Kathleen Jae has been writing in one form or another for almost twenty-five years. Her greatest success story is her daughter, Katie, whom she refers to as “my hero,” and their journey is chronicled in Kathleen’s first book, From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go: My Love Affair With ABA and How Being a “Bad Mom” Helped My Daughter With Autism Succeed. In past lives the author has been a proofreader, editor, newspaper reporter and columnist, newsletter writer for a wildlife organization and writer of stage plays and screenplays. She considers her six-year stint as a home-based behavioral program director in the ’90s her most difficult, albeit important, job and is counting the days until all autism-related ABA therapy positions go the way of the dodo. Two of Kathleen’s short stories made it to the finals of the 2017 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award competition.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: http://www.kathleenjae.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kathleenjae2
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorkathleenjae
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kathleenjaeauthor
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Jae/e/B07YQ7JNF9%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
About the Book
After a series of terrifying events, Elanora is transported to a strange
neighborhood where the only way to get about is by water and the only food to eat is the grasses of the marsh. When she discovers that the water level in her new home is falling, she suspects humans are the cause and puts together a plan to save the creatures who live there.
Will Elanora persuade the colony and swimmers to overcome their fear of the unknown and embark on a dangerous journey to their new home?
PRAISE
Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery features interesting animal characters with distinctive character traits and personalities who can absorb the middle-grade reader. The salt marsh environment is sufficiently detailed to become a character on its own, with its ebbs and flows. The self-contained world created stands on its own with a microcosm of both conflict and friendship… A child or even an adult reader of this book can identify with and applaud the book’s characters… all in all a very good read.
Pick Up Your Copy at Amazon
https://amzn.to/3lIQUY6
Thanks for this interview, Kathleen. I have always wanted to write children’s books. When did you determine that writing for children was for you?
Years ago, I started writing a yet-to-be-finished novel, and even though I never put a genre label on it then, I recognize now that the book is for middle-grade readers. For whatever reason, I wrote it by hand, filling up four notebooks. I have recently started to transcribe it, and I can barely make out my writing. But if I hadn’t captured my words in that way, I would not have the story today as the computer is long gone. I don’t remember how I came up with the idea then, but I do remember that I loved researching it because it is historical. I stopped writing it when we moved from Michigan ten years ago, and now that we have returned, I am ready to open the notebooks again.
When the idea came to me for Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, I did not know it would be a book for middle-grade readers as I still was not familiar with that label of book classification. Not until I started researching salt marshes and the animals that lived there did I begin to think that this book would be more than a short chapter book.
What was the inspiration behind your children’s book, Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery?
My family and I have vacationed on Sanibel Island, Florida, for more than twenty years. About five years ago, while listening to our kayaking guide in Tarpon Bay talk about the ecological importance of red mangroves, I suddenly formulated a concept for a book: a young critter discovers that the red mangroves are dying, and she must find a way to save them.
How do you get into the mind of a child to create a fun reading experience? Are you around kids? Are you a kid at heart?
My daughter is in her twenties, and I am not normally around kids. I do have a small library, and I have spent years trying to find the books I read as a child. I have been quite successful, and I take great pleasure reading them now. So, I like to think that re-reading the books of my youth help me to write for children.
What was your favorite book as a child?
By the age of nine, I read and loved Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, Bambi, The Wizard of Oz, and other classics. Scholastic books were my favorites, and when the day arrived to receive our book orders, nothing else mattered. All I wanted to do was to collect my books. I treasured them. One of my favorite Scholastic books is Misty of Chincoteague, and that was one of the first books I tracked down for my library.
What kind of advice would you give writers who would like to write children’s books?
It doesn’t matter so much about the characters or the setting, but the story should reflect the things that are important to you. I adore my first story—the one that I haven’t finished—and I think this is because it is historical (and focuses on time travel) and I love history. The same for my adult mystery that I recently finished. It takes place on Sanibel Island in 1952, and I spent almost as much time researching for it as I did writing it. Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery reflects the fact that I love animals and I always have. Ecological destruction, bullying and a disdain for diversity is unacceptable, and I guess writing this book is my way of shouting it to the rooftops.
What are your goals for the future? More children’s books?
I have started my research for the sequel to Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, and I am preparing a picture book of Elanora’s world. After that I will probably begin the sequel for my second novel, Island Times Three.
I would also like to add that I am grateful for the encouragement of my family and to illustrator Lori Taylor, Editor and Layout Designer Lisa Gilliam, proofreader Rachel Rowlands, and Graphic Designer Peter Chiappetta.
Thanks for this interview, Kathleen. I have always wanted to write children’s books. When did you determine that writing for children was for you?
Years ago, I started writing a yet-to-be-finished novel, and even though I never put a genre label on it then, I recognize now that the book is for middle-grade readers. For whatever reason, I wrote it by hand, filling up four notebooks. I have recently started to transcribe it, and I can barely make out my writing. But if I hadn’t captured my words in that way, I would not have the story today as the computer is long gone. I don’t remember how I came up with the idea then, but I do remember that I loved researching it because it is historical. I stopped writing it when we moved from Michigan ten years ago, and now that we have returned, I am ready to open the notebooks again.
When the idea came to me for Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, I did not know it would be a book for middle-grade readers as I still was not familiar with that label of book classification. Not until I started researching salt marshes and the animals that lived there did I begin to think that this book would be more than a short chapter book.
What was the inspiration behind your children’s book, Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery?
My family and I have vacationed on Sanibel Island, Florida, for more than twenty years. About five years ago, while listening to our kayaking guide in Tarpon Bay talk about the ecological importance of red mangroves, I suddenly formulated a concept for a book: a young critter discovers that the red mangroves are dying, and she must find a way to save them.
How do you get into the mind of a child to create a fun reading experience? Are you around kids? Are you a kid at heart?
My daughter is in her twenties, and I am not normally around kids. I do have a small library, and I have spent years trying to find the books I read as a child. I have been quite successful, and I take great pleasure reading them now. So, I like to think that re-reading the books of my youth help me to write for children.
What was your favorite book as a child?
By the age of nine, I read and loved Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, Bambi, The Wizard of Oz, and other classics. Scholastic books were my favorites, and when the day arrived to receive our book orders, nothing else mattered. All I wanted to do was to collect my books. I treasured them. One of my favorite Scholastic books is Misty of Chincoteague, and that was one of the first books I tracked down for my library.
What kind of advice would you give writers who would like to write children’s books?
It doesn’t matter so much about the characters or the setting, but the story should reflect the things that are important to you. I adore my first story—the one that I haven’t finished—and I think this is because it is historical (and focuses on time travel) and I love history. The same for my adult mystery that I recently finished. It takes place on Sanibel Island in 1952, and I spent almost as much time researching for it as I did writing it. Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery reflects the fact that I love animals and I always have. Ecological destruction, bullying and a disdain for diversity is unacceptable, and I guess writing this book is my way of shouting it to the rooftops.
What are your goals for the future? More children’s books?
I have started my research for the sequel to Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, and I am preparing a picture book of Elanora’s world. After that I will probably begin the sequel for my second novel, Island Times Three.
I would also like to add that I am grateful for the encouragement of my family and to illustrator Lori Taylor, Editor and Layout Designer Lisa Gilliam, proofreader Rachel Rowlands, and Graphic Designer Peter Chiappetta.
Thank you so much for participating in my Virtual Blog Tour! I appreciate the opportunity to answer great interview questions. You have created a fun, interesting site!
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