Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynne Kelly.
Lynne, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’ve always loved reading, but hadn’t seriously thought about being a writer until 2006, when I heard an anecdote about captive elephants. Apparently when a young elephant is captured, it’ll try hard to break free, but once it gives up, it gives up forever. So, decades later, the elephant is still tethered by the same rope or chain, which it could easily break free from if it would only try again, I’m fascinated by animal behavior, and I wanted to weave that information about the elephant into a story for children.
I was a teacher at the time, and thought it’d be a good story to tell to my students at school I kept thinking about the story and decided to continue working on it and figure out how to submit it for publication. I think that because I was surrounded by children’s books every day, discovering new books and rediscovering old favorites, I was in the right frame of mind for an idea to grow into a story for children. I had a lot to learn about writing and publishing, but eventually that idea turned into my first novel, Chained. I didn’t know when I started out that the journey from idea to publication would take six years, but I found that I really enjoyed writing. I’m so thankful I stumbled into this field I love–maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into!
I’m not working as a teacher any longer–I loved the kids, but found that teaching didn’t leave time for anything else. I was never really organized enough to do the planning and paperwork efficiently. I’d already had a career as a sign language interpreter before that, so now that’s the only “day job,” and I have more flexibility for writing time.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
The novels I’ve written so far feature a character who’s ten to twelve years old and has a strong bond with a particular animal. I love that age because it’s during those years that we’re figuring out who we are, while learning more about the world and our place in it. Also, if you ask most adults about their favorite childhood books, they’ll probably think of something they read as an older elementary school student. Even if they don’t remember much about the plot, they’ll remember how the story made them feel.
I’m also an animal lover, and I’m especially interested in animal communication– I wish I knew what they were thinking! In each novel I’ve written, the main character has some kind of parallel experience with the animal in the story. For both the elephant and her ten-year-old keeper in Chained, the home and family they want to return to is just out of reach, if they could only break away from the circus owner who doesn’t allow them to leave. In my new novel Song for a Whale, iris is the only deaf student in her school. When she learns about a whale who sings at a frequency other whales can’t understand, she feels compelled to meet him and let him know someone hears his song.
I hope through the stories I write, readers will feel more connected to animals and to one another.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
For any creative field, you have to do it because you love it. I don’t mean that you’ll have fun every step of the way; it does take work, and there are ups and downs. But if you enjoy the creative process, or even just seeing the finished product, the work you put in is worth it. Ideally, you’ll make money from it, but often that doesn’t happen.
It helps too to remember that there’s only so much we can control. We do the best work we can, write and rewrite a book until it can’t possibly be any better, and then we have to let it go and send it out there. What reviewers will think of it, how much money a publisher will spend on promotion, how many other good books are released the same season–there’s so much that’s out of our hands. Keep working on your craft, keep learning and growing, and have other things you enjoy doing.
There’s a lot of writing advice out there, but I think everyone has to figure out what works best for them. Maybe it’s not feasible for you to write every day, for example. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed or you can’t be a writer if you don’t follow that bit of advice. You can work out a routine that works for you and work consistently with what you have. One thing I wish I’d learned earlier (and still need to remind myself) is that you can get a lot of work done in just 10 or 15 minutes of focused writing time. Those minutes add up.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Wherever they like to buy books! Song for a Whale (hardcover and audio editions) will be released in early February and is available now for pre-order. Readers can also ask their libraries to order it.
More information about the book is here on its Penguin Random House page:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/559442/song-for-a-whale-by-lynne-kelly/
and on my website:
http://lynnekellybooks.com/wordpress/books/
Contact Info:
- Website: http://lynnekellybooks.com
- Email: lynne01@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnekkelly/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorLynneKelly/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynneKelly
Image Credit:
Bayard Jeunesse, 2013
Suzuki Publishing, 2015
Penguin India, 2014
Macmillan/FSG, 2012
Random House/Delacorte, 2019
Sam Bond Photography
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