Artist Spotlight
In this month’s artist spotlight we bring to you KT Wishert...
Interview with KT Wishert
By: Elizabeth Rodriguez
KT Wishert is a burgeoning artist in the indie literary landscape. She, like many people these days, is a jack-of-all-trades. She has a growing business, The Wishing Well, that offers editorial and narration opportunities for authors who want their stories to come to fruition. She is also a co-founder of an online convention called A Million Wishes and is writing her debut Novel, A Hallowed Hier. Let’s explore how this multi-led artist came to be.
Elizabeth Rodriguez: Hello, KT, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. Can you tell me a little bit about how you started The Wishing Well?
KT Wisher: The Wishing Well started a few years ago. I just left college and wanted to find a way back to my roots. Stories, overall, have been an essential part of my life, particularly books. So, I decided to enter the literary field using my strengths and my background to work alongside indie authors.
ER: Do you hope to expand your business?
KT: I think the voice acting aspect will expand over time. I am very invested in any voice acting opportunities that come my way! And I am interested in pursuing my own work.
ER: Amazing! Can I ask why you started an online convention on TikTok?
KT: Yeah, the primary reason I started an online convention was to gather the people I met in person at a convention in Baltimore. The goal was to provide a better experience than they had with in-person conventions.
ER: Do you hope to connect with many other indie authors through this?
KT: Yeah, my primary goal is not just connecting to people but to bridge a gap between authors and narrators in the community.
ER: That’s so refreshing to hear. Now, onto the juicy bits, if you don’t mind, what led you to write your debut novel?
KT: My debut novel began as a character in a D&D campaign. The campaign was set in the modern world, and I built a warlock character, which made me question how a warlock would be in the contemporary world. So, she has a pact, and it led me to create the Hallowed, a secret crime syndicate that lurks in the shadows. It delves deeply into the human experience, including what life would be like for someone raised in an underground society. And of course, there is plenty of warlock magic!
ER: In what ways do you hope it connects with your readers?
KT: Sawyer, my main character, deals with a lot of trauma, and I’m hoping readers can relate to her “not so pretty instances”. There’s also a touch of romance and found family, with people providing her with emotional stability. I hope that people dealing with their past can see themselves in Sawyer and know that there are people in their lives who care for them.
ER: What started your love of writing?
KT: Since I was young, I have always made-up stories in my head. It wasn’t until I was in college and had the push from friends that I began telling these stories. It was their push that got me into the literary world overall.
ER: How do your past experiences with other art mediums help you in your artistic pursuits today?
KT: I was a hardcore theater kid. I even did many solo prose and poetry performances. And I always loved a good story that suck you in. My background in the arts shapes every moment I edit, perform, or write. I approach every character as if they are a role I am to learn, understand, and fulfill.
ER: So, I also know you used to draw and play the drums. Do you wish you still used charcoal or played the drums to express yourself?
KT: I still don't do it as often as I’d love. I competed in the arts in high school and still studied them in college. And I think it will always be a huge facet of my life.
ER: How do you think the indie landscape will change in the future?
KT: All I can think about is AI, and I hope that we can overcome this hurdle because it kills real human emotion. The best characters are written from emotional places and performed from emotional places. It’s something that AI cannot replicate, and I hope that people realize how important raw, unfiltered human storytelling can be. I also hope that the indie space can influence traditional publishers and corporations. Traditional publishing is not the only route. We have learned our worth, and remarkable stories come from indie spaces.