Category: Nonfiction (Page 1 of 3)

Out with the New; In with the Old!

February 12, 2026 / Katie L. Carroll / 0 Comments

The last few years, I’ve come up with a word or phrase for the year instead of a resolution. I know most people do this in January, but last month was really busy, so I’m just getting to it now. This year’s phrase is “out with the new; in with the old!” (And no, I didn’t write that wrong.)

Every January, I do Storystorm, which is a brainstorming activity created by author Tara Lazar. My critique group and I read the daily prompts and type our ideas (not always related to the prompts) into a shared document where we can comment on them. It’s a really fun way to kick off the year with creativity.

Only this year, I was struggling to think of any new ideas. Part of that was because I was deep in revision mode on a novel, so I was singularly focused rather than in brainstorming mode. I also kept thinking about ideas from past years that I haven’t yet pursued. There’s a lot of good stuff in my backlog of ideas!

Finally, I was preoccupied with learning about octopuses (not octopi as I’ve learned). I’ve been working on a new picture book about an octopus and was reading all the books about the cephalopods. One particularly good nonfiction one was Octopus Ocean: Genuises of the Deep by Mark Leiren-Young.

That got me thinking about the phrase, “out with the old; in with the new.” It fits our modern society with our short attention spans, disposability of goods, and a desire for all things new and shiny. But I haven’t been feeling that way, so I decided to flip the phrase.

This year, I’ll be taking a look back at the old things. Old ideas. Old hobbies. Old hopes and dreams. I have lots of good old things that have been waiting in the wings for my attention. This is the year to give them that attention.

And while I may replace things that are truly worn out (I’m looking at you, my old handbag whose strap is about to break), I’m going to be thinking twice before going all-in on anything new. This phrase may also be a reflection on being a middle-aged woman, but that’s a post for another day.

Do you have a word, phrase, goal, or resolution for this year? I’d love to hear it!

New Children’s Nonfiction Book THE GREAT VOYAGERS: EARTH’S INTERGALACTIC AMBASSADORS

November 13, 2024 / Katie L. Carroll

Guess what? I have another new book out. It technically came out yesterday, but we’ll just pretend that I’m organized and have been properly marketing my new book release. It’s called THE GREAT VOYAGERS: EARTH’S INTERGALACTIC AMBASSADORS. If you or your kids enjoyed SELFIES FROM MARS, you’re gonna like this one too.

This book takes readers on a journey through the solar system all the way to interstellar space. The Voyager space probes are the farthest reaching human-made objects are have been out in space for more than 45 years! And wait until you read about the Golden Records. They really are quite the incredible NASA mission.

I’m really excited to have another STEM nonfiction books for kids to get excited about space. I recently did a school visit where I talked all about Opportunity’s incredible journey on the Red Planet and my process of writing, revising, and publishing SEFLIES FROM MARS. I can’t wait to bring THE GREAT VOYAGERS to classrooms as well.

What space mission should I write about next? I have a couple in mind, but I’d love to know what your favorites are.

Book blurb:

Take a grand tour through the outer planets and beyond the solar system with the NASA Voyager space probes. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were the first spacecraft to explore all the outer planets and the first human-made objects to reach interstellar space. They each hold a golden record with the sights, sounds, music, and languages of Earth. These great Voyagers continue to reach for the stars as Earth’s intergalactic ambassadors.

Purchase THE GREAT VOYAGERS at Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

Writing Wrap-Up 2023 and What’s Ahead for 2024

January 24, 2024 / Katie L. Carroll

Is it too late for a 2023 writing wrap-up? I hope not because I have one for you! But first…a quick peek at what’s ahead for my author career this year. I started off the New Year super inspired and have been brainstorming new ideas all month with my picture book critique partners as part of Storystorm.

I’m working on a bunch of other things as well. I’m currently pushing through the muddy middle of the first draft of a young adult WIP, which is a love story (not a romance!) with a sci-fi twist. It’s too early to say if I’ll get this one ready to be released this year, but it’s not out of the question. If you follow me on TikTok, you might have seen me offer up a little teaser on this project!

@katielcarrollauthor
Sharing a little about my YA love story with a sci-fi twist Meet Me at the Tree House. Please be kind! #wip #meetmeatthetreehouse #bookblurb #authorsoftiktok #authorsofbooktok #bookdrafting #bookwriting #yascifi #yabooktok #yafictionbooks #CapCut
♬ original sound – Katie L. Carroll Author Shop

I’ve also started the design process on my next children’s nonfiction. I was really happy with the response to my first nonfiction SELFIES FROM MARS: THE TRUE STORY OF MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY, so I’m making this new nonfiction a priority. The new nonfiction is about the NASA Voyagers, which were the first human-made objects to reach interstellar space. I’m working on a fun idea for the official cover reveal, so stay tuned for that.

In Family Holiday Tales news (first two books are MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and DADDY’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS), I’ve begun working with illustrator Phoebe Cho on a third one. This one features a grandma and takes place on Halloween night! I’ve always wanted to do board book versions of these books, and this year might be the year I set up a kickstarter to accomplish that.

As for 2023, well I hit some author goals and missed on a few others. I released three books, which was a record for me! Most notably for misses, I didn’t finish the draft of the second part of a YA duology I’ve been working on for many years. There’s something about these books that isn’t quite working yet, but I’ll get back to them eventually. And if you’re interested to see what I read last year, you can check out my 2023 Year in Books.

How did your 2023 end up? What are you looking forward to in 2024?

Why Write About Space Robots (and How Big Is the Solar System)?

March 7, 2023 / Katie L. Carroll

I was very excited to discover that SELFIES FROM MARS: THE TRUE STORY OF MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY earned an orange banner for being a #1 new release in children’s aeronautics & space books!

I have several other works-in-progress about space robots, including a fictional story about the real Mars rover Perseverance (and Mars helicopter Ingenuity) and a nonfiction one about the Voyager space probes. And it got me wondering, What it is about space robots that has sparked my imagination?

Considering the size of the universe, and even of the solar system, human space travel is–to put it mildly–very limited. The farthest we’ve been is the moon, on average 238,855 miles from Earth. That’s about the size of 30 Earths, and can be considered really far away in terms of Earthly travel.

How about Mars? Humans haven’t been there yet, but we’ve sent a bunch of robots there, and we might even get there soon. The answer here varies because of the constant rotation of the planets around the sun, but on average, Mars is 140 million miles away from Earth and it get as close as 35 million miles. A lot farther than the moon!

Looking at the solar system, it doesn’t really make sense to talk about it in millions of miles because it’s so large. So scientists use the Astronomical Unit (AU) to describe distances of that size. One AU is 93 million miles, which is the average distance between the sun and the Earth. Neptune is 30 AU from the sun, or 2.8 billion miles. The Kuiper Belt, where Pluto resides, isn’t even the end of the solar system, and that can be as far as 50 AU from the sun.

Depending on how you define the end of the solar system (and there isn’t necessarily consensus on this in the scientific community), our solar system can be measured from 122 AU (at the heliopause, the place where solar winds meet interstellar winds) all the way to 100,000 AU from the sun (at the Oort Cloud, the farthest reach of the sun’s gravitational influence).

So really, really large. And that’s just the solar system, never mind the mind-bending that is required to think about how big the universe is! Still with me?

That brings us back to, What does the size of the solar system have to do with my interest in space robots? Space robots can travel much, much farther than humans can.

Mars currently has two working rovers on it, Curiosity and Perseverance, and a helicopter named Ingenuity. The space probe Voyager 1 has been traveling through the solar system for more than 45 years. At 159 AU (approximately 14.8 billion miles from the sun), it is deeper out in space than any other human-made object, and has traveled beyond the heliopause. And there are numerous other space robots out exploring the sun, other planets, other moons, etc.

Space robots are our ambassadors to space! We can’t go there yet, so we send out these robots. Some of them even look a little like us, and they’re all robot scientists, communicating their findings back to Earth. We learn from them, but they also represent us.

Voyager 1 even contains a Golden Record with sights and sounds from Earth and mathematical instructions on how to listen to it. I love picturing aliens (or future humans) coming across Voyager 1 and listening to that record. What would they (or what would future humans) think of the humans that sent the record out into space?

Anyway, that definitely sparks my imagination. I think it’s also important to learn about those space robots that are out there representing humans in space: our interstellar ambassadors!

SELFIES FROM MARS Release Day!

February 13, 2023 / Katie L. Carroll

Today’s the day! SELFIES FROM MARS: THE TRUE STORY OF MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY is out in the world. It truly feels like a miracle every time a new book comes out. I also finally have an author newsletter, and you get two free short stories when you sign up!

@katielcarrollauthor
Opportunity was the robot that just kept on roving on Mars! #mars #marsrover #roveropportunity #spacebooks #stembooks #selfiesfrommars #nonfiction #rover #goodnightoppy #robots #spacerobot
♬ Natural Emotions – Muspace

Bringing a nonfiction book into the world was a complicated, wonderful learning experience. There were image credits and song lyrics rights to consider. Many facts to check and double-check. Even the type of paper to use for the print copies proved to be a new challenge to tackle. So many hours went into the design of this book, but I’m so thrilled with how it came out.

In addition to the main narrative for rover Opportunity (with some rover Spirit in there, too), there are so many facts and figures to discover in Selfies From Mars. I can’t wait for young readers to meet little Oppy and read the Fact Files.

I know this is a nonfiction book, but the ending makes me so emotional every time! After all, it was the emotional end of Opportunity’s incredible mission that inspired me to go into a deep dive on this rover and become enamored by it.

Who can forget the poetic interpretation of Opportunity’s last message to Earth? “My battery is low and it’s getting dark.” Or that the rover’s team played a love song, Billie Holiday’s version of “I’ll Be Seeing You,” as a goodbye? Pay particular attention to the last few lines (or read the book to see which lyrics I’m talking about!).

SELFIES FROM MARS blurb:

From evidence of water to stunning images,
Mars rover Opportunity allowed humans to
experience the Red Planet as never before.
Ride along on the 15-year mission
that captured hearts a world away!

Available from Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or Book Depository (for international folks). Coming soon signed copies from Katie’s bookstore.