KRISSY CLOWE says, "We Could All Learn From Rudy and Mem!"

My guest today is Krissy Clowe. Krissy has been writing stories since she was a little girl. She began studying children’s literature in college and graduated with a degree in early childhood education. After being inspired by her students, Krissy decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an author. After several years, late nights with the computer, and rejection letters, Krissy’s dream is finally coming true in January of 2011 when her first picture book, Katie Ling Fashion Queen, will be published with AwareNow Publishing. When Krissy isn’t writing, she’s playing with her son, walking her two dogs, feeding her fish, or being lazy with her husband on the weekends.

Krissy, welcome to Vintage Vonnie!

Thanks, Vonnie. The other day I was thinking about all the people I have met in my lifetime. I have many childhood friends, teaching friends, church friends, writing friends, and family. Those numbers really start to add up. I also began to think about how everyone I know is passionate about something. Some people are passionate about music. Others are passionate about reading. Some people are passionate about both, and the list goes on and on.


My husband always laughs at the fact that my favorite movie of all time is Rudy. One of my favorite lines is “You’re five foot nothin’, a hundred and nothin’ and hardly have a spec of athletic ability and you hung in with the best college football team in the land for two years!” Rudy may have lacked many things, but passion wasn’t one of them. Because of this, he achieved his dream.


Another one of my favorites is the children’s book Wilford Gordon McDonald Partridge by one of the greats, Mem Fox. The story is about memory loss through the eyes of a young boy. Mem Fox was passionate about bridging the divide between the elderly and the young. This is the only book that makes me cry every time I read it.


I believe passion is what separates a so-so manuscript from a literary masterpiece. It’s crucial that authors write on topics that they are passionate about. This turns a writer into a storyteller. Whether a story makes us pathetically sob or laugh out loud, our souls are touched. As a writer, that’s the legacy I want to leave.


Krissy Clowe, author of children's picture book, Katie Ling Fashion Queen