Author

In January, Keely will begin her first residency in VCFA’s MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults! It might seem backwards to write a book and then get into a MFA program but to me it feels totally the way it’s supposed to be. I’m excited to begin this journey and to be in community with other creative, curious people.

“Welcome to VCFA, Keely!
Congratulations on your acceptance to the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.​


We are thrilled to officially welcome you to VCFA! Your voice will be a wonderful and important addition to our global community.”

Troublemakers and superpowers

I still feel every story. Troublemakers and Superpowers is in bookstores now!

Although I’d always dreamt of being a writer, I didn’t know how to make that dream come true. So, instead I poured my energy into the other thing I loved, fitness. But one day when nothing seemed to be working and I found myself advocating for my son again, I had an idea. Why not a profile book for the kids who are misunderstood? A book for the kids who struggle and have superpowers within but people haven’t quite believed in them yet. A friend believed in me and in this book and so did little bigfoot. I am eternally grateful to that friend and my publisher.

This whole process served me in ways I never expected. It helped me to better understand my kids, myself, and many others. I have more grey hairs and fine lines than I did when I started but I wouldn’t change a thing. This project honestly felt like I was running a marathon every day! I wasn’t a good writer in the beginning, like I was with running, but I think I ended this project a much better writer than how I began. This book provided deeper insights into lives and experiences that are different than mine, which made my job more intriguing and heartening. I’m grateful to those who were courageous in sharing their experiences on various media, so I could write these stories.

The ultimate hope for this book was to help people understand themselves and others more fully. I wanted more people to offer kindness rather than judgement. And I wanted the kids and adults struggling to know that they aren’t alone. Kids go through so much. Most of the time we haven’t a clue to what’s going on in their young minds. Usually, if adults are paying close attention and are open to the imperfectness that we all are, they will pick up on those things that might be a little bit different. Things that may need investigating and attention. Things that might seem like a problem but can actually be super powerful. That is what this book is about. I researched hundreds of people, wrote about 29 of them, searching for a troublemaker but actually finding their superpower!

Buy. Read. Enjoy. Share!

See your superpowers,

Keely