‘09 grad wears many hats

Kristen (Reiff) Behl is a busy woman. She married Philip (both are ‘09 grads) in 2013 and they have two daughters, Eva and Olivia. She is a doctor of Physical Therapy, a published author, and owner of a self-publishing company, Goose Water Press. We spent a few minutes catching up with her.

LL: What made you want to become an author?

I have vivid memories of sitting at my family’s desktop computer when I was 10, writing adventure stories I was sure would be published someday. If my teacher assigned a onepage creative writing story, I’d come back with six. I kept writing for fun in high school, but I was private about it. As a physical therapist, I closed the door on writing until children’s book ideas were sparked by life with my kiddos, as well as from letters I wrote to a pregnant friend. Proud of what I created, I researched the routes of publishing for about a year. Then I felt ready to start my self-publishing company and began putting my books into the world.

Kristen at Lakeside

Kristen and Philip (both '09 grads) and their sweet little family.

LL: Did you encounter hurdles?

Since I’m a mama, wife, and PT, finding time is always a challenge! There is so much more to publishing than just writing the story. Financial investment is a challenge, with illustrators, an editor, my cover designer and formatter. Other hurdles include marketing, constant decisionmaking, troubleshooting, and technological intricacies of publishing. But when the passion outweighs the hurdles, it’s all exhilarating!

LL: any encouragement for recent grads?

There’s so much pressure coming out of high school to know what to do with their lives and stick with that forever. God gives us way too many talents to squeeze into one neat and tidy box. If you have multiple passions, it’s possible to pursue them all in some way, at some point. I love being a PT in the clinic (which I do two days per week), but I also want to teach college students someday. I wanted to publish books and I travel as often as possible.

LL: Plan to write more books?

YES! I have one or two sequels to Letters to the Expecting Mama that will focus on different phases of motherhood, and I hope to turn The Messiest Eater on the Block into a series featuring different quirky kids living in the neighborhood. God has opened doors for me to publish books for other Christian authors whose stories fit my theme of “books to build up families.” It’s exciting to use what I’ve learned to supply the world with more God-pleasing material.

To learn more, visit kristenemilybehl.com or follow her @goosewaterpress on Facebook & Instagram.