Kristin Fields

Kristin Fields grew up in Queens, which she likes to think of as a small town next to a big city. Fields studied writing at Hofstra University, where she was awarded the Eugene Schneider Award for Short Fiction. After college, she found herself working on a historic farm, as a high school English teacher, designing museum education programs, and is currently leading an initiative to bring gardens to New York City public schools. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Fields's new novel is A Lily in the Light.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I’m deep into writing my next book, which is set in Queens/the 1960s during the height of drug culture. My main character, thirteen year old Gia, really loves nature and wildlife, and is particularly interested in the ecosystems surrounding Jamaica Bay where she lives, so I’ve been reading a lot about heroin, marshes, and historical reference books on Queens at the time.

I often find that the fiction I’m reading reflects what I’m trying to capture in my writing. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane has crept onto my nightstand, as has The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia. Mystic River follows three childhood friends after one is abducted and returned into adulthood, where one of their daughters is murdered. The Murmur of Bees is the story of a baby found abandoned under a bridge, covered in bees, set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and influenza of 1918.

They seem inherently different; Dennis Lehane has this heartbreaking way of capturing setting in its realist form while Sofia Segovia plays with magic. Merging that mirror-like capture of place, while also finding the unique, almost magical elements of it is certainly the goal for my current work in progress.

Visit Kristin Fields's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Lily in the Light.

--Marshal Zeringue