Interview with Author Kasey Kellem.
Welcome Kasey Kellem to the blog today.She is an award winning children's author with a mission to help children gain the skills needed to handle life. What a great way to start our writing week than by learning how another successful author sets out to reach her target audience with her work.
1. Could you tell us a little about yourself? Presently, I am a high school counselor and have been in education for 22 years. Prior to counseling I was a special education teacher at both the elementary and middle school levels. I have a bachelors, masters and educational specialist degree all in various areas of education. I am a wife, step mother of two, aunt to 10 children, a daughter and have three sisters. I enjoy golfing, skiing and working out. My mission in life is to motivate and inspire children to overcome obstacles and challenges: To be resilient!
2. Describe your desk/workspace. I like to break up where I work to keep my
thinking fresh, so I work either in my
office or my Ma’am cave. My
office is simply an extra bedroom transformed into an office. It is set up like a business office with all of
the office supplies to market my books. I can stay focused and on task in the
office area. I also utilize my ma’am
cave which is our basement that I redid once the kids went off to college. It
has an entire spa like work out area with a sauna, yoga area and work out
machinery. I find myself able to think more clearly while in that area! I find
my creative juices revitalize while I relax in the sauna or work out. Also,
there is a family room area in the Ma’am cave where I work. I simply set up my writing in that area
where it is very warm , welcoming, peaceful and quiet.
3. Do you
have a favorite quote? “You are never to old to enjoy a happy
childhood”-often stated by my 71 year old father who plays hard and “If this is
the worst thing you ever face, aren’t you lucky” which was often stated by my
mother!
4. What are
you currently reading? “While They Slept” by Katheryn Harrison. It is a
true story where the author interviews a
young girl whose parents and sister were killed by her brother. She is
quite resilient and overcomes all that she experienced with the trauma of
losing her family to such violence!
5. What is
the best advice you've ever received? To follow my dreams and to write a
book!
6. If you
could have coffee with anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would it
be and why? My deceased mother because I miss her and want to tell her
one more time how much I love her and appreciate her believing in me and
inspiring me to be the person I am today. I think she would be very impressed
with my books and proud of me!
7. What are
your top three favorite books and why? Any books by David Sedaris, Augustine
Burrows, & Jen Lancaster. They
all write about their own resiliency and
lives through humor. They all seemed to have faced some difficult situations in
their lives, yet they overcame them and became successful authors!
8. What was
your favorite book as a child and why? I loved all of the Dr. Suess books because
they were whimsical and silly! I could get lost with my imagination with each
page! I loved the silly rhymes and the vibrant illustrations. I still have the
entire collection of Dr. Suess books!
9. What would
you say is your most interesting writing quirk? I am definitely left
brained and have to have everything symmetrical or patterned. Each page of each
book is similar. The concept of the book (Believe) is on the left page and the
rest of the message is on the right page.
Believe…in yourself. Believe…..in
your dreams, Believe….in high
hopes.
10. Do you
write full-time or part-time? Part-time. I work during the day and work
on my books after work. Most of my books were completed during the summer when
I was off of work. I tweaked the details after work once school started up
again.
11. What are
your current marketing strategies for Believe? I feel like I have a new
college major in marketing! I Have utilized every social media (facebook,
twitter, youtube, business website, blog and amazon) I sent my book , author
bio and book release to Ellen, Oprah, Robyn Swoboda, the libraries, several
preschools and daycares, all of the local newspapers and magazines. We have
been in two newspapers and two big newsletters around town. I did a book
reading at a day care and had a few book signings at a church function and craft fair. I have a
book signing at a local library in April and my books are for loan at four of
the local libraries.
12. Could you
share about any current writing projects? I am finishing up the details
for LOVE and am just about ready to go to print, though I need to sell more
Believe books to be able to fund the printing for LOVE. I am also refining my additional MOM books,
Laugh, Relax and Dream. The illustrations and words are completed, I just need
to tweak some details.
13. What would
be the best way for readers to contact you?
MOM Website
MOM Blog:
Facebook Page:
YouTube (Children’s Authors Show
Interview):
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kasey-kellem/1a/552/94
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/kaseyc7
14. Where can
people find your book, Believe:
Halo
International-Believe:
MOM
Website
Amazon:
15. Is there
anything else you'd like to share?
††My goal is to have these books in every
preschool, school, church and child’s house so kids everywhere are constantly
reminded of the five resiliency skills.
Great interview! I'm a huge fan of Sedaris and Seuss too! :-)
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