Ask the Author: Keely Hutton
Answered Questions (3)
Keely Hutton
Hi Kennedy!
Thank you for your question. I'm so happy you loved Soldier Boy. There is some general bio info on my website https://www.keelyhutton.com/.
Here are some other random facts about me (in no particular order) that are not mentioned on my site. Good luck with your project. I hope some of my answers help.
1. I used to teach 8th grade English.
2. My writing buddy is my maltipoo, Maximus. He keeps me company while I write and is such amazing support, I named a character (Max) after him in my MG novel SECRET SOLDIERS. He is also mentioned in the dedication. :)
3. Ricky contacted me about writing his story by having my cousin (a good friend of his) email me to schedule a Skype chat.
4. Ricky and I are good friends and keep in contact regularly.
5. I love Disney and have JUST KEEP SWIMMING spelled out in huge, felt letters above my writing desk.
6. I am a big manga and anime fan and am obsessed with Attack on Titan. I listen to AOT music while writing.
7. I am currently collaborating with Achut Deng on her YA memoir NEVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE. If you loved Ricky's inspiring story, you'll love Achut.
8. I have two sons, who always beat me in Mario Kart.
9. I am a plotter. I create a chapter breakdown before I start writing.
10. I always write the first and last chapters first.
11. I have two amazing critique partners, one from Pittsburgh PA and one from the island of Cyprus, whom I have been working with for six years and whom I have never met in person.
12. And I placed first in women's kata and weapons at the 2009 Isshin-ryu World Karate Association Championship.
Thank you for your question. I'm so happy you loved Soldier Boy. There is some general bio info on my website https://www.keelyhutton.com/.
Here are some other random facts about me (in no particular order) that are not mentioned on my site. Good luck with your project. I hope some of my answers help.
1. I used to teach 8th grade English.
2. My writing buddy is my maltipoo, Maximus. He keeps me company while I write and is such amazing support, I named a character (Max) after him in my MG novel SECRET SOLDIERS. He is also mentioned in the dedication. :)
3. Ricky contacted me about writing his story by having my cousin (a good friend of his) email me to schedule a Skype chat.
4. Ricky and I are good friends and keep in contact regularly.
5. I love Disney and have JUST KEEP SWIMMING spelled out in huge, felt letters above my writing desk.
6. I am a big manga and anime fan and am obsessed with Attack on Titan. I listen to AOT music while writing.
7. I am currently collaborating with Achut Deng on her YA memoir NEVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE. If you loved Ricky's inspiring story, you'll love Achut.
8. I have two sons, who always beat me in Mario Kart.
9. I am a plotter. I create a chapter breakdown before I start writing.
10. I always write the first and last chapters first.
11. I have two amazing critique partners, one from Pittsburgh PA and one from the island of Cyprus, whom I have been working with for six years and whom I have never met in person.
12. And I placed first in women's kata and weapons at the 2009 Isshin-ryu World Karate Association Championship.
Keely Hutton
The idea for my middle grade historical fiction novel, SECRET SOLDIERS, started with some confusion while I was binge-watching the BBC show Peaky Blinders three years ago. The main character, Tommy Shelby, suffers from PTSD due to his time as a soldier in WW1. My editor and I had agreed that my next book should be in the same vein as my debut novel SOLDIER BOY, so I’d been researching wars and child soldiers. I hadn’t found anything that really grabbed my attention until I watched Tommy Shelby’s flashbacks, which showed him fighting in tunnels. A quick Google search revealed that thousands of sappers and miners tunneled beneath the battlefields of the Great War to undermine the enemy’s position and break the brutal stalemate of trench warfare. Fascinated, I researched whether any child soldiers fought in WW1 and was shocked to discover that over a quarter of a million underage British boys lied about their ages to join the war. When I learned that many of those young soldiers were used as beasts of burden on and under the battlefields, I knew I had found my next story and began researching and writing SECRET SOLDIERS.
Keely Hutton
Thank you so much for your kind words about Soldier Boy! You've started my morning with a big smile.
My next book, which is titled Secret Soldiers and set in WW1, will be coming out in June 2019. More information will be announced soon. I can't wait to share it with readers!
Have a great day and happy reading!
Kindly,
Keely
My next book, which is titled Secret Soldiers and set in WW1, will be coming out in June 2019. More information will be announced soon. I can't wait to share it with readers!
Have a great day and happy reading!
Kindly,
Keely
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