Q&A with Kari Holloway

Kari Holloway is the author of the new novel Cracked But Never Broken, and its forthcoming sequel, Behind the Lens. She is based in Georgia.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your series, and did you know you'd write more than one book about these characters from the beginning?

A: In July of 2015, I saw an ad on Facebook for a contest. I didn’t plan on entering, but I was bored. The first book, Cracked But Never Broken, originally stopped at Chapter 5, but it called to me. I’d find myself writing after the kids went to bed. In the Mistwood kitchen scene, I realized the story wasn’t going to end the way I had thought.

From there, I have written Behind the Lens, a continuation novel with Lexi at the helm, and various short stories covering different things from around the Laughing P.

Q: You wrote the first book from Damien's perspective and the second book from Lexi's. What was it like to shift from one character to the other, and to write from a male perspective vs. a female perspective?

A: Most of my stories have male perspectives. Sometimes, writing as a male main character is easier because we can chalk up their traits as just being a guy, but if we do that to a female main character, there is a lot of backlash about losing their femininity.

Behind the Lens had its own problems, between being two POVs and a different plot line from the final version with only Lexi’s POV.

Q: Your characters Damien and Darien are twins. Why did you decide on that, and what do you think it adds to the story?

A: Identical twins are used often, but what about fraternal twins? Twins may share a birthday, and sometimes looks, but they aren’t carbon copies of each other. It’s a family trait in the Laughing P family that will lend its quirkiness to other story lines.

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?

A: Kim Harrison, Brent Weeks, John Flanagan.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I was working on two Devil’s Playground stories, but then a fantasy story has taken over. I’m not sure what will be the next thing published, but it isn’t from lack of ideas. ;)

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Laughing P is perception. No two stories are going to match as clearly as if I clung to a calendar. Damien thinks Lexi doesn’t like chocolate, but through Lexi or Darien’s eyes, she loves it.

Those little differences are important. As people, we don’t know everything, even about people we have known since we were little kids. 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb