Local artist, author publishes first novel
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Highland County resident Pamela Whiting Keaton proudly announces the publication of her first novel. "Malina and the Lost Art" is classified as “tween” fiction, but Keaton says it appeals to readers of a much wider age range. Set in southwest Ohio, the story mentions several familiar landmarks and discusses area history as the main character uses local resources to solve a very old mystery.
“Malina is a 12-year-old girl whose parents are remodeling the town's largest historic home," Keaton said. "With her keen observation skills and the forensic science kit she received for her last birthday, Malina makes an amazing discovery inside her home. The discovery sends Malina on a quest to learn everything she can about her home and her town in order to solve a mystery that began over 100 years earlier."
The book features several hand-drawn pen illustrations including scenes inside the Highland County Recorder's office and the Ohio Room at the Wilmington Public Library and at the front entrance of Lake Lorelei. Also featured are the John Rankin House in Ripley, the Morrow Bobbitt Cemetery in Lynchburg and Camp Joy's old frontier cabin located on their grounds in Clarksville. Keaton included Camp Joy's Underground Railroad reenactments as part of her main character's background experience.
“Several of my friends have worked at Camp Joy over the years,” Keaton said. “When I heard about the Underground Railroad reenactments — which are designed to educate and create awareness in a fun and memorable way — I knew the experience was a great fit for Malina.”
Keaton is a lifelong resident of the Highland, Clinton and Brown County area and is a 1986 graduate of Wilmington High School, where she received her only formal art training under the tutelage of the school's longtime art instructor, James McCarty. Keaton credits McCarty for awakening her interest in art and for predicting that she one would day “do something special.”
“I don't know if this book and its illustrations come even close to what Mac had in mind, but it's the biggest thing I've done so far, and I am excited about it,” Keaton said.
Keaton has been a professional real estate appraiser for over 20 years but has performed many art commissions on the side, specializing in oil, watercolor and pencil portraiture. In the past several years, her commissions have included murals, custom greeting cards and almost a dozen published book covers. Most recently, Keaton did the cover art and interior illustrations for a children's book entitled "Burton the Sneezing Cow," written by Lisa Hall and available on Amazon.com. Incidentally, this book includes a street scene which, Keaton says, was formed by combining streets from Lynchburg and New Vienna.
Other highlights in Keaton's art career include having one of her originals purchased, a few years ago, by Southern State Community College for inclusion in their permanent collection. In 2011, Keaton's artwork was also used in an advertising campaign by Fidelity Orthopedic, a Dayton-based prosthetic practice. This year, two of Keaton's paintings are featured in the 2013 calendar by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Keaton traces her first desire to be a published writer back to an English class assignment while attending Roger O. Borror Middle School in Wilmington.
“We each wrote and illustrated our own book,” Keaton said. “The teacher typed them up for us and left spaces for us to paste in our illustrations. Then she even had them bound with wallpaper-covered cardboard and put them on a shelf in the library. I don't remember what my story was about, but I remember the excitement of knowing that a book I wrote and illustrated was available for all to see.”
Keaton says she put her creative aspirations on the back burner for many years while pursuing her “real life,” but something always felt missing. In 2002, Keaton began producing artwork again, and in 2006, while her artwork was featured on the walls of the Mt. Orab Public Library, one of the librarians strongly encouraged Keaton to consider children's book illustration. From there, Keaton became a member of the Brown County Writers Group and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Since that time, two of Keaton's short stories were published in story collections by Mountain Girl Press entitled "The Zinnia Tales" and "Self-Rising Flowers." Another of Keaton's short stories is scheduled to appear, later this year, in "Broken Petals," a collection by Jan-Carol Publising, Inc.
Keaton first wrote "Malina and the Lost Art" for a 2006 contest by a well-known New York City publishing house. When it did not win, Keaton put the manuscript in a drawer for several years. A few years ago, she pulled it back out and read it with fresh eyes.
“I was not at all surprised that it didn't win that contest,” Keaton said. “A large part of the story takes place in the 1850s in Brown County, Ohio, and there was not one mention of slavery, the Underground Railroad, Ulysses S. Grant or anything else about local history for that matter. I realized that I wasn't anywhere near finished with the book, so I sat down and had a lot of fun doing the necessary research that gives the story more depth.”
Keaton says she does not intend to stop with this first novel.
“I already have several other mysteries in mind for Malina to solve," Keaton said. "This process has taken a lot of work and time, though, and as an appraiser, I am familiar with the terms 'feasibility study' and 'point of diminishing returns.' Getting this first book to print, I had to put those concerns out of my head in order to accomplish my childhood dream.”
Keaton says time, and market reaction, may have roles to play in how quickly the second book in the series comes to light.
Keaton will be selling and signing books on Sept. 28 from 1-5 p.m. at Camp Joy's recreation center during their 75-year Harvest Fest event. For more information on this event, please visit www.camp-joy.org.
"Malina and the Lost Art" is currently available on several internet-based marketing sites. Keaton also hopes to make her book available in several local bookstores and gift outlets in the next few months.
More information is available on Keaton's website at www.pamkeaton.com.
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“Malina is a 12-year-old girl whose parents are remodeling the town's largest historic home," Keaton said. "With her keen observation skills and the forensic science kit she received for her last birthday, Malina makes an amazing discovery inside her home. The discovery sends Malina on a quest to learn everything she can about her home and her town in order to solve a mystery that began over 100 years earlier."
The book features several hand-drawn pen illustrations including scenes inside the Highland County Recorder's office and the Ohio Room at the Wilmington Public Library and at the front entrance of Lake Lorelei. Also featured are the John Rankin House in Ripley, the Morrow Bobbitt Cemetery in Lynchburg and Camp Joy's old frontier cabin located on their grounds in Clarksville. Keaton included Camp Joy's Underground Railroad reenactments as part of her main character's background experience.
“Several of my friends have worked at Camp Joy over the years,” Keaton said. “When I heard about the Underground Railroad reenactments — which are designed to educate and create awareness in a fun and memorable way — I knew the experience was a great fit for Malina.”
Keaton is a lifelong resident of the Highland, Clinton and Brown County area and is a 1986 graduate of Wilmington High School, where she received her only formal art training under the tutelage of the school's longtime art instructor, James McCarty. Keaton credits McCarty for awakening her interest in art and for predicting that she one would day “do something special.”
“I don't know if this book and its illustrations come even close to what Mac had in mind, but it's the biggest thing I've done so far, and I am excited about it,” Keaton said.
Keaton has been a professional real estate appraiser for over 20 years but has performed many art commissions on the side, specializing in oil, watercolor and pencil portraiture. In the past several years, her commissions have included murals, custom greeting cards and almost a dozen published book covers. Most recently, Keaton did the cover art and interior illustrations for a children's book entitled "Burton the Sneezing Cow," written by Lisa Hall and available on Amazon.com. Incidentally, this book includes a street scene which, Keaton says, was formed by combining streets from Lynchburg and New Vienna.
Other highlights in Keaton's art career include having one of her originals purchased, a few years ago, by Southern State Community College for inclusion in their permanent collection. In 2011, Keaton's artwork was also used in an advertising campaign by Fidelity Orthopedic, a Dayton-based prosthetic practice. This year, two of Keaton's paintings are featured in the 2013 calendar by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Keaton traces her first desire to be a published writer back to an English class assignment while attending Roger O. Borror Middle School in Wilmington.
“We each wrote and illustrated our own book,” Keaton said. “The teacher typed them up for us and left spaces for us to paste in our illustrations. Then she even had them bound with wallpaper-covered cardboard and put them on a shelf in the library. I don't remember what my story was about, but I remember the excitement of knowing that a book I wrote and illustrated was available for all to see.”
Keaton says she put her creative aspirations on the back burner for many years while pursuing her “real life,” but something always felt missing. In 2002, Keaton began producing artwork again, and in 2006, while her artwork was featured on the walls of the Mt. Orab Public Library, one of the librarians strongly encouraged Keaton to consider children's book illustration. From there, Keaton became a member of the Brown County Writers Group and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Since that time, two of Keaton's short stories were published in story collections by Mountain Girl Press entitled "The Zinnia Tales" and "Self-Rising Flowers." Another of Keaton's short stories is scheduled to appear, later this year, in "Broken Petals," a collection by Jan-Carol Publising, Inc.
Keaton first wrote "Malina and the Lost Art" for a 2006 contest by a well-known New York City publishing house. When it did not win, Keaton put the manuscript in a drawer for several years. A few years ago, she pulled it back out and read it with fresh eyes.
“I was not at all surprised that it didn't win that contest,” Keaton said. “A large part of the story takes place in the 1850s in Brown County, Ohio, and there was not one mention of slavery, the Underground Railroad, Ulysses S. Grant or anything else about local history for that matter. I realized that I wasn't anywhere near finished with the book, so I sat down and had a lot of fun doing the necessary research that gives the story more depth.”
Keaton says she does not intend to stop with this first novel.
“I already have several other mysteries in mind for Malina to solve," Keaton said. "This process has taken a lot of work and time, though, and as an appraiser, I am familiar with the terms 'feasibility study' and 'point of diminishing returns.' Getting this first book to print, I had to put those concerns out of my head in order to accomplish my childhood dream.”
Keaton says time, and market reaction, may have roles to play in how quickly the second book in the series comes to light.
Keaton will be selling and signing books on Sept. 28 from 1-5 p.m. at Camp Joy's recreation center during their 75-year Harvest Fest event. For more information on this event, please visit www.camp-joy.org.
"Malina and the Lost Art" is currently available on several internet-based marketing sites. Keaton also hopes to make her book available in several local bookstores and gift outlets in the next few months.
More information is available on Keaton's website at www.pamkeaton.com.
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