Interview with children's author Kelly McInenly

Welcome, readers. Today’s special guest is children’s author Kelly McInenly. We’re chatting about the first three books in Little Milly and the Great Lakes series: Marj and the Medal, Peg and the Party Line, and Bess and the Boil.

During her virtual book tour, Kelly will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Kelly knew Little Milly Lake as Grandma Mill McInenly. The usually serious Mildred would occasionally surprise her granddaughter with tales of the fun and mischief that she and her five older sisters found growing up in the Maritimes in the early 1900s. The combination of little money or supervision, and a notoriously grumpy father, made for simple stories with just the right blend of silly and sweet.

Little Milly and the Great Lakes is Kelly’s first creative writing endeavor… she has been distracted by Little Mateo and Little Lucas.

Please share a little bit about your current release.
Little Milly and the Great Lakes is a six-book children’s series, of which the first three books have just been published. The stories are based on Little Milly and her five sisters, who grew up in the early 1900s on Canada’s east coast with little money or parental supervision.

What inspired you to write this book?
At first, I was inspired by how fun my grandmother’s childhood stories were, given how un-fun (sorry Grandma!) she was… she wasn’t born prim & proper with a perm??? When she passed away, I was inspired to capture the stories in writing, so our family would not forget them. It was not until my children were young readers – and I became aware of how strange and sassy made kids’ books had become - that I was finally inspired to publish the series as a sweeter, simpler option for parents.

Excerpt from Little Milly and the Great Lakes:

‘In a weathered slat house by the edge of the sea,

Lived Sergeant George Lake – Grump with a capital G –

And his six little girls, all clever and silly:

Marj, Peg, Ene, Flo, Bess, and of course, Little Milly’

What exciting story are you working on next?
The three remaining Lake sisters will be up to some mischief in the next three books in the Little Milly series – Ene and the Ivey, Flo and the Fishermen and Milly and the Mail. Little Milly fans will be featured in the illustrations.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I won the local legion’s Remembrance Day Poetry contest when I was 12 years old. I received $40, which I made me a professional writer and funded some trips to the corner store.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write full-time, but I do communicate full-time. I am a consultant specializing in Marketing, Communicating, Selling & Negotiating. I work with businesses across North America, which means a lot of time on the road. I find the time to write as part of my traveling routine, either in my transit time or in the quiet times before and after client sessions when there is no more room for business in my head and creativity feels like a hot bath for my brain.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I am distance runner, which means I can be running for hours at a time. I write many of my stories in my head to pass the time, then type them up when I get some computer time. That may be why I write in rhyme… the steady rhythm of my footsteps and heartbeat might influence me more than I realize!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an Advertising Executive… Angela Bower (heroine of ‘80s TV sitcom ‘Who’s the Boss?’) was my idol – smart, creative and glamorous. I also wanted to attend university so, since there were no degree programs for Advertising at the time, pursued my Bachelor of Commerce with a focus on Marketing. And dyed my hair blonde like Angela, of course.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
There is a bird hidden on each page of the Little Milly stories… kids love spotting them once they know to look for them… happy birdwatching!

Links:

Indigo CA | Amazon CA | Amazon | Walmart | LinkedIn | Instagram | Goodreads

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

It was my pleasure!

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