English teacher turned author Kim Wallace began writing the Erik & Isabelle at Foresthill High series after more than a decade of working in the public school arena. After witnessing the disenfranchisement and discrimination against gay and lesbian youth, she felt compelled to write a four-book high school series that would embrace the lives of a typically invisible, and often misunderstood, population. Erik & Isabelle bloomed out of a desire to reach a group of young people in critical need of connection, love, and understanding. Wallace earned her B.A. in History at UC Santa Barbara, Master’s in Education at UCLA, and Educational Administration credential at Sacramento State University. Currently, she works as an alternative high school vice principal in addition to running her own publishing imprint, Foglight Press. She was a finalist for the 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction.

What motivated you to write about teens in high school?
I knew that I wanted to be a high school teacher the moment I entered high school as a ninth grader. Four years later, I started teaching at the high school I graduated from. Even though high school is painful, awkward, and difficult in a multitude of ways, I feel drawn to and compassionate towards that age range. Now, fifteen years later, I’m still working at the high school level, currently as a principal. For some reason I just “get” that stage of life and feel like my own survival can inspire kids who can’t quite see the light at the end of the tunnel on their own.

Why did you self-publish?
I didn’t plan to, at first. I was picked up by a publisher soon after I finished my first book in the Foresthill High series and we were under contract for a year. Then, right before getting ready to go to press, there was a dreaded several-month silence where no one would return my calls or emails. Soon after, I got my manuscript back in the mail with a letter saying that the company was going through “a transition”, which essentially meant a change of ownership, and they voided my contract. I went back to the drawing board and sent out a new batch of queries and got a lot of great feedback on my book. The main issue for the publishers was that my audience was too niche and too difficult to market to in their minds-one finally admitted that they just couldn’t make money off of it. I knew my audience firsthand and felt that I could find them and that they deserved to have a book series like this to connect to. Thus started my self publishing venture.

How can people purchase your books?
The best ways to order books are through www.Amazon.com or other book-oriented websites or through my own website: www.foglightpress.com.

Who has had the greatest influence on your writing?
There are so many sources of influence who fostered my growth as a writer. The writers who inspired me were Anne Lamott, who reminds me to tap into my sense of humor, Toni Morrison, who challenges my diction and prose, and Sharon Olds, the poet who speaks the truth and turns brutality into beauty. I also credit my sophomore English teacher in high school, Clare Le-Pell, who saw something more in me than I did.

Who’s your favorite YA author?
I love YA authors–we are kindred spirits, a rare breed of people who adore teenagers, the messier the better. Some who I personally enjoy reading are Alex Sanchez and Julie Anne Peters. They bridge that gap between adolescence and sophistication, which is an admirable balancing act as a writer.

What are you reading now?
Currently, I’m reading a lot of non-fiction articles as the political and economic climates dominate our collective consciousness. To counter those serious topics, I tend to use Rumi like a salve.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Evolving as a creative artist is important to me. I’ve just begun work on a new project called Missed Connections. It is a collection of vignettes inspired by “Missed Connections” personal ads placed in local newspapers and on Craigslist. It hinges on the fantasy we all harbor that there is someone “out there” we’re destined to encounter, fall in love with, or connect with in some meaningful way. It’s for and about those of us who are dreamers, hopeful lovers, and unrequited romantics. This work is stretching my writing voice(s) and I can’t wait to see what it results in.

Interviewed by John Bradford, Editor
Head, Automation & Technical Services,
Villa Park Public Library
Librarian, Leather Archives & Museum