Writing My Roots
Hello, and welcome back to the blog! I’m glad you’re here. Today’s post comes from my July author newsletter. If you enjoy it, be sure to subscribe below to get my newsletter delivered to your inbox every month! I often include fun free writing activities for kids and sneak peeks into my writing process and book updates.
So this has been quite a summer. I have been in and out and “graduated” early from physical therapy for a knee injury, quickly returning to hiking the hills and hollows of Indiana.
Yes, if you’re not from around here, Indiana does have hills! And you know, I suppose Indiana is precisely where I want to begin.
Old Indiana Stories
Old stories seem to find me and ask me to write them. They’re not always exact history, but they always come from long ago. And like me, every one of these stories has deep Indiana roots. I can’t explain it, but these stories always seem to find their creator in me. Sometimes it feels like I’m a muse for my home state.
It began when I was in high school, discovering the stories of my own ancestors in Indiana. And then not long after we married, I followed my husband’s family tree, too. Our kids are at least tenth-generation Hoosiers on both sides.
My first book, Going Over Home, sprung from this exploration. And while fiction, many of those characters are based on our ancestors. I also spent a good amount of time visiting an 1830s living history museum at Conner Prairie, grounding the story in pioneer life. I loved every minute of that process.
My recent middle-grade novels-in-verse Little Bird Woman and Little Orphant Allie are based on real people from Indiana. Little Bird Woman tells a childhood story of author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter. Little Orphant Allie tells the story of Mary Alice Smith, who inspired the classic poem “Little Orphant Annie” by The Hoosier Poet James Whitcomb Riley.
A New Indiana Story
My new novel, Heirloom Rose, harkens back to my Going over Home days. It’s contemporary middle-grade fiction, but its roots run deep through Indiana’s past. And it, too, is an old story that seemed to track me down and ask me to write it.
At first, I resisted writing the story. I don’t have personal ties to the history in the story and it seemed like such a complicated story to take on.
That much is true. Shelley Wallace, the artist doing the cover art (who also did the cover for Little Bird Woman), sensed this and poured that complexity into her piece.
But this story led me back to continue my MFA at Spalding University, where a wonderful faculty mentor helped me write the story the way it needed to be. I took it through several rounds of revisions and then entrusted it to my editor, Jessica at Cozy Cottage Editing. Now, it’s nearly ready to be released into the world.
And while no, I do not have personal ties to the history in the story– the displacement of the communities by the construction of southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe, I grounded myself in the place as much as I could. I researched extensively with Monroe County History Center. I visited old cemeteries in the area. I hiked the hills around the lake. Most importantly, I listened. And I did my best to honor the story that wanted to come through me.
Heirloom Rose
Thirteen-year-old Janie Wells wants nothing more than to go camping with her friends over spring break. After all, a camping trip to southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe sounds a whole lot more fun than staying home. But when Janie’s mother decides that she and her grandmother are going too, the trip takes an unexpected turn.
Soon after they arrive at the campground, Janie discovers a long-hidden family truth—her grandmother grew up in the community displaced by the construction of Lake Monroe decades earlier. Now there’s so much for Janie to unravel about this place and her family’s troubled past, and it grows even more complicated when she learns that her grandmother is losing her memory.
Over the course of the week, Janie navigates a bittersweet reunion with the past and a tender reconnection in the present, learning compassion and understanding along the way.
Ultimately, Heirloom Rose is a story of a family’s heartbreak and healing.
Heirloom Rose will release in September 2026. Stay tuned for a cover reveal and preorder information– coming soon! In the meantime, take a look at my other books. I have something special for young readers of these books coming, too.
Soak up the sun, and enjoy the beauty of summertime. And take care of yourselves out there, too.
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter below. You’ll automatically receive a free resource on writing historical fiction for kids, plus a very special short story.
I’ll be back again soon!
Katie
Story Synchronicity & Trusting the Process
Hello, all! Welcome back to the blog. I’m so glad you’re here.
Last winter, I found myself struggling with my writing and who I was as a writer. I had released three new books in quick succession over the past year and had no new projects that I was really passionate about. I felt directionless. I even considered giving up writing altogether. Eventually, though, I rallied and decided to buckle down on two projects in particular. I shared about them in a blog post. But–
Enter a New Idea
–wouldn’t you know it, that announcement was precisely what opened the door and invited in a new idea– a new idea I loved. Because of course it did! (Note to self: Trust the process.)
By January 2025, this story idea had landed within me, but I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to write it. But a hike our family took in the Hoosier National Forest near southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe confirmed it.
It was a freezing cold day, and we squeezed the hike in before a big snowstorm rolled across Indiana. While hiking, I came across a trailside sign about none other than the basis for my story idea. The sign told of the “The Land of the Lake” and the community displaced for the construction of the reservoir in the 1960s. Hello, somebody.
Reader, I wrote the book. The story led me to go back and continue my MFA, where I wrote with the help of a faculty mentor. Once I finished the first draft, I went through several rounds of revisions. As of just yesterday, the novel is on its second pass with my editor.
Heirloom Rose will be releasing this fall!
Heirloom Rose
Thirteen-year-old Janie Wells wants nothing more than to go camping with her friends over spring break. After all, a camping trip to southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe sounds a whole lot more fun than staying home. But when Janie’s mother decides that she and her grandmother are going, too, the trip takes an unexpected turn.
Once everyone makes it to the campground, it doesn’t take long before Janie discovers a long-hidden family truth– her grandmother grew up in the community displaced by the construction of Lake Monroe decades earlier. Now there’s so much for Janie to unravel about this place and her family’s troubled past, but it’s made immensely more complicated when she also learns that her grandmother is losing her memory.
Over the course of the week, Janie navigates a bittersweet reunion of the past and a tender reconnection in the present, learning compassion and understanding along the way.
Ultimately, Heirloom Rose is a story of a family’s heartbreak and healing.
Moments of Synchronicity
Research was incredibly important to writing this book, as it has always been for me. I spent a great deal of time around Lake Monroe through the process. I hiked around it and visited several old cemeteries in the area. I researched at the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington, and drew extensively from their website on The Lake Monroe Oral History Project.
One cemetery that’s really out of the way is the place I envision the final chapter of the book, but I hadn’t been able to track it down yet. This past weekend, I finally got the chance to visit. It sits high on a hill above the lake, so it was spared from the flooding for the reservoir. I could even see the waters through the trees at the edge of the cemetery.
In the cemetery scene in my book, there’s a blue jay that plays an important part. While I was wandering among the stones, a bluebird flew right past me– another moment of synchronicity that was not lost on me.
Elizabeth Gilbert writes in her book Big Magic about how stories– or really, any creative work, find possible creatives to bring them into existence. But we must choose to be their conduit. We must choose to devote our time and energy to bring them to life. It sounds wild, but for me, I know it’s true.
I am so thankful this story chose me, and I’m thrilled to release it to the world this fall.
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter for book news and writing updates. You will also receive a free resource on writing historical fiction for kids, plus a very special short story. My newsletter subscribers will be the first to hear book release news, too!
I’ll be back again soon!
Katie
Sugar-free Lemon Bars & Old Family Stories
Mary Holsclaw (Grandma Andrews) with her mother Helen and grandparents Elmer and Lottie Ash Oder. Christmas Day 1923. Indianapolis, Indiana.
Hello, all! Welcome back to the blog. I’m so glad you’re here.
Family history is intertwined with my writing so deeply that it’s impossible to separate the two. I wrote about how the stories of my ancestors have inspired my historical fiction in this blog post. Today I want to go back to the beginning of my journey as a family historian, because that story deeply impacted my upcoming middle-grade novel, Heirloom Rose.
A Family Historian Origin Story
When I was in high school, I spent many afternoons with my Grandma Mary Andrews. My grandpa had recently passed away and she was living alone in their home of over thirty years. I was curious about our family history, and she was more than happy to tell me about hers. We’d sit in her kitchen at an old covered poker table, snacking on sugar-free lemon bars, and going through boxes of old photos. Many times, we’d spend an entire afternoon talking about just one photo and all the memories and stories it’d bring up for her.
I remember the moment she brought out a picture of her grandparents. It was a sepia-toned photograph of two young people, their heads gently touching, and it was the oldest thing I’d ever seen from our family. Holding that picture and listening to her stories, I realized with awe just how our family is connected to history– how connected I was to history.
Elmer and Lottie Ash Oder c. 1890 My great-great grandparents who raised my grandma Mary Holsclaw Andrews
The Stories of Grandmothers
Janie Wells, the main character of my upcoming middle-grade novel Heirloom Rose, has a similar experience with her own grandmother. On a camping trip to southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe, Janie discovers that her Grandma Marty grew up in the area and that her family was among the communities displaced by the construction of the reservoir decades before. Janie had never known the story of her grandmother’s past. She’d never heard her speak of her parents, or the land of her childhood. During their time at the lake, Janie listens to stories that had been buried for years, and it opens the floodgates of healing for their entire family.
Janie learns, like I did, just how meaningful it is to simply listen to someone’s story. She learns how it can soften hardened, hurting hearts, and pave the way for compassion and understanding.
My Grandma Andrews was raised by her mother and grandparents, the two people in that old photograph. I didn’t know until I was a teenager that her father had left their family when she was little. I didn’t know that she lived with her grandparents growing up. But I listened, I learned her story, and it helped me know and understand her better. And it’s this that I’ve woven into the story of Heirloom Rose.
Heirloom Rose releases this fall. In the meantime, I invite you to check out my other books for young readers here.
Little Katie with Grandma Andrews
Question: What old stories can you tell about your family?
Try this with kids: Share an old family story with your kids. Tell them a funny story from your childhood, a special memory about your elders, or something special about a family pet. Invite them to share their favorite family stories with you, too.
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. For book news and writing updates from me, please subscribe to my monthly newsletter below. You will also receive a free resource on writing historical fiction for kids, plus a very special short story– based on a sweet childhood memory my Grandma Andrews told me once upon a time.
I’ll be back on the blog again soon!
Katie
Star Wars— and why I write stories of hope
I wrote this post a year ago in May 2025, but I thought I’d bring it back for Star Wars Day 2026!
For the past several months, I have been quietly doubting my writing journey, considering whether or not I wanted to continue pursuing this in my life.
Why– when the arts and humanities are constantly devalued and defunded, when the cost-of-living is soaring and access to healthcare is not guaranteed– WHY in the world would I keep writing?
Why? Because it’s not all about me. Because I have a message to share, especially with young readers.
I believe we all have a message to share with the world– but I also know that many choose to turn away from it.
Too many succumb to the insanity and chaos and noise that drowns out what our inner voices are desperately trying to whisper to us and through us.
I understand why, too… and it’s heart-breaking.
But I didn’t grow up on stories like Star Wars to just give up. Maybe it’s my autism– maybe I took messages of hope and courage and perseverance too literally?
Of course Star Wars is a fictional example– but there are too many true stories in our history that tell me I am far from alone. Or, in the words of John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
I recently referred to John Lennon in conversation with someone who responded, “The world said it didn’t want that.”
Yes, I suppose it did. I get it. There’s talk of eugenics regarding folks with brains like mine right now. Much of the world is telling us they don’t want us either.
But I can’t give up. Is that the kind of world I want to leave to my children without a fight?
And so I choose to continue writing stories of hope. Not to bypass or dismiss our feelings of sorrow, grief, despair, or hurt.. no, I write of hope because of these– because in our darkest times, hope is what keeps us going.
I’m reminded of what Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Well, I've worried some about, you know, why write books… why are we teaching people to write books when presidents and senators do not read them, and generals do not read them… you catch people before they become generals and presidents and so forth and you poison their minds with... humanity, and however you want to poison their minds, it's presumably to encourage them to make a better world.”
Maybe my mind has been poisoned with humanity?
Good.
Okay, back to Star Wars–
As I’ve been watching the second season of Andor (and absolutely loving it), I am constantly reminded of how Cassian Andor’s story “ends” in Rogue One.
(I knew how it would end when I went to see the movie back in 2016 and it still got me.)
But really, Cassian and Jyn’s stories didn’t “end” there. No, of course they didn't. If you haven’t seen Rogue One, or aren’t familiar with Star Wars, sorry for the spoiler: these characters give their lives to send the Death Star plans to Princess Leia, which of course leads to its destruction by Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance.
The final scene of Rogue One depicts an officer handing Leia the plans and asking, “What is it they’ve sent us?” to which she simply responds, “Hope.”
No, Cassian Andor’s story didn’t end there.
Why write of hope again? Because stories of hope keep us going. Storytelling is as old as humanity is. Archaeology shows that humans were creating art before they developed agriculture. Stories and the arts have always given us hope to keep going, even when it seems all is lost.
I know what it’s like to feel like all is lost. But if you’d permit me one more Star Wars reference– I have something I want to remind you:
In Episode IX, near the end of the Battle of Exegol, Poe Dameron tells the other Resistance fighters, “My friends... I'm sorry. I thought we had a shot. But there's just too many of them.” All of a sudden, a familiar voice cuts in, and Lando Calrissian says, “But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of us.”
YESSS!
Y’all, I often feel so very isolated and alone— in this world of billions, too many of us do. But it is in these lonely times when I turn first to stories to remind myself that I am not alone. You are not alone, either. None of us are alone– and I write of hope to help us all remember that, and to come back together again.
I hope that somehow I am able to share my message through the stories I write.
Yours truly,
Katie