If you’ve been paying attention to WEbook’s recent voting
cycle, you may have noticed a book called God and the Other
hovering around the top of the vote rankings.
The project first caught my eye in the early days of voting, when I
noticed that the author, KristinaMeister,
had apparently brought along a posse – dedicated fans who’d followed God and the Other
on its journey through cyberspace. What
an awesome use of social networking!
(And the book ain’t bad, either.)
I had to know more about KristinaMeister, so I named her WEbooker of the WEek and gave her the third degree.
KristinaMeister
grew up in a small town in California.
She’s been obsessed with writing since high school. She started
writing her first book in my freshman year of college, and, amazingly, has
written about one per year ever since. In addition to being a writer, KristinaMeister says she is “a geek who could beat or match
anyone’s knowledge of any sci-fi cannon; a funky dresser who never has ‘normal’
hair; an avid traveler who’s taught English abroad in Thailand; a massage therapist;
and a one-time cast member on the reality TV show The Search for the
Next Elvira.” (Seriously.)
She climbs rocks, lifts weights, mountain bikes, and loves to sit around
reading comic books and debating which Captain of the Federation was the best. (KristinaMeister votes
Picard all the way.)
God and the Other is
dedicated to Kristina’s best friend Shane, who passed away from testicular
cancer three years ago, at the age of 24. Several weeks after his death,
Kristina had a dream about a boy being chased by an angel. According to
Kristina, “While grieving, I realized that that dream could be turned into a
story -- not just any story, but the philosophical thesis of my best friend’s
life: Man must, in these rapidly changing times, push aside old ways of
perceiving the universe, conquer his doubt, learn to rely upon himself, take
responsibility for his actions, and never lose sight of the joy that can be
found.” The character Shawn in God and the Other is
based on Kristina’s best friend.
To find out more about KristinaMeister, I asked her a few probing questions.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years –
using only five words?
A: Preferably, hop-scotching around the world
Q: What is your least favorite word?
A: You might suppose it would be an expletive, but no -- I have a fine appreciation of cussing. My least favorite word is vet, used as a verb. It bothers me. To me, vetting is something my animal doctor does, not something that should be said in lieu of investigating.
Q: I see from your profile that you’ve visited
many places in the world. What is the
one thing you miss most from somewhere you’ve been?
A: I think I miss the beer in London. There’s nothing better than English beer. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the way it should be, served at room temp, no bubbles, and thick enough that you could dip your bread in it, if you needed to eat bread after having one.
Q: What do you hope to achieve with your
writing?
A: I have always hoped that my books would be tools for helping people achieve their potential, just as my favorite books have been for me.
Do you have a line on the wonderfullest writer on WEbook? The fantastickest feedbacker? Or anyone else who goes above and beyond to make WEbook the best writing, reading, and publishing community on the internet? Drop me an email, or visit my profile and send me a message with the title "WEbooker of the WEek" to nominate your favorite WEbooker and he or she will have a shot at joining the ranks of the immortals -- and getting a free WEbook T-shirt to boot.
Sign up for WEbook today and start reading, writing, and feedbacking.
-- Melissa
Thanks again for the honor!
Posted by: Kristina | November 20, 2008 at 01:18 AM