We had the good fortune of connecting with Madison Klophaus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madison, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Mansfield, Texas, a small city just outside DFW. When I was about two days old, I was adopted by my parents from a sweet, quaint adoption center in Houston. A lot of my upbringing was impacted by that fact; I am not a biological product of my parents. I grew up knowing I wasn’t, so it never came down to a surprise confession on my parent’s part, but they made sure I always knew where I came from. And how loved I was that my birth mother gave me up in order for me to pursue a better life. However normal it all seemed to me, the people I grew up with never quit with the questions and I had few answers to give them. I could see each of their parents in their face, too, when they would ask me about it. This is what has always intrigued me the most, that at such a young age I understood that I would never look like my parents or sister. It shocks me still. So as I grew up and fell in love with writing, I channeled those heavy, childhood thoughts and wrote about them in a book series that will finish with the third installment in early 2023.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Deciding to pursue writing was the easy part. Actually writing and trying to get my name out there, though, has been the most challenging experience of my life. The writing community in the world of traditional publishing houses and small indie companies is competitive and difficult. A few of my years were spent querying agents in hopes they would see potential in me and take me under their wing so that I could begin an exciting career as an author. I guess this is what most writers hope will happen to them. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for me. So I chose another route. I decided rather than giving up my creative passion, I would rather have complete creative control over my works as an independent author. I self-published and it’s been a wonderful experience. I released my first book, The Gemini Letters, in September 2020, and the second in the trilogy, PictureHouse, released earlier this month on December 2nd. Readers have been so kind with spreading the word and leaving me reviews in order for me to continue doing what I love. It’s nice! I know I made the right decision with self-publishing. I hope other authors and artists find inspiration in their works the same way that I have whether or not they are picked up in a traditional sense. Creatives don’t need permission to create!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, this is easy. First I would take them to Inclusion Coffee in Arlington. This is my go-to spot for coffee and a small bite to eat. Alone or with friends, this is the most comfortable place to meet up for coffee, and the drinks themselves are to die for. But I think following this, the entire day would have to be spent at the shops in Clearfork. This tucked-away neighborhood in Fort Worth has everything: bowling, bocce, delicious Thai food, gourmet gelato and hot chocolate, a macarons bakery, a movie theater, and fire pits to name a few! If I were taking them on a Saturday morning, we would go early and visit the farmers market where a Beignet bus always has fresh, hot beignets and Dutch babies ready for consumption. If at night, we would go to Malai Kitchen where the Massaman Curry Lamb Shank is probably the tastiest meal I have ever eaten.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Gosh, there are so many to choose from, though I will have to give my shoutout to my husband, Ben. To support someone big and small when they leave the traditional 9-5 job world in pursuit of creating art, no other person has held my hand more. The joke is that he’s become as much my manager as he is my husband with how involved he is in my work. None of these novels could have been done without him.

Website: www.madisonklophaus.com

Instagram: @madisonklophaus

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madisonhklophaus

Other: Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20585114.Madison_Klophaus

Image Credits
Ben Klophaus

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