A short interview wherein one of my favorite authors answers three questions about the writing life.
Question 1
What books do you recommend for an aspiring writer?
The best book on characterization that I know is actually an acting book, Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. It’s an excellent resource for really investigating characters and their motivations. But I still believe that you can learn more about writing a novel from a great novel, and ditto for memoir, short story, essay, etc. It’s a good practice to read a book you love several times and then figure out how they did what they did. How did they explore characterization? How did their plot arc develop? Where were the surprises and reveals? What kept you turning the pages? What dramatic questions were you asking along the way, and when?
Question 2
Do you create elaborate outlines for your books? If so, can you explain the process (briefly)? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants? If so, do you have any tricks you use to keep yourself from crashing?
Ah, the planner vs. pantser question! I’m very much a planner now, and it’s because I “pantsed” through a wasted decade. I use the software program called Scrivener and outlines, timelines, plot arcs, emotional arcs, and many other tools to plan a book. I color code and make spreadsheets and write fix-it lists and do differential diagnoses and I’m basically always poking at the poor thing. I’ll even do it for short stories or essays if they’re particularly complicated. I also keep refining my outlines and timelines regularly while writing the book, so I can diagnose when things go wrong. The one trick I know is this: if you’re stuck, break it down into smaller and smaller chunks until you can see your path through the story more clearly.
Question 3
What one piece of advice can you offer to a writer who has yet to tackle the publishing world?
I think it helps to remember that commerce and art are two very different things. The commercial world wants us to be extroverts who are Instagram literate and say quotable things at parties. But writers are usually introverts who prefer to listen, who would rather eat their books than humble-brag about them on TikTok. So if you can keep those two arenas very separate in your heart and mind, you’ll be much saner. Save the best parts of yourself for the art, and do the commerce when you do the things you have to do, like clean your toilet and change your oil.
Save Me, Stranger
A short story collection forthcoming January 21, 2025 from Flatiron Books:
“Save me, Stranger is a book of parables — supernal and sinister. Disturbing but comforting. Read these stories with a buddy, because someone will have to scrape you off the floor.”
—Louise Erdrich, author of The Sentence and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award
“In this far-ranging and visionary collection, Krouse extends the reach of what stories can do, delivering a dozen little masterpieces of heart and longing and surprise. Save Me, Stranger is at once a treatise on tender moments and a symphony of storytelling.”
—Adam Johnson, author of Fortune Smiles and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Story Prize
“I really enjoyed this book. There are always questions about the advantages and disadvantages of first person narrators, but here the women who speak seem, paradoxically, so matter of fact and forceful that it’s difficult to believe anyone could tell their stories better. Some of their remarkable power is that the stories alternate between embodying epiphanies and valedictions – sometimes a quick goodbye, but always with an authenticity that convinces the longer it lingers. They’ll stay in your mind.”
—Ann Beattie, author of Onlookers and PEN/Malamud Award winner
“It is always a thrill to encounter a new and wildly capable imagination— each story here is full-realized and also a portal into a new landscape, and I read with appetite, marveling at Krouse’s range and storytelling chops.”
—Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade and winner of the Alex Award
“The protagonists at the heart of this collection seem to hang, fingers clinging, on a high precipice, while the reader stands above in judgment and care, both at once. These characters, most of whom we meet in the wake of some serious existential disaster, do not always behave, or view the world, honorably — of course they don’t, given where they’ve come from. And yet, as we read their stories, it becomes clear that redemption might yet be in reach, if only someone would reach down and offer a hand. In our lonesome, suspicious times, Save Me, Stranger made me feel that there’s hope yet for our wretched souls. I’ll be thinking about these stories for a long time.”
—Vauhini Vara, author of This is Salvaged and Pulitzer Prize finalist
✶“A smart set of globetrotting, emotionally gripping stories. Krouse’s second story collection is thick with restlessness, both across the book and within each story. Krouse is gifted at capturing her characters’ dueling frustrations, needs, and fears.”
—Kirkus starred review
✶….Fierce and unforgettable…These no-holds-barred stories often feature young women in trouble…While danger lurks around the corner for all of Krouse’s characters, sometimes compassion saves the day.”
—Booklist starred review
“Affecting…[Krouse] makes the thrill of new beginnings palpable.”
—Publishers Weekly
About the Author

Erika went to middle school and high school in Japan, and earned her B.A. from Grinnell College. She earned her M.A. in English Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she also taught creative writing classes. She teaches and mentors for the Lighthouse Book Project at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, and is a winner of the Lighthouse Beacon Award for Teaching Excellence. Erika has won fellowships and scholarships to the Longleaf Writers Conference, Bread Loaf Writers Workshop, Sewanee Writers Workshop, and the inaugural Amtrak Residency.