Kim English's Blog

I hope your 2019 is going swimmingly. After a dry spell, a fair amount of writer’s block, and going on two years of submission hell, I finally jumped back into writing. While my adult thrillers and YA novels continue to wind their way through the traditional submission process, I am forging ahead with a new picture book, just completed, and another one that I hope will hit the world by the fall.

I’m really proud of “Rolly and Mac.” It is my second collaboration with a fabulous artist, Yis Vang, and is my first attempt at a completely solo self publication. After researching the options and doing the math, I decided to go big or go home and did the whole thing myself with a print edition. So, no Amazon sales link for this one (although I dearly love the ‘zon, it wasn’t a good fit for me for this endeavor). It was definitely a step outside my comfort zone learning about formatting, ISBN numbers, and the nitty gritty of producing a book, but it was well worth it. My new and improved website has a bookstore where it can be purchased and it will be in your hot little hands within a week.

“Rolly and Mac” is a story of two friends whose relationship is challenged by others who believe they are too different to get along. Because I love animal themed picture books, all the characters are farm animals.

My next venture in the children’s book world will be “Hemi the Fire Station Cat.” The manuscript was well received last year and won silver at the Florida Writers Association annual competition. It’s also a story of friendship and features a spunky feline who becomes a tad jealous of new arrivals who seem to be stealing her thunder.

I’m curious how your ventures are going. Have you already hit some snags with your New Year’s goals? Any successes or near misses to report? The writing community is full of fabulous people who are always willing to lend a hand or offer a supportive word. Every time I get a “No” I’m reminded that we’ve all been there. Even if 2019 isn’t the “big year” I’d hoped for, I’m truly grateful to have found this community of like-minded creative types. Next time up, I’ll discuss my reads for 2019 thus far and why reading and writing across multiple genres is, in my opinion, a good thing.

Meantime, here’s a pic of the real Hemi, a Tortie who is one of my awesome barn cats and full of “tortitude.”