meet
KELLY COON
USA Today bestselling author and master’s degree educator Kelly Coon is the Nautilus Award winning author of young adult novels, Gravemaidens, Warmaidens (Penguin Random House) and Prank Night (Simon & Schuster); young adult nonfiction, Take Up Space, Y’all (Hachette Book Group), 180 Days of Creative Writing Prompts (Caslmon Clark), Ace the ACT and ACT Strategy Smart (REA, Inc.); and thousands of nonfiction articles in the education, business, and parenting realm.
She’s an editor, a member of the Washington Post Talent Network, and an author who loves writing characters who challenge social norms and battle inner demons to become their best (and worst) selves.
When she's not writing, she’s hanging out with her kids, taking a Peloton class, or reading a good book in the sunshine. She lives outside of Tampa, Florida with her family and two pups who refuse proper training.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
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Which jobs have you had?
Housekeeper; ice cream scooper; Don Pablo's and Outback server; Y2K researcher (back when we thought the world was going to explode at midnight on January 1st, 2000); luxury apartment salesperson extraordinaire; middle school substitute teacher (hoo boy); high school teacher; writer; editor
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What's the first book that made you cry?
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, who is still one of my favorite MG authors.
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How long does it take you to write a book?
Eleventy-million hours. Also, it depends on the type of book. I wrote ACT Strategy Smart in three months before edits, but it took me a full year to write Gravemaidens because of life and no deadlines. I’ve found, however, that on deadline I work faster. I wrote the first draft of the sequel to Gravemaidens in 42 days and the first draft of a sci-fi in 36 days.
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What is the most difficult scene you've written?
My main character witnesses a woman getting the teeth bashed out of her head with a brick in Gravemaidens. It took me a week to write that scene because I kept having to force myself to write the accompanying sounds. Blech.
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Which writer do you admire the most?
Wow. It's really difficult to name just one, but if forced by sword point and a gangplank, I’m going to have to say Toni Morrison. She’s an all-around amazing author. Pulitzer prize-winner. Nobel prize-winner. Fought racism and misogyny despite everything thrown against her. She’s tough in her delivery of human truths. Remarkably so. But she crafts beauty with just as much ferocity.
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If you weren't a writer, what would you be?
A surgeon!
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Where do you live?
In Florida outside of Tampa.
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Have you ever Googled yourself?
You haven't? You should. You never know what's out there.
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What's your favorite book?
Soooooo manyyyyyy and for a multitude of different reasons. A few I love:
Pulitzers: Beloved, by Toni Morrison, The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
YA Fiction: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Immoral Code by Lillian Clark, Never Saw You Coming, by Erin Hahn, Legend by Marie Lu, An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir, The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh, Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. -
Any favorite TV shows?
Oh gosh, got a pen? The writing on The Good Wife is sneaky with the cliffhangers at the end of every show. I also kind of adore trash TV where people are instantly married at the altar the first time they meet. I'm also in love with The Handmaid's Tale and was a This is Us FANATIC before it ended.
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Favorite movies?
Erin Brokovich. Dirty Dancing. Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Titanic. Dead Poet’s Society. Legally Blonde. Amelie. Braveheart. The Shawshank Redemption. Gladiator. Good Will Hunting. Slumdog Millionaire.
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Can you do any cool tricks?
I can roll my tongue three times. And I know most of the lyrics to "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J. That's pretty much it. Oh! I can speak a little German, which comes in handy almost never.
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What's something most people don't know about you?
I sing all of the time when I'm home alone. If I try it in front of my kids, they tell me to be quiet. Also, even though I'm a serious extrovert (where's the party????), an ideal two hours would involve me sitting on my couch with a coffee, a blanket, and the next amazing novel.