Tag: Milford Public library

A Fall of Events and Writing in Pictures

December 4, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

Okay, so it’s been a crazy busy fall here. Bookish events abounded; I added over 10,000 words to ELIXIR SAVED in November (so close to finishing this draft finally and really pushing to make my end of year deadline on it); and lots of soccer, school things, and fun stuff with the boys. Now that December is here, the craziness of the holiday season had already started.

So it’s a picture post! (From top to bottom: A book signing event at Barnes & Noble, the boys playing in the driveway, Halloween cookies, Halloween night, writing workshop for kids at the Norwalk Public Library, voting on Election Day, One City One Story event at the Milford Public Library, the two older boys reading PIRATE ISLAND in the green screen pirate ship at the One City One Story event, and a snowy Mark Twain House for the New England SCBWI Day of Craft.) Pop down to the comments and share what you all have been up to.

PIRATE ISLAND Event Pictures and News

September 26, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s been a whirlwind this past week with two book events (plus all the usual shenanigans that go on around here with the kiddos and such)! The PIRATE ISLAND One City, One Story event at the library was so much fun. I always enjoy talking about Charles Island, the real island that inspired Pirate Island, and the legends of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure that may be buried there.

Since I’ve talked about this topic at the library once before I hit some of the old favorite facts and legends but also mixed in some new ones. Then we had cookies, a writing prompt, and pictures…lots of pictures. A photographer from the Connecticut Post stopped by and took a bunch of pictures and put a nice little write up about the event in the newspaper with a slideshow. The librarian also set up the green screen and the kids hammed it up. Here are a couple of shots from her.

Then on Saturday I was at the Milford Barnes & Noble signing books and helping raise funds for the Friends of the Milford Public Library. You can shop online at BN.com/bookfairs through Friday, September 28 with bookfair code 12394516 to help out the Friends! If you’re local, the are probably still some signed copies of PIRATE ISLAND at the bookstore as well.

I’ve got one more event coming up on Saturday, October 13 at the Norwalk Public Library for their Indie Author Day. They don’t have a lot of details listed on their website yet, but I can tell you that it’s an all day event with a ton of authors of all age groups and genres. I’ll be reading in the Children’s Room in the morning and selling copies of PIRATE ISLAND and ELIXIR BOUND (with the new cover!) all day. And hopefully catching up with a few of my author friends that I think are going.

I’ve been slowly but steadily pecking away at the second Elixir book, ELIXIR SAVED. I’ve finally passed that muddy middle and have tipped over into the second half with THE END in sight! I’m hoping to have a good draft done by the end of the year to send out to beta readers for feedback. This in anticipation of releasing it some time next year!!!

My reading goals have been going well this year. I actually bumped up my number goal recently, and I feel like I’ve been doing well mixing in lots of books from underrepresented communities and indie authors as well. So what have you all been up to? Reading, writing, and otherwise?

PIRATE ISLAND is the 2018 Milford Public Library’s One City, One Story Middle Grade Pick!

August 31, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been sitting on this news for awhile and am so excited to finally announce that my middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND has been selected by the Milford Public Library for the One City, One Story program this fall. The library states that the “One City One Story is a program encouraging all residents, preschool to seniors, to read books sharing a common theme, encouraging dialogue and fostering a greater sense of community…one page at a time.”

The books are all pirate themed this year. TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson is the adult title and SHIVER ME TIMBERS! PIRATE POEMS AND DRAWINGS by Doug Florian is the elementary title. The library has been so supportive of PIRATE ISLAND, putting my book on their shelves, hosting my launch party, and now this!

I’ll be doing a special event on Wednesday, September 19 at 2:30 (this is a day off from school for the kids…apologies to my Jewish friends who will be celebrating Yom Kippur and won’t be able to make it) at the library. Learn a bit about the real pirate lore that inspired the book, play some fun games, grab a cookie and a signed book, and get inspired with a writing prompt.

I have a few more events in the pipeline for this fall, so stay tuned for those announcements. Non-local friends, I’ll be posting a video of me reading the first two chapters of PIRATE ISLAND in the next couple of weeks, so you can join in on the fun too! I’ve also updated my Pirate Island Curriculum Guide for the occasion.