ISWG: Writers on Writing: Annika Klanderlud

I'm doing something a little different for ISWG today, but read to the end of this post to see my answer to this month's question. Today I'm handing over the mic or rather the keyboard to my friend, Annika Klanderlud. We met several years ago while attending the same church and immediately bonded over writing and our experiences living overseas. Until she recently moved to Ohio, we met weekly over coffee to share pages and talk writing. Without her, I probably wouldn't have continued to press on with my writing when it got hard. She recently sold a short story to an anthology and will be speaking at the Mt. Zion Ridge Christian Writing Conference in May. I hope you will enjoy hearing from her as well!

Hi Annika! Thank you for joining us today. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you decided to become a writer.

In high school I traveled to Japan as an exchange student with the Rotary Club. Found out I had a talent for the language, and I earned a degree in Japanese Studies in college after living in Japan for a total of two years. I was successful in this field, but the language was extremely challenging. After marrying and starting a family, I realized that I had my own language—English. And I started using it to write stories. The other thing I learned from studying Japanese was that I was always translating something. But what was I translating? Rather than translating other people’s content, I wanted to create my own content. So character growth and the theme of the stories I wrote became very important to me. 

"Skeleton Key" is featured in this anthology

I love how translating led you to creating your own content! You have a short story forthcoming in This Old House: ACFW Ohio 2025 Anthology. How did you get the idea for “The Skeleton Key”? Where can readers find your story?

I wrote “The Skeleton Key” for an anthology with the theme of “This Old House.” So an old house needed to be central to the story somehow. Also, I wanted to write a middle grade contemporary story.

By the way, this anthology was the first one that the ACFW Ohio Chapter put together with the purpose of supporting young authors. All proceeds from this anthology go into a scholarship fund to support Christian teenagers throughout Ohio. I was happy to contribute a short story to this cause.

The This Old House ACFW Ohio 2025 Anthology can be purchased wherever books are sold, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

I often get inspired by prompts as well. That's where a lot of my short story ideas come from too. What are you working on now?

In 2022, my YA novel, RED ROCK, won the Cascade Christian Writers Award. After querying the novel, getting a few bites, but not quite getting it traditionally published yet, I have picked it up again, and I am now rewriting it into first person which really fits the genre a whole lot better. You can visit my website annikaklanderud.com to see descriptions of RED ROCK and a few of my other novels.

Coffee in person last August

That's very brave to rewrite the whole book. And I love how well you've done at writing contests. You have a background in public speaking. How has that helped you make connections and give back to the writing community?

As I said previously, I have a background in the Japanese language. Much of the speaking experience I have gained is from speech contests that were in Japanese. It was an amazing experience that I truly enjoyed. So I jump at the opportunity to speak when I can. I have headed up Bible study groups for women at church. I have facilitated several critique groups. And I have spoken at organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Most recently I have been asked to teach a writing workshop online for Mt. Zion Ridge Press. My passion is to revitalize the Christian writing industry. Specifically, I enjoy helping one author at a time to make their writing stronger.

 Wow, I can't imagine entering a speaking contest in a foreign language, especially such a challening one as Japanese.The Mt. Zion Writing Conference is an online conference held May 1-3 on Zoom. What is your  your upcoming webinar at the Mt. Zion Ridge Writing Conference about?

This webinar will be specifically geared toward KIDLIT authors. I will be talking a bit about the differences between middle grade and young adult novels. The guidelines and requirements will definitely be included in this workshop. Such as word count and age of the main character. Yes, the industry is pretty strict about those numbers. But this workshop will also contain some universal tips on the craft of writing in general. I specifically plan to talk about how every story well told follows the outline of the gospel and how authors can use the gospel to figure out how to make their stories read smoother.

What authors have influenced you? What is the best middle grade or YA book that you or your kids have read recently? Do you have any favorite books on the writing craft?

One thing I can say is that the dystopian genre has always been my favorite, though I have had a hard time finding a favorite author in any genre. What I find instead is that I have a lot of favorite stories by many different authors. I have a list of those books on my website: annikaklanderud.com

Some books include The Maze Runner by James Dashner and Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. In the Christian market, I enjoyed There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones, Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson, More Than We Remember by Christina Suzann Nelson, and The Memoir of Johnny Devine by Camille Eide.

The best YA that I’ve read recently is THIS GOLDEN STATE by Marit Weisenberg. Hands down.

As far as the craft of writing goes, I am currently spending a lot of time going through Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody.

 

I love Tuck Everlasting, Jenny Jones (so funny), and Save the Cat has been an inspiration for me too. Thanks for joining us today! You can find Annika on her website or at the Mt. Zion Conference May 1-3.
 

This Month's ISWG Question: What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

I'd love to go on a quest with Ella from Ella Enchanted. I always thought I didn't like fantasy until I encountered Ella. If you haven't read it, think Cinderella with incredibly fun (and funny) world building and depth. She was willing to sacrifice her own desires to save her kingdom, just the type of person I'd love to count as a friend. I also wouldn't mind learning to speak a fantasy language along with her.

 

If you'd like to read more ISWG posts or sign up, please go HERE. You won't be disappointed.

Your turn

What books or authors have inspired you? How did you get started writing? What fantasy character would you like to meet?