A Lovely Interview with Kristina Atkins
- Rebecca Veight
- May 29
- 4 min read
When Kristina Atkins asked me to beta read her passion project of an epic fantasy Feathers Sharp as Knives I was beyond honored. She told me it was inspired by centuries-before Venice and the Greek myth of Daedalus & Icarus. I was intrigued & ended up adoring it. Now she is working on the sequel and I thought we'd check in and have a little chat about her amazing work.
What was your inspiration for Feathers Sharp as Knives?
I minored in Italian in college. I planned to do an internship in Italy prior to graduating, but I started dating my husband, Kurt, and didn't want to risk losing the relationship, so I decided not to go. Kurt promised to take me to Italy one day and in 2017, for our tenth anniversary, we went to Italy. It was a pretty short trip, so we could only stick to the highlights. I honestly only included Venice as a "well, we can't go to Italy without visiting Venice" kind of thing. I wasn't excited about it! But as soon as we arrived, I fell in love. The gondolas, the mask shops, St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace. It was just magical, and I knew I had to write a book set in a Venice-inspired fantasy city. But I didn't have characters or a plot until a few months later. My best friend had kept (lovingly) pestering me about my "Venice book", as we called it. I kept saying I had nothing but inspiration for the setting. Then one day, I remembered I'd always wanted to write a retelling of the Trojan War. The cogs started to turn in my brain, and four months later, I was working on my outline and doing character questionnaires.
How many books will be in the series? How would you describe it?
Originally it was going to be a quadrilogy, but recently I realized the series would be stronger if I combined books three and four into one. So now it will be a trilogy, and I'm really excited about the change. The series is epic, magical, adventurous, romantic, and deals with heavy topics such as child loss, SA, and mental illness. Above all of that, there is a message of hope. I love it.
Tell us about your journey to publishing this great book.
I'd planned to pursue traditional publishing with Feathers Sharp as Knives, but one day what I believe to be God — but you can call it the universe, or my subconscious, or whatever you like —suggested I self-pub. "That's ridiculous, I have no desire to do all that work," I said back. (Maybe in my head, maybe out loud. I talk to myself a lot.) The niggling thought wouldn't go away. In fact, it grew over the next few months until I realized it did feel like the best course of action. This was in 2022. I started FSaK in 2018, so I'd been working on it for a while. Of course, during that time Covid happened, and I had a baby (my third boy), so I'd had some interruptions. But once I decided to self-pub, I took off and didn't look back. I set May 2023 as my publication date, and on May 2nd, I hit publish! I don't have a magical story, no overnight sensation, no Cinderella story. my book sales are at their best when I go to conferences. But I'm not actively marketing my book until the last one is a few months from publication. I'm playing the long game. Will it work out? Who knows. But it's what feels right for me.
4) You are quite active in the book community. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
I love love love hobnobbing with other writers. It fills my creative well. I attend writing conferences, where I teach and talk shop with my fellow weirdos, I mean writers. I'm fairly active online, though mostly on Facebook because that's where my favorite conference (Storymakers in Provo, Utah) is active. And I have amazing writer friends who are my closest friends in the whole world. I felt so alone until I found my people.
What is on your writing horizon?
Getting book two out as soon as I can while still ensuring it's up to my admittedly very high standards. Then book three to finish the trilogy, then onto my next project, a standalone treasure hunt in space. I also work on short stories when I can find the time, and hope to get more published in the future. (My first story, "Mercy Kill," was published by Uncharted Magazine last fall. It's on their website, if you'd like to read a sapphic zombie story set in 1900 West Virginia.) More conferences for in-person sales — which is my favorite kind. I plan on crowdfunding a special edition of the trilogy when the last book comes out with gold embossing and illustrated end pages. And I currently plan on continuing my self-publishing journey, though I'm going to take it one book at a time. In other words, continuing this crazy adventure!
You can learn more about Feathers Sharp as Knives at:
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