An Austin, TX transplant and lifetime environmental advocate, Kay Smith-Blum has resided in Seattle for more than four decades. The recent upheaval over leaking waste tanks at the Hanford site in Washington state compelled her to write a Hanford story in a way that would educate and entertain readers, resulting in her debut novel, Tangles. Smith-Blum spent 10 months researching and interviewing experts about the real costs of this government-mandated secrecy that spanned decades and incorporated her findings into a novel. She delivers a genre-defying, home-front story of a region cloaked in secrecy during the Cold War era of fear. Meet Kay: 

Did you always want to be an author? I was always a voracious reader, and I read close to 350 books over a span of five months when I was in 4th grade because I was bedridden with an illness. That time solidified my interest in language and storytelling, but it would be another twenty years before I put pen to paper.

What is your most recent book, and what inspired you to write it? Tangles is my debut novel. It began with a recurring and vivid dream – a mass of red hair floating on a body of water, but the hair appeared dry. Several days later, I had chance encounters with two long-time acquaintances, both grew up in the Tri-Cities area near the Hanford Nuclear Plant. Both conversations oddly veered to the nuclear plant and their childhoods in its shadow. When I realized only one other adult novel (a phantasmagoric story) was written with Hanford as a backdrop, I went down the ‘rabbit hole’ of research. The hope is that a fast-paced novel will help daylight the ongoing environmental catastrophe of Hanford.

What are you most excited about with this book? It’s been so well received by early readers, including critically acclaimed literary authors, NYT bestselling authors, and random readers on Library Thing and Net Galley. It truly seems to be touching the hearts and minds of so many. I’m humbled by so many positive responses.

Being an author today is like running a business. How do you manage all your publicity, social media and keep your engagement up with readers? Being in retail for decades prepared me well for the marketing side. Luckily, I’ve built a following through several avenues, both with our former specialty store and my time on the Seattle School Board, so I am no stranger to social media. I try NOT to post specifically about the novel but more about my author’s journey on Instagram. I post milestone moments in the book’s life, as well as family fun, on Facebook and share other authors’ successes there, too. LinkedIn provides a platform for talking about the publishing industry in general, changes, and challenges that affect my writing or the publishing landscape. Twitter is quick thoughts and fun interactions about writing life and retweets for other writers when possible. Takes a village…especially in the very littered publishing landscape.

How do you structure your day and make time for writing? I wake up early, typically between 5 and 6 a.m. I make a double latte and head back to bed, where I write (no desk!). I try to write and edit for at least two hours daily. Then I work on other critique group commitments. I learn something from every writer’s work.

What book uplifts you? I don’t think I can pinpoint one book. In the past few years, I’ve circled back to British writers for inspiration – Tana French and Sarah Waters to name two. Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, Marisa Silver’s Mary Coin, and Lily King’s Euphoria hold special spots in my soul, along with multiple tales by “the Anns” (Napolitano and Patchett and Garvin). Inspiration can come from just one well-crafted sentence. The heartline of any tale is worth finding.

Anything else you’d like to share with your readers? Yes, I am donating the royalties from preorders to the Heart of America NW. Hanford is the largest environmental disaster in the Western Hemisphere. Leaking waste tanks (56 million gallons of radioactive waste) seriously threaten the entire Columbia Basin. I hope that pre-sales of Tangles will result in a significant donation to the civilian watchdogs doing such important work. I appreciate the opportunity to broaden awareness of this ongoing problem for our planet.

Connect with Kay, grab a copy of her book, and learn more about her story and activism via her website.