Meet Kris Bryant of Independence

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Bryant.

Hi Kris, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Kris Bryant and I write sapphic romance and erotica novels for Bold Strokes Books. I’ve lived in Kansas City since I was a teenager and consider this my home. I love the culture of our city and am honored to be a part of it. I’ve always been creative. Reading opened up so many different worlds, and at a young age, I wanted to be somebody who could imagine stories from start to finish. I received my first creative writing award when I was eleven. I knew then that I would write the next great American novel. That didn’t happen. Instead, I fell in love with romance books. But I never saw people like me – women who love women – portrayed positively with a happy ending in books. So, I imagined. About eleven years ago, I received my first Kindle (although I fought it because who doesn’t love holding a book and reading it?). Then, I found sapphic and lesbian romance books and read everything I could. I had no idea there were publishing houses that published queer literature. I sent in a manuscript, and sixteen very long weeks later, I signed my first contract with Bold Strokes Books out of New York. Last week, I signed the contract for book twenty-two.

Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The internet opened up many opportunities for people to learn and find what they needed even though they didn’t know it. I had no idea queer stories existed. I thought, okay, I’m going to write a hetero romance, and it will be just fine. I never knew how to look for LGBTQ books. One day, I was at Barnes and Noble on the Kansas City Plaza and stumbled upon the sliver of an LGBTQ section. It was then that I discovered – oh, hey! There are publishing companies that publish women-loving women romances. This was before the internet was everywhere, and My Space and Facebook were new and mostly for kids. We didn’t have smartphones. We had dial-up. Information gathering was probably the biggest struggle. Now, you can spend ten minutes online and find publishing houses that work best for your ideas or pop on any social media site and find them. Heck, you can even self-publish now!

Thanks for sharing that. You could tell us more about your work.
I have a degree in creative writing, so I have always known I wanted to be a writer. I specialize in sapphic/lesbian romance. I’ve won several Goldie awards and have been finalists for others, including Lambda Literary, Foreword INDIES, and Rainbow Book Awards. One of my books was even selected by the American Library Association for their Over the Rainbow book list. All of these are big accomplishments I’m proud of. As a writer, I have a different way of seeing the world. We’re all different people, so our life experiences and journeys automatically set us apart. We can be a part of the same thing but experience it differently. I don’t know what one thing sets me apart from other people. I am living my dream life and doing what I’ve wanted since elementary school.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love Kansas City so much! I love that it’s big enough to have events, concerts, and pleasant things and small enough to get around. I know this city inside and out. KC is an art town. We have so many incredible artists and beautiful venues and museums. And there’s always something to do. We’re also a sports town. We have the Chiefs, the Royals, Sporting KC, KC Current, and UMKC basketball, and we’re close enough to KU, MU, and K-State for college sports. Never will I say – I’m bored. There’s nothing to do. We have parks, lakes, great restaurants, great music (did someone say jazz?), and an excellent educational zoo. We’re also centrally located in the country, so you can reach the coast or the gulf in 3.5 hours on a plane. I don’t like how divided our city is politically, but let me tell you, we all come together when the Kansas City Chiefs are playing.

Contact Info:

• Website: krisbryant.net, queerlyrecommended.com
• Instagram: kris_bryant14
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006862634838&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: @KrisBryant2014
• Youtube: @krisbryant7301
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00NN5RYYY