Kristin Billerbeck, Author of A Billion Reasons Why
Q: Kristin, you are one of the leaders in the Chick Lit movement. What exactly is Chick
Litand do you consider it an honor to be a writer of this type of genre?
Chick Lit is women’s fiction with an attitude. It embraces a woman’s entire world: her work, her friends, her romances, and her social surroundings. They say Jane Austen was the first Chick Lit author because she used humor and the written world to poke fun at the ridiculous requirements society put on women (i.e., If you hadn’t married well, you weren’t worthy.) So yes, I’m honored, and though the genre is said to be dying, that type of fiction will never die; only its name will change.
Q: In your newest novel, A Billion Reasons Why, you deal with several issues, including
facing our pasts. Why do you feel that women need to deal with their pasts in order to step
into their futures?
Once we learn a particular lesson in life, I believe it’s important to move on and not enter the
same journey over and over—leaving it on the altar and not picking it back up again, if you will.
We all bring the baggage of our pasts into relationships, be it something simple like not being
able to be tapped on the shoulder after a lifetime of taps from one’s brother—or something
deeper. Living abundantly is about living without fear, letting go of control, and believing that
God has it covered.
Q: Katie’s ex-boyfriend, Luc, is a millionaire. What type of research did you do into how
the rich live differently than others?
That was my main point. Money can’t buy happiness. It certainly can’t buy contentment. That
comes from connection with others, and when we try too hard to plan our lives, it somehow
seems to backfire on us. I’ve grown up in the San Francisco Bay area and have been around
money all my life. I’m not impressed by it, and I’ve seen it ruin good people and not change
others. So, ultimately, money is like anything else in life—the proof of character is how you
handle it.
Q: Do you believe that most women would want to marry a man for money or are there
other things that make a rich man attractive? What qualities do you think are most valued
in relationships?
I think women are hard-wired to want security and to be well cared for so that they feel safe to
have a family. That being said, I think we’ve gone astray in our worship of money. There are so
many rich people who are so completely disconnected from what matters in life. What’s
attractive is being cared for; the belief that a man with money will automatically do that is false. I believe we all want to be known for who we are at our core. That’s how Luc loved Katie. It had nothing to do with his money.
Q: In the book, Katie shares a deep love for the romanticism of the 1940’s. Was this born
from your own admiration of that era?
I had all of my grandparents until I was 37, so I had a deep connection to the 40’s era through
their stories and through the old movies I loved. That generation had so little, and yet they made the most of it. They were able to live in gratitude for the little things, and the music and the entertainment of the day brought them through the hard struggles of war and the Depression.
Q: What do you hope that readers take away from reading your book?
I hope that readers take away some self-examination.