Fellowship of The Tomes

Welcome fellow adventurers…
This is the page where I have the privilege of interacting with and supporting some of my fellow writers who are committed to serving the One True King. They are a daring and intrepid bunch, each with their own unique voice, style, and mission: to use their gifts to broaden the field of positive reading.

On this page, we celebrate the upcoming book launches of these authors and get to know the “write” people a little more through author interviews…

My first guest writes YA and Middle-Grade fiction and lives near the American West Coast. Please put your hands together and welcome Miss Lillian Keith!!!

[Crowds cheering and applauding!]

Okay, thank you! Thank you. You in the back there… stop hooting and whistling. That’s enough of that. Sorry Lily, they tend to get a little rowdy sometimes. I think that one in the back there has had just a wee bit more ale than he should have, before coming to this event. Anyway…

Miss Keith has a new fantasy book coming out and is scheduled to hit the Amazon Kindle store on October 19th, 2023. Here’s a little info…

Book Info
Genre: Dystopian, Middle Grade
Series: The Daviron Chronicles #2
[see Lillian’s prior book in the series on my “Recommended” page.]
Author: Lillian Keith
Release Date: October 19th, 2023

Book Links
Pre-order Kindle Book: https://www.amazon.com/Because-You-Saw-Daviron-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0CH5RXDS8?ref_=ast_author_dp
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198125272-because-you-saw-me

She is also running a pre-release giveaway, in celebration of her launch with the prize to be awarded on launch day, October 19th, 2022 (midnight Eastern time). Winners will be announced the following day on her blog, so get your entries in now, by clicking on the following link here. Anyone who enters can earn a bonus entry by answering the question in the kick-off post.

A Little more about Lily…

Aside from writing, you’ll often find her needle-felting rabbits, arguing with spell check on Google Docs, or talking with her imaginary friends ahem story characters. Feel free to drop by her site and say ‘hi’. She loves meeting new people, hearing from excited readers, and making new friends (be forewarned, though. She loves puns and may try to sneak one into the conversation when you’re not looking!) You can connect with Lily at the following links:
Blog- The Introspective Introvert
Her Goodreads page
Pinterest or her Amazon Author Page.

About the Book – “Because You Saw Me”
Blurb: Would Nari ever be happy if she learned the truth? Agatha swallowed hard. She knew what her friend would say.

As an orphan in Daivron, Agatha has learned to scavenge for anything that might prove useful. When she picks up an innocent-looking button box, she unwittingly incurs the wrath of a shadowy stranger. While being chased through the alleyways of a city that’s turned its back on her, will Agatha use the box’s hidden treasure to escape to a better future? Or will she follow her beloved friend’s advice and do the right thing?

A Peek Into the Writing Process of “Because You Saw Me”

I had the privilege of getting some of the “inside scoop” on her writing process directly from her. This is what she shared:

Funny how my writing process can vary somewhat from story to story. Sometimes there’s a lot of similarities. For one, I love using outlines in pretty much any story I write. But the inspiration, the actual drafting, and so forth can vary too…

After our family Bible study one morning, I found the inspiration for the theme of Because You Saw Me. It tied perfectly into the theme of An Apprentice Escapes, and while BYSM would be more of a companion novella with new characters, I was so happy to find that it worked with the first story. A flash of a poem started forming in my mind, so right after study time, I started jotting it down. After mulling it over for a time and working out the MC’s name (which came to me shortly afterward), I started fleshing out an outline. I kept seeing a girl with a box who gathered random things on the street. I worked out possible scenes and points of conflict that would bring out the theme I saw so clearly in my head. After scribbling it all down on paper, I turned to organize it into an outline.

Funny thing, I had started using chapter outlines because I thought those would work best for me, but I ended up reverting to a three-point outline with subpoints beneath each section (actually, that’s what I did when reworking An Apprentice Escapes. Lol, both books had more similarities than I realized!)

I still enjoy the chapter outline, which I’ll still use in the future, but since this method was currently working for my story, I decided to run with it (I think a part of me was worried that I’d fall back into writer’s block if I tried to force a different method on my writing. I decided to let it play out and keep doing what was working.)

After working out a basic outline, I started overwriting the first chapter. I needed to explore the characters a bit and just figure out how to make this story work. I had been through a terrible case of writer’s block before being inspired by this story, so I tried to minimize pressure and just jump back into writing. Soon, after much writing, I found more inspiration for side characters and how to better structure the plot. I rewrote the outline and then set to work officially typing out the first draft. And of course, afterward, there was much editing, beta reading, more editing (and editing and editing, because I became lost in the description of the book quite a few times *cough*. My family needed to pull me out of that messy forest.)

Meanwhile, after the read-through of the second to last draft, my sister worked on the illustrations. There were several meetings and discussions of cover design and interior artwork until we settled on something that worked.

Finally, it came time to proofread, format, and upload the book. That was a loooong process *lol*. KDP can be a bit finicky with your book formatting, and since I don’t use Word, it could be a pain to get it to work sometimes. But, after taking a break (plus an extra dose of patience *cough hehe cough*) my sister and I finally got the whole book uploaded and ready to publish. And there’s the basic process of writing and publishing Because You Saw Me.

Here is a “Sneak Peek” of one of the scenes in the book…

Her Present Book Tour Schedule

Monday (October 9th)
Lillian Keith – Tour Kick-off Post and Countdown Post #1

Tuesday (October 10th)
Once Upon an Ordinary – Illustrator Interview
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #2

Wednesday (October 11th)
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #3
The Pencil Sisters – Mood Boards

Thursday (October 12)
Writers’ Vision – Spotlight/Guest Post
Issabelle Perry – Sneak Peek
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #4

Friday (October 13th)
Sisters Three – Spotlight/Sneak Peek
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #5

Saturday (October 14)
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #6
The Pencil Sisters – Shout-out to Ideal Readers and Book Trope

Sunday (Posting Break)

Monday (October 16th)
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #7
Excavatia – Spotlight, Guest Post, and Sneak Peek

Tuesday (October 17th)
Kristina Hall – Spotlight and Review
Once Upon an Ordinary – Guest Post
Writers’ Vision – Spotlight/Guest Post
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #8

Wednesday (October 18th)
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #9

Thursday (October 19th) Release Day! 🥳🎉
Old Fashion Book Love – Spotlight/Book Review (possible)
Katherine Perry Creator – Author and Illustrator Interview
Lorelei Angelino – Book and Giveaway Spotlight (Pinterest)
Lillian Keith – Countdown Post #10

Friday (October 20th)
Lillian Keith – Tour Wrap Up, Bonus Content, and a Big Thank You!