Category: Elixir Saved (Page 7 of 11)

Summer Reading Giveaway With Little Free Libraries

June 20, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

Before I get to the summer reading giveaway, I have to give a shout out to all the people who made Pirate Day happen. Thanks the members of the Downtown Milford Business Association for organizing the event. We had perfect weather and a great turnout It was so fun meeting all the little (and big!) pirates and sharing PIRATE ISLAND with them!

On a personal, level thanks to my mom for spending the whole day with me, my sisters for supplies and/or for hanging out, my nephew for stopping by and introducing me to his girlfriend, my mother-in-law for making sure The Prince (my middle kiddo) had a special shopping trip on his birthday, my dad for grabbing lunch, and my husband and kiddos for always being my biggest cheerleaders. It truly does take a village!

Now for the summer reading giveaway! I have some copies of ELIXIR BOUND with the old cover hanging around, so I’ve decided to drop them in little free libraries while on my adventures this summer. As a bonus, whoever finds one of these books will also get a code to claim an ebook ARC (advanced reader copy) of the second Elixir book ELIXIR BOUND when those are ready in the fall!

I’ve chosen most of the little free libraries already, but I’m keeping a few copies open to spontaneous giveaways. Many of the libraries are in my home state of Connecticut, but upstate New York, Virginia, and Washington D.C. are among the other spots where you’ll be able to find copies. I’ll be posting pics of the libraries as the copies are dropped off on Instagram (yup, I finally joined!) @katielcarrollauthor, Twitter @katielcarroll, and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/katielcarrollauthor/.

You can always check out what I’m reading this summer on my Goodreads page, and I’ll probably do a post later in the summer highlighting some of my favorites. What’s on your summer reading list?

ELIXIR SAVED Update & Author Events 2019

April 29, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s been all ELIXIR SAVED and author events on the blog lately and today’s no exception. I’ve been compiling the mess of a draft that is ELIXIR SAVED and it’s been slightly terrifying. It’s been 8ish-year process to write this thing, it’s got three point-of-view characters, and it turns out that the manuscript is currently over 117,000 words!!! Yikes!

It’s been a journey to say the least. I haven’t quite written THE END yet, which I was hoping to do before I started the first round of revisions. But I realized I needed to read through what I already have in order to write the ending, which is weird because I’ve known the major events of the end pretty much since I started writing the story. Some things you can’t force, I guess. As I’ve been organizing the draft, the pieces of the end are already starting to come together in my mind.

I’ve also been busy scheduling and planning events for the spring and summer. This Saturday, I’ll be at the Author Expo and Book Fair at the public library in Torrington, CT from 12-4 p.m. That means I’ll be missing the New England SCBWI conference this year. 🙁 Hopefully I’ll get there next year.

Then in June I’ll be part of Pirate Day in downtown Milford, CT. It looks like I’ll be doing two presentations about the local pirate lore, one in morning before the pirates arrive by boat and one in the afternoon on the town green. There are a ton of fun activities throughout the day for the whole family. I’ll have PIRATE ISLAND for sale, games to play, and picture opportunities when I’m not speaking. It’s going to be a really fun (and busy!) day.

I’m also part of the CT Authors Trail this summer. I’ll be at the Voluntown Public Library in August for that. You can check out my Events page for all the updated details on where to find me. And I’m always happy to have people reach out to me for events and school or library visit; check out my Author Visits page for details on that.

As for the boys, we had a fun spring break a couple of weeks ago. We’ve started making our plans for the summer. I’ll have to do a picture post soon, so you can see what we’ve been up to. What have you all been up to lately?

So Close to “The End” in the Second Elixir Book

February 27, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

The cover of Elixir Bound by Katie L. Carroll.

Many of you know that I’ve been working on ELIXIR SAVED, a companion novel to my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND. Some of you know I’ve been working on it a very long time (see my blog post from 2017 “Why Is It Taking Me So Long To Write The Second Elixir Book?” for some of the reasons). It’s been so long that I wasn’t even sure when I started it, so I took a look back some of my earliest computer files for SAVED and see at least one dating back to 2010.

That’s just the oldest computer file I have on it. I have no idea how long some of my handwritten notes and ideas go back. The truth is that SAVED is the original book I had in mind when I first conceived of the Elixir world, and that was way back when I was still in college, so we’re talking 2003 probably. So a really (insert swearword here) long time!

The good news is that I have all three (yes, that’s three!) point-of-view characters written right up the to climax of the story. They’ve all been in different places for most the story and now they’re finally coming together for that final battle. I know some of the things that are going to happen, but I’ve left some room open for the characters to surprise me. And it’s so intimidating.

I thought once I got the characters to this point that I’d dive right in to finishing this draft. But I find myself hesitating to put the words down, finding that I need some time to think through more of the details. The vision I have so far for these final scenes is kind of vague and fuzzy in spots and I can’t quite pin down what those parts are going to look like. I might not figure that out until I start writing it, though.

Then I start wondering if it’s really that I’m not sure how to finish off the story or if it’s a matter of cold feet. I’ve been working on this story for so long, it’s weird to think about not working on it. Believe me, I have plenty of other projects that I want to start once this one is done (hello, my pretty middle grade witchy book!). And it’s not like finishing this draft means I’m anywhere close to being done with the story (hello, rewrites, revisions, and edits!). So it’s not that I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to do after. What is it exactly that’s holding me back then?

Part of it is definitely worrying about not doing the story justice, an extra large concern when one of the characters is inspired by my sister Kylene. Like I won’t even be close to bridging that gap between what I’ve envisioned for the story and what ends up on the page, which is always a concern with any creative pursuit. Though, it’s not like I need to have it there with a draft anyway…that’s what all those rewrites, revisions, and edits are for.

So why do I have a nervous bundle of energy in my stomach when I think about writing “The End,” something I’ve been striving for all this time? It makes me think about when I’m getting close to finishing a really good book. There’s that urge to read as fast as I can in order to find out what happens. But there’s also this urge to slow down and take it all in. Because once the book is over, that’s it. Sure, you can reread a book, but it’s never the same as the first time.

The End handwritten on a torn sheet of notebook paper.

Perhaps I’m just needing to be in this moment of almost-finished for a little bit before I get there. To take my time to be in the moment and appreciate it before it’s over…to keep those butterflies of anticipation alive a little longer.

Then I need to finish the book because, damn, that many years of working on it is enough already!

Katie’s 2019 Resolution Word: Community

January 15, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

I know we’re halfway through January already and nobody seems to be talking about resolutions or goals anymore, but I’ve been thinking about my own goals for 2019 and wanted to chime in here. In part to organize my thoughts (because blogging helps me do that) and also to hold myself accountable. There’s something about writing down a goal that makes it feel real to me. (Feel free to bug me throughout the year to see how I’m doing…I’ll do the same for you if you’d like; just let me know a way to contact you.)

I don’t really like New Year’s resolutions because they feel arbitrary to me. I often reevaluate where I’m at and where I want to be and how to get there, and the approach of a new year isn’t necessarily the best time (for me) to set a new goal. But I do like the idea of picking a word to set the tone for the year. Last year, my word was “focus,” which primarily referred to focusing on one particular WIP that I wanted to finish (more about how I did on that goal later). So this year’s word is…drum roll, please…

Community!

Now that my youngest is the ripe old age of 18 months, I have a tiny bit more flexibility in my schedule, which means I’m hoping to be able to connect to my writing community more. Specifically I’d like to attend more nearby writing events at bookstores and libraries in support of my writer friends, I plan on doing a writing retreat at the Highlights Foundation later this year (they call it an Unworkshop), and I’m thinking about starting up an SCBWI meet and greet in my area. And I’d also like to get back to connecting better with my critique partners, both online and in person.

I’ll be honest, having been super focused on raising my kiddos for the last 7-1/2 years makes me feel out of practice with adult interactions. It’s not that I haven’t been going to the occasional writing conference and getting out and spending actual time with adults, but it’s definitely something that has taken a backseat. My social awkwardness feels like it’s at an all-time high, but I’m going to try push through and force myself to do things that maybe feel uncomfortable.

I believe my life and my writing will be more enriched for the trouble of getting out and doing stuff. It’s easy to sit inside on my computer and phone, scrolling through social media, and delude myself into thinking that I’m being sociable. (And there’s certainly great benefits to having an awesome online community.) But I’m craving that face-to-face contact.

So how’d I do with last year’s word of focus? Pretty good actually. The project I really wanted to finish was ELIXIR SAVED, and I got so close to doing it, despite computer issues in December. Close enough to feel confident that I’ll be able to release it later this year. So stay tuned for more news about that!

What are all your resolutions/goals/words for 2019? Who wants to be an accountability buddy with me?

Katie’s 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

December 31, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

My original reading goal for 2018 was fifty books, or rather I should say novels because I don’t keep track of all the hundreds of picture books I read (and reread) with the kiddos. I was way ahead of schedule about halfway through the year, so I amended that to sixty.

Browsing through my Goodreads report on what I’ve read in 2018, it looks like there are a couple of books listed twice on my list and a fantasy box set that is actually three (quite long) books that are listed as one. As of writing this post, Goodreads says I’ve read fifty-eight books with four in progress (one of which I may finish before the end of the year). Close enough for me!

Being in the book business, it doesn’t feel like a lot of books, especially compared to what I’ve done in the past and other voracious readers I know. And there always seems to be so many amazing books coming out every week that I haven’t gotten to that it never feels like I’m reading enough. Still, considering the
average American reads four books a year (see the article “How Many Books Did The Average American Read In The Last Year? This New Study May Surprise You” by Kerri Jarema), I’m pretty happy with what I’ve accomplished.

It was another year where I DNF (did not finish) quite a few titles and another year where I couldn’t get into audiobooks. It seems I’m not a auditory learner and I just can’t figure out how to pay attention when I’m listening to a novel. I’ve been trying to listen to more podcasts to help train my brain in that area. I’ve definitely continued to try and consciously diversify my reading (using the We Need Diverse Books definition of diversity) and I will continue to do that in the new year. I also read what turned out to be a lot of ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies…mostly from NetGalley).

I enjoy reading all those posts where readers list their top-ten lists and do fun things with their reading year in review, but frankly, I just don’t have time for that this year myself. I’m really pushing to finish this draft of ELIXIR SAVED (despite having computer issues for the last few weeks…my hand is sore from all the notebook writing I’ve been doing!). But I’ve peppered in a few covers here to give you a taste of my 2018 list.

Looking forward to 2019, I’m probably going to cut back on reviews, which means reading fewer books from NetGalley. It’s yet another area I just don’t have a lot of time to devote to, though I will try to write a few lines for any small press/indie books I read that I feel like would benefit from it. I’ll also keep mixing in older titles with new releases. And I’ll be reading a lot of ebooks again; every year my reading tips to the digital end a little bit more.