About the Book

Book: Chasing the Blue Boat: A Novel of Longing

Author: Connie Kallback

Genre: Historical Coming of Age

Release Date: November 26, 2024

Nine-year-old Dana Foster will follow her older brother, Luke, wherever he goes. From climbing on ledges, jumping in a fish pond, and causing general mischief, Luke is fearless. But when tragedy strikes the Foster family, everything that Dana has ever known is suddenly turned upside down. When the storms of life come, will the Foster family stand firm in their faith? Or will they shatter under the pressure? Suddenly, a blue boat that Dana and Luke received from their uncle leads Dana on a journey of faith, hope, and love that she will not soon forget.

In this coming-of-age story, discover the truths of God’s grace in suffering, the blessing of forgiveness, and how to hold on to your faith when all hope seems lost.

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About the Author

Connie Kallback grew up on the plains of Cheyenne, Wyoming, attended the University of Wyoming, and graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle. She transitioned from English teacher to publishing in New Jersey with CCMI/McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, and CPP, Inc, in positions from writer to acquisitions and managing editor. Her early writing, penned while teaching, appeared in magazines, newspapers and literary journals. No longer wearing the hats of Mary Poppins or Sherlock Holmes, necessities of raising six children in two separate families, she writes in South Carolina where she lives with her husband.

More from Connie

The idea for Chasing the Blue Boat began with the memory of a dangerous escapade from my early childhood years. The thought of it scares me to this day.

I grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and lived one block from the Wyoming State Capitol Building. One day I followed my older brother there, up nearly 20 steps from the ground to the grand side entrance with giant doors flanked by a waist-high wall and soaring support columns. We scaled the wall close to the building and placed our feet on an architectural ledge that circled the entire structure. Hoping to follow it all the way around, we began to sidle sideways, hugging the stone.

I remember being scared, but my unrealistic stage of thinking made me hope the grass would break my fall!

We made it around the first corner – I don’t know how – and continued along the front until a woman in an office inside spotted me. Knowing we shouldn’t be there, we reversed our steps and ran home.

That’s how the fictional coming-of-age story begins. Dana, the young girl, joins her brother in many adventures before a tragedy changes her whole family and sends each of them on separate journeys of suffering, accompanied by hope and forgiveness.

Author Interview

1. What is the greatest advice you have ever been given about writing?

Years ago, I met poet/writer Derek Walcott, who was giving a talk at a school where I once taught in New Jersey. I drove him to a book conference 50 miles away because the teacher assigned to do that was tired after a long day. It was interesting to see the way he interacted in positive, encouraging ways with hopeful writers. His parting message to them and to me was simple: Keep writing! He called it, “working,” which gave added meaning and importance to the work involved in writing.

I’d like to add: Make God your writing partner. Have a talk with him and keep writing.

2. What book made you fall in love with reading?

Before I could read for myself, my mother read aloud The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame to my brother and me on either side of her in a wide rocker. I would be asleep before the evening’s chapter finished, and Mom would carry me to bed. The cozy feeling and the sound of the words made it a favorite book even though I didn’t understand all of it at the time. It also attracted me to reading in general.

Later when I could read on my own, I was amazed at the way words jumped from the page. On my first trip to the library, I checked out, This is a Watchbird Watching You. Each page described a bad habit such as not cleaning your plate. At the top of the page, the Watchbird, a funny, gawky bird with an elongated beak asked, “Were you a dirty plate today?” I was forever hooked on books.

3. What was the most challenging part of bringing Chasing the Blue Boat to life?

I ended up writing way too much. Because I had written mostly shorter pieces for newspapers, magazines, and journals, I was anxious about the book being too short. I ended up with 120,000 words. An indie publisher that seemed to be a good fit for what I was writing allowed a maximum of 80,000 words. I began cutting anything that didn’t add to the story and tightening what was left. After several months of work, I was happy with the shorter length. I went back to them and discovered they’d changed their company focus to romance only. Many sighs.

In the long run, the shorter length was better for self-publishing as well as traditional because a higher number of pages drives up the price of the book. In the end, my book was picked up by Ambassador International, a wonderful independent Christian publisher, operating in Greenville, SC, and Ireland. Everyone there has been great to work with.

4. What was the most rewarding?

Having a professional copyeditor comb through my work was worth the whole journey. Several people read it before I turned it in, but there’s nothing like a good copyeditor. They truly earn their money. My biggest desire? Feedback about whether the story worked for most readers and if the characters appeared to be authentic.

The wonderful copyeditor who worked with me through Ambassador International could easily sympathize with main character Dana and her family, but when she got to 14-year-old Seth and his grandmother later in the book, she felt they were too perfect to be believable. They didn’t yearn for anything. In addition to that, Seth sometimes sounded too wise for his age. Her advice hit hard at first because they were among my favorites. I especially loved Seth.

I slept on the copyeditor’s advice and awoke with the realization that she was right on all counts and set about to fix it.

5. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Before you go, where can readers keep up with what’s next?

Go to my website, www.chasingtheblueboat.com. Yes, I know it should be listed with my name rather than a book, but my husband, a webmaster for two decades, bought the domain for Chasing the Blue Boat. I’m leaving it that way for now because it’s my first book. The website also has samples of some of my creative nonfiction and poems, published mostly in journals. Enjoy!