S5 EP239 | Krysten Lindsay Hager on Breaking Free of Expectations to Find Her Own Path

Hello My Happy People,

Today on Book Banter with Dianne Burckhardt, I share my chat  with award-winning author Krysten Lindsay Hager about her journey from journalism to becoming a published author and the experiences that helped shape the stories she writes today.

Krysten writes uplifting, PG-rated stories for young readers through New Adult audiences, with themes of self-esteem, friendship, finding your voice, and healthy relationships. We talked about why these themes matter to her, the books she enjoyed growing up, and why she loves writing supportive “cinnamon roll” characters.

Krysten also introduced us to When Stars Collide in the City, the third book in her Stars in the City series. We discussed influencer culture, maintaining a public image, and the pressures young people face to conform and fit in.

We also talked about Krysten’s own experiences growing up and how they eventually became part of what she wanted to accomplish through her fiction. She talked about spending years trying to fit in and learning that what makes someone different can also be what makes them special.

Krysten's Website

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Transcript

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Dianne Burckhardt 0:01

You are listening to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart, your Book Talk podcast. Join me every Wednesday for real conversations with authors and publishing insiders, where you get to connect with the humans behind the books you love. Let's get on with our show today. Well, hello, my happy people. Today is September 9th, 2026, and have I got a wonderful interview to share with you today. My guest is an author whose stories are all about growing up, finding your own voice, and figuring out where you belong in the world. She writes uplifting stories that are PG-rated coming-of-age stories centered on self-esteem, strong friendships, and healthy relationships. Her work spans from young adult and new adult fiction, and she has earned numerous honors, including readers' favorite awards and recognition from the Literary Classics Book Awards. In this interview, we discuss her writer journey from her beginnings in journalism to becoming a published author. We also talk about books she enjoyed reading growing up and how those early experiences influenced her as a writer. And of course, she gives a synopsis of her latest book, When Stars Collide in the City, the third book in her Stars in the City series. We talk about influencer culture and the pressures of maintaining a public image and how those pressures can affect young people today. But let's not waste any more time with my blather. But be sure to stick around to the very end because I do have a few announcements today. I am keeping it shorter than usual. You can thank me later for that. But for now, let's get right to today's interview. Please welcome to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart, award-winning author. Kristen Lindsay Hager. The way that I like to start these interviews out is to just ask my guests to please tell everyone who you are and what you do. Well, I'm so happy to be with you this morning.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

My name is Kristen Lindsey Hager, and I am a feel-good coming-of-age author. I love writing books that have hope and happily ever afters, and just kind of bringing a light and hope and kind of a fun escape where you get kind of into a cozy place and escape into a fun world with these characters that even if they're soap stars or pop stars or whatever they're doing, they still have relatable issues and deal with things like anxiety. And you can just escape for a little while into a fun, cozy little world.

Dianne Burckhardt 2:36

I know that you actually earned a bachelor's degree in English and your master's degree from the University of Michigan in Flint. What did you hope to do with your education after graduation?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Well, I always knew that I wanted to be a writer. And I was also focusing on journalism because my mom was like, I don't know about this writing thing. Nobody wants their kid to grow up and say that they want to be, you know, I want to be an actor, I want to be a writer. Nobody really wants to hear that. They want to hear lawyer, doctor, accountant, teacher. And so she was like, Well, I know, you know, you do see about this journalism thing and stuff. I mean, she was very supportive of the writing, but the whole thing, like with the English degree, it's like, oh, you're doubling down on the unemployment? Is that what you're doing with the English degree? And my dad was worried with the masters. He's like, You're gonna price yourself out of a job. But I kept thinking because the young adult writing, in particular, coming of age, and you adult, all that, that some of the topics that you deal with, and especially when I also have a middle grade series, some of the topics you deal with, it does help to have the masters behind you to give a little weight to it. And I was, I don't want to use the word super nerd, but I I loved colleges so much. I took extra English classes that weren't even towards my degree anymore, like I'd already taken all of them because I was learning so much. Oh, yeah. My dad was cool with that. He was like, okay, this is helping because it just helped my writing so much. And I always tell people like, even more than uh creative writing classes, because those, of course, are helpful, but taking a lot of English classes where you really go deeply into books and certain authors is so invaluable. Like I can't even express how that helped.

Dianne Burckhardt 4:27

You being someone who writes for young adults and middle grade readers, I'm always really curious what kind of books did you enjoy reading when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Oh my goodness, I loved reading so much. I mean, I just was obsessed. And I remember in fourth grade, I think every kid in the class wanted to be a writer, and they all grew out of it except for me. And I would be obsessed, like for years, I would go to the bookstore. At that time, it was uh B. Dalton in particular. I would go get all the series books, so it would be Babysitter's Club for the Younger Ones, Sweet Valley High. There were all these, and there was one series that was called The Fabulous Five. It wasn't spin-off of these Taffy Sinclair books, and I and I love this woman's writing, Betsy Haynes, and she wrote the Great Mom Swap swap, which I was obsessed with that book. And I ended up in an online group and she was in there.

Dianne Burckhardt 5:28

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

And I couldn't say anything, and I regret that because that woman, like, oh my gosh, she just inspired me so much. And I could not, I mean, I'm here behind, you know, a screen. All I could have said is, Oh, I love your work. I couldn't do it, I just absolutely could not do it. But I did get to meet Brancing Pascal, though, at a writing conference in New York City. She was the keynote speaker and she did one session. And I think because she was the keynote and there was a chance to go like meet other authors that were there. When she did her session at the end, people kind of cleared out after. And I went up and talked to her, and she let me hold and look through the Sweet Valley High Bible that she had created when she created the series, and it was on top of the paper, and so it was like yellowed and crinkly on the edges, and my hands were shaking. And I mean, I was a journalist, I've interviewed lots of well-known athletes and other people, politicians, celebrities. I've never had my voice break and waver in front of a person, and I did her because this was like my hero.

Dianne Burckhardt 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

I loved the St. Valley High books, but she had also written, she created that series, but she had written this other not as well-known series. It was called, I think, the Victoria trilogy. It's changed because my favorite book was called Hanging Out with Cece. Now it's titled My Mother Was Never a Kid. And that was like my favorite book. I found that book in the library in fourth grade. And it's a book about this 14-year-old who's getting in trouble at school a little bit, but she's more of just kind of like a fun, rebellious trouble. And she gets in trouble. She has to leave her cousin's house. She's on this train, and she smacks her head on while she's on the train. And when she gets out, nothing looks normal, everything looks strange. Well, she traveled back in time and she meets this girl, even more rebellious than her, and come to find out that was her mother as a kid. And I love I love that book so much. I've read it a million times. And so I got to tell her how much I love that book and her whole demeanor. She just saw it, it's like, I that's my favorite too. And so that was like my huge moment. Like some people, like, I got to meet Michael Jordan. I'm like, I got to meet Brancine and hold the Sweet Valley High Bible. I mean, I was just obsessed with those books.

Dianne Burckhardt 7:57

You had mentioned that you started out in journalism. What was it that actually prompted you to start writing your first book?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

I had been writing all the way along. I was the kid in class who, particularly math class, because I never enjoyed it or knew what was going on. I would take part of my notebook or another sheet of paper and slide it underneath, and I would be writing underneath while the teacher was talking. And when I was getting ready to graduate from high school, my mom was realizing I was still really serious about doing this. I was already got accepted too in college. And she's like, Okay, you know, if you're gonna try to pursue writing, you gotta show me you're serious. So she took me to a double day bookstore in Troy, Michigan, and she went to the creative, she had looked um somewhere and found of like a list of books that writers should read. And some of them were written like way, they're classics, but they were written way, way long ago. And she got this big pile of books, and I think she kind of tried to pick the ones that would be a little boring to see how serious I was about it. Yeah. And so she got this big pile of books, and she's like, okay, this summer is what you're doing, you know. And I was also taking a college prep class that summer, and then she signed me up for this uh writing conference, the Detroit Women Writers at Oakland University. And I was supposed to go with somebody, an adult that I'd never met before, someone she worked with at the office. She was in real estate, but the woman bailed last minute, and so I had to go by myself, and I wasn't familiar with this big university. And I also had a critique where they were gonna be reading some of my work. So it was very overwhelming. And I'm not gonna say I almost thought I was gonna throw up before my critique, but I realized at that point with those books and how I felt like I found my group, you know, doing this. I knew that even though I was gonna be doing the journalism, I was still gonna be pursuing the writing. And what I didn't realize with the journalism is how it went hand in hand because I loved the human interest pieces. I started out interning at a TV station in Detroit, and then they suggested that I try more, you know. So I went to another TV station after that, but I also went for my university paper, and I really loved the journalism side, getting to interview people, and the journalism side was more creative. I'm sorry, the print journalism side, I should say, was more creative. But I always enjoyed when I got to go and interview people in particular. So if I would be interviewing a professional athlete, I was instead of asking more about the game, wanting to know more like the motivation, how they got into the sport. And so my interviews would be a little bit different than other people's. I was trying to, you know, get more background information from them, find more of a story.

Dianne Burckhardt 10:49

The person behind the athlete.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Exactly. And there was an episode of The Simpsons where Marge goes to work for a newspaper and the editor is telling her like different things that you know she'd be doing. And at one point he kind of flippantly says, you know, chick crap. And I remember laughing because I, you know, the editors change over time, different people you work with. This one guy, he would get, you know, different story ideas that would get called in and he would, you know, be shuffling them around. And I was freelancing at the time, and I was, you know, still in school, I was still in college. And he would give me some of these, and all I would think of is he saw it and thought, oh chick crap, here, here you go, see what you can do with it. And I he gave me this one, and there really wasn't a story there. And I was talking to these two women that I had to interview, and I realized what the story was behind what they thought was the story. They thought the story was about how this one helped one person move into this community, but really the story was their backgrounds, their friendships. There was a big age difference, there was a cultural difference. And so that's what I went with. And so when I handed it in, he called me, he's like, You really found a story there. And he's like, You really did a great job with this. Like, and I could tell he was thinking, I didn't expect anything. He didn't say that, but I could read between the lines. He's like, Wow, that's really cool. And later on, one of the women in there, um, she passed away. And I had stayed in touch with her, and he told me, he's like, Why don't you write a piece on that? You know, on her passing. And so I got to write this tribute piece on this woman dying, and it was just amazing because of what you could see about these people's backgrounds. And one thing I learned is a lot of people think they have a story or something interesting about them, but usually what they think is interesting about their life is actually not the most interesting thing about them. There's usually something else that either they aren't as comfortable talking about or they just they're so used to it, they just kind of push it off. And that's what I really found that I love the interviewing. And then I realized that that was kind of going along with the storytelling.

Dianne Burckhardt 12:58

Well, and I think that whenever you add that kind of creativity and color to most news stories, if it's not like hard news where you're, you know, talking about the deficit and things like that. It does draw people in and make them care about the story and the people behind the story.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yes. And my dad always said it gave me a um uh a confidence too. And there, I mean, there were times when, because of the way that I approached things, I got interviews that most people wouldn't have said certain things in an interview, you know, like some of these professional athletes that gave very front office canned responses. And I had to interview a mayor that was notorious for dodging. He was at a Christmas party. I was covering this Christmas party, and I had started playing some of the games that they were playing with some of these kids there. And he came over and I introduced myself and I asked him if I could ask a few questions. And then I started off with like the fun softball ones. And I was able to from there go and he was willing to talk to me about some of the bigger type things, and it was done in such a way, and I remember people were really surprised because you know, he would kind of shut things down, but because he saw that I was, you know, engaging with these kids, playing this like little beanbag game, and then you know, I was not trying to hit him with hard questions in the beginning, but I was like, you know, would you be willing to talk about this? And he was, and I remember getting my first hard news interview on a front page from that one, and I was like blown away.

Dianne Burckhardt 14:29

Well, you put him at ease so that he knew that you weren't trying to get do gotcha journalism.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Yeah, yeah. And you know, it's interesting too because at the core of everything, everybody does have a story, and really it's a privilege if people will open up and share those things with you. Because everybody's history, there's a little bit of cringe, a little bit of even shame and things like that. And so sometimes if uh somebody is willing to listen to you, you will open up and sometimes you'll share a life lesson. And I just I always feel really privileged when people are willing to share something that they went through and something they learned from it, because then anybody that reads it, listens to it, finds it down the road, it might help them.

Dianne Burckhardt 15:16

Now you've intentionally built your career around writing uplifting, PG-rated coming of age stories. What made you decide to write stories for this audience?

SPEAKER_01 15:27

I've always loved those books. I think that there is a sense of possibility when you have your your future in front of you, but you're like a little further into it where you could be taking out a career or kind of like, you know how Nancy Drew, she's young, she's out of school, but she's still doing her, what did she call, amateur PI work type of thing detective? I always like that kind of thing where they, you know, they're they're still young, so they've got possibility and the future is open, but yet that you know, they they kind of know what they're gonna do after that. I just think that it's a fun time. I like the whole bridge where you're not a little kid anymore, but you're not quite an adult. So the oldest I've written is, you know, college freshmen. You know, and some of these characters, maybe they're soap operas, stars, or they're doing something like, you know, influencing modeling, they're an heiress, but they've got, you know, some kind of side job going on. So they're all, you know, dealing with some anxiety or something like that that they're going through, a big heartbreak. Some of them, if they're a little bit of a celebrity, it's you know, more publicized. And so I've always just loved that age group. And I think what's so much fun about it is it's one of the genres that people of all ages are actually reading.

Dianne Burckhardt 16:46

You know, and there's one of the character descriptions that you have used on your website that I'm really curious about. What exactly is a cinnamon roll character?

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Oh, I love that. Yes. Okay, so a cinnamon roll character is a usually it's the um a male love interest. And for my books, it always is a male love interest, who is not, you know, he might be a little bit of a bad boy, but he'd be a reformed bad boy. So a cinnamon roll character is the guy that supports you, it's more of a healthy relationship. Sometimes they call them golden retriever energies, although a cinnamon roll character is a little bit less energetic. That's how they kind of separate those two.

Dianne Burckhardt 17:28

So I've heard the golden retriever description before, but I had never heard cinnamon rolls. I was really curious about that one.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Well, somebody explained it. They said the best example is like Travis Kelsey supporting Taylor Swift's career.

Dianne Burckhardt 17:43

I love that. So now I think this is a perfect time for you to give us a synopsis for your book, When Stars Collide in the City.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Oh, I loved writing this book so much. So this book, these are interconnected series books. So you can read them separately. And in this particular one, we have this girl, Olivia McComb, and she's an heiress from the McComb family, you know, McComb Industries and everything. And so she grew up with all this attention. She's an influencer, and she's been dating this guy for years. And I found that with wealthy families, a lot of times they do date the same person. There's a safety in that. Well, this guy, you know, Jeff, her boyfriend, they start this little business together. It is the eve of their big launch of these lifestyle products. He dumps her. Her world is shattered. Everything was pretty much in his name in these contracts. So not only did she lose, you know, her person, their relationship, she thought down the road they were going to get married, you know, um, when they were older and everything. And everything is in his name. And she's a Macomb. She should know better. So her friends are trying to get her out in public because people are talking, because she's well known, she's an influencer, she's from this famous family. And so one of her friends from book two says, you know, my ex, the pop star Walker, he's willing to go on a fake date with you to get you out of the house so that people will stop talking about you crying over Jeff. Why don't you go on this date? So she goes with Walker. Walker is this attractive indie pop star, and she has an anxiety attack on the way to this event, and he walks her through it. She's embarrassed because they call him Mr. GQ. He's so good looking. And he walks her through this anxiety attack. They get to the party, she thinks she's gonna be okay. She falls into the pool when the uh new girlfriend of her ex approaches her. He gets in the pool. Walker gets in the pool, he helps her through this whole thing, and then something's going on with his press because of some of his heartbreak songs. So they wind up on this fake dating thing, but she's falling with real feelings for this guy. But he is her best friend's ex-boyfriend. There's girl code. She doesn't know if this hot pop star would even be interested in her. And it's just, it's so cute some of these scenes. She ends up having to be in his music video. And that is one of my favorite scenes in the whole book. It's so cute because they're doing these romantic, cutesy little scenes, and she's just so in love with this guy. And of course, it's a romance, and romance readers know it's a happily ever after, so I won't give any more away of this. But people met Walker in book two, in Falling for a Star in the City, and they weren't quite sure about him. And I did not know that some people wouldn't be quite as sure. And I get so many messages from readers, almost like all the time. I'll go on, you know, my messages on social media, and there'll be someone I don't know, and it'll be a message like, I am in love with Walker. Oh my gosh, what you did with Walker, you know, he was heartbroken and he was angry in book two, but in book three, and you don't have to even read book two to love book three, but I just love how we've seen this different side of him. He's gotten jaded by the pop star career. He's, you know, realizing that it all that glitters is not gold, and he's falling for Olivia too, but you don't know. You see he's showing up and he's the perfect boyfriend, but you don't know because it's a fake relationship, how much of that is real? Does he have the same feelings or are they just best friends?

Dianne Burckhardt 21:20

And I love it. Your series is called Stars in the City. The first one is titled also The Stars in the City. Then you have Falling for a Star in the City, and your latest release in this series is When Stars Collide in the City, correct?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Well, actually, since then, another book has come out, Wishing I'm a Star in the City. So you follow Olivia's Cousin in the next book with a hockey player. And I'm working on that, the fifth book now, too. And Stars in the City is an offshoot, a spin-off of the Cecily Taylor series, which was my normal girl next door gets to meet her favorite singer, songwriter, and they start dating. That's a three book series. And when I got to the end of that trilogy, I knew that I didn't couldn't. Not break Cecily and Andrew Holiday up one more time, but I love the world I created because now she's on the soap opera and she's got all these great people she's meeting. And I thought, I like this world, but I don't want to write another Cecily book. Like, because people really don't break them up. Please keep, you know, Cecily and Andrew Killies keep them together. And so I thought, okay, what about Valeria? Because we had met Valeria in a previous series, just through these girls in the star series, through these girls who watch the soap opera. And so that's why I put Valeria in the last Cecily book, Cecily and the City. And I thought, I could write Valeria's story. Because it didn't make sense to write her when she was a soap star because she was a little bit older than those girls and next door to a star and competing with a star. It didn't make sense to put her in that series. But I thought, well, okay, I can do a spin-off. And so it basically I took her and gave her her own second chance romance. So I was having fun with that. And I'm like, you know what? I have this other book I wrote that could go into this series. And so I just like love being able to take characters that you like and like bring them in. And like, okay, you meet this friend, okay, now she gets her own story. All right, you meet this cousin, now she gets her own story. And it's always interesting who I think is gonna get the next book is not who gets the next book. It's always like, yeah, it's gonna be this girl. And then I realize, oh no, the story is with this one. This one has a story. So there's several characters I've started writing, and I keep thinking, nope, it's not your time yet. Sorry. Next, next, next, I promise you're next. And then it's like, nope, nope, you're not next. Sorry. So I've got material for years.

Dianne Burckhardt 23:43

How many books do you think you have published at this time?

SPEAKER_01 23:46

14 published right now.

Dianne Burckhardt 23:50

And how long has it taken you to actually get to that point?

SPEAKER_01 23:54

I got my first publishing contract, end of 2013. But fortunately for me, all through college and grad school, I was writing. So when the first book came out, I think people thought, because the first book did really kind of take off. That was two colors. That was more of upper middle grade, so it kind of was a little bit between young adult. I think a lot of people thought it would be maybe a one-hit wonder, but they didn't realize that I had other books ready to go. And so I had book two ready to go and a separate book. So book two of that Land Use Two Colors series and another book that went with another publisher. So there wasn't necessarily where I had the expectations on my shoulders because I already had the books.

Dianne Burckhardt 24:40

Now seems like the perfect time to do our five quick questions. It never turn out to be quick, but I'm just too nosy to cut this bit. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Yes, because I'm nosy too. That's why I was a journalist. I love that I'm ready to go. I'm a huge fan of your show. So I love these, but I know I'm gonna freeze because the is on.

Dianne Burckhardt 25:00

See, well, the the thing is is I always pull this stuff from your social media. So it's stuff that you have, you know, published before.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah, you you give me too much credit that I'm gonna be able to have my brain work. Yeah, you give me too much credit on that because people will always say, What are you reading right now? And every book I'm reading will fly out of my head faster than you can imagine. It blows my hair back, and it's like, uh, I swear I read, and I can't remember the title, or people are like, What are you watching right now? And I'm like, I don't know, you know.

Dianne Burckhardt 25:30

I know there's a guy in a kilp in it. I don't know what it's called though. So here we have question one. What do you enjoy most about being a frequent guest host on the Michigan Avenue Media Podcast with Marcia Casper Cook?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Well, I am very Snoopy and nosy, and I love to know about people. So I love to be able to find out what people are interested in. And I love to find out too with writers, no matter what their genre is, what inspires them? Like what do they like to watch on TV? What is like their comfort show? What is their comfort movie? Things like that. Because you can it reveals, even if it's not the same genre, it reveals a lot about them and it kind of shows where they get inspiration from. So I just really like to find out what lights people up. And I like hearing about like people's creative process too.

Dianne Burckhardt 26:25

So now question two. You've said that you spent many years trying to be who the world told you you should be. Who do you think the world expected you to be? And what helped you to realize you didn't have to fit that mold?

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Well, I grew up in a country club like town. There were a lot of wealthy kids. It was a very preppy, like the entire town was sponsored by a Ralph Lauren catalog type thing. Yeah. I remember I went to school and this guy he used to roll up his pants. You could see the polo pony on his socks. We didn't have like an official uniform, but we had what they called a color code, which is a nice way of saying you can wear whatever you want as long as it's exactly this.

Dianne Burckhardt 27:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

And he wanted everyone to see the polo pony on his socks, and it would just blow my mind that somebody would spend that kind of money on socks. So, you know, I always felt like I was, I don't want to say too loud because I really would be very quiet because of the fact that I could tell there was something different. I couldn't put like words to it, but basically because I was, you know, a kind of a creative type of kid. And even the music and stuff that I was interested in was different. And when we would have what they would call color day, where we could wear whatever we want, it would be kind of obvious because my clothes would be like bright, colorful, or whatever. And we went to this art museum where we were doing this painting project. And I remember the artist that was helping us, we were painting kites. She said, Oh, not you. I'm gonna get you special paints. And everybody just kind of looked and I was like, Oh my gosh, I am too stupid to use regular beans. Like, oh my goodness, she can see there's something wrong with me. I don't know how to paint or whatever. And she came and she's like, You need special paints. And I was like, Oh my goodness, how embarrassing. And she comes out, she's like, and I was wearing, I remember this distinctively. It was a purple sweater, it's two different shades of purple. So it was striped, but one of the shades was very dark, and one was just like a regular purple. And I had all these friendship bracelets, all these bright colored bracelets like up my arm. And the way I had my hair too, I had it like pulled over at one side, hold held with this kind of cute barrette. And she said, You're a creative type, you need bright paint. And I remember some of the kids were kind of like bringing up later because we went to get ripped beer floats and hot dogs at AW afterwards, and they were kind of thrown off that I got special attention from that because I was not a good artist or anything. In fact, my kite was brightly colored, but it was kind of sloppy. And they were like, I was the only one that got special bright colored paint. And so right off the bat, you could tell something was a little different. And so I always felt like I had to fit on a certain mold. And so I would be very quiet in class. But people always thought maybe I was shy or something. I always knew that when I did speak up, that I was talking about things that were different. Like from the time I was little, I would be, you know, talking to my dad about what happened. Like we'd be in public and he'd have me in the stroller, and I was telling him what Erica Kane did on all my children. And people were looking, like, wow, she's really following that story. Like you realize your daughter's in a stroller and she's watching soap opera story. I was always a little different. So when I did kind of speak out, it was obvious that, you know, when other kids were into sports and doing like as my mother would call it, well, they're normal kids, you know, I had different interests. And so I kind of felt like I had to kind of go along with whatever everybody else likes. So if everyone was listening to this kind of band, I would buy that music. I would listen to that music, even though I still liked George Michael, even though, you know, that was like more of a kid thing that we were into. I was still listening to, you know, my George Michael stuff because he was my husband, you know, we got married young. I was a big team. Um, you know, so I always felt like I had to conform. And what's funny is when I moved back, we lived overseas for a while in Portugal. When we moved back, I didn't know to this town like what to expect. And I was going to be meeting this group of military spouses. And I thought, well, what do I wear? And so I thought, oh, well, you're always safe with something if it has a polo pony on it. So I showed up to this thing, how I would have, you know, dressed to fit in in my hometown. But that wasn't really me at all. And you know, when I started to get to know people and I felt comfortable showing my personality. And I thought, you know, how much wasted time? And I see kids doing that today. I see teenagers, even adults doing that today. And so, you know, I wish I could have had that kind of freedom back then, but I didn't feel comfortable.

Dianne Burckhardt 31:04

So now, question three. You once did a QA with Deborah Stout about miracles. Where do you find miracles in your own life?

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Oh, well, quite recently. I've always been somebody that turns to prayer first for everything. And I really do look for hope and miracles and everything. Like I think, especially now, everything is very heavy. The world is very heavy. Yeah. I mean, wildfires, there have been all these earthquakes. There's just so many scary things going on. I mean, right now we're dealing with something in the United States with the food supply where people are getting really, really sick from something. I think people need hope to get through dark days. And so for me, whenever something is very hard, I do pray. You know, most people would say, like, you know, go to Google it, figure out what's going on. But um, whenever something happens, you know, if I get hurt or somebody's going through something like that, and I'm constantly seeing stuff. I mean, I'm the one that prayer is always my fallback, and I do see so many miracles. I mean, I think a lot of times people look and say, oh, coincidence or blow things off, but they're really there.

Dianne Burckhardt 32:15

Well, you know, and I think especially when it is so bad, like it is, you have to look for those moments of joy to help you get through it. Because if it's so easy to focus on all the bad things, you have to look for the good sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Yeah, and so often when you're going through something, you have well-meaning friends, but they're realists, and they will say, Yeah, I know that you think, but let's be realistic here. That's not gonna happen that way. You know, we got to look at what what are your options? And you know, yeah, that's true, but if you don't have hope, it's gonna be so much harder to go through something.

Dianne Burckhardt 32:56

Oh, yeah. So now we have question four. Many of your young adult romances include sports as part of the story. What is your favorite sport to watch?

SPEAKER_01 33:09

Well, well, you know, I write a lot of hockey romance because I used to interview professional hockey players and I have some football stuff and even soccer stuff, but I actually I only have one basketball romance so far, although you do see the basketball players, but I like watching college, but in the finals, like the big tournament, the NCAA tournament, I like high stakes. So I probably don't really watch it during the rest of the year, only like when everybody's March Madness and everyone's freaking out about their bracket. I used to get really into the NBA finals. Now, a lot of my favorite players aren't playing anymore. Like I love Tim Duncan. I used to go watch, you know, I got to even see Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman play and Kim Alajwan, like all the big guys when they would come through Detroit, the dream team came through there and played there.

Dianne Burckhardt 34:00

So I got to watch all these big guys play and now for your last question, we're asking everybody the same question this year because we're making a list to go in our book banter magazine year-in book buying guide to help people with their holiday shopping. So, now in your opinion, what is the best book-to-movie adaptation you have seen so far?

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Can I have two, possibly three for this? Sure. Okay, well, my first one is The Great Gatsby, but it's the version where Mira Sorvino plays Daisy Buchanan, because a lot of the movies will show Daisy a little bit more one-dimensional, and Mira gives her a vulnerability, and there's just like you see more why Jay was willing to change his whole life for her. It's not just like, oh, she was this rich girl and I was being accepted. It's more, you see a little bit more what he was interested in her. She just plays Daisy with more vulnerability, and Paul Rudd is in the movie as well. It's also one of the adaptions, I think, is one of the closest to the book. I think F. Scott Fitzgerald would really like it. I also like one of the Anna Karininas, the one that Vivian Lee plays, Anna. I love Vivian Lee, and she acts with her eyes.

Dianne Burckhardt 35:17

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

I did like the Kira Knightley one too, because that also was a little bit more true to the book. Um, dealing with the kitty character and you know, love and things like that.

Dianne Burckhardt 35:27

So now, when do you think you're going to have your next book ready to go?

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Oh, I wish, I wish I would have a better idea on that because this one, oh my goodness. So it's it's a spin-off of you know the other characters, and I had trouble figuring out who she's gonna end up with. So I may need an extension on this one, so I don't dare give any sort of publication date because this one took me a little while because I my plan was I I'm not a plotter, I'm a pantser, but I need to know where the book is going a little bit. And I was like, okay, she's ending up with this person, but they'll she's gonna be friends with this one, and that is not where she wants to go. She has basically let it be known. But I wish she'd let me know a little bit sooner because I wrote a lot of the book with her thinking it's gonna be this other guy, so that's taken me some time, but you know, she she calls the shots in this one. I'm just holding the pen.

Dianne Burckhardt 36:27

I I've been there before where it's like I've had the whole story sit in my head, and then I started writing it, and the character's like, Yeah, your idea is so cute, but no, we're not doing that. We're gonna go over here.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

Exactly. She they've got a mind of their own.

Dianne Burckhardt 36:43

The thing is though, almost every author that I speak to on here, they say the same things. It's like the characters are telling me their story. I created the character, but they're telling me who they are and where they need to go. I mean, everybody talks about this.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Oh, yeah.

Dianne Burckhardt 37:04

Now, why don't you please remind our listeners who you are and where they can find your work?

SPEAKER_01 37:09

I'm Kristen Lindsay Hager, and I have a website. Kristen is with a why. So KristenLindsay.com, you can find all kinds of things on my website. I do a lot of author interviews and things on my blog and my books. You can find them on Amazon, my paperbacks, everywhere books are sold.

Dianne Burckhardt 37:28

And of course, as with everyone else, all of your information will be in the description of today's podcast, along with links so that people can just click and go and go buy your books, which I recommend they do today.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

And I want to have you on my blog to interview you because you are so much fun. And I've been talking to you so much. I'm I'm serious. If I had had you as a friend back then, my life would have been so different. Oh, yeah. People that know me now, that where I feel more comfortable being myself, don't see how I ever could have been the quiet kid, but I was afraid to call attention to myself.

Dianne Burckhardt 38:08

Yeah, I never had that problem.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

Yeah, yeah, I maybe back then. But you would have had to listen to a lot of George Michael and been into soap operas.

Dianne Burckhardt 38:16

Yeah, that would have been fine. And yeah, I used to watch all the soap operas. I watched them with my grandmother.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Oh, yeah, we would have gotten on. We would have had best friend Eichlessis. I may be ordering one for you now.

Dianne Burckhardt 38:28

I love it. So there you have it, folks. That was my interview with the incredible Kristen Lindsay Hager. I had so much fun talking to her. Even when I was doing the editing for this episode, I was still laughing so much at the things that we talked about. And these are the kind of interviews that just drive me crazy because we talked so much about so many great topics, but because of the time constraints of my platform, I have to cut so much out. And it just drives me crazy that you're not gonna get to hear it because it was amazing, all of it. Everything that we had to say was just so much fun. But I do promise you that I did save you all the best bits. There are so few interviews that make me laugh the way that this one did. I think if she and I had known each other in high school, I would have gotten her into a lot of trouble. I hope you enjoyed getting to know more about Kristen just as much as I did, including her writer journey and the experiences that shaped the stories that she writes today. Be sure to check out When Stars Collide in the City, the third book in her Stars in the City series, and visit KristenLindsay.com to learn more and see all of her books. She has so many amazing books available now, and more are coming. So be sure to follow her so you can keep up with everything that she's doing. Now, next week I'll be talking with Lucy Ashe, author of The Model Patient, a historical psychological thriller set in the 1960s London. We'll be talking about this unsettling story of a young model whose relationship with her psychoanalyst begins to cross boundaries, raising questions about power, trust, manipulation, and what happens when a relationship meant to heal begins to cause harm. And now for the Burkhart Books and Book Banter Productions news, do not forget to sign up for our newsletter at Burkhartbooks.com slash subscribe. This way you won't miss any updates as we get ready to publish the first book in our new Haunted Hearts Paranormal Romance series later this year. And if you're interested in merchandise from Burkhart Books and Book Banter Productions, be sure to check out our Zazzle store. We have been adding new merchandise every week with items for writers, readers, along with Burkhart Books and Bookband Productions merchandise. And so much more is coming. I plan on continuing this for as long as possible. And visiting our Zazzle store is a great way to support us because you can get something for you and support us at the same time. Well, I think that is more than enough for today, folks. So you know what that means. It's that time. It's time for you to go forth and be really happy that we have so many great authors to introduce you to. Thank you for joining us today. Be sure to subscribe to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart on your favorite podcast streaming service. Because if you love books like we do, you do not want to miss a single episode of this podcast.