Kay Smith-Blum, Author of TANGLES
Your World of Creativity
Mark Stinson
5.0 • 45 Ratings
🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Today, we welcome Kay Smith-Blum, an author whose journey has taken her from the world of fashion to education leadership and now to award-winning historical fiction.
A longtime Seattle resident, Kay has recently been honored with multiple awards for her debut novel TANGLES, including Best Historical Mystery/Suspense at the 2025 American Fiction Awards, Best Debut Fiction by the American Writing Awards, Best Regional Fiction/West by the National Indie Excellence Awards, and Book of the Year by the Literary Global Book Awards.
Inspired by the mid-20th century and the haunting realities of leaking radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Site, Kay brings history, suspense, and humanity together in her storytelling.
The Spark for TANGLES
- You’ve said that the recent controversies around radioactive waste tanks at Hanford compelled you to write this story. What was the moment or piece of history that made you say: this has to become a novel?
From Fashion to Fiction
- Your background includes running a successful fashion business and serving as Seattle School Board President. How did those experiences shape your perspective as a writer—and ultimately lead you to TANGLES?
Historical Suspense & Craft
- TANGLES blends mystery, suspense, and historical detail. How did you balance historical accuracy with narrative drive? What were the biggest challenges in weaving fact with fiction?
Writing Process & Rituals
- You describe yourself as a sunrise writer who works out writer’s block in gardens and lap pools. Could you share more about your creative process—and how these routines fuel your storytelling?
Recognition & Next Steps
- With TANGLES winning so many awards—including Book of the Year—what has this recognition meant for you personally and professionally? And what’s next on your creative horizon?
What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to aspiring authors who feel drawn to tackle historical or regional stories, but maybe hesitate to take the leap?
Thanks to our sponsor, White Cloud Coffee—fueling creative conversations everywhere. Listeners, enjoy 10% off your first order at whitecloudcoffee.com.
Also, as a thanks to you for listening, I’d like to offer you a free download of my e-book of Your World of Creativity when you visit mark-stinson.com.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Unlocking your world of creativity with bestselling author and brand innovator Mark Stinson. |
| 0:09.0 | This episode is brought to you by White Cloud Coffee Loasters, where every bean tells a story of adventure. |
| 0:15.5 | Visit whitecloudcoffee.com and use the code creativity. |
| 0:20.2 | Welcome back, friends, to our podcast, Your World of Creativity. |
| 0:24.5 | And we're continuing our around-the-world journeys to talk to creative practitioners everywhere |
| 0:28.7 | about how they get inspired, but also how they organize those ideas and then ultimately |
| 0:34.0 | find the connections and the competence to launch their work out into the world. |
| 0:38.6 | And I'm so happy to have as my guest today, Kay Smith Blum, she's an author whose journey has |
| 0:43.5 | taken her from fashion to education, leadership, and now to award-winning historical fiction. |
| 0:50.6 | We're going to have a great conversation. |
| 0:52.3 | Kay, welcome to the show. |
| 0:54.1 | Thanks so much for having me, Mark. |
| 0:55.5 | It's so exciting to hear about your book, this mid-century realities of leaking radioactive |
| 1:02.5 | waste tanks, a Hanford nuclear site. It has all the history and suspense, but also this |
| 1:08.5 | kind of human impact that we like in storytelling. |
| 1:12.4 | And congrats on all the awards that you're getting. |
| 1:15.5 | This debut novel is called Tangles. |
| 1:18.3 | Let's start with the word, the title. |
| 1:20.8 | Where did tangles become the summary, the title of your story? |
| 1:26.2 | So this is an interesting moment in life. I had this odd |
| 1:30.7 | dream. And my dreams are usually pretty vivid. And I was looking over a barrier of some kind |
| 1:38.4 | at a body of water. And there was a mass of red hair floating on the water. And I said out loud in my dream, |
... |
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