Find Hope. Grit. and Encouragement with Author Kristin Helms & Photographer Meg Stones New Book!

Grace + Oak Inspiration in Poetry & Photographs, is author Kristin Helms second published book. She and photographer Meg Stone collaborated using captivating photography and soulful thought-provoking poems to help sooth souls during these somewhat dark times.

Their highest hope is to bring peace, beauty, and inspiration into your hearts and homes.

Exclusive Interview

Can you tell me a little bit about your background and journey to writing the book?

Kristin: I’ve been writing professionally since 2013 when I left my corporate marketing career to stay home with my first child. During that time I started a parenting blog as a creative outlet. The growth and success of that blog encouraged me to launch a much bigger site, Tribe Magazine, which started out as a women’s interest publication. Tribe evolved over the years and became a home for mostly parenting-related topics and many contributing writers sharing essays about motherhood. Tribe Magazine was such a special site full of heart-felt sentiments by mothers that I decided to create a local spin-off networking group, Mom Tribe San Diego. Mom Tribe hosted monthly in-person events for moms to connect and enjoy different experiences together.

Simultaneously, I had signed a book deal with Career Press and my first book, From Boardroom to Baby was published in 2018. From Boardroom to Baby is a non-fictional guide aimed to help women with the transition from corporate work life to stay-at-home mom life, including tips on how to start a business from home. I greatly enjoyed writing about all things motherhood during my children’s early years, but I felt a shift and “calling”, if you will, in a new direction at the end of 2018. So, I sold Tribe Magazine and the spin-off group, Mom Tribe, and began writing inspirational poetry, which eventually lead to the creation of this new book, Grace + Oak.

What inspired you to write Grace + Oak Inspiration in Poetry & Photographs?

Kristin: I’ve secretly written poetry since I was ten years old but it wasn’t until 2019 that I started sharing some of my short poems publicly on my website and social media channels. I love the imagery and emotions that poems can spark. Simultaneously, I was redecorating my living room and looking for some new coffee table books. I definitely had one of those classic “light-bulb” moments where I thought — what if I could create a really cool coffee table book full of inspirational poetry? My next thought was that I needed some sort of photo component — inspirational poems paired with really beautiful photographs aimed to inspire women. I loved the idea of the two art mediums — poetry and photography— coming together to create something new and powerful for readers.

I called my long-time friend and brilliant photographer from the Bay Area, Meg Stone, and asked if she wanted to co-author this book with me by contributing photographs. Meg is a fellow-creative soul and we both have a passion for supporting and empowering women. She was ecstatic about the project so we combined our artistic crafts pairing my poems with her photographs, sent in some sample pages to our literary agent who turned around and found this book idea a great home and publisher in Dover Publications. Over the next year Meg and I worked on the book together and Grace + Oak was born. It hit book shelves around the world in March 2020.

Why should people go out and buy/read your book?

Kristin: There’s so much darkness in the world. Everything feels really heavy right now. Grace + Oak is light. The words are soulful and uplifting and the images are gorgeous and peaceful — it just lifts spirits and makes you feel like you can do anything you put your mind to. Beauty and substance for your coffee table.

Is this your first book?

Kristin: Grace + Oak is my second published book, after From Boardroom to Baby, but my first poetry book.

Is there anything you hope readers will take away from your book?

Kristin: Hope. Grit. Encouragement. After experiencing Grace + Oak, I hope readers feel like they can go out and set the dark on fire.

Do you have any other upcoming projects you would like to share with us?

Kristin: Whew, well, I’ve started writing a novel so I suppose I’ll keep chugging along on that when I can during this upcoming school year where our kids will be mostly home doing online-learning. If this past few months have taught me anything, it’s to appreciate all the small stuff and just to do the best you can with what’s right in front of you. So, I plan to do that and just keep taking one small step, followed by another and another to get my family through this pandemic. But, yes, my next book will be a novel, whenever I finish it! Ha!

Where can readers buy your book?

Kristin: Grace + Oak is available wherever books are sold — Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, and local bookshops around the US.

For more information on Kristin Helms & Meg Stone please visit: www. KristinHelms.com or www.meg-stone.com