Indie Author Spotlight: Kristen Joy Wilks

I got to know Kristen Joy Wilks through another author friend and the premise of her middle grade Phooey Kerflooey series is super fun! Have a look:

A puppy will fix everything.

A boring new house?
Boring house + puppy = adventure!

An attacking squirrel?
Evil squirrel + puppy = a squirrel-battle extraordinaire!

A daredevil brother who zooms into constant peril?
Rowdy sibling + puppy = calm days snuggling their furry friend!

What could possibly go wrong?

When Marcus’s dog dreams finally come true, something is indeed terribly wrong. Phooey Kerflooey is eighteen pounds larger than expected. She will only eat organic lunch meat and drink from a china teacup. Plus, she is terrified of absolutely everything, including his brother’s wheelchair and that troublesome squirrel.

Phooey Kerflooey wants to stay on the farm with Jessie. But when Jessie chooses a different puppy, Phooey is thrust into the arms of another family. A family with all boys. Boys who make traps, write lists of dangers, and shout Shakespearean insults at rodents. A family that likes scary things like shiny kitchen floors, wheelchair races, and battling attacking squirrels. A family that doesn’t know she cannot drink unless it is from a fancy, fancy teacup! Can Phooey find the china teacup she needs and teach her boys how to become the family of her dreams?

According to your website bio you “once climbed a tree and snuck into church through the balcony to return a library book (and check out another).” Any particular reason why you avoided the front door that day?

Oh, ha ha! I thought it was obvious. The church was locked! It was after hours and they’d locked up the building as no one was there. That church had a wonderful little library with all of my favorite books. Since we lived outside of town in the mountains, the thought of not getting a new library book was horrifying to my young heart! Therefore, I wondered if I could “break in” without actually breaking in. So, I climbed the tree. Crawled out on a limb and got onto the balcony and tried the upstairs door. It was unlocked! I zoomed inside, returned my library book, and checked out another! Unfortunately, I must have mentioned my unorthodox entry to someone because at some point the church began locking even the balcony door. Something about security . . .

Ha, I guess so! And I love the character of Phooey Kerflooey! How did Phooey originally come to you, and what is the origin of her need to drink from teacup?

My three young sons asked me to base a book character on our dog, Princess Leia Freyja Wilks. I had to learn to write a completely new genre and by the time my first Phooey book was ready to be published, our special dog had passed away. But a ton of her fun idiosyncrasies ended up as character traits for Phooey Kerflooey. Leia was once terrified of a bale of straw and also a bag of chicken food! She wanted a fresh drink of water every time she drank, you couldn’t just leave out a big bowl for her. It had to be fresh and it had to be in a mug! I think that she figured we drank our water from mugs and she deserved a mug, too! Don’t worry, we now have a new Newfoundland pup named Nessie Karu The Puddle Monster!

Princess Leia Freyja Wilks herself.

And Nessie!

Also, the squirrel battle found both in Phooey Kerflooey and Phooey Kerflooey vs The Fancy, Fancy Teacup was based on a real battle that I witnessed between Ewok (my youngest son’s pet chicken) and a squirrel. They both wanted the chicken food and Ewok tried to chase the squirrel away. Well, that squirrel didn’t leave. He leapt onto Ewok’s back and started scratching and biting! Squirrels are incredibly athletic, they can even run completely upside down underneath our porch railing! Well, that athletic squirrel ran around on Ewok’s back like he was running around a tree trunk. He zipped from her back, down across her chest, then up onto her back again. Around and around her neck! Ewok didn’t take well to this treatment and did her fair share of scratching and pecking as well. The battle was furious and both opponents were mighty but in the end, Ewok the chicken won and the squirrel ran away!

Hilarious! As a published author, what is something you’ve found the most challenging?

Early on in my writing journey, I would have said the craft. I’ve been seriously focusing on the craft of writing for twenty-three years now and boy is there a lot to learn! However, the most difficult thing of late has been platform building as I try to find fun ways to help my readers discover Phooey and her adventures. There are some parts of this that I really enjoy though. Having a friend make a book trailer for Phooey Kerflooey was awesome and working with an artist to make my own downloadable coloring pages was amazing!

YouTube Trailer for Phooey Kerflooey.

Wonderful! What are some of your current projects?

Oh, I have sooooo many! I’m working on the next Phooey book (Phooey Kerflooey vs The Battle Squirrel) as well as a children’s devotional based on my grandmother’s crazy stories, and a RomCom based on maintenance accidents my husband has had at the camp where we live and work. Never lean a ladder up against a door kids!

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