Author: Katie L. Carroll (Page 49 of 142)

June #InkRipples: Must-Watch Movie List

June 6, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

There are certain movies that when I’m flipping through the channels and happen upon them, I just have to watch (at least for a few minutes). They’re not in any certain genre; some of them are award winners; others of them are, well, not. I’m not an old-movie buff, so they’re all from my lifetime.

Some of them are just good movies. You know the kind, the ones that make you feel something deep in your soul. Others remind me of a certain time in my life, a movie time capsule of sorts. They make me laugh or cry, or both! I like to call them my personal classics. Here they are in no particular order:

The Shawshank Redemption
Clueless
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Little Mermaid
You’ve Got Mail
The Matrix (only the first one!)
Dazed and Confused
A Few Good Men
The Harry Potter movies (even though the books are so much better!)
Aladdin
Billy Madison
American Beauty
The Hunger Games movies (see above about the books being better!)
Superbad
The Princess Bride
Bring It On

What movies would be on your list?

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (June is all about movies), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. Be sure to check out Kai’s and Mary’s posts this month. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

ELIXIR BOUND Book Signing and Teen Writing Workshop at Barnes & Noble #BFESTBUZZ

June 1, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Barnes & Noble is hosting a nationwide Teen Book Festival June 10-12 that will feature all kinds of fun activities and book signings. I’ll be at the B&N in North Haven, CT, signing and discussing my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 12. Then I’ll be sticking around for the B-Fest Teen Book Festival: B-Creative, a writing workshop for teens, at 2:00 p.m. I hope to see some local peeps there and I’m excited to meet some new readers!

For non-local peeps, there are events happening at B&N stores all over, so definitely check out your local store to see all the happenings. Also, a quick reminder that if you purchase a copy of ELIXIR BOUND and would like a signed bookplate, I’m happy to send you one. You can use the contact form on my website to let me know you want one (those go straight to my personal email). Happy reading!

(Oh, and if you’re an author and are participating in the #BFESTBUZZ, feel free to share the details of your event in the comments!)

A Whole New Running Perspective

May 23, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve started running again. Slowly, slowly, slowly. It’s not so much that I’m running slowly, but that I’m easing my way back into a regular running routine. I run a couple of miles once a week. I’d like to sneak in a second day of running on a regular basis…we’ll see if that happens!

The thing that’s different about my running this time is my approach. In the past, I’ve always run with a specific goal in mind. As a kid, I competed at the kid’s track meets in the summer. In high school, I ran for the track team, again for competition. In college and beyond, I ran ran to stay in shape for soccer or to train for a specific race.

Honestly, though, I never really like running in and of itself. When I’ve tried to do it without a 5K to train for or a competitive edge involved, it was kind of a slog. And even when in training, it was something I did because I had to do it to succeed in whatever goal was the end game. I’ve always preferred exercise in the form of a team sport.

But now, post two children and with some extra pounds on these old bones, I’m running with no specific mileage or time goals in mind. I’m not training for anything or looking to compete. I just go out and run.

via GIPHY

I run in the scenic downtown area while The Boy has dance class. Sometimes I run around the green. Other times I head to the little wooded area behind the library and the harbor. If I feel like checking out the boats or the baby geese, I do. If I don’t feel like running up a hill, I walk. I don’t keep track of how far I run or how long. It’s very low-key and low pressure. It’s almost meditative.

As someone who grew up playing many competitive sports and who continued that into adulthood, it’s very strange to exercise this way. The only other time I’ve exercised like this was when I did yoga, which I mostly did while I was pregnant so there was a necessity to the low-key manner.

And you know what? I kind of love running this way. It’s liberating. There’s nothing at stake; there’s only gain. I win by running. Period. And it gives me some much-needed alone time. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to figure this out!

Have you ever gained a new perspective on an old thing?

Author Event Announcement Spring 2016

May 17, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

New England SCBWI 2016 Conference Words of Wisdom for Writing and Life

May 11, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Sneaking in some writing time before the conference started. #amwriting #selfie

A week and a half later and I feel like I’m still catching up after the New England SCBWI Conference. I’m a little behind on my novel writing goals and I have a few deadlines for other projects creeping up, but the momentum of the writing conference usually keeps me going and focused on my writing goals for months.

One of my favorite things about writing conferences is catching up with old writing friends and meeting new ones. My roommate and I stayed up way too late chatting about writing and family and stuff. I almost literally bumped into a friend I met–well it has to be ten years ago now–at one of the many Poconos conferences I attended, and it was awesome to catch up with her. I squeezed in some writing time on Friday before my first workshop, I gathered with both old and new friends for dinner Saturday night, and I happened to wake up early and couldn’t fall back to sleep on Sunday morning, so I went for a run at the hotel fitness center. It all went by too fast, and I was so exhausted by the time I got home Sunday evening.

To keep the inspiration fresh I like to go through my notes from the conference (something I’ve been meaning to do with past conferences as well). So here are just a few of the words of wisdom I came across during the weekend (note that I don’t use quotation marks because these aren’t necessarily direct quotes, though I do my best to keep them as close as possible to what the speakers actually said and the sentiments are accurate):

Marketing is about choices. Choosing to do the things you enjoy and the things you do well. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The most powerful marketing tool is to write a helluva book. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
People are grateful on the inside, but it’s important to be thankful on the outside. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
This that matter the most in your marketing are also what matter the most in writing: what is uniquely yours and your book, things you care about, and economy & quality. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Kids need to see and identify the characters of book in themselves. ~Zaneta Jung (Assistant Editor, Sterling Publishing)
I prefer the term quality assurance [instead of gatekeeper]. As much as I love art and I love authors and I love books, I think of the quote in Ratatouille from the food critic, “I don’t like food; I LOVE it. If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.” ~ (Editorial Director, Jolly Fish Press)

If you aren’t working on and submitting at least seven things a year, then what the hell are you doing? ~Jane Yolen
Never neglect and forget your heart books. These are the books the rest of us need to read. ~Jane Yolen
Where does the character story start? Start on the day that’s different. ~Wendy Mass
We totally get a do-over when we wake up every morning. ~Wendy Mass
If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we keep getting what we’ve already got. ~Wendy Mass

How did we all end up in this room together? All these details of your journey of how you go there, that’s your best asset as a writer. ~Patrick Carman
When you collaborate, don’t think “What am I going to get out of this?” but think “How can I help make this person’s dream come true?” Collaborating is bigger than networking. ~Patrick Carman
Intuition and inspiration can only happen in the moment. ~Kathleen Rushall (Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency)
Your dream agent is the one who adores the hell out of your work. ~Jess Keating
Unused creativity is not benign. If it’s not being put to use or being fulfilled, it leads to anxiety. (I failed to mark in my notes whether it was Kathleen Rushall or Jess Keating, who presented this workshop together.)
Do a $50 job likes it’s a $500 job, and then you’ll start getting $500 jobs. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
I’m being invited into a kid’s imagination and that is a privilege and a hallowed space to occupy. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
I had my sketch book, and I was bored. And that is a wonderful thing to do. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Your best achievement is just around the corner. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Dialogue is not about translating real-life situations; it’s about giving your best impression of it. ~Linda Camacho (Agent, Prospect Agency)
It is so easy to get lost in your own world. You’re falling in love, and that’s great, but sometimes you have to rein it in. ~Linda Camacho (Agent, Prospect Agency)
Likeability is boring to strive for. It’s okay for characters to have positive characteristics, but they should make mistakes. You want them to be imperfect; it makes them “human.” ~Rebecca Podos (Agent, Rees Literary Agency)
Writing books you are passionate about makes it easy for kids to fall in love with your books. ~Colby Sharp
Graphic novels are complex forms of texts, and no kid should ever be stopped from reading that. ~Susannah Richards
Being a mommy doesn’t mean you can’t be a real artist. ~Amitha Knight