Welcome to Katy's crazy, creative world!
Music. Magic. Words that leap from the characters in my head to the page, usually much faster than I can write or type them. Does that happen to you? Then we are friends already!
Come visit me often. Leandra's Enchanted Flute is my first published fantasy novel, but definitely not the last. There are too many characters whispering (or yelling) at me to write their stories, too.
BREAKING NEWS! Cool Well Press has reduced the price of all of their ebooks, so Leandra is now for sale at the unbelievably low price of $3.99 on Kindle (amazon.com) or Nook (barnesandnoble.com).
I have told my editor that the sequel to Leandra's Enchanted Flute (first draft) will be finished on June 15th. Yikes! Hold me accountable, please! So many cool new bird (and human) friends and sharp images. I have the last scene clearly in mind; I just need to get there now. Almost halfway done....
Leandra's Enchanted Flute is available at www.barnesandnoble.com for Nook readers as well as in the Kindle store at www.amazon.com. Visit www.coolwellpress.com for more information.
I have dedicated Leandra's Enchanted Flute to two amazing writers I was privileged to know who both (unfortunately) lost their cancer battles. Rebekah (Becky) Fitch Arnold and I were friends since the 8th grade. We were in band (and lots of other classes), and she later introduced me to homeschooling. Although I never met Kelsey Wynne Harris in person, we were in an online writing group together, and she loved writing fantasy like I do. Rebekah was 52 and Kelsey just 16 when they left this world, but they inspire me (and many other people) every day. Please visit Kelsey's foundation at www.lifeismoreinteresting.org to learn more about this remarkable young lady.
I am currently working on a v-e-r-y long fantasy story that will probably have to be divided into three or more books.
I should probably tell you something about this new story. I wrote the first draft of it more than twenty years ago before I really understood the fiction writing process. I had thought up some characters and tried to "force" a plot on them, and the story didn't work, but I wasn't sure why. So I put it aside and wrote lots of other things (fiction and nonfiction) and later came back to it--twice. It still didn't work, so I said "phooey" and went on to complete three more novels, one of which is Leandra's Enchanted Flute. The other two are YA historicals and I haven't really tried to sell them--yet. A Cord of Three Strands is a story about a Buffalo soldier, a young Apache brave, and the 12 year old daughter of a West Texas stagecoach station manager in the 1870's. I did a lot of research for that one, including following some of the actual stagecoach trail. A Flame Brightly Burning is the true story of "Good King Wenceslas" a.k.a. Duke Vaclav in 10th century Bohemia from the point of view of his servant boy, Poidevin. It took me a year to work up the courage to write the last chapter, because it's very sad.
Then in early 2011 my amazing father was diagnosed with lung cancer, and my overwhelming emotions needed some outlet other than copious tears, so I challenged myself. I said, "What if" (and all good fiction begins with those two words), "What if I just begin at the beginning and instead of skipping over all the stuff that I thought wasn't important, just keep writing and let the characters tell THEIR story instead of me forcing one upon them?" That was almost 700 pages ago. (*Update, now up to almost 800 pages....) Some days I only write a paragraph or two, but others I write several scenes. It is the most exciting writing I have ever done in my life, kind of like watching a movie and trying to write it down as fast as I can. Every time I "second guess" myself and think, "Where did HE come from?" or "Why are you doing THAT?" I just keep writing and trusting my characters to know what's going on. Once the entire epic story is written I can go back and turn on my internal "editor" to fix pacing, structure, etc.
If you have read to the end of this page, you must be a writer! And if you are you should let me know what you're working on. I got a new email just for that kind of important stuff: khuthjones@gmail.com
Come visit me often. Leandra's Enchanted Flute is my first published fantasy novel, but definitely not the last. There are too many characters whispering (or yelling) at me to write their stories, too.
BREAKING NEWS! Cool Well Press has reduced the price of all of their ebooks, so Leandra is now for sale at the unbelievably low price of $3.99 on Kindle (amazon.com) or Nook (barnesandnoble.com).
I have told my editor that the sequel to Leandra's Enchanted Flute (first draft) will be finished on June 15th. Yikes! Hold me accountable, please! So many cool new bird (and human) friends and sharp images. I have the last scene clearly in mind; I just need to get there now. Almost halfway done....
Leandra's Enchanted Flute is available at www.barnesandnoble.com for Nook readers as well as in the Kindle store at www.amazon.com. Visit www.coolwellpress.com for more information.
I have dedicated Leandra's Enchanted Flute to two amazing writers I was privileged to know who both (unfortunately) lost their cancer battles. Rebekah (Becky) Fitch Arnold and I were friends since the 8th grade. We were in band (and lots of other classes), and she later introduced me to homeschooling. Although I never met Kelsey Wynne Harris in person, we were in an online writing group together, and she loved writing fantasy like I do. Rebekah was 52 and Kelsey just 16 when they left this world, but they inspire me (and many other people) every day. Please visit Kelsey's foundation at www.lifeismoreinteresting.org to learn more about this remarkable young lady.
I am currently working on a v-e-r-y long fantasy story that will probably have to be divided into three or more books.
I should probably tell you something about this new story. I wrote the first draft of it more than twenty years ago before I really understood the fiction writing process. I had thought up some characters and tried to "force" a plot on them, and the story didn't work, but I wasn't sure why. So I put it aside and wrote lots of other things (fiction and nonfiction) and later came back to it--twice. It still didn't work, so I said "phooey" and went on to complete three more novels, one of which is Leandra's Enchanted Flute. The other two are YA historicals and I haven't really tried to sell them--yet. A Cord of Three Strands is a story about a Buffalo soldier, a young Apache brave, and the 12 year old daughter of a West Texas stagecoach station manager in the 1870's. I did a lot of research for that one, including following some of the actual stagecoach trail. A Flame Brightly Burning is the true story of "Good King Wenceslas" a.k.a. Duke Vaclav in 10th century Bohemia from the point of view of his servant boy, Poidevin. It took me a year to work up the courage to write the last chapter, because it's very sad.
Then in early 2011 my amazing father was diagnosed with lung cancer, and my overwhelming emotions needed some outlet other than copious tears, so I challenged myself. I said, "What if" (and all good fiction begins with those two words), "What if I just begin at the beginning and instead of skipping over all the stuff that I thought wasn't important, just keep writing and let the characters tell THEIR story instead of me forcing one upon them?" That was almost 700 pages ago. (*Update, now up to almost 800 pages....) Some days I only write a paragraph or two, but others I write several scenes. It is the most exciting writing I have ever done in my life, kind of like watching a movie and trying to write it down as fast as I can. Every time I "second guess" myself and think, "Where did HE come from?" or "Why are you doing THAT?" I just keep writing and trusting my characters to know what's going on. Once the entire epic story is written I can go back and turn on my internal "editor" to fix pacing, structure, etc.
If you have read to the end of this page, you must be a writer! And if you are you should let me know what you're working on. I got a new email just for that kind of important stuff: khuthjones@gmail.com