Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, my name is Katelin Wagner, and I am a 20 year old poet from Los Angeles, California whose addicted to coffee, pizza, and writing. I’ve written two books: Untold Mysteries of Phoenix Hearts and Sonder.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sonder was inspired by the movie Her actually. There’s a segment where Theodore, whose an extremely observant character, has this commentary on how we weave through each other’s lives as strangers (especially when it comes to love). I remember watching that movie multiple times and being very affected by it, in the best way. I started looking at my own life where, you know, I ride the bus with people who are technically strangers but I see them all time; so I started coming to conclusions about their lives and observing them more in detail. The book has taken me about a year to write, but it’s this idea of observing people I don’t know and their life experiences that I happen to be a part of by witnessing and coming to conclusions about my own life and where I stand all happening during the time frame of a bus ride but it covers a lot of topics from love, faith, family, work, and so on. It’ll be released by the end of 2014.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I listen to Drake a lot of the times to get in my feelings… I don’t know if that’s really unusual though.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As of recently, Whip Smart by Melissa Febos really influenced my writing. It’s just an interesting narrative about a woman who chooses to domme while in college but her writing was unlike a lot of memoir writing I had seen in the past…it’s quite beautiful and flawless.
Buddy Wakefield and Andrea Gibson will always be staples for me when it comes to poetry because they have such distinct styles and you know it’s their voice when you read their work, which surprisingly can be a hard thing to accomplish in writing…not sounding like someone else…but completely like yourself.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on developing my performance value when it comes to spoken word. I’ve also gotten back into writing music and ghost writing. I’m very interested in creating this mixed world between music and poetry so poetry can become more easily accessible to the general public… which I feel like will be something we need to “trojan horse” in just because there’s a lot of stigma around poetry based off the “boring” work people were forced to study in high school. A lot of people are unaware of how far poetry has come and how it can easily be an entertainment genre in its own… which is something I hope will become a reality within the next 5 years.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Keep writing. And write about everything. Don’t let your pain or trauma define your work. Be authentic. And study. There’s a difference between appreciating someone’s work and then copping that style for your own…so realize that…and then read as many different authors as possible because then it helps you become more well rounded.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“When you’re successful, look at how many people surround you; when you’re in crisis, watch how quickly people leave you.”
What are you reading now?
I am currently re-reading A Million Little Pieces and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I like to re-visit books I read in high school because their meaning for me changes and different parts of the story resonate with me differently than when I was younger.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Growth. That’s all I want. I think writing for me is just a mission of continual growth and answering all the unanswered questions in my life…So that’s always the goal.
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