Meet Katie Keridan

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Keridan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

From the choices I’ve made during the most difficult times of my life. From challenges. From hardships. From failures. From disappointment and heartbreak. From finding myself in situations where no one came to save me, where no portal magically appeared and offered me an escape to a safer, kinder, more accepting world.

Sometimes I think my life is completely normal and the things I’ve gone through are things everyone has faced at one point or another. But inevitably there always comes a moment when I’m telling someone something about my childhood, adolescence, or early adult life and they give me “the look” – their eyes widen, a muscle in their cheek twitches, they take a really long drink of water, or they clench they jaw, really wishing I’d shared something different.

And that’s okay. I’m not like everyone else. I’m neurodivergent, highly sensitive to smells and sounds, and introverted in a world that has doesn’t understand me and just wishes I could be different in the right way, wishes I could be like everyone else.

I don’t know that I agree with the old adage, “Everything happens for a reason.” I do know that you can choose how you respond to what happens to you. It may not feel that way; there have been so many days when I kept going purely because I didn’t feel like I had a choice. And maybe that was a coping mechanism at the time, to keep me from curling up on the floor in a fetal position and giving up. But looking back, it’s clear I always had a choice in how I responded to the trauma I experienced, and I chose to keep going because I believed—I hoped—that by moving forward, trying again, keeping on, there was at least the possibility that something good could happen. By taking that next breath or step, I at the very least opened the door to the possibility of change. If I stayed where I was, I knew where I would end up…right where I left myself, where everything was terrible. If I kept going, however, at least there was a chance that things could change.

I’m not sure where this internal hope came from. Maybe it’s an aspect of my personality or something I saw modeled and unconsciously decided to emulate. Maybe it’s because I’ve always liked statistics and the idea of understanding chance and change, or maybe it’s because I’ve always rooted for the underdog. I want to see someone prevail, overcome, learn, and grow. So it’s possible that’s just the standard I hold myself to. I wish I hadn’t endured many of the things I have, but I love the person I’ve become because of, or in spite of, the things I’ve experienced.

Everyone wants to be resilient. But no one wants to endure what’s required in order to become resilient. Resiliency is very similar to a muscle…it only grows stronger when it meets resistance. Many days it’s a trait I wish I hadn’t had to develop, but I also can’t imagine who I would be without it.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’ve always loved stories and as a child, books were my escape. They allowed me to visit new places and meet new people and explore new ideas when I was too young to take myself anywhere. When I was little, I dreamed of one day becoming a writer, but I was also the first person in my family to go to college, so I wanted to choose something I viewed as a “real” profession (meaning it was respected by other people, provided a steady paycheck, and allowed me to make a difference in people’s lives). I became a pediatric neuropsychologist, and while I loved working with children and teens diagnosed with cancer, I also realized that I was ignoring my true passion for helping people in a different way—through stories. I slowly left behind the medical world, trading facts for the fantastical, and while it’s been a scary career transition, it’s also brought fulfillment in a way nothing else ever has.

I’ve written an award-winning young adult romantasy trilogy (The Felserpent Chronicles), and I’m so proud of how much I’ve learned and how far I’ve come as a writer. I write for readers who feel alone, different, or misunderstood, because that’s exactly how I’ve felt all my life. I write about surviving trauma, overcoming prejudice, choosing the person you want to be, the realities of navigating a romantic relationship, and creating the family of your choice. My characters face tough moral decisions, and death, grief, and loss will always play a prominent role in my stories. I love connecting with readers who see parts of themselves in my characters, and I love sharing my experiences in ways that hopefully benefit and heal others.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three most important skills that have served me well on my journey as an author are resilience, persistence, and boundaries. Being an author is incredibly difficult. You hear “no” far more often than you hear “yes.” My chosen career is unpredictable and governed by factors that are completely outside of my control; doing everything “right” is no guarantee of success. But what I do have control over is whether or not I choose to keep going. And I do. Because I’ve failed and hit rock bottom and overcome hardships, I know how to pick myself up when I fall and carry on. It hurts, but it’s not the end of the world (even though it may feel that way). I persist, I keep going, and I carefully guard my time, energy, and sanity by utilizing personal and professional boundaries as needed.

If you’re early in your author journey, realize that it is a journey. It’s not one stop, a clear line from Point A to Point B. It’s not instant fame and overnight success (although if you get these things, congratulations!). It’s a process that involves knowing what you want, what you’re willing to accept, what you define as “success,” and what you need in your life to help you get where you want to be. It will mean being careful about what you say “yes” and “no” to, and having a rewarding career also means separating your intrinsic worth from the books, the products, that you create.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I think it’s almost impossible not to feel overwhelmed these days! But, specific to being an author, I’ve learned a few things that help me feel less overwhelmed in my profession.

1) Get out in nature
For me, hiking, kayaking, or just sitting by a creek and watching birds are immensely helpful at reducing stress and grounding me in the present moment. I get overwhelmed when I think about the future too much, so going outdoors and touching tree bark, marveling at colorful leaves, or laughing at quacking ducks helps me be right where I am and not worry about what might happen later.

2) Use social media selectively
Social media is part of being an author these days, but I’m very selective about how I use it. In order to show up and post every day, I have to find things that are meaningful to me, whether it’s a funny Lord of the Rings or Star Trek meme, a photo of my cat being adorable, or something related to the writing life. I don’t post just to post, and while my accounts are very small, they’re also authentic, and that is much more important to me than follower numbers.

3) Connect with other writers
So many people view other writers as competition. I try to have the mindset that a rising tide lifts all ships. There are more than enough readers for everyone, and there are truly some things that only other writers will understand, which makes it wonderful to laugh or commiserate with them. Find a way to connect with other writers, whether through virtual or in-person events, workshops, classes, or retreats. I’m a faculty member at the Highlights Foundation, an incredible organization that doesn’t only provide the magazines you see in pediatric dentists’ or doctors’ offices but also offers writers a variety of ways to connect with others writing in your genre or age range. Connecting with other writers has brought me so much happiness, and I always learn something, grow in an unexpected way, or discover a new book to read.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katiekeridan.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiekeridan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiekeridan/
• Twitter: @KKeridan

Image Credits

N/A photos all taken by my husband or friends