The Inkwell: No. 20
Fall 2023
“Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifted snow…
Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring
"Ting-a-ling-ding",
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
…Over the river and through the wood—
Now grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin-pie!”
~ From “Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child
One Month in the World!
Wow, it’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week and Thin Air has been out in the world for a full month already! Thank you so much to each of you who has read, reviewed, or shared about my YA debut. Word of mouth is one of the biggest ways to promote books, so I appreciate you so much!
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I spent release week on a cruise, which was definitely a first for me. For each kid’s 13th birthday, we take them on a special trip. My daughter chose to go on a cruise with a close friend of mine and her daughter. We spent four nights at sea in the Caribbean and visited Nassau in the Bahamas and Coco Cay, the Royal Caribbean private island. The sunshine, beautiful beaches, and ocean breeze were wonderful, but I think my favorite part was not having to cook!
The week after we got home, I was able to properly celebrate the launch of Thin Air at an event at Schuler Books, my local indie bookstore. NYT bestselling author Erin A. Craig (author of House of Salt and Sorrows) joined me for a fantastic conversation about writing and all things bookish. I was also able to visit a local high school to chat with some of their 10th grade ELA students about writing and publishing.
Now that most of my launch events have wrapped up, I’m catching up on all the things I’ve set aside for the past few months (looking at you, family photo albums) and planning ahead for the holidays. Of course, I have plenty of writing things I’m working on too, but you can read more about those updates below.
P.S. - I left a bunch of signed copies of Thin Air (with some special swag) at Schuler Books, so if you missed pre-ordering, you can still get one from them! Hint: it’s a great Christmas gift for a thriller-loving teen in your life. ;)
Writing Updates:
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, my agent and I made the difficult decision to pull my most recent YA thriller proposal from submission. Since then, I brainstormed and wrote the opening and a synopsis for a new project (a YA speculative thriller), which is now out on submission. I’m keeping the details secret until/ if we sign a contract, but I’m really rooting for this one to get picked up because I’d love to write the entire story.
While it’s out on sub, I’m diving back into one of my YA fantasy manuscripts that didn’t sell a few years ago to see if I can breathe fresh life into it with a revision. “Romantasy” is extremely popular right now, and this story definitely fits the bill. I have a manuscript to finish for my next Love Inspired Suspense book (written as Kellie VanHorn), but I hope to have this one ready to go sometime next winter.
What I’m reading:
Book club is up and running again, which means it’s time for a new, huge classic! This year we’ve picked two books: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, to be followed in the spring by Barbara Kingsolver’s retelling Demon Copperhead. I’m about 300 pages into David so far, and while it’s not light and fluffy reading, it’s very interesting.
This fall has been a great season for new books, so my YA TBR pile is a little out of control at the moment. I have several on my list, including Susan Dennard’s The Hunting Moon and Ali Hazelwood’s Check & Mate, but right now I’m tearing my way through A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber before it’s due back at the library. This third installment in her latest series is a magical, fairytale-style romance that makes for an easy, entertaining read.
What I’m eating:
One cool event I did last week was a combined bake sale/ book signing table for a craft show at my church. Baking is one of my hobbies, so I baked up a whole assortment of gluten free and regular treats to sell. All the proceeds from books and treats are going to a local nonprofit that serves needy kids in our community, Kids Food Basket. Since Thin Air touches on family poverty, this felt like a great choice for my fundraising efforts.
Of course, much to my kids’ delight, not everything sold, so we’ve been enjoying leftover sticky buns, cookies, fudge, and caramels for the past week. The caramels are a huge hit and make a great gift for teachers or other people in your life.
Just in case you’re up for a little candy-making challenge, here’s my go-to recipe:
CREAMY CARAMELS
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup butter
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
sea salt (optional)
Line a 9-in square pan with parchment paper. Combine sugar, corn syrup and butter in a 3-qt saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil slowly for 4 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in canned milk. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until candy thermometer reads 238*F (soft-ball stage), stirring constantly. [This step takes about 25 minutes.] Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Optional: sprinkle with sea salt. Cool. Remove from pan and cut into 1-in squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends.
Where to find me (online edition):
If you’d like to learn more about what into writing Thin Air and my path to publication, check out my podcast interview for Exploring the Blank Page:
My interview with Young Entertainment Magazine will tell you all about my writing style and how I came up with the ideas in Thin Air:
And last of all, I was thrilled to write this piece for Crime Reads/ Lit Hub about writing books for teens that tackle teen issues:
That wraps things up for this newsletter! You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter/ X at @kelliemparker, or on my website. Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you!
~ Kellie