We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Powner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.
Katie, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
As a writer, keeping my creativity alive is very important. There are many ways it can be done, but I’ve found there are three main ways that work for me.
The first way is to read lots of books. Stephen King has said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” I agree with him. Reading, especially reading widely, is a great way to refill the creative well. It’s also a great way to exercise your imagination.
The second way is to spend time in the great outdoors. The wonder and glory of Creation never fails to inspire me, especially if I take the time to focus on something specific. A tree, for example. It’s easy to look at a tree and think, “Oh, cool tree,” but it takes much more time to study it. Observe it from different angles, in different light. Draw closer and notice the detail of each leaf, the pattern and texture of the bark. The creatures making the tree their home. The longer you look, the more there is to see.
The third way is to get out and live life. The more people you meet, the more conversations you have, the more new places you visit, the more your creativity will soar.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve been a writer since I first learned to hold a crayon, but I only started writing in novel form about eleven years ago. Since then, I have written twelve novels and recently started number thirteen. Five have been published. Two more are under contract. I write contemporary fiction about redemption, relationships, and finding the dirt road home. My stories focus on faith and family, grace and grit. They typically feature intergenerational relationships and small-town settings. Not always, but usually. They are not romance stories, partly because I am the most unromantic person on the planet.
My most recent book released in August 2025, and my next book releases in April 2026. Many people ask me, “Where do you find the time?” since I have three kids…sometimes more, since we are foster parents. I tell them I never find the time, I have to make it. I also have learned to be ready to write at any moment, because I never know when twenty minutes of downtime might come along, and I want to be able to take advantage of it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that have had an impact on my journey are self-discipline, purpose, and hope. Self-discipline has helped me complete one book per year on average for eleven years, even when life was chaotic and unpredictable. And purpose is the driving force behind the self-discipline. Without the purpose and goal of creating meaningful stories that make people think and point people toward truth, being disciplined about completing my work would be infinitely more difficult. Then hope is what keeps me moving forward. Writing is hard and there are setbacks and rejections and writing sessions that make you question whether you even know what a sentence is, but there’s always hope that the best is yet to come. That a “yes” or an opportunity or a brilliantly crafted sentence is on the horizon. That God will use even my failures to bring about something good. This keeps me from giving up.
Whenever I talk to someone who is just starting out as a writer, my advice to them is to give their story everything they’ve got, and then start another story. And then another. This is the only way to develop a disciplined writing routine, and the more stories they write, the more they will discover what their purpose for writing is. It’s not the same for everyone. And as far as developing hope, there’s nothing more hopeful than to open a new Word document and start a new story.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was indulge my reading habits. There was never a limit on how many books I could bring home from the library or how many hours I could spend reading. I would not be the writer I am now if I had not been encouraged to be the reader I was then.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katiepowner.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorkatiepowner/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkatiepowner
Image Credits
Milledge Studios
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
