Just Kris

Just Kris grew up wandering the woods of western Virginia with her pony, at least in the seasons after mosquitoes went back into hibernation. During the summer she hunkered under the only window unit air conditioner in her home with a fantasy novel. Kris didn’t start out as a good student or an avid reader, though she turned out to be both eventually. Her love of fantasy books began when her brother tricked her into reading The Hobbit. Her love of science fiction came a little later when she found a stack of secondhand copies of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine at a library book sale and her mother gave her the money to buy them. Despite the odds, Kris earned her BA in English at Roanoke College and her MFA in Children’s Literature, Creative Writing at Hollins University. While at HU, she maintained a 4.0 GPA, completed a thesis novel and critical thesis work, was a runner-up for the 2015 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Award, and was a presenter at the 2015 Francelia Butler Conference. She is very grateful for her time in the protected space that is the Children’s Literature Program at HU. Just Kris is just that: Just Kris. After a lifetime of being who she was told to be, she has settled happily into being Just Kris. She hopes you can respect that. If not, she’s ok with that, too. At present, she is blessed, safe, and on the loose in North Carolina with her Just Tony and her dogs. Now, in one brief moment of bravery, she brings to you her debut novel, Evolving Lexie: Awakening.