AFTER THE WHIRLWIND Katherine Kettle
Cover of The Boy I Am |
When I got my book deal I started planning a launch – there would be a dance, wine, cupcakes, possibly a band! In the end my wonderful launch was virtual, and perfect. I was interviewed by the amazing Dr Leah Phillips and everyone wore masks (a key part of my book) to raise a toast. I wore the spangliest of dresses, and drank a lot of wine, and a great many people listened to me waffle. Would I rather have hidden in the back of a bookshop and snaffled canapes? Maybe, because no author really likes being the centre of attention (or at least, we pretend we hate it, when actually it’s nice feeling like a Hollywood star for a short while).
Sadly, it wasn’t until three months after publication that I had the incredible joy of seeing my book on a bookshelf in my local Waterstones. I sat and had a cry on a bench, and because I had recently got into tiktok, I recorded it.
It remains one of my most popular videos on the platform, and one I go back to watch myself, grateful that I captured the moment for my own memory, with such vulnerability.
The hardest part of all these virtual gatherings was that I was yet to meet a reader. It was the part of YALC I was so looking forward to, had it been in-person.
The months that followed included some incredibly difficult moments – trying to shape book 2 while juggling mental health challenges, the loneliness of home working, multiple responsibilities and challenges. I had started a fab interview series to help authors celebrate each other, called The Book Chain Project and it remains a great source of comfort to listen to the candid chats, and be inspired by the incredible talent in the UK kid lit community.
A tough few months was lifted by a dream coming true: the day I was told that The Boy I Am had been nominated for the 2022 Carnegie awards.
Cue me breaking down in tears again, and immediately calling my SCBWI mental support group to scream at them over the video phone technology we’ve spent so much of this year celebrating/commiserating/procrastinating over.
Launching, virtual or otherwise, is incredible. I can’t wait to do it again! To have the outpouring of genuine love and excitement for your work, to have amazing people interested in you and dear friends support you, and book bloggers talk about your book, to hit repeated 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon, to be able to say to people ‘I’m an author’, and see their surprise when you can prove it! …. Nothing beats it. But here’s the punch, the compare and despair kicks in fast. And I’ll be honest the biggest thing I’ve learned this year, as hard as that lesson is, is that there’s one thing that makes EVERYTHING worth it…
There is simply nothing more wonderful than seeing the excitement of a young person who meets you, and wants to talk about your work. I finally got to meet my readers, early this year at my first in person school event!
Awards, blogs, reviews, recognition, it all pales in comparison to the unique feeling of meeting a reader, and being seen, for a minute second, as their hero.
There are moments where the commitment to continuing to write feels hard: when getting up from bad reviews (which you shouldn’t read, but you will!) feels like dragging your body from quicksand
One day.
Thank you to everyone who has been there for me this year, and continues to support me, and thanks to the members of SCBWI for also shortlisting The Boy I Am for this year’s Crystal Kite.
Made in Birmingham, Kathryn Kettle (she/her) now lives, works and writes in London. The opening of her debut YA novel, The Boy I Am, was shortlisted for Undiscovered Voices 2018. She has won competitions and been highly commended for her flash fiction, including being longlisted as part of the 2017 Bath Flash Fiction Award. Her debut has been nominated and shortlisted for multiple book awards, including a nomination for the 2022 Carnegie.
www.klkettle.com
Twitter: @klkettle
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Shannon Ell is a non-binary illustrator, animator and designer based in Edinburgh.
www.shannonillustrates.com Instagram:@shannon.illustrates
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