Category: Elixir Bound (Page 9 of 20)

Gearing up for National Novel Writing Month 2016

October 31, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo). The idea is that crazy writers set aside the month of November in an attempt to draft 50,000 words of a novel. That’s approximately 1,667 words a day, including weekends and holidays.

Before I had kids I actually did NaNoWriMo one year, the whole 50,000 words. And it sucked. The process of writing that many words in one month sucked. The words themselves sucked. The story sucked. And it sucked the life out of me! It’s a manuscript where I really liked the initial idea, but when I revised it, nothing was working. I tried different point of views, shifting tenses, reworking the plot. Let’s just say I’ve moved on from this story and it kind of soured me on the whole NaNoWriMo thing.

Elixir Bound by [Carroll, Katie L.] But I’ve been in a bit of a writing funk the last few months, since summer really. I’ve done lots of “smaller” writing things (writing a new beginning for a finished manuscript, working on a picture book idea, and the usual parenting articles and such). I had a few spurts of productivity, but not a lot of new words flowing. And I really have been wanting to get a draft done of ELIXIR SAVED (a companion to ELIXIR BOUND). Like I’ve been working on a first draft of this manuscript for years and it’s really starting to weigh on me.

Now it’s a tough manuscript to write because one of the point-of-view characters is based on my sister Kylene (and even has her name) and can be emotionally draining. So I’ve been lenient on myself when I’ve had to take breaks, but it’s time to get this one done. I decided to come up with a plan to finish. Earlier this month I took a look at how much I’d actually written, and it was a lot more than I thought I had–over 50,000 words. To put that into perspective, the completed novel of ELIXIR BOUND is a little over 55,000 words.

Now I knew that SAVED, with its multiple points of views and more epic scale, was going to be quite a bit longer than BOUND, but it was a nice surprise to see that I had accumulated so many words. It was heartening, and it made me feel like I could actually finish this first draft…and soon. That’s was when I was like, “I could use NaNo to get this done.”

With so many words already, I don’t need to set the (unrealistic for me) goal of 50,000 words in a month. I’m going to halve it for a goal of 25,000 words, which would be about 834 words a day or 1,137 words a day if you only count weekdays. That seems doable to me, and it should be enough to finish off the draft. And you know what, even if I don’t meet my exact goal, it’s going to serve as a framework to get me to the finish.

I’ve spent the last few weeks outlining the plot I already have and listing out the scenes I still need to write. I’ve written, formatted, and scheduled all my November blog posts (with only a few updates needed when the dates get closer), so I don’t have to worry about those. I dusted off my old NaNo profile (for anyone else who is doing NaNo, my username is ktlc1113 if you want to look me up on their site) and got it all up to date. I’ve squared away all my other freelancing, etc… work. (The kiddos will still be around all month bugging me, but not much I can do about them!)

I’m ready to start…tomorrow. And hopefully by the end of the month, I’ll have a finished draft of ELIXIR SAVED. Wish me luck!

Author Events Updates and Pictures

October 17, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m very excited to let you all know that I’ll be attending the Annual Authors’ Festival at the Groton Public Library on Saturday, November 5, 2016. The event begins at noon with author talks, refreshments, door prizes, and a book sale/signing. There will be over 40 authors in attendance, so something for every reader. I’ll be there with bookmarks and copies of ELIXIR BOUND. I might even do some holiday shopping while I’m there…signed books make for great gifts (wink, wink!).

This is on the heels of my most recent author event at the Stratford Library for the national Indie Author Day. There were some great author talks, including fellow New England SCBWI member Stacy Barnett Mozer with her MG contemporary THE SWEET SPOT and Jared Topalian (who attended my first ever author talk–one of the few people there who wasn’t a friend or related to me!) with his fantasy ELIAS BROOK. Here’s the whole crew!

Join Me at the Stratford Library Indie Author Day 2016

September 23, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

On October 8, 2016 from noon – 4:00 p.m., the Stratford, CT Public Library is participating in the Indie Author Day, a nationwide event designed to bring local writers together to share information. It’s open to the public, and there will readings from local authors and a panel of industry experts. The afternoon concludes with a book signing event, where you’ll be able to find me with copies of ELIXIR BOUND!

If you’re local, I’d love to see you there!

My Summer (Re)Reading List

June 23, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Summer seems to always put me in the mood to reread books. Last summer I once again started the Harry Potter books and made it through the first four, so I probably be picking that series back up at book five this summer. And I’ve reread Jandy Nelson’s THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE pretty much every summer since I first read it.

As for new books, I’ve got a few series I’m looking to finish. There’s THE CROWN by Kiera Cass, the final book in the Selection series (which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed despite not being a fan of The Bachelor TV series and its spin-offs), and THE RAVEN KING, the last book in Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys series. Other than that I think I’m in the mood for some lighter reads, but I’m not sure what yet. Knowing me, I’ll go the complete opposite and end up with a non-fiction physics book.

If you’re looking for some kidlit recs, the SCBWI put together a Summer Reading List (which just so happens to include my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND). You can download the whole thing or do it by region. Lin Oliver, Executive Director of the SCBWI, put together this cute video about it.

What’s on your summer reading list? Do you have any fun recs for me?

Barnes & Noble Teen Book Festival Wrap-Up

June 15, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

The Barnes & Noble B-Fest Teen Book Festival this past weekend was such a great event! So many authors I know and many of my favorites who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting in person participated in B&N locations all across the country. I was lucky enough to be a part of the event on Sunday at the North Haven store.

The staff totally made me feel like a rock star. They were super accommodating, supportive, and helpful. My day started at noon with a book talk about ELIXIR BOUND. Anyone who knows anything about how I got started writing knows it’s a sad story about the death of my sister Kylene.

To counterbalance the sad part of my writing journey, I brought along some of my old writings (and illustrations). They included a series of picture books inspired by IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Joffe Numeroff and illusatrated by Felicia Bond, a short novel I wrote in elementary school, a saucy journal from high school filled with stories of old boyfriends (though I didn’t share any of those stories directly!), a high school newspaper that I both wrote for and edited, and a feature from a stint working for a regional newspaper while in college.

After my talk and book signing, I had a little downtime. But I had a few friends and family that stopped by to say “Hi,” so that kept me busy while I signed stock for the store. If anyone in the area is looking for signed copies of ELIXIR BOUND, the North Haven, CT Barnes & Noble has some!

Then it was time for Tara Sullivan, author of GOLDEN BOY and THE BITTER SIDE OF SWEET, to talk about her books and writing process, which was like listening to a fascinating civics lesson on albinism and the dark truth of where chocolate comes from. Tara and I met at the NESCBWI conference earlier this spring, and it was really nice catching up with her and hearing about her books.

Finally it was time for the B-Creative event Barnes & Noble set up, which was a writing workshop about creating log lines and pitches. It was geared towards teens, but we had a few great adult participants as well. And I’m pretty sure everyone went home with a prize!

Overall a hugely successful event all around. I’m excited about doing future books events here. Did anyone else participate in the B-Fest? I’d love to hear how it went!