By Cathy Miller

Born in Dover, N.J., Kristina Garlick grew up in Hackettstown and still calls it home. She attended Centenary University where she earned her bachelors degree in History and Global Affairs (political science). She later attended Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania for her Master’s in Parks and Management. Currently, she’s enrolled at West Chester University, studying public administration. As she begins work on her doctorate, she’s focused on Graduation 2022.

A writer since the age of 10, she is highly motivated by the adage, “Never give up on your dreams.” She recently posted, “(As a child) I would fill notebook after notebook with story ideas. My father did everything in his power to discourage me from picking up the pen. He thought it was lazy and childish to write books. I ignored him and persevered.”

“Technically I’ve written 28 books, but they aren’t all available in print. The first book I ever wrote was called Mystic Grove. No one will ever see that one! My first published work was The Moon, the Stars and the Night After. In 2001, at 14 years old, I submitted a sample chapter, received a contract, and signed it. It wasn’t released until March 31, 2003. With no promotion and no control over anything, I became disillusioned for a long time. I’d write book after book and not show anyone.”

In late 2012, things began to change. Kristina recalled, “I was at a book convention in New York City and was handed a card for a writing contest. I decided to enter Heart of Wonderland. I didn’t give it another thought until I heard back from the company a few months later and learned I took ninth place internationally! After that, I worked on self-publishing the book. It wasn’t easy. The cover was bad and self-editing wasn’t something I’d recommend for anyone. Nevertheless, I began selling at local festivals and doing conventions like Keystone Comic Con, Awesome Con, and Baltimore Comic Con.”

“Over time, the covers have improved and I’ve begun to work with a freelance editor. I write new books but also work on revising older stories. Once I finish my latest revision, I plan to pen something entirely new. The working title is I Was An Adult Junior Ranger. It’s going to be a coming-of-age comedy.”

At this point in her career, Kristina works with one or two publishing companies and has released Nevada Rain as her first audiobook, with plans for three more in the near future.

Her tomes all promise a “literary escape from everyday life” in the form of science fiction, fantasy, time travel, fairies, and zombies. Kristina has always written fantasy books, in one form or another. Her style of writing is unique, she refers to it as “diary-play format.” She explained, “The ‘play’ element means it’s easy to read and a nice escape. The ‘diary’ format is where the detail comes in.”

For the most part, Kristina authors young adult/new adult sci-fi/fantasy books. However, From Ashes to Books and Last Thing Forgotten (released this April 13) are adult sci-fi/fantasy. The Nature of Fame and Gossip is romance. “Pretty much I write whatever moves me,” she said. “If you force yourself to write within certain confines it hinders the creative process.”

After all these years and many publications, Kristina admitted, “My father and I still don’t talk about my books. That’s how we deal with it. I think he would be more accepting if I was on the New York Times Bestsellers List or something along those lines.”

Describing her ongoing self-promotion time crunch, Kristina explained, “For a while, I owned a soap-making business, worked full-time, and took care of my grandmother, so I couldn’t give my books the attention they needed to take off. Now, I’m working on my doctorate, so it’s kind of the same thing. Honestly, it is very difficult to reach any level of success on your own unless you can dedicate a lot of hours to promoting your work.”

Kristina has self-published all of her books. Smiling, she stated, “Big publishers don’t want to work with unknowns.” For those looking to break into the world of self-publishing, she offered two pieces of advice: “Beware of scammers AND copyright your work!” 

Kristina adores traveling as a means of expanding her horizons. She said, “It’s great meeting the locals and trying new foods. My friend, Michelle Nagy, and I love going to wineries together.” She also enjoys photography and attending rock concerts. Although Covid has put a damper on many such things, she disclosed, “I always have my head in the clouds thinking about what I’m going to write next.”

With her splendidly diverse background, Kristina declared she loves learning and admitted she doesn’t care what she’s doing as long as she’s happy. There are two things that make her very happy: working with children and helping people in any way she can. One of her passions is to promote literacy, while encouraging people to read.

Kristina is available for speaking engagements, events and consulting. Her books may be purchased through Amazon. 

Connect with Kristina Garlick on the world-wide web:

www.KristinaGarlick.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorKristinaGarlick
email: AuthorKristinaGarlick@yahoo.com