RALEIGH, N.C. —
Kati Gardner is nearing the end of the marathon that is children's book publishing. Her debut young adult novel, which she began seven years ago, will be released Monday.
Already, the book is earning accolades. It received a coveted starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which says, "The debut author, a cancer survivor and amputee, covers challenging physical and emotional terrain in compelling detail with compassionate insight and strong storytelling skills."
Wrote Beth Revis, New York Times best-selling author of "A World Without You:" "A beautiful debut that is as inspiring as it is real."
These days, Gardner, a Raleigh mom of two, is experiencing all of the feelings as she preps for the launch. She'll celebrate the book this week at a
special event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. It's 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 23, at the store in Raleigh's North Hills on Lassiter Mill Rd.
I checked in with Gardner to get some more details about the book. Here's a Q&A:
Go Ask Mom: What's it like to finally get your book published? How long have you been working on it?
Kati Gardner: It’s both exciting and terrifying. I am an optimist by nature, so I try to focus on the exciting parts. To know that a book I wrote will be in the hands of teens, and that maybe for one of them it will be their favorite book, is super gratifying. I had so many books I read over and over as a teenager, pages falling out, to know that someone could love my characters like that makes me excited.
I started drafting the novel in 2011, but I took my dear sweet time with it. When we moved to Raleigh in 2013, I didn’t have any friends to hang out with, so I finally sat down and finished it, but even then that took a while. I began querying agents in 2015. My agent sold the book in 2017. Publishing is definitely a marathon.
GAM: Tell us a bit about the story you tell in the book and its main characters.
KG: There are two main characters, Cason Martin and Davis Channing. Cason is 17 and an elite ballerina. She’s the youngest member of the main company for the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory, when, during an important audition, she is injured.
Davis is also 17, and a childhood cancer survivor. When the novel opens, he is seven months sober and in recovery from addiction. Davis is serving out a community service sentence, partly organizes by his oncologist, at the children’s hospital he had been treated at.
This is where Cason and Davis meet. But, the story is more about finding courage, and hope, when life maybe doesn’t go the way that you want.
GAM: You're a childhood cancer survivor and amputee. This book is, of course, fiction, but how much nonfiction from your life is weaved into the story?
KG: There are some experiences that are either talked about or you see in the story, that are from my real life, but those are more about my experiences as an amputee. Cason and I are VERY different people. My amputation was my decision and not something I’ve ever regretted, whereas Cason’s entire identity is wrapped up in her legs and their ability to dance. I say in my author's note that our diagnosis and the fact that we’re both amputees are where our similarities begin and end.
GAM: You've spoken up about the need for people with disabilities to be represented more in books and in media. Why is that so critical?
KG: Books are windows and mirrors for people. It’s a window for you to learn about a different type of person, or a mirror for you to see your reflection in, to see a person like you. When novels are written by people with lived experience, you get a more authentic representation. I can write about phantom pains in a way a person who is not an amputee cannot, because I’ve experienced those and know how the pain actually feels.
GAM: What's next for you?
KG: More books! And I’m hoping to do school visits!
Go Ask Mom features local moms every Monday.
