Peg Kehret Blog

I’ve been laughing ever since I picked up my mail today. There was an orange envelope addressed to Lucy Kehret  (Lucy is my dog) with the return address of “Molly.” Molly, of course, is my cat.  The card inside shows a scowling cat wearing a witch’s hat and a black cape. Inside, the copy reads: “I was going to be a dog for Halloween, but it seemed like too much trouble to have my brain removed.”  The card is unsigned.

I have several friends who could be responsible for this silliness. Eventually, one of them will confess. In the meantime, I’m chuckling. And, since I believe authors and publishers should always get credit for their work, I’ll mention that it is an American Greetings card, with credit to Fun Pix.

My oldest grandchild, Brett, was born on Halloween. She is a freshman this year at Whitman College so I won’t be with her on her special day, but we celebrated together last weekend, and I baked her favorite birthday cake for her. I wrote Horror at the Haunted House because I wanted a Halloween book to dedicate to Brett. 

Because my house is set far back in the woods, with a long, winding driveway, children never come for “trick or treat.” I always buy some candy, just in case.

I will spend part of Halloween trying to solve The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat Toys.  Gus, the foster cat, disposes of his toys as fast as I give them to him. My foster cat room has a concrete floor, so toys move nicely when they are batted. There are several cupboards that have just enough room for a small toy to roll under. The problem is that if I get down on the floor to fish out the toys, I have a hard time getting back up. That’s fine with Gus, who takes advantage of my position to rub against my head and purr. At the moment, I need to look for two fur mice, two stuffed catnip mice, one crinkle ball and one pingpong ball, all of which he has hidden in the last two days.

A few months ago, I bought a new printer. Molly has decided it is really a cat perch, the perfect spot from which to look at the back yard bird feeder. I put a towel on top of the printer, in an attempt to keep it free of cat fur, but that only served to make the perch more comfortable.

I completed my absentee ballot yesterday, and put it in the mail. I began voting absentee when I was doing so much RV travel to talk at schools and libraries, and I much prefer voting that way because I can take my time and research any minor issues that I didn’t know would be on the ballot.

Like most people, I’m tired of the political ads and ready for the whole thing to be over but I’m also encouraged by the excitement that this election has generated. When I was a child, my parents impressed on me that it was the duty and privilege of every citizen to vote in every election.  They took me with them to the polling place at our local school just as I took my children with me when they were small.  Since I became old enough to cast a ballot, I have voted in every election, even those where the only issues were minor local ones, and I still feel a sense of electricity in the air on election day. 

I have notified the Young Hoosier committee that I will not be attending the award banquet in Indianapolis on Nov. 19. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make. The problem is that I do not have a travel companion available that week. My post-polio syndrome makes travel increasingly difficult - especially a trip such as this one where there is no direct flight. A  transfer in Chicago can be challenging for even the most physically fit person.  

I don’t consider myself handicapped, but I have to acknowledge my limitations. Even with my leg braces and cane, I sometimes need help getting up from a seated position, or in making the step up into a vehicle. Hotel showers often require that you step into the bathtub. I do fine at home, but in travel situations I frequently encounter trouble that I had no way to anticipate. Fatigue is one of the PPS symptoms, and that also is hard to manage on a trip.

Various members of my family have accompanied me on other trips, and will again - but the timing was wrong for this one.  So I sent my reluctant regrets. Because I’ve won the Young Hoosier before, I know what a terrific evening I will be missing. Maybe next year.

Now for the good news: Local appearances are much easier to manage and I had a fine time on Saturday afternoon at the Buckley WA library.  The room overflowed with readers, including one young fan who brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. A neighbor came with her daughter; local teachers introduced themselves; old friends showed up. I posted a huge banner that a school in Spokane had mailed to me, congratulating me on winning the Sasquatch Award. Lindon Books had my books for sale, including the new one, Stolen Children. I don’t even have author copies yet so these really were hot off the press.

More good news: Gus, the foster cat, is turning into a big purr factory. He loves to be petted, and greets all visitors by rubbing on their ankles and purring. He seems to be over his respiratory infection and has started to play with his toys. I hope he’ll find a permanent home soon with someone who can give him all the love and petting that he wants. I also know now that Gus likes dogs! When my daughter had her dog, Otter, here to visit, Otter rolled in something yucky in my yard and had to get a bath in the laundry tub, which is located in the cat room. Gus watched with much curiosity, leaning forward to try to sniff of Otter. Even when we put Otter on the floor, and she shook, Gus kept trying to get close to her.

Last Friday I was in Portland, Oregon, at a conference of the Washington Library Media Association, to receive the Sasquatch Award for The Ghost’s Grave.  What a wonderful afternoon!  I spent two hours signing books, chatting with librarians, and posing for pictures. The best part was being told how much their students like my books.

Next came the award presentation followed by more great conversation with enthusiastic librarians. What a fine partnership we have!  I write the books to the best of my ability, and they put those books in the hands of the kids who read them. 

I met more great librarians last night at a special event at Children’s Bookshop in Puyallup, WA. I also had a chance to visit with other local authors, which is always a pleasure.

One highlight was a high school senior who arrived carrying a well worn copy of Terror at the Zoo. “This was my favorite book in fourth grade,” she told me, “and when I saw in the newspaper that you were going to be here, I decided to come and have you sign it.”

Tomorrow is the official publication day for Stolen Children. My hope is that it, too, will become some young reader’s favorite book.

Many years ago I was a struggling writer, selling a few magazine articles and short stories, and writing plays. I decided I wanted to write a novel, and I had what I thought was a good idea for a mystery. A young woman, a college student, is hired to baby-sit for a wealthy family, and while she is there the baby gets kidnapped. The plot consisted of the woman’s efforts to track down the kidnappers, and the danger that she got into as a result.

It took me nearly a year to write the book. I sent it to an agent, who agreed to try to sell if for me - but she was not able to do that. Eventually she returned the manuscript, with a long list of all the publishers who had turned it down. I wept as I read that list. The agent also sent a letter in which she said, “Your protagonist seems awfully young. Have you thought of writing for children?”

I had not. I tried to rework the novel and make it into a YA but it was not a successful effort, mainly because I didn’t know a thing about children’s literature. I finally put the book aside, and went on to other projects.

The idea, however, stayed in my head. About ten years ago I dragged out that old manuscript to see if I could salvage it but there was a lot wrong with it and I wasn’t enthusiastic about reworking old material. I moved not long after that, and the manuscript got tossed out.

However, I still liked the basic idea and I finally decided to start fresh with a new protagonist, new plot, new everything except the initial premise. In Stolen Children a young teen is hired to baby-sit for a wealthy family, and while she is there two thugs show up to kidnap the baby. They take Amy, too. Hidden away in a remote cabin, she needs to save not only herself but the toddler. 

If I had sold that novel when I first wrote it, I would have been thrilled. Stolen Children is my fiftieth book - and I’m still thrilled to have it published.

Kids often ask me how long it took me to write a particular book. If they want to know how long Stolen Children took, I’ll say, “Thirty-five years!”