Pirate Island by Katie Carroll

Today, Katie Carroll is here to share the cover for her new MG tale. Take it away, Katie!!!

PIRATE ISLAND

by Katie L. Carroll (katielcarroll.com)

Cover Illustration by Susan Tait Porcaro (susantaitporcaro.com)

Coming October 2017!

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

For centuries, the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure has remained a mystery. When Billy’s best friend, Andy, proposes they look for it on nearby Pirate Island, Billy thinks it’s just another one of their crazy adventures. It’s usually Billy who ends up in trouble as a result, but he goes along for the ride…like always. The more he delves into the life and death of Kidd, the more he thinks the treasure is real and that it might be buried on the small island in Long Island Sound. Billy—nope, call him William—becomes obsessed with the captain of the same first name. He even believes he’s possessed by Kidd’s restless soul. Now he and the spirit of a long-dead pirate are leading the crazy adventure on Pirate Island. And what they find is far bigger than the treasure they imagined.

About the Author:

Katie L. Carroll always says she began writing at a very sad time her life after her sister Kylene unexpectedly passed away. The truth is Katie has been writing her whole life, and it was only after Kylene’s death that she realized she wanted to pursue writing for kids and teens as a career. Since then writing has taken her to many wonderful places, real and imagined. She has had many jobs in her lifetime, including newspaper deliverer, hardware store cashier, physical therapy assistant, and puzzle magazine editor. She works from her home in Connecticut that is filled with the love and laughter of her sons and husband.

In addition to PIRATE ISLAND, Katie is the author of the YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND. Find Katie on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

#InkRipples~Revision

I am so behind this month!!! But I got it done. Here’s this month’s #InkRipples post!

Revision. For some authors, this is the best part of writing. For others, it’s worse than a trip to the dentist. But what is it?

I like to think of revision as the art of taking the lump of stone and polishing and cutting it until it reveal the gem that it truly is.

So, what does that look like?

Remember in school, when you had to write a first draft, then a second draft, and maybe a few more drafts before creating the final copy? Well, writing a book is a little like that.

You start with a first draft. Mine used to meander all over the place, as I didn't do much plotting before hand. It was fun, as I got to get a story down pretty quick, but the revision part became a nightmare. Huge sections would be removed completely as they didn’t fit with where the story ended up. In fact, some of my first drafts barely resemble the final product at all. Names changed, descriptions changed. The entire plot changed.

Anyway, once you have your first draft, you go back through it and see what it needs. I usually need to add in descriptions and emotions. Once I’ve added what it needs, I go through again and see what it doesn’t need. What can I take out to make it stronger? Then I look for overused words and phrases. Then I look at my word usage to see if I’ve used the best word choices. Then I send it out to my beta readers* for their thoughts. Then I repeat the process until I think it’s ready to submit for my publisher, or ready to publish on my own, depending on what series I’ve written for.

*[I also send to my betas as I am writing, not so much for feedback, but to make sure I get my pages written. And yes, my betas, I know I owe you all pages. Hoping to have them for you next week!]

Readers: Did you know all that went into revisions?

Authors: Do you enjoy revisions?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

#InkRipples is a themed meme hosted by Katie L. Carroll, Kai Strand, and me, Mary Waibel. We post on the first Monday of every month. If you would like to participate compose your own post regarding the theme of the month, include any of the images displayed on the #InkRipples tab above, and link back to our three blogs. Feel free to post whenever you want during the month, but be sure to include #InkRipples when you promote so readers can find you. The idea is that we toss a word or idea into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There is no wrong interpretation.

This year's topics are:

May: Fairy Tales
June: Blurbs
July: Heroes/Villains
August: Author Options in Publishing
September: World Building
October: Career vs Hobby
November: Finishing that Book!
December: Goals