Notes from Deep Inside a Book Revision

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 28th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I've been submerged in book revisions. Or, as my husband who works in tech calls it, I've been "heads-down." 

This is for the first book on my write-for-hire contract, and I knew from the start that the turnaround times would be quick. I submitted my first draft on March 27th, and my editor was hoping to have the manuscript completely finalized by the end of April! I received her notes, along with the client's, a little over a week ago, and dove right in. 

What kind of edits are we talking about? One secondary plotline is being removed (and possibly saved for a future book). Another plotline is being enhanced slightly to take its place. A few characters' details (age, interests, backstory) are changing. I'm strengthening and sharpening the friendship dynamics in the story. None of this is overwhelming—but as I said, the timeline is tight. 

I've never completed a book under contract, from writing early sample chapters to polishing the final manuscript, this fast. In fact, in my experience, months can pass between sending in a draft and receiving notes from the editor. Also, I'm used to a process that has three revisions: the first draft gets global, structural notes, the second draft is more about refining arcs and characters, and the third draft is where line editing happens. Perhaps because we spent so much time up front on the synopsis and character sketches, this time, most of that draft-one work was done before I wrote the actual draft. The edits I'm working on now feel like second-draft edits, with a bit of line editing thrown in. 

There are pros and cons to working this way. On the plus side, I am deep in the headspace of this book. Because I'd just turned in my first draft, when I received my edits, I was able to jump straight back in. It can take longer to find your way into the story after a lengthier break. But at the same time, those breaks between drafts can enable you to see what's in front of you with clearer eyes. You're almost like a fresh reader. What's not working—and what is—comes into focus. 

The other interesting thing about these edits is that I am working as a contractor: the creative vision is not mine alone. There are a few choices being made that I would not have chosen. This DOES NOT mean I think they are bad choices! They're just not the way my instinct would naturally guide me. Every writer—every creator—is different, and this write-for-hire process involves being open to others' opinions and preferences. There is a lot of me in this project, but it's not entirely mine. 

I'm heading to the New England Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators annual conference this weekend. I'll be presenting two professional workshops, along with two friends: a session on successful school visits with Janae Marks and a session on co-writing a book with my Thirteenth Circle coauthor, MarcyKate Connolly. When I'm not presenting, I'm planning to attend other workshops...but I'll also be spending time in my hotel room, heads-down in book revisions. My goal is to get the manuscript back in my editor's hands by Monday or Tuesday. 

Then, in another few weeks, I'll probably start working on book two! 

Tight deadlines can be difficult, but most of the time, I'd rather be writing than waiting. (This is why you'll often find me playing around with new ideas in between drafts of books that are further along...) Give me something to work on, a way to make forward progress, and I am a happy writer. 

(Though I will be glad to come up for air next week!) 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: the third Thursday Murder Club book, The Bullet That Missed. I love this series about a set of octogenarian crime-solvers living in a British retirement community. What are your favorite cozy mysteries? 

Listening to: My kiddo's new favorite song is Katy Perry's "Roar." She asks to listen to it over...and over...and over. I think it may have taken up permanent residence in my head. Luckily, it's pretty cute when she sings along at the top of her lungs...

Loving: Spring weather. Here's my girl in one of her new spring dresses, showing off her arabesque. Look at those straight knees, that pointed toe! 

My Newsletter is One Year Old!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 21st, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

One year ago, I launched my newsletter! 

My first email to my list went out on April 22nd, 2022. Technically, I've sent out 47 missives since then; at the start, I was writing every other week. 

I wasn't sure, when I began this project, whether I would stick with it. I wanted to, but...maybe it would be too time-consuming. Or maybe no one would be interested in hearing from me all the time. Or maybe I'd simply get bored, or run out of ideas. 

I am pleased to report that none of the above came to pass. My list of subscribers isn't huge, but it is loyal. People respond, when I write something that resonates. And honestly, I really enjoy writing each edition. 

My newsletter isn't just a place for me to share publishing news (and to beg for Amazon reviews...). It also asks me to reflect, once a week, on some aspect of my work or my life that merits a deeper dive. What am I meditating on, in terms of my writing, my career, my work ethic, my free time, my family, my hobbies? What feels meaningful in this particular moment? Is there something I need to write out in order to work through? Is there something I can offer others who might be in the same boat? 

I mentioned, in my very first newsletter a year ago, that I used to blog. I always enjoyed it. As I suspected it would, my newsletter has filled that space in my writing life. I could have themed it—book promotion only, or writing tips, or being a working parent, or maintaining a work-life balance, or or or or or—but instead, I chose to keep things open-ended. The newsletter is about all of those topics, and more, whenever each feels relevant. It's for my readers, and for aspiring writers, and for my friends and family, and for anyone else who finds what I have to say interesting. I hope that its open-ended-ness is a strength. 

Regardless, I am grateful to each and every subscriber. Let's leap into Year Two together.  

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I finished Carrie Soto is Back. Then, I read Curtis Sittenfeld's newest book, Romantic Comedy, about a comedy writer on a sketch show who falls in love with one of the celebrity hosts. On my way home, I read Trish Doller's Off the Map, about a girl with epic wanderlust falling for a guy who has always dreamed of seeing the world, but has chosen stability instead. And once I was back in Brooklyn, I read Corey Ann Haydu's spectacular middle-grade novel One Jar of Magic! 

Writing: MarcyKate and I are thinking about our proposal for a second Science & Strange book, a sequel to The Thirteenth Circle. It's been so fun to work on the sample chapters, and I can't wait to do more with the idea. 

Listening to: The soundtrack to "Daisy Jones & The Six." It's one fictional classic rock earworm after another! 

Loving: My author trip in April was so successful. I talked to so many kids and sold so many books. Here's a shot of me at the new indie bookstore in my hometown, Neighborly Books. I sold out of copies of Class Critters at my event there, but they've ordered more, so keep them in mind for your online order needs! 

A Few Thoughts on Closing out a Contract

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 14th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

As you may have heard (since I've mentioned it, ahem, more than a few times...), the paperback edition of Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! is out in the world. All three Class Critters books are now available in four formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. That feels pretty amazing! 

But there's also something about this moment that feels bittersweet: my three-book contract with Abrams Kids is now officially fulfilled. 

And I don't know, as of right now, whether there will be any more Class Critters books. I want there to be more—I absolutely do!—but I can't be certain. That's publishing, in a nutshell, but it's also a hard pill to swallow. 

I received the offer to publish Class Critters in January 2020. When I signed the contract, spring of 2023 seemed so very far away. This was my first multi-book deal, and it felt incredible to know I had so much in the pipeline.

I also assumed, perhaps naively, that I'd sign on for more books in the series before the third paperback released. It hasn't happened that way. It's hard to launch a new series in a market already glutted with long-running, beloved series. Pandemic disruptions to both publishing and schools continued much longer than anticipated. Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle wasn't a hit right out of the gate, which gave the subsequent two books harder mountains to climb. 

I intend to pitch more Class Critters books to my publisher. I know I have many more stories to tell in this world. I also intend to keep doing school visits and other promo for the series. At the same time, I have to make peace with the idea that this might be it. I love these three books, and I know readers do too. 

Will you help me give Class Critters one last push?

Here are a few ideas: 

  • If you haven't already bought the series for the kids in your life, will you go ahead and do so? (Even if they're too young now—they'll be the right age soon enough!)

  • If your kids have already read the books, maybe you'd consider buying a few extra copies to give to their friends as birthday presents this year?

  • You could request the titles be purchased by your local public library or elementary school library! (You could also buy the set to donate to a school library...) 

  • You could visit your local indie bookstore and ask them to stock a few copies on their shelves! 

  • You could review the books on Amazon. All it takes is a star rating and a single sentence, something like: "My child loved this book." 

  • Easiest of all, you can tell people about the series! The next time a colleague or neighbor or fellow dance or soccer parent happens to mention that they know a child who's looking for something new to read, I hope you'll point them toward Class Critters. 

Books don't succeed in a vacuum. They need word of mouth. They also need to be findable—on shelves where readers can actually pick them up and skim the teaser on the back. 

If you've read this far, please know that I am so grateful for your support. I love what I do and I am proud of what I have produced, and the fact that you're here, reading this, means the world. 

Now, go forth and get those paperbacks!  

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I finally read Sabaa Tahir's multi-award-winning YA novel All My Rage. It was every bit as good as the accolades suggested. I tore through it in a little over a day! This week, I've been reading Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid's companion novel to her earlier book Malibu Rising, about a professional tennis star attempting a late-career comeback. I am not a tennis fan, and yet I am pretty riveted. 

Watching: Speaking of Taylor Jenkins Reid, we've been watching "Daisy Jones & The Six" on Prime. The music is great! 

Working on: I'm in Tennessee right now, doing school visits! Hooray! 

Loving: Look at my three paperback babies, all together. What a dream. :) 

It's My Ten-Year Agent-versary!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 7th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I recently marked a professional milestone: it has been ten years since I was offered representation by my literary agent! 

It was spring of 2013. I'd finished polishing up the manuscript that would become The Distance Between Lost and Found. I was feeling really, really good about that book. But...I'd tried to secure representation before, with a previous manuscript. I'd queried dozens and dozens of agents and had gotten nowhere. Yes, I had a new book—a better book—but that didn't mean I wasn't nervous about putting myself and my work out there again. 

I decided to dip a toe into the waters by entering an online pitch contest. It was St. Patrick's Day–themed: Luck o' the Irish. Writers could send in a two-paragraph pitch for their projects, and assorted literary agents would offer feedback and choose their favorites. I was lured by the promise of professional critique. I thought I'd take the agent's comments, revise my pitch, and then send out a barrage of agent queries. 

Here is what I submitted: 

All Hallelujah Calhoun wants is to be left alone. She’s haunted by the moment when she made a mistake and didn’t stand up for herself, when she let a lie spread about her that changed everything. She’s angry—at the boy who lied, at the people who believed him, at herself, and at God. So the last place she wants to be is on a youth group hiking trip, surrounded by everyone who makes her life miserable.

Just when it seems like her week can’t get any worse, Hallelujah gets lost in the mountains with Jonah, a former friend who hasn’t spoken to her since the night the lies started, and Rachel, a girl from another church whose outgoing charm hides pain of her own. As they try to find their way back to the trail, they face injuries, violent storms, dwindling supplies, and the growing fear that each mistake could be their last. With hope of rescue slipping away, Hallelujah has to do the two things that scare her most: forgive herself, and let someone else in. If they don’t trust each other, none of them will make it home alive.

At the end of the contest, I got incredible news: my pitch won my bracket! The judge, literary agent Alyssa Eisner Henkin, wanted to read my full manuscript. I sent the book to her, my heart in my throat. 

A week later, I received this email: 

Kathryn,
 
I’m writing to tell you that I ADORED your manuscript. I was up finishing it in the early morning, reading those final scenes of the rescue as the sun was peeking through my shutters. This book is amazing and it would be both an honor and privilege to have the chance to represent it. If you’d be so inclined, I’d love to set up a call so that we can get to know one another and I can hear more about what you might be looking for in terms of publishing goals.
 
Many thanks for sharing Hallelujah’s world with me. My world is exceedingly better for it.
 
Warmly,
Alyssa

Fast-forward through some happy squealing, a long phone conversation, and some emails to Alyssa's current clients to ask about their working relationship with her, and I happily accepted her offer. She's been on my publishing team ever since. 

Finding an agent is an incredibly important part of a traditionally published author's career. You don't want just any agent; you want the right agent. And not who's right for someone else—who's right for you. It's a match not only of creative taste, but also of work and communication styles. One reason I've stuck with Alyssa for all of this time is that she both supports me and pushes me. She encourages me to follow my instincts but also offers guidance when she thinks I'm making a choice that might not have a market. There have been times we've disagreed! But I always know that she genuinely loves my writing and wants to see me succeed. 

Since accepting Alyssa's offer of representation, I've signed contracts for eight books. Eight! 2013 Kathryn would be astonished and impressed.

And yes, there have been some painful low points in the past ten years. Yes, books I loved and still dream about didn't sell. In those moments, Alyssa didn't drop me as a client. She strategized with me. She helped me pivot—for instance, from YA novels to chapter books. When she started her own agency, Birch Path Literary, she brought me along. 

Nothing is guaranteed in publishing, including sticking with the same agent your whole career. It's not uncommon for writers to change agents—sometimes more than once. Agents leave the business. Or the partnership is no longer a good fit. Or the writer wants to branch out in a direction the agent doesn't feel compelled or suited to follow. 

I can't see the future. But, as I look back at that 2013 email from Alyssa, I feel nothing but gratitude—and excitement for what's next. 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I finished listening to Lessons in Chemistry. In the end, I liked it a lot—though it definitely wasn't what I thought I was signing on for. The cover, the title, the marketing...all of that screamed "rom-com." While there is a love story in the book, and while parts of it are amusing, it's also serious, and frustrating, and sad. If you decide to read it based on my recommendation, know what you're getting into! 

Watching: "Shadow & Bone." "Ted Lasso." "Schmigadoon." There's a lot of good stuff on right now! 

Loving: My daughter had off of school for Passover and Good Friday. Of course, we got busy in the kitchen. We made matzo toffee for Passover and braided "Rapunzel" buns for Easter. Yum! 

What Is a Retinal Detachment, Anyway?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on March 31st, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

We were at the Happiest Place on Earth, and I had a storm cloud in my eye. 

"I think I need to call my eye doctor," I told my husband, as we stood in line to ride...was it Prince Charming's carousel, or the Haunted Mansion, or the Jungle Cruise? The timing of that day—our last day at Disney World—is a little fuzzy. As much fun as we were having, I was beginning to worry.  

Flash forward twenty-four hours, and I was back home in Brooklyn, in my optometrist's office. He took some pictures and immediately started calling specialists. It was after 5pm on a Friday afternoon, and he didn't think I could wait until Monday to be seen. I was in danger of losing vision in my left eye. 

After about half an hour of texts and phone calls, my doctor found a retinal specialist who was willing to return to her office after hours to see a new patient. I raced home, ate a few bites of dinner, and called a car service to take me to the next appointment. Things were moving fast now. 

It was a retinal detachment, the specialist confirmed. We'd start the repair procedure right away. She prepped my eye and quickly explained what was about to happen...and before I really had time to process any of it, I was having a bubble of gas injected directly into my eyeball. 

Disney magic one day, a needle in my eye the next. Talk about whiplash. 

But how did all of this begin? 

The day before we were set to depart for Disney, I saw what I can only describe as a bolt of lightning, out of the corner of my left eye. It flashed a few times, and then was gone. Weird, I thought. Once we got to Disney, I saw a few more flashing lights, especially on dark rides (ahem, Pirates of the Caribbean...). I also had some new floaters in my left eye. But I didn't fret too much. I was due for my annual eye checkup in March anyway. I figured I'd bring up these new symptoms then. 

But on our last morning at the parks, the situation changed. I woke up with a storm cloud in the lower-left corner of my left eye. It was a foggy, gray area, and around it was kind of a...lens flare. I could see through it, but it was like looking through a really old window-pane. That area of my vision was murky. It was incredibly unsettling, and obviously not something that could wait until my scheduled checkup. 

I learned, over the course of quite a bit of googling that day at the Magic Kingdom, that light flashes and eye floaters are signs of a retinal problem, and that a cloud or curtain over the vision may mean that the retina has begun to detach. A retinal detachment is a medical emergency. If left untreated, it can result in total vision loss. 

But it didn't quite sink in that that's what was happening to me until I was sitting in the retinal specialist's exam chair, the only patient in an after-hours office where most of the lights weren't even on, having my eyeball injected with gas. I was crying—partly from having my eye poked and prodded, and partly because I was really overwhelmed. 

The retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball. It receives images and transmits them, as electrical signals, to the brain. In a retinal detachment, the tissue pulls away from the blood vessels that nourish it. My detachment was near the top of my eye, angled toward my nose: the upper-right area. That's why I was seeing a cloud in the lower-left field of my vision. One perk of having a detachment in this region was that I could begin with the least-invasive repair procedure, called a pneumatic retinopexy. This involves having a gas bubble injected into the eye to "splint" the retina back into its proper place, followed by one or more laser procedures to seal the tear. 

Here's the catch: gas rises, right? So, in order for the bubble to push against the correct part of the retina, you have to position your head just so...for weeks. As my issue was at the top of the eye, that meant I had to remain completely upright (I was allowed a sliiiiight tilt to the left). People whose detachments are on the side or back of the eye have to stay on their sides, or even facedown, during recovery! 

Four days after having my gas bubble put in, I returned to the specialist's office for my first laser procedure. It hurt. (This was actually the only part of the entire process that hurt! The detachment itself was completely painless.) The pain wasn't at the front of my eye, which had been numbed with drops, but at the back—like a sharp ice cream headache in my sinuses. A week later, at my follow-up, I was treated to "a little more laser, just to be safe." In the meantime, I was sleeping upright on the sofa ("sleeping" being a very generous term), minimizing my screen time, and figuring out how to navigate my home and then my neighborhood without bending over and with a gas bubble distorting my vision—while also drafting a new book on a deadline. 

Spoiler alert: I made the deadline! The book got turned in!!

Also, I was allowed to recline—to sleep in my bed—starting on night 18. 

But the bubble...oh, the bubble. 

It’s been a little over five weeks since it was put in. The bubble is still there. It is shrinking, bit by bit. That's what it's supposed to do. It will eventually go away on its own.

If you look at my eye, you can't see the bubble. But I can see it. It's like a navy-blue balloon, darker at the edges and more translucent in the center. It magnifies what's in its field, like a drop of water on a camera lens. Light and brightness reflect off its edges, sending rays refracting outward in rings or streaks. At first, the bubble took up more than half of my field of vision. It was like staring at the ocean. Walking made me feel a little seasick. (Fun story: when the bubble was injected, it split, so it initially looked kind of like blue fish eggs. Then, one day, I sneezed hard—and when I opened my eyes, all the little bubbles had coalesced into one big one!) Now, the bubble is much smaller. It's kind of like a marble, floating around. And sometimes, little bubbles break off and whiz around in my eye before attaching themselves to the main bubble and orbiting it like satellites. 

At my latest follow-up appointment, my specialist was pleased. Everything is healing as it should be, which is such a relief! Also, the bubble should be gone very soon. (Hooray!) 

But that doesn't mean my vision will go back to normal. The floaters that got in when my retina detached—they're there to stay. My left eye will forever have specks and spots floating (and sometimes zipping) around inside it. Supposedly, my brain will eventually get used to it and stop seeing them, in the way that we don't see our own noses even though they're always in our line of sight. There may be other vision changes as well, things I can't fully assess until the bubble is gone. And I'll have to get checked every six months or so, to watch out for recurrences and new issues. 

Why did this happen to me? The short answer is, who knows? Retinal detachments can be caused by trauma to the eye; I didn't have that. Other risk factors include diabetes, previous cataract surgery, and advanced age, but I don't fall into any of those categories either. I am highly nearsighted, and myopia is another risk factor. So, it's possible that over the past year (since my last annual eye exam) my retina had begun to deteriorate, and then I rode a roller coaster at Disney World, and...bam. Detachment. But that's speculation. The important thing now is that I have someone keeping an eye on my eyes. 

It hasn't been an easy month. (And again, I may have had the easiest type of retinal detachment procedure to recover from!) I'm not through it yet. But fingers crossed, I'm on my way back to reasonably good eye health. 

Have you ever dealt with anything like this, or has anyone in your family? Any words of wisdom for me as I move past the acute phase and into the aftermath?

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I finished In the Woods and started another audiobook, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This book, about a woman chemist in the 1960s who ends up hosting a groundbreaking cooking show, was really buzzed about last year. I'm enjoying it so far! 

Watching: How are we feeling about season 3 of "The Mandalorian," folks? I feel like the pacing has been really strange from episode to episode, but as of this week, the various plot threads are starting to come together. Plus, it's always great to see Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan) on my TV! 

Snacking: Last call for the best candy of the year, aka Cadbury Mini Eggs! I ordered a few extra bags, since these will be impossible to find until approximately next February.  

Loving: I got to observe another author visit at my daughter's school this week! This time, it was Lee Bacon, who spoke to the 4th graders about his book The Last Human. I have a batch of school visits of my own coming up in a couple weeks, so I relish each and every time I get to observe another author doing their thing! It's so inspiring. 

My Next Book Has a Cover!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on March 24th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Did you catch the cover reveal this week for my next book, The Thirteenth Circle? Just in case you missed it, take a moment to bask in this image of utter amazing-ness: 

Seriously, how great is that?! It's fun but also a little spooky. Those glowing green orbs give off major "X-Files" vibes. And did you spot the shadowy figures in the background, lurking in the cornfields? Plus all the little details, like the green alien heads on Cat's black shirt and the Erlenmeyer flask Dani is clutching tightly as she runs. (There was even an "X-Files" episode called "The Erlenmeyer Flask" in season one...) I don't know if there's anything I'd do differently on here, to be honest. It's just perfect. 

Once a book has a cover, it definitely starts feeling more real. But that's not all that's happening in the world of The Thirteenth Circle right now. MarcyKate and I also got to see sample interior design pages, and we will receive a full set of designed pages for proofreading (this is called "first-pass pages" in publishing) within the next few weeks. 

The book will also soon be available as an eARC, or Advance Reader Copy. This is for reviewers and booksellers and librarians to get an early sneak peek—and to start spreading the word! Once those digital galleys start going out, and people are actually reading it...whew. The thing is happening! 

Some books have beta-readers, a.k.a. people the author trusts to read early drafts and offer feedback. With this book, having a coauthor kind of meant MarcyKate and I were each other's beta-readers. We didn't send it to anyone else to critique, because we were constantly going back and forth between the two of us. And then, once our agents got involved—and especially after we sold it to a publisher—we had professional feedback coming in. All of which to say, at this point, no one but the two of us, our agents (and their assistants), and our publishing team has read this book. 

So having it start to feed out to READERS feels scary and exciting, all at once! 

This is an interesting time in a book's life. We, the authors, have done just about all of the work we'll ever do on the manuscript. It's very nearly out of our hands. But the actual publication date is still over nine months away! In between comes a lot of waiting and crossing fingers and dropping little teasers and details and waiting some more. With every month that passes between now and release day, it becomes less and less ours. On January 30th, 2024, it's yours. 

And we hope you love it as much as we do. 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I read Nona the Ninth, the third book in the Locked Tomb series, when the library hold appeared on my phone. It was amazing, just as mind-bendy (maybe even a little more so) than the previous two. But my eye wasn't quite ready for that much text, so I'm back to audiobooks! I am now listening to In the Woods by Tana French. This is technically the first book in the series of Irish murder mysteries I mentioned last newsletter, but it's from the point of view of a different detective, so I don't feel too spoiled by already having listened to book two. 

Watching: This is totally random, but...have you seen "Snack vs. Chef" on Netflix? It involves professional chefs attempting to recreate common snack foods, like Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Kit-Kats, without a recipe. The results are...mixed. Making snacks (especially without the help of, you know, an automated factory) is hard! 

Listening to: Somehow, I missed listening to Maggie Rogers when she released her first album in 2019. I suspect it's because I was neck-deep in Baby Shark and other toddler requests at the time. Suffice it to say, I really like her! Great singer-songwriter vibes. 

Loving: I know I share a lot of my daughter's art in this newsletter, but it really does bring me so much joy. Here is a quick sketch she did of me earlier this week, when she was home sick with a nasty cold and I was attempting to work while also entertaining her. I think it fully captures my working-mom-with-a-healing-eyeball essence...

On Zero-Drafts and Finding Myself Through the Mess

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on March 17th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I recently finished the "zero-draft" of the write-for-hire project I've been working on for the past few months. To my surprise and delight, it ended up right at the assigned word count (between 35-40,000 words). Thanks to my very detailed outline/synopsis, I had a solid sense of what I needed to write, but there was no guarantee that it would take the correct amount of words to get it all on the page. Typing "The End" at just over 38K felt so satisfying, like my authorly instincts were on point. 

Of course, this was just a zero-draft. What do I mean by that? 

When you're writing a book under contract, you'll have a due date for the first draft. This will be the first time your editor (and others on the team—in this case, the client) reads the whole book. But ideally, the draft you turn in isn't the very first draft you finish writing. Thus: zero-draft. 

A zero-draft can be full of plot holes. It can have notes in the margins, like, "Rewrite this interaction later" and "What day of the week is it, again?" The writing isn't necessarily polished, or even grammatically correct. Writing a zero-draft is about sketching out the story, start to finish. A zero-draft isn't mean to be read (by your editor or, really, anyone other than you). It's meant to exist, because you can't edit a blank page. 

So, as I said, earlier this week I finished my zero-draft. Not counting the three chapters I'd already written as part of my audition for the project, and then polished up for the "proof of concept" proposal, it took me a little under five weeks to complete. (I am immensely proud of that pace, by the way, considering I've been dealing with a retinal detachment in my left eye!) Now, I'm fixing things. Editing for continuity. Fleshing out two-dimensional characters. Adding connective threads between scenes and chapters. This is the fun part of writing a book: when you can see, with every change you make, that it is becoming better. 

A friend recently expressed astonishment that I have been able to work through this whole retinal detachment situation. I'll admit, it hasn't been easy, especially right after the repair procedures were done, but...being able to work through this has saved me. Meeting—exceeding—my word count goals each day gave me both a sense of purpose and a creative outlet, when the only other thing I could do was nap on the couch. (Believe it or not, one can only take so many midday naps!) Knowing that I'm going to hit my deadline at the end of this month, despite everything—and that I'm going to send in something I feel good about—is incredibly gratifying.  

I'm a person who prefers to keep busy. In general, I like for my days to have a purpose and a plan. And I enjoy writing. It makes me happy. 

I also enjoy vacations—and trust me, it felt absolutely magical to be at Disney World without my laptop for an entire workweek. 

But I'd been looking forward to getting back to work when we returned from Florida, and having to have emergency eye surgery really threw me for a loop. During those first few days post-procedure, I clung to the hour or so each morning that I could spend writing. During those hours, I felt like me. 

It reminded me of when, less than a year postpartum, I was invited to join rehearsals for a dance performance that was being put on by two of my longtime contemporary teachers/choreographers. Even in my first rehearsal with the group, my new-mom body still strange in constantly-shifting ways, I felt like me. As rehearsals went on, it was like stepping back into myself, over and over and over.  

Sitting down at my computer each morning, the past few weeks, has been another kind of stepping back into myself. And yes, I have earned a break after this. Yes, I plan to get a massage (when my eye doctor gives me the okay). Yes, I may take extra dance and yoga classes this spring to make up for these long, sedentary weeks at home. But I don't want to ever stop writing. I can't stop creating, dreaming, building. It's just not who I am.

~Kathryn  

What I'm: 

Reading: Due to my eye situation, I’ve started listening to audiobooks! I finished the audiobook of The Likeness (an Irish murder mystery) and also listened to a short rom-com called Love at First Psych, about two college students paired together for a project on love at first sight for their psychology class. It was cute! 

Watching: We rewatched "The Mandalorian" and are now caught up on season 3. I also can't wait to start season 2 of "Shadow and Bone" on Netflix. The first season of that one was so good! 

Cooking (sort of...): My daughter had green oatmeal and green milk this morning for breakfast, and she was absolutely certain the food coloring made it all taste especially green. 

Loving: Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, apparently my kiddo's teacher read a book about leprechauns yesterday, which inspired her to create her own leprechaun trap. (She was convinced one was going to sneak into her room overnight and steal her pot of gold! Aka her piggie bank...) Here's her chalk diagram of the trap, including disgruntled leprechaun. The pot of gold at the far left is the bait.  

What Do You Want to Know About School Visits?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on February 17th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

As you may have noticed, I've had school visits on the brain this month. Not only did February kick off with World Read Aloud Day, and not only did I welcome a picture book author to my daughter's school, but I've also been in planning mode for tons of future author presentations myself.

I've got a trip down to Tennessee coming up in March, and potentially another one in August (for two schools that want me to come, but aren't free in March). I've also just scheduled a visit with a school in Manhattan for April. For each presentation successfully scheduled, there are half a dozen emails to try to book with other schools and librarians. Since I'm doing this all myself, it's a bit of a hustle. I have to accept that not every feeler I put out will garner a response. 

Lately, I've started tracking my school visit booking process and success rate, because I have another fun announcement to share: I'll be joining fellow author (and friend) Janae Marks to present a workshop on school visits at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators regional conference at the end of April! (More on this soon; I think registration for the conference goes live in March.) 

Janae asked me back in the fall if I'd be interested in pitching a workshop together, after she read my newsletter recapping my first in-person school visit since 2016. Janae has also been finding her way back into in-person visits, though for her it's been more of a post-Covid phenomenon, as her first book came out in January 2020. We compared notes, and the two of us have a lot to say on the topic. We wrote up a proposal, and were thrilled earlier this month to learn that it had been accepted. 

Since finding out this workshop was definitely going to happen, I've had it at the back of my mind whenever I do anything school visit–related. This includes while I'm actually on a school visit. 

For example, one of my virtual visits recently went wrong in just about every way that a virtual visit can go wrong. It was almost funny! And when I hung up, all I could think was, well, that's a story for the workshop. 

This visit: 

  • Had to be rescheduled from its original date due to bad weather shutting down the school. 

  • Started late (which always leaves me wondering if I've messed up the date/time). 

  • Had tech issues from the moment I logged on. Now, I'm not complaining about the tech issues. Whenever you involve technology, there's a chance something won't work quite right! But in this case...

  • One teacher didn't (or didn't know how to) mute herself. So, as I started my presentation, I could hear her talking to her students, telling them to be quiet and listen. (For the record, I didn't hear her students chattering. I only heard her.) Also, at one point she had two separate devices signed onto the call, which caused a distracting echo effect. 

  • That teacher ended up leaving abruptly halfway through my presentation. 

  • The other teacher on the Zoom couldn't figure out how to UNMUTE herself! She also didn't know how to use the chat feature. So, at the point in my virtual visit when I ask for student questions...I simply couldn't. I was talking to a silent screen. 

  • I had to pivot. I read another chapter. I asked them questions that they could answer with raised hands and thumbs up/down. I told them facts about myself and my books—the things kids usually want to know. I gave them my email in case they wanted to ask me questions that way. 

It was a learning experience. 

I'd had one or two of these issues on virtual visits in the past. Like I said, stuff happens. You have to be able to pivot and adapt. But I'd never had this many things go wrong in a single half hour. I left kind of shaking my head—and hoping that the kids had gotten something out of it. Because yes, school presentations are about spreading the word about my books, but they'realsovery much about giving the students a meaningful experience. I'm the presenter, the guest, but it's not about me. 

(Later that same afternoon, by the way, I had what I'd consider a gold-standard virtual visit! The tech worked perfectly! The kids asked amazing questions! The librarian was a delight! But that experience wasn't any more valid than the School Visit That Went Wrong.) 

So yeah—this is what I'm thinking about as Janae and I start to plan our workshop for April. And now I want to throw it to you: 

- If you're a newer author or on the cusp of publication, what do you want to know about planning, booking, and actually doing school presentations?

- If you're an experienced author who's done tons of visits, do you have any tips and best practices you'd like to share with me and Janae, to pass along to our workshop participants? 

- If you're a teacher or librarian, what do you want authors to know about what you want from an author visit? What makes you more likely to book an author as a guest speaker at your school? 

Thanks in advance for chiming in! 
~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I read Tae Keller's Newbery-winning book When You Trap a Tiger at the start of the week. It was so wonderful. (As I'd expected! It won the Newbery!) Now I'm reading The Change by Kirsten Miller, which is about three middle-aged women in a coastal Long Island town who develop magical abilities during menopause—and use those abilities to right wrongs being done to other women. This book is FASCINATING. One of the blurbs I saw described it as a "gutteral rage scream (and somehow a soft, tearful hug) of a book," and that is so spot-on. 

Writing: This week, I've been hammering away at the first draft of my write-for-hire project. I've passed 8,000 new words since Monday, and if I meet my goal today, I'll break the 10K mark. That's a lot of words to write in a single week! I'm honestly feeling pretty pleased. 

Celebrating: Speaking of my friend Janae Marks, it was a joy to get to go to her book launch party last night at Books of Wonder! On Air With Zoe Washington is her third book, and she hasn't been able to have an in-person book launch since her debut in January 2020, so this was such a lovely moment.  

Loving: We are going on a family vacation to Disney World TOMORROW! We've had a countdown calendar on the door for our daughter, and now it's officially "one more sleep until Disney."

Do Authors Get to Watch Other Authors Do School Visits?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on February 10th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

It's not often that authors get to observe other authors' school visits.

Yes, we watch each other give speeches and lead workshops at conferences and industry events. And yes, we can attend seminars on how to give effective school presentations, led by authors who are known for their school visit skills. But as for actually being a fly on the wall in a room with an author, their slideshow, and dozens (or even hundreds) of actual kids? If you're not also a teacher or librarian, that's rare. 

When I joined the Visiting Author Committee at my daughter's elementary school in the fall, I was thinking mostly about what I, an author with a number of connections in the publishing industry, could bring to the school community. (I also wanted to learn more about pitching myself as a presenter!) What I didn't consider at the time was the value of being in the room to watch other authors share their presentations. 

Yesterday, I got to watch author/illustrator Rina Deshpande talk to the kindergarteners about her debut picture book, Yoga Nidra Lullaby. I didn't know Rina before this; she was recommended by another person on the Visiting Author Committee. But I ended up in charge of Rina's author visit, which meant meeting her and getting her checked into the school, helping her set up in the auditorium, introducing her to the kids and teachers, and getting her books distributed to the classrooms and the school library. 

I also got to watch her present, and it was such a treat. 

Rina used to be an educator herself, and she now leads workshops for educators. For 35 minutes, I watched as she calmly and capably wrapped 150+ five-year-olds around her little finger. She read a few pages from the book. She talked about where her idea for her story came from, and how she made the artwork. She did yoga and breathing exercises with the kids to keep them engaged physically. She let them share with their neighbors. She took questions—most of which were actually comments. ("I have a stuffed cat at home." "I have a real cat! His name is..." "Why do you love your cat so much?") Watching her was a little like taking a master class in school visit management. I'm very glad I got to be there! 

I have a few more in-person school visits on the horizon this spring and even into the fall, and at least one of them involves speaking to kindergarteners. (All of my in-person school visits so far have been for grades 2 and 3.) My daughter is in kindergarten, so I do understand how to interact on her level...but I've never tried to keep the attention of 150 five-year-olds at once!

From Rina, yesterday, I saw about how much content it's actually possible to get through in half an hour. I saw how she paced her presentation. I saw how she included moments for the kids to talk amongst themselves, moments for them to move their bodies, and moments for them to sit still and listen. Not everything she did is relevant to me and my books, but it was still incredibly helpful to see her in action. 

Maybe I'll never be one of those authors that goes on the road for weeks at a time, visiting school after school after school, but I do want school presentations to be a part of my author career going forward. Making this a focus of my career means striving to get better at it. I'm so grateful that, in volunteering my time at my daughter's school, I inadvertently found a learning opportunity for myself. 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: My Thirteenth Circle coauthor, MarcyKate Connolly, is very prolific, and this past week, I read one of her books, The Star Shepherd. It's a middle-grade fantasy about a boy and his father who are tasked with rescuing fallen stars and catapulting them back into the sky. When it seems like someone is cutting down the stars, the boy goes on a journey to fight back the looming darkness. MarcyKate has such an incredible imagination. (It's one of the reasons I asked her to write a book with me!) If you are a fantasy fan, definitely check out her books! 

Watching: "Fleishman is in Trouble" on Hulu. This series was AMAZING. So moving and thought-provoking. A meditation on middle-age, relationships, friendships, motherhood... But! Be warned, there is a depiction of a traumatic birth experience. If that is something that would be hard for you to see, maybe save this series (and the book its based on) for another time. 

Eating: A box of dark chocolate Godiva truffles my husband got me as an early Valentine's Day gift.  Yum!  

Loving: My daughter's school is doing a Readathon this month! We already read a lot in this house, but we've been making an extra effort (and logging our minutes) since the Readathon kicked off a week ago. With a kindergartener, we do a mix of reading to her and sitting with her while she works through one of her learning-to-read books. Last night, she read Go, Otto, Go! by David Milgrim all by herself! (She only needed help on one word: "nowhere.") What a joy. 

Happy World Read Aloud Day!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on February 3rd, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

The first Wednesday in February is something of a holiday in the kidlit world: it's World Read Aloud Day! I don't know exactly when this tradition got started, but it's definitely picked up steam in the past few years, with schools across the U.S. and around the globe inviting authors to join them for virtual readalouds.  

Last year was my first time participating. I Zoomed into four classrooms/school libraries to give them a sneak peek at David Dixon's Day as a Dachshund and answer questions about Class Critters. Two of last year's visits were requests I received via email, and the other two I set up myself. This year, I got fourteen requests! I was ultimately able to accept eleven of them (which was feasible because a few of the schools decided to celebrate World Read Aloud Day for the entire week). 

Nine of those virtual author visits were initially scheduled for the actual date, Wednesday 2/1. Unfortunately, a few schools had to close unexpectedly due to inclement weather, so those visits got rescheduled last-minute. All of which to say, I spoke virtually at six different elementary schools on Wednesday! 

I read an excerpt from Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! that takes place right after Madison transforms and her classroom is in chaos. When you're reading via Zoom, I've learned that it's vital to pick the right scene—one that has a lot of action and excitement and features different character voices and expressions. The energy is a challenge when you're not there in the classroom with the kids. You have to amp it up beyond what you might do in person. (And when you're dealing with elementary schoolers, your in-person energy level already has to be extremely high!) 

My WRAD visits for Class Critters ranged from kindergarten up to 3rd grade. I also visited one 5th grade group; they got a sneak peek from my next book, The Thirteenth Circle! After the short reading, it was all about the Q&A. A few questions I received: 

  • Where did you get your inspiration/why did you write these books? 

  • Why is there magic in these books? 

  • Did you draw the pictures or just write the words? 

  • How many books have you written? 

  • How long does it take to write a book? 

  • Do you like being an author? Why? 

  • What's your advice for young writers? 

  • What's your favorite animal?

  • Do you have any pets?  

Surprisingly, no one asked me my age, or how much money I make! (Though as I said, a few visits got rescheduled—so there's still time...) 

I love answering questions from kids—whether or not they're related to books and writing. It's really special to make a connection with a young student. It's hard to grab kids' attention, and even harder to hold onto it. If knowing a little more about me helps a child want to read my stories, then I'm happy to share. (To a point, obviously...) 

Participating in World Read Aloud Day last year was what encouraged me to start offering free virtual school visits year-round. My free visits follow the same format as the WRAD visits: I read a bit from whichever of my books is age-appropriate for the kids I'm speaking to, and then answer questions. One year later, I feel great about keeping this free offering available for schools. Yes, it's time out of my workday, and I do believe in being paid for my time...but I don't have to do any extra preparation for these visits. All I have to do is show up. 

In return, I reach new readers. Schools and libraries buy my books that might not have done so before. As a solidly midlist author, I need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. Every book sold matters. 

But it's not just about the sales. Talking to kids keeps me connected to why I do what I do. Seeing their faces and hearing their questions—about my books, about being an author, about my life—inspires me. Knowing that one or more students in each classroom might leave their brief time with me feeling like they, too, could publish a book one day...it's magical. As a child, I would have loved to meet a real author. Now, I get to be that person. 

So! As I said, I have a few more virtual school visits on the calendar in the next couple weeks, but that's not the end. My schedule is always open to talk to young readers and aspiring authors. If you know a teacher or school librarian who would like a virtual reading and Q&A, please put them in touch with me! I can't wait to meet them and their students. 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I found a YA mystery, The Agathas, in a Little Free Library recently, and devoured it! It's about a rich former popular girl and a working class bookworm teaming up to solve the murder of a classmate. The victim used to be the rich girl, Alice's best friend; the other wannabe detective, Iris, may have been the last person to see the victim alive. I love a good mystery, and this one was twisty-turny enough to keep me guessing until pretty close to the end! 

Watching: My husband and I finally watched "The Bear," many months after everyone else on the planet. It was very good! Heartbreaking, anxiety-inducing, but great storytelling. 

Loving: I got to go into my daughter's classroom last week for "Fun Friday," and I decided to do a storytelling activity. I crafted it kind of like a Mad-Lib: I wrote the skeleton of a story and let the kids fill in the details. After I read the completed story, they all drew their illustrations. Here's my daughter's picture of Parker, the superhero zookeeper, and his best friend, Tyler the giraffe. 

What's the Hardest Thing to Cultivate?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on January 27th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

My daughter is an aspiring chef and baker. Perhaps more accurately, she is an aspiring competitor on a reality cooking/baking show.

She's currently very into a trio of family-friendly cooking shows on Disney+: "Be Our Chef," in which five families go head-to-head in Disney-themed cooking challenges; "Disney's Magic Bake-Off," in which teams of kids and tweens make fancy Disney-themed cakes; and "Foodtastic," in which professional pastry chefs, ice/pumpkin carvers, and food artists must make elaborate (you guessed it) Disney-themed foodscapes.

These shows have sparked her interest in helping out in the kitchen. She and I have baked together for a couple years, but now she really wants to be involved. As a toddler, her primary jobs were mixing, making a mess, and snacking. Now, she wants to chop veggies and crack eggs. She wants to add seasoning. She wants to zest lemons. And with desserts, above all, she wants to DECORATE. 

What she doesn't want to do—ever—is wait. 

"I'm not very good at being patient," she tells me repeatedly, every single time we cook together. 

Granted, she's five and a half, and five-and-a-half-year-olds are not typically known for their skill at waiting patiently. But I don't think her age is the only factor at play. When she watches those cooking and baking shows, she is seeing a highly edited, fast-paced version of working in a kitchen. She watches ingredients getting thrown into a mixer and then, moments later, sees the cake come out of the oven—and she never has to wait long for the decorations (oh, those wonderful decorations!) to go on. 

Cooking in real life isn't like that. In real life, there is waiting involved. It's just part of the process. The pasta has to boil. The meat has to sear. The cupcakes have to cool. Sweet-pea, you have to be patient. 

I don't think this is just a five-and-a-half-year-old problem. 

In the email header, I asked, "What's the hardest thing to cultivate?" I propose that for many of us, it's patience. 

I was thinking about patience earlier this week, as I was struggling to dive into drafting the write-for-hire project I'll be focused on for the next few months. My outline and character sketches were approved with only a few minor tweaks—yay!! The next step is to submit three chapters, just to make sure I'm on the right track, voice-wise, before I write the whole book.

I'm really excited about this project, and yet, on Monday, I was having a hard time getting words on the page. I didn't like the words I did manage to type. I felt blocked. I wanted to do something, anything else. I wished, desperately, that I could skip ahead to the part of the drafting process where it starts to flow, where it feels almost effortless. Or even to revisions, where you get to dig in and polish all the nonsense you wrote before until it properly shines. 

I wanted the highly edited, fast-paced TV competition show version of writing a book. Instead, I was in the real world, and there was no way forward except one step—one word—at a time. 

Sweet-pea, you have to be patient. 

Cooking with my daughter is an exercise in patience. (For both of us...) Writing a book is an exercise in patience. I can't simply skip the hard parts or the boring parts and end up with a delicious finished product. The only way out is through. 

Do you struggle with patience? Or is there another skill that you find it really hard to cultivate in your life/work?

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Short stories! I am a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell's books, and this week, I grabbed her short story collection, Scattered Showers, from the library. It did not disappoint! Featuring a mix of new characters and callbacks to her beloved novels, Scattered Showers is like a snapshot of what Rowell does best: build big feelings. While it was great to see more from characters I knew and loved, I think my favorite story in the collection was the last one, "In Waiting," a meta tale about two characters meeting in the author's imagination, some time before they're ready to emerge into stories of their own.  

Baking: Chocolate whoopie-pies with pink marshmallow buttercream.  

Loving: Kiddo lost her first tooth this past week! We're officially entering "big kid" land... 

What Do You Do to Cultivate Joy?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on January 20th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

After my Wednesday dance class this week, a newer student approached me to ask how long I'd been training with this particular teacher. I thought back: "Since 2010, maybe?" "Wow, so like 13 years?!" the 20-something said, eyes wide. And yes, my mind was a little blown to realize that that much time had passed since I first set foot in this specific class.

So much about my life has changed since then. I was freshly out of graduate school and had decided to continue freelancing for the time being, so I could polish my first novel. Publishing books for a living was still a dream. I wasn't yet married. I was five years away from even being ready to have a conversation about having kids, and seven years away from actually becoming a mom. (Let's not even talk about the complete lack of global pandemic...) 

To be honest, 2010 Kathryn feels like an entirely different person than 2023 Kathryn. And yet...I was dancing. 

And I'm still dancing. 

"You just look like it brings you so much joy," the 20-something said on Wednesday, hitting the nail on the absolute head.

Taking that class each week does bring me joy—and not only because, with 13 years of this same teacher's training under my belt, my body knows what to do. I can let go a little. But the joy is also in the showing up. The still showing up. After all of the life changes. When work is hectic and I should probably spend the two hours (almost three, with the round-trip commute...) at my computer instead. When the writing isn't flowing. When my 40-year-old, birthed-a-child body doesn't feel like it once did. When something hurts. When I'm tired. (I'm always tired.) 

I go to dance class, and I cultivate joy. 

So far this year, I've been thinking—and writing—a lot about cultivating my career, and about cultivating an environment of creativity in my life. But what about simply cultivating joy?

For me, that means making time to stretch and strengthen my body. It means challenging my brain to pick up long phrases of choreography. It means chasing that feeling of flying across the dance floor, completely immersed in the music and the moment. It means leaving whatever else is going on outside the studio door, even if only for two hours a week. 

What do you do that you don't get paid for—that you don't even always have time for—but you keep at it because it brings you joy? Is there a way to make even more space for that in your life? Can you cultivate more joy in 2023?

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Anatomy: A Love Story, by Dana Schwartz. This is a historical YA novel with a decidedly gothic feel, set in 1817 Edinburgh, about a young lady who dreams of becoming a surgeon and a boy who works as a Resurrection Man, digging up bodies for medical students to dissect. This book won't be for everyone, but if you like historical stories about young women trying to enter traditionally male realms—and you aren't squeamish about, well, anatomy—you might like it! I'm maybe a third of the way in, and enjoying it so far.  

Watching: My husband was away last weekend, and whenever he's out of town, I watch things that I know he won't be interested in. Enter Netflix's "Dance Monsters," a reality series in which dancers compete...as CGI monsters. I didn't expect much from this show, and it has completely won me over. It's refreshingly drama-free, the dancing ranges from decent to great, and the special effects are impressive. Do you want to watch a sweet, fuzzy yellow monster named Peaches (in real life, an engineer on an oil rig!) do an energetic Broadway-style number to "One Night Only" from the musical Dreamgirls? "Dance Monsters" might be up your alley.  

Baking: I may have mentioned before that my kiddo is an aspiring baker/chef. A few days ago, she had a vision: pink-and-blue swirled mermaid cupcakes with blue buttercream to represent the ocean, topped with a fondant mermaid. I was able to make all of that happen for her...aside from the fondant. We painted sliced strawberries with edible silver, instead. They were a triumph, if I do say so myself!  

Loving: There really is nothing like seeing your child feel proud of something they dreamed up and created. Here's to many more baking adventures together in the years to come! 

What Am I Hoping to Cultivate in 2023?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on January 13th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Last week, I shared that my word of the year for 2023 is Cultivate. This week, I wanted to talk a little about what, exactly, I hope to cultivate in my professional life! What seeds did I plant that I'm ready to nurture? What's on tap for me in 2023? 

I have one book release this year: the paperback of Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! on April 11th. I learned a lot last year, as I released two books in a little over a four-month period. (Technically, I had four book releases in 2022: the paperback of Tally Tuttle, the hardcover and paperback of David Dixon, and the hardcover of Madison Morris!) I am hoping to make the most of this upcoming paperback release, so stay tuned for giveaways, readalouds, collaborations, and more in the next month or two. 

The Thirteenth Circle is moving steadily through the production process. MarcyKate and I are waiting on copyedits, as well as a final cover design and a release date. (As far as I know, this book is still slated for winter 2024.) Meanwhile, we've been working on sample chapters for a proposed Book Two in the Science & Strange series! The Thirteenth Circle is about a crop circle phenomenon. Who wants to guess what paranormal thing our intrepid seventh-grade researchers are going to investigate next? 

I am also embarking on a new writing project this year. I mentioned several months ago that I was auditioning for a write-for-hire gig...and I got it! This week, I submitted a 10-page outline/synopsis as well as character briefs for all of the main players. Once I get approval from my editor and the client, it's time to start drafting in earnest. I will tell you more about this project once I know what I am allowed to disclose (remember, sometimes ghostwriters are allowed to take credit, whereas other times they stay fully behind the scenes). Suffice it to say, I am so excited that I took the chance on this audition last fall and am embarking on this new adventure! I think it will be a lot of fun. 

I did my first few in-person Class Critters school visits in 2022. I not only refined my presentation each time, making it more engaging and more effective (and becoming more comfortable in front of a crowd of kids), but also learned some tricks about reaching out to schools to pitch myself and my books. I am currently in talks with a couple different schools about in-person visits in the spring, which I am so excited about! But also, I am really pushing forward with booking virtual visits. I already have 10 virtual school visits scheduled on and around World Read Aloud Day (February 1st), plus another few virtual visits coming up in March. Speaking of which, if you want me to read/speak to your elementary school students, either virtually or in person, please don't hesitate to reach out! I would love to make something happen. Learn more about my school visits HERE. 

In other professional news, this week I led my first professional writing seminar for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, and it went really well! (You may recall me writing about imposter syndrome as I was crafting the presentation...) The facilitators and the attendees seemed very pleased with the information that I and my Class Critters editor, Erica Finkel, shared. And there were approximately 85 registrants, which blew away my expectations for how many people would attend! While this workshop technically happened in 2023, I'm counting it as a seed planted last year, because that's when I laid all the groundwork. Now, I know that I can lead a successful seminar. I do have valuable insight to pass along to other writers. I am not an imposter! So what else can I pursue in this realm? What other opportunities can I seek out? More workshops and seminars? More podcasts? Guest blog posts? 

All of the above is...a lot. I am going to be busy, busy, busy. But I hope to be busy doing what I love—or else doing things that are necessary to support projects I love—and that takes the some of the existential stress out of it. Writing is my job, and I work hard at it, but it's also my passion. I hope that above all, I can continue cultivating enjoyment in my work. 

What word is guiding you this year? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I've got a long library hold list at the moment, including several holiday-themed romances that didn't hit my account before the holidays, but I've also just started a new middle-grade fantasy novel! (Remember how I said I was going to read more middle-grade this year, in preparation for my own middle-grade debut in 2024?) Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto is about a boy who must team up with his brother's fox spirit after his brother passes away. Together, the two—who have never gotten along—must uncover why the brother died. I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm enjoying it so far! 

Watching: "Willow" just finished its first (only?) season, and it definitely got better as it went along. "Abbott Elementary" is back from winter break, and as fun as ever. Oh, and my husband and I watched "Matilda: the Musical" on Netflix a few days ago, and it was absolutely wonderful! 

Eating: Have you ever made a Mississippi Roast? I cooked a version of this in the crock pot a few days ago, and it was divine. (Spoiler alert: there's a lot of butter...)  

Loving: I checked my PO Box this week to find a packet of letters and artwork from a group of 1st and 2nd graders I Zoomed with in December! Here are a few of my favorite pictures. Getting fan art from kids is the absolute best.  

Happy New Year! My Word of the Year Is...

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on January 6th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Happy New Year!! What are your goals and dreams for 2023? 

I don't really do New Year's Resolutions. Instead, a decade ago, I was introduced to the idea of choosing a Word of the Year. This word will set the tone. It will guide you and give you purpose. It will ground you or lift you up—whatever it is you need at the moment you set the intention. 

In January 2013, the first time I did a Word of the Year, I chose Patience. It had been almost three years since I'd graduated from my MFA in Creative Writing program, and I'd been writing, revising, and periodically querying literary agents ever since. I was trying not to feel defeated, even though landing a book deal was taking longer than I'd anticipated. I'd also begun a new manuscript in 2012—the book that would become The Distance Between Lost and Found. I was in love with this manuscript. I felt strongly that it was the best thing I'd ever written. But I didn't want to rush to send it out if it wasn't ready. 

In January 2014, with Distance on the path to publication, I chose Momentum. Things were happening! Amazing, exciting things! I didn't want to slow down for a second. I wanted to ride the wave as far as I could. I wanted to be ready to put in the work to turn one book deal into a career as an author. 

In January 2015, the year my debut novel was set to hit shelves, I selected Gratitude. I knew I had some stress ahead with launching a book and facing reviews and such, and I didn't want to lose sight of how very lucky I felt to be doing what I loved. I wanted to approach every opportunity—and every setback—feeling thankful. 

For some reason I can no longer recall (maybe just...life?), I neglected to set a word for 2016. But by 2017, I was in a publishing slump. My second book had released, but had underperformed. My option book (a proposed third title with the same publisher) had been rejected. I'd taken that book on wide submission to other publishing houses and had failed to sell it anywhere. I'd set that manuscript aside and was working on rewriting another, earlier book. I was trying not to panic. (I was also pregnant at the time, which made everything feel very fraught...) And so I chose the word Persist. I was not going to give up. I was going to tell more stories. 

As an exhausted new mom who still hadn't sold a third book, in January 2018 I figured that Persist could stay my theme for another year. And then, in 2019, I moved on to Trust. I'd gone on submission a few more times. I'd rewritten both unsold books, and still hadn't nabbed a contract. I was beginning to draft something entirely new: a chapter book for young readers. I wanted to trust that one way or another, I would find the story that would become my third published book. But beyond publishing, I wanted to trust that the life I was living—as a tired mom to a toddler, in all its joy and its tedium—was exactly where I was supposed to be.  

My chapter book series sold in January 2020, and somewhere between the excitement and celebration of that milestone and the arrival of a global pandemic, I never set a word for that year. (In retrospect, my Word of the Year was probably Survive.) 

But in 2021, I chose Nourish. I wanted to find my way out of survival mode and into a healthier, happier space. I wanted to nourish my body, my mind, my soul. I wanted to eat more healthily. I wanted to go on a writing retreat. I wanted to make time for walks with friends and fresh air and other things that would feed my spirit. After a year that was challenging and scary, I wanted my theme for the year to basically be, "Be good to yourself." 

Since I managed to skip January 2022 (thanks, Omicron...), we have finally—finally!—reached this year!

If you're still with me, let's have a drumroll...

For 2023, I have chosen the word Cultivate. 

In looking back at 2022, even though I never set a formal intention, I do see a major theme. 2022 was about work. 

Last year, I released two new books. I revised two others (one for publication and one that's not yet there). I started doing in-person school visits for the first time since my YA novels in 2015/2016. I hired a marketing consultant to help me figure out how I could help my stories reach more readers. I launched this newsletter. I pitched myself and my books to podcasts and reviewers. I organized social media campaigns and giveaways. I auditioned for new writing opportunities. I worked. 

In 2022, I planted a lot of seeds. 

In 2023, I want to cultivate them. 

I only have one book release this year: the paperback of Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! in April. Since I'll be spending a lot less time in promo mode, I want to dig deeper into everything else. I know I'll be writing first-drafts of various things, but I also want to finally get that magical middle-grade book I've mentioned before back to my agent. I want to go on another writing retreat. And I want to create more opportunities for myself and my stories, using what I learned last year as a jumping-off point. I want to be creative, and I want to try new things. 

I also want to continue to cultivate a balanced life, in which I can be present as a parent to my daughter and as a partner to my husband, while also making time for myself to dance, do yoga, walk with friends, etc. My life is a garden, and it is my job to tend it so that it can flourish. 

Did you pick a Word of the Year for 2023? What did you choose? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. This is a Young Adult fantasy novel about a Black teen studying at an early college program who stumbles upon a secret society based on the Knights of the Round Table. The true secret? Arthur and his Knights were real, and so is magic! Bree, the protagonist, is grieving the recent loss of her mother, dealing with living away from home for the first time, and nursing a major crush on her student mentor Nick...who also happens to be the heir to King Arthur himself. One of the most interesting dynamics of the book is the contrast between the Arthurian style of magic with the magic that seems innate to Bree's family—a magic that reaches all the way back to the time of enslavement. I'm not done with Legendborn yet, but it is really great so far. If you're a fantasy fan, definitely check it out. 

Watching: My husband and I are currently rewatching an old season of "Taskmaster," the British show in which a comedian asks a group of other comedians and television personalities to perform a series of absurd tasks and scores their performance. What can I say, we needed some absurdity (and some belly laughs) after the stress of December! If you like to laugh, there are at least a dozen seasons of this show on YouTube. Season 7, which we're watching now, is one of the best. 

Writing: So much!!! Did I mention that December was stressful? Because January isn't slowing down. I've got an outline and character sketches to polish up for one fiction project (more on that soon!). I'm first-drafting and working on a proposal for a possible Book Two of the Science & Strange series with my coauthor, MarcyKate. I've also got a couple dance articles on my plate this month. Wish me luck over the next few weeks! 

Loving: My kiddo is learning to read. It's actually happening! And it's incredible to witness. The other night, as she sat on my lap, working her way through a series of BOB Books, I thought my heart might burst with pride. 

The Best Books I Read in 2022

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 23rd, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Hey, look! We've just about made it to the end of 2022! 

This will be my final newsletter of the year—I plan to take next week off, and will catch up with you in January. Enjoy your holidays and your break! 

Since I basically did my own year-in-review a few weeks ago, in my newsletter about gratitude, I thought this week's installment would be a perfect spot for me to list my favorite books I read this year. I keep a reading log every year, and I love gathering the stats on what I've read! Before I jump into my faves, here's a bit of data. 

As of the moment I'm writing this, I have finished 111 books this year. I am currently reading one, so I anticipate my total for the year being at least 112. I DNF-ed (Did Not Finish) one book I started. The 112 books on my list are all chapter books or longer—but it's important to note that I read a number of early chapter books with my daughter that are not reflected on my personal log. 

The age breakdown on my list: 

  • 11 chapter books 

  • 9 middle-grade books 

  • 13 young adult novels 

  • 79 books for adults 

One reading goal I have for 2023 is to read more middle-grade stories, in anticipation of my own middle-grade debut with The Thirteenth Circle in early 2024! 

The genre breakdown (keeping in mind that some books blur boundaries): 

  • 21 contemporary stories (realistic fiction) 

  • 13 fantasy stories

  • 70 romance novels (contemporary and historical)

  • 2 novels-in-verse

  • 3 historical novels (not historical romance) 

  • 1 nonfiction book 

  • 1 mystery

  • 1 historical/contemporary/sci-fi 

Yes, 70 is a lot of romance novels! But those really have been my comfort reads lately. Gotta love books where everything is guaranteed to work out in the end. Plus, they mostly come in series, in which case I have to read five or six in a row to see everyone paired up! ;)

My goals as far as genre in 2023 are to read more nonfiction, as well as to read more books that aren't straightforward contemporary stories. More sci-fi! More mysteries! Etc. 

One other stat I track: 87 of the books I read this year were borrowed from the library. Hooray for the Brooklyn Public Library! The rest I own, either as ebooks or physical books. 

And now, without further ado...here are ten books I read and loved in 2022! I highly recommend each and every one of these titles. 

Adult Contemporary/Literary Fiction

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 

Adult Romance 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston 

Adult Mystery 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 

Young Adult Fiction 

Lawless Spaces by Corey Ann Haydu 
An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan 

Middle-Grade Fiction 

The Mythics: Marina and the Kraken by Lauren Magaziner
The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton 
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd 

(Honorable mention: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr)

What were your favorite reads of 2022? Did I miss anything you absolutely loved? Help me jump-start my reading list for 2023 by sharing your recommendations! My Libby app is ready for action. 

Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I'm almost done with Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd, which I shared on my Instagram but didn't officially recommend here. It's an absolutely wonderful middle-grade story about a girl with osteogenesis imperfecta, aka "brittle-bone disease," starting at her local public middle school after years of home-schooling. At the same time, a magical wish-granting hummingbird is rumored to be returning to her small Tennessee town. If Olive can find the hummingbird before anyone else, will her wish come true? Natalie Lloyd writes such gentle, heart-warming, magical books, and even though this isn't a holiday story, per se, it's perfect for the holiday season. 

Watching: I'm in the mood for Christmas movies! We recently watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Elf with the kiddo. I try to watch White Christmas every holiday season. What are your favorite holiday movies, the ones you return to year after year after year?

Eating: Since I am the primary stocking stuffer at my house, I buy a lot of chocolate at this time of year. Too much chocolate, one might say. (I can't help it! If the bags of Lindt truffles are buy one, get one free, I have to, right?) 

Loving: I got to observe my kiddo's after-school gymnastics class this week, and it was such a joy to watch her trying and enjoying all the moves!

The Holiday Stories We Tell, and Why We Tell Them

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 16th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Last Sunday, we went to the North Pole...sort of. 

We met up with some friends in New Jersey to board the North Pole Express, a holiday-themed steam engine. On the train, we were promised meet-n-greets with Santa and Mrs. Claus. After about a half-hour ride, we were told we'd arrive at the North Pole Station for hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. 

My daughter and her friends truly thought we were going to the North Pole. 

But one friend started to catch on pretty quickly that something wasn't right. On the train, she kept pointing to things out the window: "That's just a highway. That's a field with tractors; the North Pole doesn't have tractors. Where's the snow?? Are you sure we're going to the North Pole?" 

Wanting to maintain the illusion, I quickly said, "I bet we'll go through a portal or something, right before we get to the North Pole." 

Well—the kids really latched on to that! "When we will reach the portal? What will the portal look like? Is it going to be shimmery?" I thought I'd saved the day! I thought we'd exit the train at the North Pole Station to some kind of winter wonderland, with candy canes and Christmas trees and elves—a setup that would never fool adults but just might convince some kindergarteners that we really had gone on a magical journey. 

Unfortunately for me, the North Pole Station was just that: a train station. We didn't leave the platform. We were funneled into another train, where we had a photo op and got our hot chocolate and cookies. Apparently there was also a small train museum, a gift shop, and a restroom; it was cold and rainy, so we took our treats back onto the North Pole Express as soon as we were able. 

My daughter and her friends were happy to have chocolate, and very happy to have met Santa Claus...but all was not well. We had clearly not gone to the North Pole. There had clearly been no portal. 

The parents had to think fast. "That must have been the train station that takes Santa back to the North Pole. Maybe we can't visit the actual North Pole right now, because they're too busy making toys to handle tourists." Etc. 

It worked (even though there was still a little disappointment over not actually seeing any reindeer). We managed to tell the right story to keep four five-year-olds believing in magic just a little while longer. 

And ever since, I've been thinking about the stories we tell, again and again and again, at this time of year. 

A magical man lives at the North Pole making presents, which he gives away by traveling all over the world in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. 

A girl receives a Nutcracker doll as a gift, and it transforms into a prince and escorts her to the Land of Sweets, ruled over by the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy. 

On Christmas Eve, a miserly man is visited by three ghosts, who convince him to change his ways and become a force for good in his community. 

Long ago, a group of Jewish rebels only had enough oil to light their lamps for one night—but the oil miraculously lasted for eight nights. 

A child was born in a stable and placed in a manger, because there was no room at the inn. His birth was heralded by angels, and he was visited by lowly shepherds and wealthy kings. 

This can be a wondrous time of year. The holiday stories we tell—secular and religious—are important. The act of retelling them is also important. Storytelling is as much about the one who gives as the one who receives. It's about remembering the meaning and the magic of the season, and about passing it on. 

What's your favorite holiday story? 
~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I read a few different early chapter books this week, while preparing my SCBWI workshop for January. Big Foot and Little Foot by Ellen Potter was a sweet twist on Sasquatch lore. Inspector Flytrap, about a Venus flytrap who is also a detective solving "big deal" mysteries, made me chuckle. And Miles Lewis: Whiz Kid was such an empathetic depiction of a boy struggling with self-doubt before a group science fair project. I would recommend all three of these books/series for the early readers in your life!  

Watching: "Willow" on Disney+...and it's just okay. All the ingredients for an epic fantasy adventure are there, but four episodes in, things aren't really clicking for me. Have you given this series a shot? 

Eating: Cookies! I ordered some Hanukkah cookies a few days ago, and tomorrow, the kiddo and I are going to bake my mom's sugar cookies to decorate for Christmas. Tis the (cookie) season! 

Loving: My daughter's conversation and subsequent snuggle with Santa last weekend. She really, really loved him. 

Is Imposter Syndrome Just Part of the Process?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 9th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Recently, I posted a slightly vulnerable Instagram caption about experiencing imposter syndrome. I'd spent the past couple days trying to draft out a virtual writing workshop I will be leading (Writing Fun and Feelings in Chapter Books) in January for the Metro NY chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. I'd brainstormed pages and pages of ideas and tips and recommendations, but it wasn't coming together as a workshop. It didn't flow.

I was floundering. 

Meanwhile, I'd just seen a post in a chapter book writers Facebook group I'm a member of alerting people to this upcoming workshop. "Anyone going to this?" the poster asked. "It sounds great!" 

The workshop did sound great—based on the synopsis I'd pitched months ago. (Yes, I pitched this workshop! All of the stress I've felt about it is completely my own fault!) But as of last Friday, I simply couldn't make it work. That's where the imposter syndrome slithered in. A useful topic idea, sure to be informative and engaging...but what makes you think you're the right person to teach it? 

I hit a wall. I closed the document on my computer. I didn't look at it over the weekend, or during my workday on Monday. And then, on Tuesday (admittedly after a bit of nervous procrastinating), I opened up a new presentation on Google Slides. I started trying to find the bullet points in the mess of brainstorming I'd done last week. I looked for themes and highlights. Big-picture advice, and then the more granular tips and specific examples and personal anecdotes that would fit under each umbrella. 

By Wednesday, I had an outline—which meant I had a workshop. 

I still have a lot more to do, of course. Now that I know the basic structure of my talk, I need to script out what I want to say for each slide and bullet point. And then I need to loop in my Class Critters editor; the workshop will be a conversation between the two of us, albeit with me taking the lead. I'm sure she'll have some points I haven't thought of. And then...I have to practice the thing, so I'm not looking at notes the whole workshop! 

But right now, a week after feeling like there was no way I could do this—I know I can. I just have to make it happen. 

Why share this process? Because it is not at all uncommon, in my writing career as well as for just about every writer (and creator) that I know. 

Every single time I revise a novel—and my husband will attest to this!—there is a point where I throw my hands in the air and shout, "I broke the book!" It is officially too much of a mess to clean up. Too difficult of a puzzle to solve. 

Until, eventually, I figure it out. 

This happens with my freelance writing too. My dance articles, for instance: some of them practically write themselves (I've been doing this for 15 years, after all). But then, every once in a while, I encounter a story that just will...not...come...together. The interviews were productive. I know my subject matter. But it won't turn into a cohesive, concise story. 

Until, eventually, I figure it out. 

Why would crafting a writing workshop be any different? 

And yet, in that moment of crisis, I'm always certain that this will be the one I can't figure out. This will be the deadline I miss, or the piece of writing that gets rejected—or the workshop that flops. So I'm documenting my latest dive into imposter syndrome here, as a reminder to myself the next time I'm in the weeds: I do know what I'm doing. I've been here before, and I've found my way through to the other side. 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I finally got around to reading The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton, after having it on my list for months—and it did not disappoint! Dhonielle has written a vibrant new take on the magical school genre. Ella Durand is the first Conjuror child allowed to attend the Arcanum Institute for Marvellers. As she's trying to prove that her magic is every bit as valid as theirs—that she fits in and belongs at the Institute—a mystery unfolds involving a criminal from decades ago escaping from prison. With whimsical writing, an evocative and fully fleshed-out world, and diverse characters, this series is definitely going to be a new kidlit classic. 

Watching: "Wednesday" on Netflix. There were a few plot holes, and the dark tone was pretty different than past "kooky" entries in the Addams Family canon, but overall, we liked it! 

Listening to: Did you know there is a Hanukkah rip-off/parody of "Shake it Off"? I found this when my daughter wanted to listen to Hanukkah music the other night. Here it is. You're welcome.  

Loving: This picture of "Santu," as lovingly depicted by my 5-year-old.  

Feeling Grateful

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 2nd, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I love Thanksgiving, as a concept. I love the idea of celebrating gratitude. I even love the idea of posting things I'm grateful for, small and large, every day for the whole month of November. (That last one, I've only been able to make happen once, in 2017. I was a new mom. I had a lot of time on my hands...) 

But this year, November kind of...slipped by. For starters, our whole family got a nasty respiratory virus. My daughter had it first, and then a week later I started coughing, and then a week after that, my husband decided it would be fun for him to hack up a lung as well. With all that coughing (and for my kiddo, a fever and vomiting), neither my husband nor I got a solid night's sleep for over three weeks. 

Being sick and run-down, plus having a huge amount of work to do, plus getting ready for a trip (and kiddo's first time on an airplane since 2019)...let's just say I was grateful to make it to Thanksgiving Day in one piece! Never mind writing thoughtfully about gratitude. 

Now here we are, a week later, and I've had a little time and space to get my thoughts together. 

Since launching this newsletter, I've written a lot about the ups and downs of publishing. I've tried to be honest when things aren't going the way I'd hoped. But when I make myself sit and think about what I'm grateful for...well, there are a lot more ups than downs at the moment. Which is pretty amazing! 

I released two books this year. I worked hard to promote them. They were well-received. I'm so grateful to have David Dixon and Madison Morris out in the world, for kids to read and enjoy. 

I sold another book. I'm incredibly grateful for my Thirteenth Circle coauthor, MarcyKate Connolly, who makes writing about these characters and their adventures so much fun. It's a treat to get to create together. 

I'm grateful for my publishing team: my agent and my various editors and illustrators and designers and everyone else responsible for turning my manuscripts into books that are sold to the masses. I'm also grateful that this year, I chose to work with a marketing consultant to take more control over promoting myself and my writing. Thanks to Dan Blank, I felt empowered to try new things, to pitch myself in ways I wouldn't have before, and to proudly share my accomplishments. Doing the things Dan urged me to do wasn't always easy. In that sense, this was a year of growth for me, and growth years are always valuable. 

I'm grateful for school visits. Talking to kids is truly one of the highlights of this career. The kids I meet—my readers—inspire me and push me to keep going. 

I'm grateful that, despite my dire predictions a few weeks ago, Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! got put on a "Best of 2022" list! Huge thanks to Melissa Taylor at Imagination Soup for naming Madison one of her favorite chapter books of the year. 

I'm grateful—so grateful—for the words themselves. For the act of writing. Most of the fiction I worked on this year, from The Thirteenth Circle to my unsold magical middle-grade book to the write-for-hire project I auditioned for in October, was a joy to write. That is not always the case! It's a gift when the writing is fun and fulfilling. 

I could keep going. There's so much more gratitude to go around, if you take the time to meditate on it.  

(And it should go without saying that I am the absolute most grateful for my husband and child. They are my everything.) 

So why write it all out? Those ups and downs I mentioned earlier—the downs feel a lot less, well, down when I take time to remember the ups. "Have an attitude of gratitude" may be a Home Goods throw-pillow cliché, but I've found that it feels a whole lot better to be grateful for the good than to wallow in the bad. And yeah, I did some wallowing this year. Of course I did. But I don't want to end the year that way. I want to end the year feeling grateful. 

What are you grateful for in your professional or personal life this year? 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was so very good!  

Watching: I did it—I watched the Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie on Netflix. Falling for Christmas is exactly what you'd expect from a holiday rom-com about a hotel heiress getting amnesia and recuperating in a small-town bed-and-breakfast, where she starts to get a crush on the owner (a cute, kind widower, obviously). If you're a fan of the Hallmark Christmas genre, you'll most likely enjoy this. ;) 

Listening to: We've put up our Christmas tree, which means I can start listening to Christmas music! Do you have a favorite Christmas Pandora or Spotify station? 

Eating: I got my husband a six-pack of Jeni's ice cream pints for his birthday in mid-November. My favorite flavor of the bunch: High-Five Candy Bar (peanut butter, chocolate, pretzels). It was obscenely delicious. 

Loving: This tree, which my daughter named "Buttercup."  

Welcome to End-of-Year List Season

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on November 18th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

It happens around this time every year: the "Best Of" lists start showing up.

Every author I know has a love/hate (let's be real, it's mostly hate) relationship with these end-of-year lists. Hundreds upon hundreds of books are traditionally published in a given year, and in mid-November, every media outlet that discusses books starts rattling off the titles you absolutely can't miss.

Why does this occur in mid-November? To jump-start holiday gift-giving season, of course!

And why do most authors groan and hide their heads in the sand as the lists start popping up online? Because very, very few of us will ever appear on one.

It can be easy to feel, as these lists get bandied about by every influencer in the biz, that your own book is a flop. That no one read it, and since it didn't hit a "Best Of" list, no one ever will.

That's simply not true. Books do tend to find readers, whether or not they receive the world's biggest promotional push. (Do they find more readers with heavy promo from the publisher and media outlets? Obviously! But the number without that backing is still not zero...) The lists tend to be highlights reels, featuring the same couple dozen books that have gotten attention all along—and there's much more to this industry than the highlights reels.

I've had two books be named Editor's Picks for Best of the Month by Amazon: The Distance Between Lost and Found (in February 2015) and Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle (in September 2021). Neither of those books went on to make the site's year-end roundup. But that doesn't diminish the accomplishment of being a monthly pick! Nor does my other books not being chosen by Amazon's team as Best of the Month upon their respective releases mean that those books are of lower quality. Getting starred or listed or featured is amazing, but it's not everything.

I will admit, I've been struggling with how much the Class Critters series seems to have flown under the radar. I'd expected a bit of a slow build for a new series, especially launching during an ongoing pandemic, but the momentum never did pick up with each new book release the way I'd anticipated and hoped.

And yet! The readers that have found the series seem to have really loved it. I haven't come across any bad reviews online. (I just got an incredibly positive mention for Tally Tuttle on Twitter this week!) Compared to my YA novels (each of which earned its fair share of one-stars on Goodreads...), my chapter book series has been incredibly well-received.

All of which to say, I will be very, very surprised if either David Dixon's Day as a Dachshund or Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! shows up on any Best Children's Books of 2022 lists. (I will eat crow and share everywhere if I turn out to be wrong!!) But I've been doing this long enough now that it's no longer a disappointment not to, say, be nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award. I can be happy for my friends who are getting the honors and mentions, and then I can get back to work.

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. This is romance/women's fiction about a ghostwriter who can literally see ghosts. Florence Day writes romance novels, but after a bad breakup, she no longer believes in love herself. After her father dies, she finds herself back in her hometown with a to-do list of eccentric requests for his funeral, a manuscript that she can't seem to finish, and a host of literal and metaphorical ghosts—including, surprisingly, her new book editor, who seems to have died right after she last saw (and kissed) him. I'm not done with this yet, but I feel confident recommending it to you even without knowing how it ends!

Writing: Remember how, last week, I got to the last page of the manuscript I'd been revising? Well...I started a reread from page one on Monday, quickly found a new plot hole, and had to rework a bunch of things. That's what I get for writing triumphantly about momentum last week! *facepalm*

Watching: We're about halfway through season 5 of "The Crown." From what I understand, a lot of Brits are up in arms about how the royal family is portrayed...but honestly, the Windsors were a total mess in the '90s! The depiction of now-King Charles doesn't shy away from his many scandals, but does show someone who is eager to support charities and modernize the institution. Maybe it would hit differently if I were a monarchist...

Loving: This "koila" my daughter drew as part of her kindergarten homework. ("Draw something that starts with K and try to sound out and spell the word.") It just makes me smile. :)

The Momentum of Revision

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on November 11th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Do you remember, a few weeks ago, when I mentioned diving back into an old manuscript with fresh eyes and a fresh sense of purpose? (It was in this newsletter/post...) Well, this week, I got to the end of my latest revision pass. That doesn't mean I'm done; I'm still wrestling with one of my friend's notes, in particular. But I did get all the way to the last page.

One of the best feelings in the revision process is when the momentum builds. For me, starting a round of edits—especially when I've been away from a manuscript for a while—is like wading into the ocean. The water is cold. The sand is rocky and shifts underfoot. I have to acclimate to it...and then at a certain point, I have to make the choice to fully immerse myself, which is almost always a shock.

But there's always a point where I hit my stride. Where I feel a sense of momentum. It's almost like the story is telling itself, and I'm just along for the ride. I don't want to leave my computer. I have to get to the end.

That was me, this week, with this book.

It's a story I love: a lightly magical middle-grade with a mystery to solve, complex family history and dynamics (including parental illness), and a former friend–turned–first crush. It's about the weight of expectations and the desire to prove oneself. It's about mamas and daughters and sisters. It's also about writing fiction, and about the ways real life is inevitably messier than stories.

I've been working on this book in some form since 2015, when I started a brainstorming document about a YA mother-daughter story. It remained a YA novel until 2018, when I had a new magical MG idea. I realized one day that the magic element in the MG story solved a major issue in the YA book, and so I merged the two ideas into a new MG story. Interweaving them was difficult. It took until February 2020 to have a finished draft to send to friends for feedback.

We all know what happened in March 2020.

But eventually I did get those friends' feedback, and I did edits. And then I showed the book to my agent...and made more revisions, based on her comments. And then I showed it to another friend, who gave me more notes.

That's how it is sometimes. This book is a juggling act, but I am convinced I can find a way to keep each and every ball in the air. With every revision, the story becomes more real, more right, more true.

But back to the idea of momentum. At the start of a revision, I might spend all of my writing time for a day on half of chapter 1. Then the next day, I'll reread that first half and finish the chapter. On day three, I'll reread chapter 1 and tiptoe into chapter 2. And then on day four, I'll reread chapters 1 and 2 and poke my head into chapter 3. That whole time, I'm searching for the voice. Sensing the pacing. Reminding myself how to tell this particular story.

It's a slow build...until one day, it isn't.

There always comes a day when I don't have to look backward in order to move forward. And then there's a moment where I can't look back—I'm desperate to forge ahead. I'm on a roller-coaster heading for the final drop. I'm as much reader as writer, experiencing each twist and turn as if it didn't come out of my own imagination.

So anyway, this week, I got to this manuscript's last page. What happens next?

I do still have one more issue to tackle, as I said. This book has some interstitial chapters: family journal entries as well as some of the main character's own writings. I've tried a couple different things for these short chapters, but they still aren't doing what I want them to do. I like them, on their own...but they haven't justified their presence in the story.

I'll figure it out. And then, who knows? (Literally, who knows? I'm not sure if I am even allowed to try to sell another middle-grade novel while The Thirteenth Circle is in production—and MarcyKate and I plan to propose more books in that series!) For now, I am enjoying the rush that being in the revision zone brings. Making a manuscript better is a thrill and a joy.

It is immensely satisfying.

I hope you're experiencing the same satisfaction, whatever you've been working on this week!

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: While my daughter was sick, I started Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth. The Locked Tomb series is YA sci-fi/fantasy set in a distant future in which humanity has conquered death...but not without certain costs. Harrow picks up where Gideon left off—sort of. It also flashes back to Gideon's events, from a different point of view, and they're wrong. (Wrong enough that I questioned my memory of book 1, went to Wikipedia just to make sure, and without spoiling myself too much, saw that yes, the events have changed...) These books are fun, challenging, a bit gross, and at times harrowing (pun absolutely intended). The voice is like nothing else I've read in YA. They're not for everyone, but I am eager to read book 3...

Watching: Goodness, "Andor" continues to be amazing! This week's episode was edge-of-your-seat tense and beautifully acted. Otherwise, while kiddo was sick, my husband and I watched season 12 of "Taskmaster," the UK series where comedians and TV personalities are asked to perform a series of utterly ridiculous tasks, for points and (equally ridiculous) prizes. A lot of the seasons are on YouTube, if you need some silliness in your life!

Eating: Last Saturday (11/5) was our anniversary, and as my husband and I were stuck at home with a feverish child, plans cancelled...I ordered a whole cake via DoorDash. I highly recommend working your way through an entire chocolate cake over the course of a week!

Loving: The kiddo has lately become interested in the planets. On Wednesday, my dad called to tell me/her that Saturn was visible in the night sky, the closest it would come to Earth for years. It was a clear night, so we stepped outside to check it out! Here's my daughter making "heart-hands" at Saturn—that yellow speck visible between the tree and the building—which she immediately declared her favorite planet.