, and consider it one of the best books they’ve read recently, it is incredibly fulfilling.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

My teenaged main character, Charley, is an accomplished pianist. She plays several pieces in the novel, depending upon her mood. Thematically, the most important of these was “Fantasia on a Themes of Scheherazade” for piano by Sergei Prokofiev.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

From hiking, fishing, river rafting, boating, and climbing Mt. Rainier, I learned to not only appreciate the stunning beauty of nature, but also its danger: the wind that could turn a sailboat outing into a desperate battle for survival, the whiteout that could obliterate a mountain trail, or the river that could seize and sweep a body out to sea. This led me to write thrillers.

I greatly admire authors like John Steinbeck, who can write pages about a desert tortoise making its slow but methodical way across the heat-baked earth, but my stories typically rush toward a conclusion, with words flying across the pages. I describe it as black panthers racing across a field of snow.

I write for readers who enjoy action and adventure, but who also seek romance and emotional depth. If I can touch you through imagery or emotions that resonate long after you finish reading, I have accomplished my goal.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

Since my stories are typically inspired by events in the news, I am finding no lack of compelling ideas popping up from current world headlines.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

I was very blessed to work with such a large and capable team. I wish I could name them all! Especially amazing were Dr. Kyle McCord, acquisitions, Mario Major, development editor, Matthew Fielder, cover designer, Niraj Mistry, website designer, Mia Coombs, publicity, and Rachel Ezrin, social media. Publishing today, like all media, is governed by forces that are a reflection of demographics (fewer people reading) and current cultural trends (i.e., politics). Finding a home for your writing with a major publisher can be difficult—even impossible. Which is why I find independent, hybrid publishers like Atmosphere Press to be essential.

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