An Interview with Kelli Kassoff

Kelli Kassoff is a writer of prose and poetry. Diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, her writing is based on moments in her life and firsthand experiences. She pushes the parameters of mediocrity, aiming to bend the rules of writing. She creates visceral images that readers can feel. Kelli lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband JK, three children + three bonus children, and Fred the Dachshund. When she is not writing or reading, she is spending her time outside in the sunshine (or the rain) with Fred.

Kelli’s poem “Devour” has been featured in WILDSound and her first collection of poems is set for publication in early 2025.

Learn more at kellikassoff.com or on Instagram: @author.kellikassoff.

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

Emotions, all of them. My life holds some pretty memorable experiences, some terrific, some horrendous and within those moments, all of those feelings needed a release.

I began writing a long time ago, but I would say that within the last five years my writing has become my “profession.” With the encouragement of my therapist Jill and my precious husband JK, I decided to pour myself into my writing career and see where it would take me.

I am a voracious reader, of all genres, but typically am drawn to stories that have very a powerful emotional theme or books that explore oddities (like The History of the Wine, Gathering Moss, or Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them).

I love feelings, deeply trenched feelings…and I love weird, anything that sits outside of the box and boundaries of what is considered normal.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

My childhood was pretty rough and exhausting – but that is for my second book (one day!)

For this book, my first marriage and the divorce of my ex-husband. We married young, had children young, and it seemed to be pieced together with half-truths and this unauthentic facade.

At the time, we both only knew that as a “healthy relationship,” yet it crumbled with all the fractures, taking years to fully dissolve into nothingness. Within those years, this veil of truth was pulled, and I finally saw him and our marriage for what it exactly was.

My first marriage was traumatic, the divorce shredded me into a million pieces, and the healing became my poems. People hate vulnerability and mine was on public display for the years I was going through my divorce.

Regret is something I do not live with, I’ve embraced all my moments and decisions and I think those are reflected throughout my poems and stories.

I credit my husband JK for guiding me through moments post-divorce and encouraging me to take up the mindset of living a full life, wholly embraced by my decisions. The man is a genius and I am always in awe of him. I have mountains of unpublished love poems, all for him, about him… Haha, poor guy. I am totally obsessed with him.

Describe your dream book cover.

I think about this a lot. Since I have just started my publishing journey, I have been paying particularly close attention to other book covers when I am in bookstores. I want something that is authentic and beautifully created. Yet, I also want something that is simple and powerful. Whatever I land on, I know it will be perfect.

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

I worked in private equity and finance, before becoming a full-time mom. I have a lot of degrees under my belt, all related to finance and economics. I hated finance, but do love economics. PE work never fulfilled me, and with the way my brain works, I am too much of a creative and a dreamer for that type of work.

I have no formal training in creative writing, which has been an obstacle in my writing journey – but I don’t allow it to stop me! I’ve thought about applying for an MFA program, but with all our kids and the logistics of a big family, I am not sure I would be able to commit to the time requirements. So, I just write and keep my fingers crossed 🙂

Fun fact about me – I absolutely detest grapefruit; beautiful, but horrendous. I buy them for my husband, he loves them and without fail when I put them into the grocery cart, I stare them down like they are these deceitful balls of grossness. No thank you.

Another fun fact – I was diagnosed with OCD years ago. I manage it well, with ERP therapy. My subsets are contamination, safety, and Pure-O (which is harder to diagnose). Pure-O is constant mental obsessions and compulsions. Basically I can sit and obsess about obsessing, then question what I am obsessing about. A giant loop of thought. I credit the way my brain works with helping me feel things that maybe others block out. OCD and words are my superpower.

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

Oh man, I read a lot, anything I can get my hands on.

A little odd, but The Lost City of Z (A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon) by David Grann I found delightful. The obsessive desire of humans and human grit, I find fascinating. The rawness of what drives a human to madness over something others find so trivial is deliciously thought-provoking for me.

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

I want readers to dig a little deeper into their feelings, expose the rawness a little. We live in a world of strained perfection with social media, politics, corporate ladders, etc. I feel like society is losing its grip on authenticity. We rarely stop to feel and when we do, we hide it, bury it, suffocate it. We are a species bred by emotions. When readers digest my poems, I want the spaces between the words to give them just enough room to take a breath.

I want someone to sit back and think, “Holy shit, that was intense.”

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.