Kristin Sample's Blog

This year marks the tenth 1⃣0⃣anniversary of my first novel!

North Shore South Shore was published in 2012. Here’s a few nuggets about the novel…

I started writing the novel in late 2007 when we moved to LA. At that time, I was the West Coast Editor for TV squad (a division of AOL TV, Now HuffPost TV…doesn’t AOL take you back?!). While the blogging job was fun, I still had a lot of time on my hands. No kiddos yet. Just Thatcher.

C.K. noticed I was drowning in boredom and suggested that...

Nah, it’s Omarion.

Or Omicron. I prefer “Omarion” from B2K, the R&B group. *sings* When your body go Bump. Bump. Bump.

Anyway, my family has finally been visited by the Ghost of Christmas Covid. We missed Covid Alpha and Covid Delta but this Omicron is not be outrun. Jackson tested positive exactly ten days ago. I’m grateful that his symptoms have been mild and that somehow (magically) the rest of us remained well this whole time.

It was a big disruption. Just think, this came ri...

This one is a combo of a Christmas mailing and our Best Of that we’ve compiled for the past few years. And since it’s January 6th, I’m late on both!

But here we go…

JACKSON

TOY: The Daily Bugle LEGO set

VIDEO GAME: Spider-Man Remaster. This is a free download if you already have the Mile Morales edition.

BOOK: Middle School by James Patterson

TV SHOW: Hawkeye (Marvel Studios)

MOVIE: Spider-Man No Way Home (Marvel Studios)

Wish for 2022: I wish that this year has good s...

Anyone else have a favorite ugly sweater? 

I got this one on the GILT app (highly recommend if you like shopping). It’s Free People and it was listed as oversized but clearly Free People’s definition of oversized is different than mine. 

My definition…”roomy, slightly larger than your regular size”

Theirs? “A knitted tent for yourself and other adult” 

I washed it and it’s still huge as you can see. But it’s become my favorite sweater to wear when it’s cold. I can gather my legs unde...

I did this post last year and it was super fun! Here’s a quick rundown of our faves from 2020 as well as our words or advice for 2021. Happy New Year everyone!

Kristin (40yo)

Favorite Book: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I read the former and listened to the latter. In hindsight, I should have read Kitchen House and listened to Daisy Jones. If you get DJ, definitely go audible.

TV Show: Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), The Real Housewi...

Like most people, I’m happy 2020 is drawing to a close. It’s been a challenging year, a frustrating year, and at times, a sad year for our family, community, and the world.

But in the midst of the pandemic, I hope you found some hope, reconnection, and reordering of priorities. I know I did.

During the stay-at-home order in the spring, I found that I really need to meditate at least once a day. When all the things were canceled, I found that my kids’ extracurricular activities a...

Let me tell you something I’ve learned about getting published. If everyone says “no” to your writing, it’s probably not them…it’s your writing.

Not being afraid to drastically change a piece of writing is a cornerstone of getting published. And that’s exactly the sentiment I embraced when my short story “cleo” was going NOWHERE in the submission process.

“cleo” was always based on my real life rabbit that we put to sleep when I was about twelve. And while the piece was grounded in r...

I just received my author copy of a Brief Wilderness Vol. 3 Life Above Ground. My short story, “Railroad Tracks,” is the first story in this lovely paperback available on Amazon.

I wrote this story more as an exercise. I wanted to play with the character Kate Wright, a middle aged widow and the main character from a pilot I wrote a few years back called Soccer Domme. You can read that pitch here.

Kate Wright once had the seemingly perfect life–country clubs, money, doting husband, go...

I received my copy of Sand Hills Spring 2020 this weekend. The book–it’s pages, print quality, and binding–is beautifully made. The editors and writers over at Augusta University did a great job.

It’s my first university print publication. And when I looked on the Contents pages, I noticed that my story is one of only FOUR fiction selections. These pubs get tons of submissions so it feels good knowing that my story made the cut.

The pandemic delayed the printing of the magazine bu...

On July 15th, the Running Wild Anthology of Stories Vol. 4 came out. The short story collection, edited by Ben White, features authors from all around the world. I’m thrilled to be included in this anthology.

My story “nonna who kills slugs” appears in Book 2. The story centers around an adolescent Elizabeth who sits on her neighbor Nonna’s porch along with her little sister Margie. Nonna is a portly old Italian woman whose kids have all moved away. Elizabeth and Margie keep her company some...