Teen Interviewer Talks to Kitty Keswick

Teen interviewer Anna interviews Leap Books author Kitty Keswick:

When did you know that you wanted to be an author?

I have always written stories. I wrote to escape, to entertain myself, to get the stories that were in my head...out. I write from my dreams and if I don't work on the stories that I'm dreaming about ("they" can be very persistent), I don't sleep until I do. I started out as a journalism major because I enjoyed writing. I didn't care that much for non-fiction and switched my major. The idea of being a novelist was always in the back of my head. I had been writing full-length stories since high school. It was until 2004 that I started to do something about it and joined RWA (Romance Writers of America). There I learned more about the craft and started attending conferences and sending out queries.

Have you always specifically liked supernatural stories?

Yes and no. My stories have supernatural elements, but they are more character driven and based in folklore and mythology.

Do you consider romance a necessary component in all your stories?

Yep. I am and always will be a romantic sap. It's a blessing and a curse. Love can be wickedly cruel and totally earthmoving amazing. There's always something to write about when love is involved, good or bad. Love changes you, it shapes you. Whether it's for better or worse is up to you.

What is your favorite genre of stories to read?

Right now, it's mysteries and sci-fi. It changes. I am re-reading One for the Money and Game of Thrones.

Why did you choose to write young adult books instead of adult books or children's books?

I wrote general romance first. Several novels and got close. I had many editors tell me they liked my character building and worlds and snarky humor, but felt my voice was a little young for general romance. I took their advice and went back to my roots, YA. I started writing, really writing as a teen. I used the basic elements of those stories to formulate my YA novels. I keep a dream journal and often get my ideas from my dreams. Freaksville started out as a strange conversation between two best friends.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Study your craft, never stop learning. Read. And never give up.

More about author Kitty Keswick:

 Kitty Keswick has been an Anglophile since age four when she saw Robin Hood and fell head over heels in love. As she grew up on her grandfather’s California vineyard, Kitty’s imagination was her best friend. At a very tender age, she started writing her stories and reading them to the grapes.

Kitty now lives with a bossy tabby cat and maybe even a few ghosts. She spends her days with Werewolves, Valkyries, Vamps and other creatures that go bump in the night.


Her books:

Having a family whose skeletons in the closet lean toward the paranormal is not a topper on anyone’s list. Sophomore Kasey Maxwell is busy juggling the typical teen angst. Add visions, ghosts, and hairy four-legged monsters into the mix and you get FREAKSVILLE. It’s a wonder Kasey has survived.

Sixteen-year-old Kasey Maxwell left Freaksville behind when her family moved from California to rural Pennsylvania. But she didn't leave her troubles behind. As her Valkyrie side grows, the spirits become more haunting. When her visions turn bloody, Kasey must trust new support systems—paranormal ones.

Get entombed in stories of Egyptian treasures, shudder at tales of malevolent spirits, and become enthralled with the adventures of witch-hunters, ghost seekers, and lost souls. From steampunk to cyberpunk, our collection spans past, present, and future hauntings. One story actually leaps off the page with 3D augmented reality. Go ahead. Turn the page if you dare. We won't tell if you sleep with the light on. Because after all, there's no rest for the wicked.

Freaksville Book Trailer




Spirited Book Trailer

Author Kitty Keswick appearing October 1, 2011

Living the Dream: New Indie Bookstore

For our first installment of Leap Book authors reaching their dreams, we're featuring Kitty Keswick, writer of the Freaksville series. Kitty is not only a storyteller, she's also a booklover. In addition to her large personal book collection, she considered it a privilege to work in a bookstore. Now she's on the verge of realizing a lifelong dream: opening an Indie bookstore.

Leap is thrilled that she's taken this step during times when so many bookstores are shutting their doors. Instead, Kitty is infusing new life into downtown Logansport, Indiana, with her Some Kind of Wonderful bookstore. The store, which will also have a coffee shop, is slated to open on Main Street in the Greensfelder Building. This historic edifice has been renovated on the exterior; now work will be done on the interior to turn it into a haven for booklovers.

Greensfelder Building on Main St.

Kitty is the author of Freaksville and the forthcoming Furry and Freaked. For Indiana residents who would like to meet her in person, Kitty will be appearing at the library on October 1, 2011.

Success for Freaksville

Leap Books is proud to announce that author Kitty Keswick's young adult novel Freaksville has been named by P & E as a 2010 Top Ten Novel for YAs. Teens enjoy the humor and the light paranormal mystery. Here's what one teen reader had to say on Bearamy's Book Club, where Keswick's book was spotlighted for January, "Kitty Keswick is a great writer over all!!"

In addition to kudos for her books, Kitty was chosen as the featured author for the Children's Book Council's January/February column in the American Library Association's publication, Knowledge Quest, a magazine for school librarians. Kitty's article, "D is for Dragons," tells the poignant story of the struggles she overcame to become a novelist.

What's next for this award-winning author? She's hard at work on book two in the Freaksville series. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of Furry and Freaked. See the great cover design below. Looks fabulous, doesn't it?

If you haven't read Freaksville, check out the story of four teens trapped in a haunted theater on the night of the full moon. Battling hungry werewolves and angry ghosts, sixteen-year-old Kasey and her friends uncover buried secrets to solve a decades-old mystery.

Whereas Freaksville is told with a lighter touch, readers who prefer their paranormals a bit darker will gravitate to Furry and Freaked, where Kasey's in for some hair-raising challenges.

Both books feature art by the award-winning Canadian graphic artist, Val Cox.

Gothic Barbie

Author Kitty Keswick recently received a gift in the mail from a fan. A goth Barbie modeled after the ghost, Ruby, in the Freaksville series. Thanks to 15-year-old Trisha from Montana. Here's a close up of the doll. Readers who also loved the goth ghost will be pleased to know that Ruby, with her snarky attitude and goth fashion sense, will play an even greater role in book 2 of the Freaksville series, Furry and Freaked. See the cover below...and look for it in 2011!

If you aren't sure who Ruby is, here's an excerpt from Furry and Freaked...

“You little minx! Two guys!” The familiar female voice shocked me. I tried to cover the fact that I was indeed sucking face with a guy almost two centuries deceased. But my uncoordinated feet had other plans. All in one move, I twisted, spun around, and took an ungraceful surge forward. My body fell one way and my cell phone the other. Isaac broke my fall. I pushed up from his very solid chest. He smiled crookedly at me. My heart betrayed me and skipped a little beat.

Clapping drew my attention. Ruby, the teenage ghost from Bridges Auditorium, nudged me with the toe of her blood-red, ankle-length, combat-style boots.

“I have to hand it to you, Valkyrie, that was pretty entertaining. I’ll give it an eight for ingenuity.”

“You’re dead. Go to the light!” I shouted at both of them. My supersonic Valkyrie powers hadn’t kicked in yet. Nothing happened.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, V-A-L-K-Y-R-I-E.” She dragged her pet name for me out. “But you can’t banish me. Him, you could banish”—she tossed her thumb in Isaac’s direction—“to the Netherworld, if you knew how, which you don’t.” She offered me a hand.

I accepted it and stood.

“I see the furball has competition,” Ruby snarked. She blinked and then was perched atop the fence post. Her long black-and-white-striped, stocking-clad legs swayed like a pendulum weighted by red punk boots.

Isaac teleported in behind her and poked her. “She is a spirit, but not? I do not understand.”

“You pick ’em bright, dontcha?” Ruby picked at her nails.

“Ruby, be nice.” I dusted the dirt from my jeans and walked closer to both ghosts. “Why are you here?” I asked as I folded my arms about my waist.

“I have all the time in the world to debate the matters of the universe, Valkyrie. You, on the other hand, don’t.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She hopped off the fence and stood inches from my face. I focused on the black eyeliner goop in the corners of her brown eyes.

“The Powers That Be felt you were a sorry excuse for a V-A-L-K-Y-R-I-E. and needed help. Ta-da! I’m your guide.”

“My guide?”

“Catch up, kid. Yes, you need training, and fast.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“What can you say?”

“I’m not at liberty to say what I can or cannot say.” She grinned. “Face it, you’re clueless, you need me.”

A Stellar Review

Thanks to The Book Butterfly for a great review of Freaksville, Kitty Keswick's novel. Here's a short excerpt from her review:

"FREAKSVILLE is a unique novel, both in the storyline, well defined characters, artful little illustrations and blog format....the posts themselves were so well written and entertaining, I enjoyed reading them and quickly became engrossed in the plot line.


The tension between Kasey’s family and the Johnstone clan added some depth to the plot line and I look forward to this aspect being explored in FURRY & FREAKED, the fabulously named sequel to FREAKSVILLE."

Other bloggers also were intrigued by the Maxwell-Johnstone feud, which will play an even greater part in later books. In Bed with Books mentioned it:

"FREAKSVILLE was fun, and not just because of the cute illustrations. Kasey has a strong voice, and I liked her habit of making lists. I liked her relationship with Gillie. The two girls supported each other without getting jealous of the other's relationship. I liked the background feud between the Maxwell and Johnstone families - I can't wait to see that expanded as Kasey and Josh further their relationship."

Curious about the Johnstone-Maxwell clan wars? Although Freaksville is fiction, Kitty Keswick researched a centuries-old feud between the Maxwells and the Johnstones to gather background information for her novel. She even traveled to England and visited the site along the Scottish border that was the setting for clash between the clans. Here's a photo of the remains of Lochwood Castle, destroyed by a fire set by the Maxwells in the sixteenth century.

Want to find out more? Feel free to ask Kitty a question about her research. And be sure to stop by the Wolfy Chicks blog for some special giveaways.