https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/hauraki-herald/101935085/coroglen-author-releases-first-novel-secures-series-deal
Coroglen author releases first novel, secures series deal
Katarina Lee has secured a publishing deal after the release of her first novel, Rise of the Boy King
Coroglen resident Katarina Lee has a publishing deal to complete a series of novels - after taking seven years to get her first novel published.
Rise of the Boy King, a story about two 12-year-old Coromandel boys going back in time to 1333BC Egypt after disappearing in a maize field, was inspired her and her son's passion for Egyptology.
Lee said she had been watching something about Tutankhaman with her son on television when he jumped up yelling, "Oh, the Pharoah! The prince! The Prince!".
In that moment, Lee thought her son "looked like a little prince", and it moved her to localise the story by having the characters live in the area.
The novel deals with mental illness. Lee said she made it so one of the main characters' "feelings are all mixed up".
At the start of the story, one of them "wants to jump off a cliff," she said.
Lee said she would like to put part of the proceeds for the novel towards mental health in New Zealand. "We already have quite a good system, but we can always improve."
She wanted to do a national book tour - speaking to not only people in public, but also to visit rehab facilities and prisons, about "how we can keep sane in an insane world".
Lee, along with her book, wanted to "raise awareness that the world is bigger than we think" and help them "visualise their futures".
Rise of the Boy King, and the forthcoming series, were self-published with a Xlibris, a company based in Indiana, United States, with the novels being printed in Australia.
The series is titled Lost in Time, with the second novel being released later this year.
Lee hopes the series will total about four or five novels.
"It was a bit of a gamble" getting the novel printed internationally, she said. "I just hoped I hadn't been scammed."
Rise of the Boy King was released last December under the name A.K. Solimov.
Lee will be holding a book signing at Carson's Bookshop, Thames, on March 17, 11am-2pm.
- Stuff
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