Interview with Author Kersten Campbell - Humorist Writer

Kersten Campbell is the author of a humorous book called Confessions of a Completely Insane Mother. Kersten said, “It has always been my belief that we, as women, need to laugh more. Mothers experience some of the most stressful working conditions on the planet, and stress can be dangerous to women’s overall health and longevity. Humor can reduce stress.”


I’ve always heard that laughter is the best medicine. The Reader’s Digest wrote, “Scientific evidence has shown that laughter helps people breathe easier and it massages the heart and other vital organs… In experiments, students who watched funny movies were found to have an increased flow of infection-fighting proteins in their saliva.” If this is true, then laughter is definitely the best medicine. Kersten, will you please tell us about your new book?

"Confessions" is a book full of humor stories about life with five kids and a mother who is far from perfect. In fact, that's why I wrote the book, so that women would be inspired to relax and enjoy motherhood and realize that nobody is perfect. I hoped it would inspire them to laugh at the little disasters that happen every day in family life. The message is: Just do your best, enjoy your family, and rely on the Savior to make up the difference.

Your book sounds fascinating. Where did you get your ideas?

I get all of my ideas from real life experiences. I carry little index cards around in all my pockets so that I'll never miss recording the funny things my kids do. And they do some funny things, especially when they interact with my husband, who is the straight man in the family. I love to record all of it for later use. One example is when my daughter made us "chocolate chip" soup for lunch. That turned into a really great story combined with some of the funny things she had said to me earlier in the week.

Chocolate chip soup? Oh my! It’s hard to imagine. What do your children think about your writing? Do they suspect that you’re writing about them?

My kids love that there is a book published about all their exploits. They love to laugh at themselves and they share the funny stories with their friends and teachers. The neighbor kids are all begging me to put them in the next book. My kids are really hoping for movie rights but I'm not getting their hopes up. Hee hee.

One reviewer said about Confessions, "I seriously laughed until I cried.” How do you know when you’ve got a real hilarious story to tell? And what is a Humorist's License?

Many people think writing humor is all laughter and fun, but actually it is really hard work. It takes a lot of planning the timing and surprises and combinations of humor elements. So in actuality you can take anything and make it funny. You just have to learn about humor writing techniques.... one of which is exaggeration... (I call it Humorist's License). There are many great books that teach the formulas for humor writing. One of the best books I've read is called, Comedy Writing Secrets, by Melvin Helitzer.

So now I know what a Humorist License is. Okay, tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

It's true that I don't sort my laundry and I am addicted to chocolate donuts. Okay...maybe you didn't want to go that deep into my psyche, but the truth about me is that I love people. I love the human condition...that we all have faults and that we need to rely upon each other and the Savior to be successful. That was part of the plan before we came here. So I don't think we, as women, should feel bad about ourselves when we're not perfect. If you want to feel better about yourself...you can read a new humor story each month on my blog: www.kersten4.blogspot.com. I hope the stories will make you smile and bring some joy to your day! Thank you so much Linda for the fun interview!

Thank you, Kersten. I enjoyed getting to know you. So... everyone, is laughter the best medicine after all?