A Simple Beginning

The idea for The Remmington Triplets came to me in the summer of 2016 before my senior year of high school. A story popped into my head: a family with three older kids and three younger kids, who were triplets. Naturally, the family would live in St. Louis and be Catholic, like me. I toyed with the idea, thinking about the characters, figuring out what they would look like, how they would act, their hobbies and personalities, etc.

A few scenes came to me first. I imagined the first day of school when Toby arrives and everyone stares at him and Heather gets jealous. I imagined Heather and Amelia meeting in AP Econ class and forming an unlikely friendship because of a school project. Then I imagined the triplets going to the Homecoming Dance together and Amelia having a great time with Isaac. The triplets stuck in my brain, and I kept expanding their world.

I tried to string the scenes together, to form an actual book instead of just a few scenes. But it was hard! I had tried to write a book before, but I only managed a few pages or at most, a few chapters. I remember sitting in my bedroom after school, typing on my sister’s old laptop, rereading the same scene over and over again, trying to squeeze more out of them.

Images would flash through my brain when I was at school or when I was trying to fall asleep. Sometimes I would ruminate over the scene in my head for weeks before writing it down. When I would finally sit down and write, I imagined the scene like I was watching a TV show. I would imagine how each character’s face would change as the scene unfolded and where they would be standing. I tried to hear their tone of voice, picture their mannerisms and movements, and envision how they would dress and carry themselves. I would get fixated on a scene and edit it several times. There are some scenes I rewrote 20 times!

As I went back to make edits, the characters grew into who they are now. At first, I made Heather too meek and Isaac too cocky. No, Heather was confident, she was friendly, she was popular. And Isaac was a sweetheart, he would try to be suave, but he was a bit of a geek.

When I couldn’t think of a scene to write, I began to profile my characters. I drew out the family tree and solidified the character names. I wrote out their descriptions, just to keep them straight. And then I figured, maybe I can start the book like this, with character descriptions? It’s cheesy I guess, not the most sophisticated or exciting way to start a book, but I wanted the reader to be able to imagine the characters right away. I wanted them to understand the family in a few paragraphs in the way that I understood them after months of ruminating.

One thing I highly value in books is realism. If I am reading realistic fiction, I want things to make sense. I constantly poke holes in what I read, thinking, well it’s November in New England, so it would be dark outside by 6pm, so how can they see without flashlights and streetlamps? So, I was meticulous as I planned things out. I decided that the triplets would be born in August 2002 and graduate high school in May 2021. I had to keep everything straight, so Beckett would be born in March 1992, Addison in February 1994, and Lila in May 1997. Mrs. Remmington would be 36 when she gave birth to the triplets, so she would be born in 1966. Mr. Remmington would be two years older than Mrs. Remmington, so he would be born in 1964. I looked back at my high school’s academic calendar and began to fill in dates for the first day of school, the Homecoming football game, the Homecoming Dance, and half days.

A few other scenes came to me like when Amelia is washing the car with her family and sees Isaac out for a run, and when Amelia and Isaac make sandwiches together for NHS and Heather has an asthma attack while playing field hockey, and when Heather and Amelia have a sleepover with lots of fun shenanigans. At this point, I knew the book would be set in 2020, which was still in the future. It felt weird to write in the future; I wondered how the slang would differ? I didn’t want things to feel outdated and cheesy.

I always wrote in secret, I never told anyone, not even my family or close friends. I mean it wasn’t a book, it wasn’t even half a book, just a few random chapters that didn’t have a common tone or overall theme.

Big Changes

In the fall of 2019, I studied abroad in Ireland. It was an amazing experience, and I felt close to God as I saw more of the beautiful world He created. One day, we were riding on our tour bus back to Dublin from a trip to a neighboring city, and I struck up a conversation with one of tour guides, Callum. We started to talk about literature. I mentioned I liked creative writing and he asked, “What do you write?” A little apprehensively, I mentioned that I was working on a fiction book. He pressed me, asking what the book was about. I mumbled something about triplets and high school, but I was shy and didn’t go into detail. He nodded along, politely. Later, when my friend Sarah, who was sitting behind us, asked me about it, I told her a little more. I explained it was about a Catholic family, and it followed triplets as they went through their senior year of high school. Finally telling someone was a relief yet incredibly vulnerable. Sarah was excited and said she would love to read it one day. If I ever manage to finish it, I thought to myself. I told my two other close friends, Rachel and Olivia, a little about my book. They thought it was awesome and encouraged me to keep writing. That is why my book is dedicated to them! I grew a lot in Ireland, and I vowed I would finish my book. I knew God was calling me to keep working on the story He had placed on my heart.

When I got back from Ireland, I continued to write and edit scenes in my book. Then, a few months later, the pandemic hit, and I was sent home from college. I had nothing to do but sit in my room and do homework. So, I wrote. Remember how I set my book was set in Fall 2020? Hmmm, what will the world be like in a few months, I wondered? I didn’t want to mention face masks and social distancing, but how could I avoid it? Realism was integral to my writing; I couldn’t pretend this pandemic wasn’t happening. What if I don’t set my book in a specific year? But I had to, for my own sake. I knew my brain had to know what day it was in each chapter. I couldn’t just say ‘good enough.’ These characters had lived in my head for four years, and I had just told three friends about my book.

So, I pivoted, and I rewrote the book to be set in the fall of 2019 instead of 2020. The triplets would be born in August 2001, meaning all the siblings and parents would also be born a year earlier since I had already firmly decided the age gaps. I went through every line in my story, studying the calendar, to change every day of the week or date mentioned. Also at this time, I looked at the Liturgical Calendar from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to see what the readings would have been for each Sunday and began to incorporate Sunday Mass into the story. I tried to write the church scenes to be natural and realistic, not too preachy or cumbersome in the story. I wrote the homilies based on homilies I have heard over the years. I am no theologian, and I prayed it would not be pretentious of me to write portions of homilies. I finally wrote an outline, which detailed what happened in each chapter and firmly listed the date. I spent most of the summer working on my book, and my manuscript practically doubled in size.

As senior year of college started, I kept writing. I set a goal for myself: have a completed manuscript by graduation! For Lent in 2021, I decided to work on my book every day, after all, this book was a way for me to talk to God and use the talents He gave me to encourage others. Sure, maybe I won’t convert tons of people, but I wanted Catholic high schoolers to realize that being Catholic isn’t weird or outdated, it’s amazing. It is a beautiful rich tradition and it’s totally normal! I wanted my characters to be Catholic and ‘normal.’ Heather is a drama queen and immature, but she loves God and tries her best. Isaac struggles to get the girl and is overwhelmed with school, sports, and work, but he has a deep love of the faith he can rely on. Toby is unsure of his identity and future, but he is trying to trust in God. They all experience normal high school problems, and they use their faith to get through life’s challenges.  

Going to a Catholic University completely opened up the faith for me. Daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, retreats, Bible study, and deep Catholic friendships were all new to me. Being surrounded by young people striving in their faith just like me was an amazing testament and a huge encouragement. College was an integral part of my faith journey and now I knew that God was calling me to write this story. I couldn’t just keep playing with it in my head when I was bored, no, I had to finish it. I had to publish it and share this story with the world.

I wrote every day during Lent and prayed for my story to come together in a complete book. One crazy thing about writing is how the characters just started to change on their own. I didn’t plan some things; they just started happening when I wrote. Like Toby discerning religious life? I never saw that coming, but I was writing and the words practically typed themselves. I thought, oh that’s actually pretty good. I kept writing up until graduation. The night before my college graduation, I was sitting at my desk typing away on my laptop, making the final edits to my first draft of my manuscript. There it was: 143,000 words and years of work! It was done—sort of!

After graduation, I wanted to focus on my book. I didn’t have a job lined up, so I had lot so free time. I looked at my manuscript and began to edit, quickly making a second complete draft. In addition, to editing, I began researching publishing and self-publishing. I watched countless YouTube videos about the self-publishing process, different types of editing, and how to obtain a literary agent and get published through a traditional publishing house. I wrote proposals and emailed literary agents to try to get represented. I listened to podcasts about writing and publishing; I found other catholic writers and creators. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t end up getting a publishing deal, but I did get a job in my field.

Slowly, but Surely

In April of 2022, I moved back to St. Louis to work as an environmental scientist. I put my manuscript on the back burner as I started post-grad life making friends and living away from my parents. From time to time, I would pull up my Word document and edit my book. I still wanted to publish it, self-publish, that is, but I was uncertain what to do next.

I started an online self-publishing course, the Fiat Self-Publishing Academy through Thy Olive Tree. I watched the instructional videos and wrote out a to-do list. I reached out to an editor recommended through the course, Erin Broestl. She was very encouraging, and I was happy to get feedback that my book was actually good! Up to that point, only my mom had read it. Also, I decided to send my manuscript to one of my favorite YouTubers, Catholic Mom and Daughter, since I knew they were avid readers of Catholic fiction. They gave me a critical piece of feedback! They told me to add a final chapter to help wrap up the book, as it felt unfinished. Thank you Jennifer and Kate because I added a final chapter, and looking back, I don’t know how I thought the manuscript was complete without it!

I continued to tweak my book here and there. Over time, I was able to put aside the inflexible grip on my beloved writings and look more critically at the overall story. I whittled my book down from 146,000 words to 124,000 words and then down to 105,000 words. I had to overcome my tendency to overwrite and spend hours carefully reading each line to figure out what was necessary and what I was holding onto out of habit or nostalgia. I deleted unnecessary lines of dialogue, shortened scenes, and took out filler words. Who knew I used the word awkward so much?

When I didn’t feel like editing, I moved on to create a website. As a creative person and a dreamer, I had a lot of big ideas of what I wanted my website to look like. But I am not a programmer or web designer. So, I had to stick with what I knew: designing graphics on Canva. I was also blessed to connect with a local cover designer, the talented Bernadette Lamb, to create a beautiful cover and interior title page for The Remmington Triplets.

Although I never set a hard date for self-publishing my book, I wanted to publish my book in late summer, during back-to-school time, as my book starts in August. I worked on my back cover blurb and continued to craft my website. After months of sitting, I finally made the decision to change the last third of my book. It was just too long and meandering, each chapter the main characters seemed to flip-flop their feelings. It was exhausting to read, honestly. So, I deleted scenes, condensed scenes, and changed the order of events to streamline the story.

Eventually, it all came together and after nine years of work, I self-published The Remmington Triplets through Amazon KDP on September 1, 2025. I cried tears of joy when I opened the box and saw my proof copy. It was surreal to physically hold the book I had spent so much time crafting. 

Creative writing is one of my passions, and I believe it is a gift from God. I love my book and what I have created. I know it’s not perfect and that’s okay. I hope you will continue on this journey with me. I do want to keep writing, and I have so many ideas. I pray it won’t take me another nine years for my next book, but all in God’s timing.

Blessings,
Kristina