Category: Kylene (Page 2 of 4)

The Story of How I Became A Writer

July 3, 2020 / Katie L. Carroll

Versions of this post about how I became a writer have been on several other people’s blogs, but I don’t think I’ve ever posted it here on my own blog. I was thinking about it as the release day for ELIXIR SAVED rapidly approaches and figured it was a good time to put it up here.

I thought my life as a writer began when I was 19 on particularly hot day in early spring 2002, a black-letter day, the blackest of black-letter days in fact. I was in college on track to becoming a physical therapist with an early acceptance into the graduate program. But I didn’t become a physical therapist; I became a writer.

I’ve since come to realize, with the help of my mom, that it was much earlier than that that I began my writing life. On my blog post on the release day of the ebook version of ELIXIR BOUND, she wrote, “Although you would have done fine as a physical therapist, I always knew it was not your calling. You were a writer ever since you could pick up a pencil and I think I always knew that, after all the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree (of course I’m talking about your dad).”

Well, my mom was mostly right. Even before I could pick up a pencil, my mom would read stories to us: the Little Golden Books, the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, all kinds of fiction. I think that’s when I became a writer.

When I stop to think about it, I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out I was a writer. The signs were all there. My family and I used to write and illustrate our own picture books about the adventures of Sam the Billy Goat. At the climax of the story it would always read, “Voop Whoosh! Up went the Billy Goat.” And he would fly up to save the day.

I wrote (and sometimes illustrated) stories my whole childhood. In middle school, high school, and college I worked on the school newspapers. Yeah, I think I had been in a state of denial for 19 years…which brings us back to that black-letter day…April 16, 2002. The day my sister Kylene died.

I don’t like to talk about that day. How the forget-me-nots were in bloom. How there were recording-breaking high temps. How it was the worst day of my life.

So what do you do when you’re 19 and your sister’s just died? Well, once you’re in a place where you can think again, you reevaluate. Everything.

For me that meant rethinking what I wanted to do with my professional life. Kylene gave me the permission to pursue my passion. So I began writing. Eventually I decided not to continue studying physical therapy. I kept writing, often not even sure who I was writing for. Kylene, an audience, myself?

I pursued publication. And got rejections, along with some encouragement. I revised, learned a lot more about the business of publishing. Wrote some more. Revised some more. Got a lot more rejections…you get the picture.

Ten years and four months after Kylene died, my book was finally born into the world. And what was that book about? A young woman, entrusted with the future of her family’s secret healing Elixir, going on a quest to find the Elixir’s secret ingredient.

I don’t need a psychoanalyst to tell me I was fulfilling a wish with that book. It was supposed to be about Kylene, and it is in some ways, but it’s really about me. Because for those 10 years, it had been too hard to write Ky’s book. I tried. ELIXIR BOUND started out from her point of view, but I just couldn’t write that book yet.

But I did eventually. ELIXIR SAVED is Kylene’s book…and a few other characters’, too, because writing just her story was too much (or not enough). It’s complicated.

As for Kylene’s real life story, I believe each of us as individuals doesn’t truly realize the impact we have on people. Each person we touch—whether it be with a story, a hug, a smile as we pass a stranger on the street—leaves a ripple.

Kylene, in her short life, left lots of ripples. With the people she loved. With the people she cared about. The people she felt compassion for, which was pretty much everyone. The people she shared the Harry Potter books with. Even the nurses in the hospital from the short time she was sick felt her ripples.

I like to think that each ripple I make with the Elixir Series is really Ky’s ripple…because I’m not sure I would have discovered my life’s passion if it weren’t for Kylene. It makes my heart smile to think that Kylene is still making ripples on the world, and that I have my own little role to play in that.

About ELIXIR SAVED: Three lives saved by the Elixir; three lives bound by it.

The Elixir entwines the lives of those it touches. Once upon a time, Kylene, Zelenka, and Devon tasted it and escaped death. None were left without scars. Now, a shocking message from the Ice Queen–one of Mother Nature’s higher beings–sends each survivor on a quest. Kylene travels to the frozen depths of Blanchardwood, Zelenka heads back to the wilds of Faway Forest, and Devon journeys to a reclusive mountain temple. The three paths converge in a war against an ancient and tricky foe. And even the Elixir cannot save everyone. The fate of the world balances on the edge of a sword, and the outcome depends on whether the survivors will sacrifice their second chances.

Escape back into the world of the Great Peninsula in this much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning ELIXIR BOUND. Perfect for fans of the Thrones of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Find the book on Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, IndieBound, Smashwords, Apple Books, and Book Depository (for international folks).

ELIXIR SAVED Is On The Way

August 26, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been working on the second Elixir book, ELIXIR SAVED. Looking back over my folders of documents, inspiration pictures, and notes, I see at least one that dates back to 2010! Really, though, this is the book I had the idea for when thinking about writing a book for my sister Kylene (and ending up writing ELIXIR BOUND first). So really I’ve been “working” on this book for many, many, many years.

It’s been a labor of love (and hate). It’s been a hard book to write. I’ve taken many breaks. I still haven’t quite gotten to write “The End” for it yet, though my last round of revisions got me at least in a place where I felt like I can actually write the ending scenes. I had hoped to do that this summer, but life was too busy and my head (and my heart) wasn’t in the right place. Now I think they are.

As a reward for making it through those last revisions, I allowed myself to contact my awesome cover artist Susan Tait Porcaro. She sent me a concept sketch yesterday and it’s looking really good. It’s visual motivation to keep on pushing to get this thing done.

Plus, two of three of the boys will be in school all day starting later this week, so hopefully that will give me the time I need. If any of my novel critique partners are reading this, expect an email from me soon! It’s been so long since I’ve had anything for them to read.

So look for ELIXIR SAVED, coming Winter 2020!

Defining My Author Theme Courtesy of #LA18SCBWI and Libba Bray

August 14, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

I purposefully didn’t title this piece with the words “author brand” because there are important distinctions between a brand and what I’m talking about here (and calling my “author theme”), and also because I don’t want to anger Libba Bray! But let me back up for a second and give you the all-important context.

I recently attended the SCBWI conference in L.A. where there were some amazing keynotes (and there were a whole lot of keynotes at this conference). The brilliant YA novelist Libba Bray gave her keynote on Saturday afternoon. As a conference attendee, I was buzzing with inspiration from the previous day and a half but not overloaded and exhausted like I was pretty much all of Sunday.

Libba discussed something that is on the mind of any writer who is tuned into the business and marketing side of publishing: author branding! I’ve been trying to come up with a snappy definition of an author brand, but it’s kind of making me woozy thinking about it, so I Googled it instead. Here are the links to the first couple of articles that pop up “How To Build Your Author Brand From Scratch (And Why You Need To)” and “7 Best Ways To Build An Authentic Author Brand.”

The bottom line is that most authors feel the pressure to have a brand, but it feels icky to figure out what that is and how to create one that is effective in selling ourselves. And selling yourself is all so counterintuitive to the creative process and to being authentic to an artistic goal rather than a monetary one. Blech!

Libba articulated this phenomenon so well when she framed it as a question vs. an answer. She said that writing is about wanting to know something. This question is what makes your story come alive. The question leads us from somewhere we know to something new. The question leads to change. On the other hand, branding is advertising, and it’s all about answers. Brands are static by nature, and it puts us in a position to view kids as consumers instead of as growing, learning young humans. (No direct quotes because I tend to not worry about getting direct quotes while taking notes during conferences. Check out the SCBWI Conference Blog for a great overview of not only Libba’s keynote but the whole conference.)

Libba ended with the thought that if anyone asks about your brand, say that it’s a commitment to craft and a deep respect for my audience. This thought–and the whole keynote really–sparked an idea of what I’m all about as an author of books for young people. I’m not calling it a brand because yuck, hence the term I use in the title of this post “author theme.” Where a brand would be about selling myself or my books, my author theme is about what I think I bring to the table as a creator, writer, teacher, and human being.

I know authors who essentially say all their writings–no matter what form, genre, or intended audience–come back to some central theme or idea. I’ve always struggled to come up with any one thing that ties all my work together, never mind one thing that ties together who I am with my work. The spark that came to me during this keynote pulled together my writing, my talks about writing and the creative process, and my philosophy on life in a way that I had never been able to do.

Now that I’ve thought of it, it seems painfully obvious that this is what I’ve been writing about and thinking about. It ties in the ubiquitousness of my sister’s death with my career. It’s the thing I’ve been inscribing in ELIXIR BOUND when I sign copies for readers. (Are you screaming at the screen yet for me to just tell you already?!) Alright, alright…here it is in all it’s simple glory:

Find Your Magic.

That’s it. It’s as simple as that. My sister’s death helped me see the thing I was supposed to be doing in this world, the magic of writing for kids and teens. It’s the thing I try to bring to kids when I talk to them at book events and school visits. I know they won’t all grow up aspiring to be writers (though I always emphasize the importance of having the skills of being an effective reader and writer), but I want them all to pursue, in some way, the thing that feels like magic to them. It’s the thing my characters are always trying to find as well, their magic. And it’s kind of been there all along, staring me in the face. I was finally able to see it and grasp on to it.

Find Your Magic.

As simple as it seems, it’s not always simple to do it, to live it. You have to first figure out what your magic is, which is no easy feat. It took me 20+ years of life and a major life event to figure it out myself. Then once you do know what your magic is, you have to figure out how to pursue it while also, ya know, feeding, clothing, housing yourself and any independents.

But when you can figure out a way to actually do it (even if it’s not the way you make your living), when you actually find your magic and live your magic. Wow, that’s some pretty amazing stuff.

Why Is It Taking Me So Long To Write The Second Elixir Book?

March 24, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s been over four years since the ebook version of ELIXIR BOUND came out and over three years since the paperback version released (so forever in terms of publishing a companion novel). I’m sad to report that I’m only about 2/3 finished with the draft of the companion novel ELIXIR SAVED. And even once the draft is done, I’ll still need to revise and such. So why exactly is it taking me so long to write the second Elixir book?

Well, it’s complicated (isn’t everything!?). For starters, there are the less-than-stellar sales stats of BOUND. I wasn’t expecting a best-seller or anything, but it’s been hard to press on with a second book when the first has low sales. So, yeah, I’ve worked on other projects in between. And, no, I don’t write for the sales or the money, but the validation of selling books doesn’t suck.

There’s also life. I have kids and do freelance work (and blog). I like reading books and watching TV and getting out every once in awhile to do grown-up things. Writing novels is an important part of my life and I’ve gotten more consistent with actually, ya know, writing, but it doesn’t always take top priority.

Then there’s the fact that I’m not a very fast writer. Even when I’m in a good flow and I’ve been writing consistently, my word counts are just not that high. I’ve done a lot of things with the drafting of SAVED to try and speed up the process. I mapped out all the scenes I still need to write. I’ve set timers in order to write without editing myself for that set amount of time. I did a modified NaNoWriMo in November to try and finish this draft.

And now I’m here on the blog writing about how I’m not writing the book. Blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah! I know…but all those reasons I mentioned above are not the main reason why it’s taking me so long to write ELIXIR SAVED.

The real reason why it’s taking me so long to write the second Elixir book is because one of the main characters is based on my sister Kylene, who passed away at the age of 16. My intention when I wrote BOUND was to give Kylene a fantasy adventure of her own. I started the book in her POV (point of view), but it was too damn hard to write, so it ended up in the POV of her sister. It’s been almost 15 years since she passed away and it’s still hard to write this story, her story. It feels so presumptuous and impossible to do her justice in what are ultimately my words. It’s emotionally draining and terrifying.

But it’s a story I know I have to tell…eventually. It would be far worse for me to never tell it than to have a hard time doing it.

So I keep reminding myself that I’m not writing from Kylene’s POV. That’s impossible. Only she could do that. Instead, I’m writing from the POV of a character that’s inspired by Kylene. It may seem like a small distinction, but it makes all the difference in be being able to persist in drafting this novel. Though it doesn’t necessarily make it easier.

It’s a process that refuses to be rushed. I do my best to push myself to continue the task, but I’ve come to realize it’s just gonna take time. I’ll keep slowly working on it (while I also work more efficiently on other novels) and one day it will be done. Well, as done as any book ever is.

Thank you to anyone who’s read ELIXIR BOUND and/or inquired about a follow up book. It coming…one of these years!

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!