Category: Events (Page 5 of 17)

ELIXIR SAVED and Author Life Updates from Katie L. Carroll

June 17, 2020 / Katie L. Carroll

I hope you all enjoyed the reading I did of my middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND last week. I love presenting workshops and talks to writers and readers in person, but something about recording a video makes me nervous. I think I’m just the type of person who thrives on that face-to-face interaction, but we all must adjust during these strange times.

I’ve been working on my video space and equipment in particular because I recently became Talkabook Certified. Talkabook is a website where readers can book live video calls with authors. I’ll be offering several different options once they launch later this year, and I’m excited to be able to connect with readers this way and details will be on my author visits page.

In book news, ELIXIR SAVED launches in less than a month! It’s been a bit of an ordeal to get it listed for pre-order, but after many chats and emails with various distributors, I think it’s up in paperback and ebook most places now, including IndieBound, BookShop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. If there’s somewhere you like to buy books and it’s not there, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

It’s really hard to have book coming out amidst everything going on in the world, but I’m doing my best to get the word out without being obnoxious about it. If any bloggers have guest spots open in July, I’d be happy to hop on your blog. I’m working on some fun promo stuff for release day, including a “book birthday” video and a quiz take will tell you what element your magic is aligned with.

At the beginning of the year, I ordered a bunch of bookmarks (pictured above) to give out at in-person events, which obviously aren’t happening. I’m not running any kind of official pre-order campaign for ELIXIR SAVED, but if you have ordered it, drop me a comment or an email and I’ll send you one (U.S. only…sorry).

As for work-in-progress news, I’ve been getting up early a couple mornings a week and hopping on video chat with one of my writer friends to continue drafting my witchy middle grade book–think Mean Girls meets The Crucible with a slight paranormal twist. With everyone still at home , early mornings are the best option for any kind of writing time…at least distance learning for the two older kiddos is over and they’re on summer break. I’ve come up with themed activities for kids for the summer that will hopefully allow me some time to work during the day.

One last thing (this update turned out longer than expected!), I have a secret project I’m working on that I’m hoping to release later this year or early next year. It involves a design skill set that I’m teaching myself, and it’s a project some of you might be familiar with. I got all the rights for it settled, so now it’s a matter of carving out the time for it and figuring out how to make it work.

Sending you all healthy vibes! I’d love to know what you’ve been up to or if you have any summer plans.

Author Katie L. Carroll Reads From PIRATE ISLAND for Pirate Day

June 8, 2020 / Katie L. Carroll

Sunday was Pirate Day in my hometown, a place with a rich history of pirate lore and the inspiration behind my middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND (as I’ve shared on the blog before “The Real Pirate Lore That Inspired PIRATE ISLAND”). I was a featured performer at last year’s Pirate Day where I had games set up for little ones, a photo station where you could take your picture on a “pirate ship,” and I did two talks about the town’s Captain Kidd history.

The harbor was swarmed with people as Captain Kidd, Jack Sparrow, and their troupe of pirates arrived on the ship. Not something that could happen this year, so I decided to hop on my personal pirate ship and do a reading from the first two chapters of PIRATE ISLAND.

If you stick around until the end (it’s only like 11 minutes, so hopefully not too long a time to listen to me!), you’ll get a peek at my first mate, who unfortunately was engaged in mutiny. Also, if you listen closely, you may hear my littlest shipmate playing the ukulele and singing what I can only assume was a sea shanty. It’s all small ship!

About PIRATE ISLAND

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

For centuries, the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure has remained a mystery. When Billy’s best friend, Andy, proposes they look for it on nearby Pirate Island, Billy thinks it’s just another one of their crazy adventures. It’s usually Billy who ends up in trouble as a result, but he goes along for the ride…like always. The more he delves into the life and death of Kidd, the more he thinks the treasure is real and that it might be buried on the small island in Long Island Sound. Billy—nope, call him William—becomes obsessed with the captain of the same first name. He even believes he’s possessed by Kidd’s restless soul. Now he and the spirit of a long-dead pirate are leading the crazy adventure on Pirate Island. And what they find is far bigger than the treasure they imagined.

PIRATE ISLAND is available from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, Smashwords, Book Depository (for international folks), and many other of your favorite book sellers! Anyone interested in learning more about the history of Captain William Kidd can check out the free Pirate Island Curriculum Guide or click on #CaptainKiddHistory.

Heading to PLA in Nashville and Exciting Book Teasers

February 25, 2020 / Katie L. Carroll

This week I’m off to Nashville for the Public Library Association conference. I’m super excited for Stacey Abrams’s keynote (and sad that I’ll have to leave before Samantha Bee’s). Of course, I’m excited for the reception for the Indie Author Project winners. A bunch of us have connected online and it’ll be fun to meet at the event. I was hoping to leave my winter coat behind, but it’s going to be just as cold in Nashville as CT…oh well.

You can now purchase copies of ELIXIR BOUND, winner of Best YA for the Connecticut Author Project, with the award badge on it!

I’ve been working really hard on ELIXIR SAVED to get it ready for pre-order…just copyedits to go. I know I’ve been promising a cover reveal, but it’s really going to happen in March (I even created a video for it). Big thanks to Susan Tait Porcaro for once again creating a gorgeous image to represent my book.

There is also an old book of mine that is getting a second life this year! So keep an eye out for news on that…gold star for anyone who guesses what book I’m talking about.

What Does A Writer Do When Not Reading or Writing?

February 4, 2020 / Katie L. Carroll

I haven’t been reading much lately. I’ve only finished one book this year, though I’m in the middle of at least five books right now. I haven’t been writing either. The last drafting I did was in the fall, though I’ve been working through edits of ELIXIR SAVED, which, of course, are taking longer than expected as has everything with this story.

(If you’re curious about how an indie author differentiates between writing, revising, and editing, I’ll be blogging about my process later this year.)

So what have I been doing? I’ve been taking part in a few challenges. In January I did Storystorm, which was created by author Tara Lazar and is a brainstorming event where you come up with 30 story ideas in the 31 days of January. Are all my ideas winners? Definitely not, but I think there may be a few gems in there when I sort through them when I’m looking to start a new project.

This month, I’m doing Nonfiction Fest, presented by the Nonfiction Chicks and is a “month-long crash course in writing nonfiction for children.” I’ve been reading through the daily blogs, but I’m little behind in the daily challenges. I should have some time to catch up by the end of the month.

I like these types of challenges because it forces me to think about writing-related things every day, but they’re quick and you can do as much or as little as you want towards the challenge. For me, it’s not always about “winning” (i.e. completing every aspect of the challenge) but about learning and trying new things.

I’ve also been taking some time to celebrate ELIXIR BOUND for winning the Connecticut Author Project for Best YA Fiction. It’s not every day your book wins an award, so I’m trying to pause and enjoy it. I’ll be heading to Nashville later this month for the Public Library Association Conference where there will be a reception for all the Indie Author Project winners. My awesome cover artist Susan Tait Porcaro took the time to put the award badge onto the cover, so that version is now available (with a couple of small updates to the text as well, though the story is still the same…I might blog about this later, too).

I’ll be revealing the cover for ELIXIR SAVED soon, which I love so much, and was also created by the talented Susan Tait Porcaro. If you like Frozen 2, feminist matriarchal worlds, magical queens holed up in an ice palace in snowy woods, and epic quests, then you might just like ELIXIR SAVED. My goal is to get it up for pre-order in the next month or so…stay tuned for all that!

Finally, I’ve been working on planning some events. In addition to going to the PLA Conference, I’m scheduling local library events, I’ll probably be going to the New England SCBWI conference, and I’ve already booked a group Unworkshop retreat to the Highlights Foundation in the fall with my writing bestie Katlyn Duncan and a few other writers.

And of course, all the usual parenting stuff with the kiddos! I’m a room parent for both my kindergartner’s and 3rd-grader’s classrooms, so I get to help organize the parties. I’m coaching my 3rd-grader’s basketball team. And the usual story time at the library and such with my two-year-old. Busy times!

What have you all been up to lately?

Busy Summer, Busy Fall, & ELIXIR SAVED Cover Sneak Peek

September 23, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

Happy autumn! It’s been so busy here since school started! Summer was busy with fun activities and relaxing with the family, which I loved, but I got so little work done. So I’m happy to have been able to focus more on work this past month.

I’m loving my new schedule with the two bigger boys at school all day and just The Gentleman (who still naps in the afternoon!) home with me. I’ve been able to get a lot done, and I’ve really been pushing myself on the ELIXIR SAVED revision. This is seriously the book where everything has taken forever. Other exciting news for ELIXIR SAVED includes an upcoming cover reveal (sneak peek below)!!!

I’m also gearing up for a long weekend writing retreat at the Highlights Foundation! A writer friend and I are doing an Unworkshop. I’ve heard wonderful things about the Highlights workshops, so I’m excited to experience the place for myself. The idea of the Unworkshop is that you have time to focus on whatever project you’d like; they provide the meals, the lodging, and an inspiring rural setting. The plan is to get some major words written for my witchy middle grade book. Picture MEAN GIRLS meets THE CRUCIBLE!

Indie Author Day at the Norwalk Public Library is also coming up on Saturday, October 12. The full list of authors attending hasn’t been released yet, but based on past years, I’m guessing there will be large number. I’ll be there with ELIXIR BOUND and PIRATE ISLAND.

What are you all up to this fall?