Interview with Katrina Buckhold

She’s abrasive and gutsy and uses the ‘f-word’, making interviews with her challenging.

Katrina as a young teen

“She” is Katrina Buckhold, known as Serena on the street and as Felicity Randal when in witness protection. She’s only four-years old in the prologue to THE TRAZ, the first book in the BackTracker Series, but by the end of the series she is a grandmother.

The BackTracker series is a study of how a person changes over times, how life affects our personality and our outlook and how some traits we are born with never change.

Only the first three books in the series are published, THE TRAZ Book 1 (also available in a School Edition), FATAL ERROR Book 2 and FIREWALLS Book 3. Katrina ages from four to twenty-four in those first three novels. I thought it would be fun to interview her as she appears in each book and compare her answers to some of life’s basic questions as she matures—or doesn’t mature, depending on your perspective!

Katrina as a cop on the cover of FIREWALLS

Question: Katrina, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Answers: 

(4-year old Katrina in the prologue to THE TRAZ) A cop like my dad, or maybe a computer person. I love computers! 

 (14-year old Katrina at the end of THE TRAZ) I don’t want to be f*ing anything other than what I am, okay? 

 (20-year old Katrina half-way through FATAL ERROR) I’m going to be a cop, whether they want me to be or not.

(24-year old Katrina towards the end of FIREWALLS) Although Shrug says otherwise, I am already f*ing grown up. I’m a cop fighting cybercrime, okay?

Question: What do you most regret about your life?

-(4-years old) That we moved from the Arctic. If we’d stayed there, my mom wouldn’t have started drinking.

-(14-years old) That my Mom killed my dad.

-(20-years old) That my mistake killed Lukas.

-(24-years old) That instead of staying in school, I ran with The Traz biker gang. So much bad happened because of that decision.

Question: What do you think is your best characteristic?

-(4-years old) I’m smart. Did you know I wrote a melody with my computer?

-(14-years old) I know how to get what I want. I’m independent.

-(20-years old) I analyze things and see patterns that others miss.

-(24-years old) I sometimes wonder if I have any good characteristics. People don’t seem to like me much

Question: what would you like to improve about yourself?

-(4-years old) I’d get taller. I’m too short. People think I’m a baby.

-(14-years old) That I’d learn to keep my f*ing mouth shut.

-(20-years old) I’ve learned so much about life these past two years. I now need to learn to forgive myself.

-(24-years old) I need to let go of the past and seize the future. I need to learn how to love.

Who’s the most important person in your life right now?

-(4-years old) My dad.

-(14-years old) Shrug.

-(20-years old) It was Chad until he betrayed me and married f*ing Debra.

-(24-years old) Chad, no doubt.

What are you looking forward to?

-(4-years old) School!

-(14-years old) Being free of the gang.

-(20-years old) Becoming a cop.

-(24-years old) Getting married.

Thank you for talking to us, Katrina!

If you'd like, you can follow Katrina on twitter

Eileen Schuh, Author

FIREWALLS
FATAL ERROR
THE TRAZ