Category: Fantasy (Page 4 of 9)

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?

ELIXIR BOUND Wins the 2019 Connecticut Author Project for YA Fiction

November 25, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

Updated to add that here is the official announcement for the winners of the 2019 Indie Author Project awards.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email that at first had me skeptical and then had me speechless. As someone who lists their email address directly on their website, usually when an email hits my inbox with a subject line referencing one of my books or being an author, they’re trying to sell me something. I tolerate those in order to keep communication channels open for readers, educators, and reviewers.

So when I saw on my phone this particular email from an address I didn’t know, I had the usual thoughts of it being a sales pitch. Then I actually read the email and I felt a strange buzzing sensation overcome me and render me speechless. ELIXIR BOUND, my YA fantasy that I self-published last year (after getting my rights back from the original publisher) had been selected by the Connecticut Indie Author Project as the winner in the YA fiction category!

The email went on to ask for a headshot and the book cover and explain that I would be getting badges to put on the cover. And it asked where to send the prize money! That’s when I started to get kind of light-headed and I called my husband to tell him the good news, all the while still kind of a in state of shock.

When I made the move to self-publishing, it was with a lot of excitement but also with a lot of trepidation. Would people think I was self-publishing because my books weren’t good enough to be traditionally published? Was I reducing my chances of ever getting traditionally published? Would I ever find an audience doing this myself? Some days it’s hard not to think I’m toiling away in obscurity, putting hours and hours and hours of energy and heart into these books with very little external validation.

That’s not to say I don’t recognize the wonderful support I’ve gotten from readers who have found my books, from local libraries and organizations, and from my family and friends. I appreciate every single person who has played some part in my journey as an author. But, yeah, those darker thoughts creep up and make me wonder if I’m wasting my time.

So to have an organization like the Indie Author Project, whose goal is to connect indie authors to libraries and readers, in conjunction with BiblioBoard and Library Journal recognize my work…well, that just helps to quiet all those doubts and let the good thoughts shine through. That what I do matters, that being in this for the long haul will hopefully pay off, that I am putting out quality work.

It looks like the winners haven’t been announced on the website yet, but my local librarian congratulated me when I stopped by the library last week, so I figure that makes it official enough to announce it here.

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?

CT Authors Trail Event & Little Free Library Summer Reading Update

July 31, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been having so much fun stopping by Little Free Libraries all summer long and leaving copies of ELIXIR BOUND with a code for an ARC of the upcoming second book in the Elixir series, ELIXIR SAVED. I have a pictures to share, but first an event announcement!

My stop on the CT Authors Trail is coming up on Monday, August 5 at 6:00 pm at the Voluntown Public Library, which is located at 107 Main Street, Vountown, CT 06384. In addition to learning about the inspiration behind my books, there will be games, writing prompts, signed books, photo ops, and maybe a sneak peek at ELIXIR SAVED (if I’m feeling brave!).

And now for the summer reading fun I’ve been having with Little Free Libraries and the Elixir series. States visited so far include Connecticut (of course), Virginia, and Vermont, with one on the way in New York. I’ve loved checking out the different themes people and organizations have come up with for their little libraries. We’ve encountered The Lorax, space, and a couple of beachy ones.

The boys have enjoyed picking up a book at a few of our stops as well! I think my favorite one so far was a bright yellow one, not because it looked particularly special but because it was at the soccer field dedicated in memory of my sister, Kylene.

I’ve been posting pictures on all my social media accounts (find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), so you can follow along as I drop off the rest. You can also get the latest updates on my progress on ELIXIR SAVED. I finally finished the big revision I was working on (about a month late), and now I’m getting the final scenes written and the three POVs organized so I can send it out to my beta readers. I’ll also be contacted my cover artist soon to get working on that. Yay! I’ve tentatively set a November 2019 release date, so get ready for another journey into the world of the Elixir!