Back in the Saddle: New Releases and Querying Again

Phew! After two crazy back-to-back semesters of university life, I am happy to be taking the summer off from my studies. Next Fall 2019, I'll be back at BYU, diving straight into my new major, NEUROSCIENCE! To be honest, I'm feeling totally Hermione about it. 

The Hermione we love, doing advanced magic in the girls room.

I already bought my textbook for Neurobiology and, I kid you not, all the reviews on Amazon are raving about this textbook. Apparently, it's a real page-turner! It's called Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, 4th Edition, in case you want to pick it up for a bit of light reading...

Books on my desk right now... all the light reading you could wish for

I know you're dying to know what I'm up to now that school's out for the summer! Well, aside from pre-reading my Neuroscience textbook for fun, I'm writing again.

Phew again! I have missed this!

I recently published my first adult self-help/inspirational book, The Healing Bucket: How to Invite the Power of Intentional Growth into Your Life this Year! It's available as an ebook wherever ebooks are sold, and in paperback through Amazon. The audiobook will be available later this year.

A Christian inspirational journaling aid

This past winter I hired an incredible voice actor, Jay Spaulding, to narrate Drats, Foiled Again!, my first middle grade superhero novel. He did an enviable job! Seriously, I wish I could do voices half as well as he does. We've listened to him perform my characters half a dozen times already!

The most adventurous audiobook ever, fun for the whole family!

My sweet little almost-seven-year-old thinks audiobooks are an automatic thing. As I've been working on finishing up Bombs Away!, the evil twin's version of the story, I read a little bit of Chapter 1 to my three oldest kids. The seven-year-old didn't mind my reading too much... "But," he asked, "can I listen to this book tonight on your phone?"

What do you think, Jay? Want to read my kids to sleep from an unpublished manuscript? You're not too busy for that, right? Right?

My kids are totally into audiobooks. The donation I received to allow me to hire Jay is definitely my biggest blessing all year. It has been surreal to hear my story retold in such a dynamic, living way. I'm grateful--through the roof grateful--for the opportunity.

Bombs Away! will be available digitally in June 2019, and in paperback about a month later. So long as Jay agrees to voice it, and I wouldn't have it any other way, you can expect that to happen (hopefully, fingers crossed) by the end of 2019.

Pre-order here

Since the name of this series is The Drats Universe, people have asked me just how many installments they can expect. Well, the truth is I'm not sure yet. I know for sure there will be at least three books because I have another plot cooking right now in the back of my brain. (It gets hot in there!) 

My Van-Gogh-inspired rendition of the active brain: Alive and Awake

The uncertainty comes about mainly because of time constraints. I'm officially a junior at my university, so there's really only a couple years left of material for me to learn before I earn my bachelor's degree. 

Buuuut...

Since I am the doting mother of five children whose education and upbringing is my number one priority, I will only be able to attend classes/labs part-time. 

BYU Eyring Science Center
The Neuroscience Center is on the bottom floor

Therefore, what could take two years will likely take four. The good news is that my oldest will be dipping his toes into the AP testing universe, so the fact that I'm taking all these science and math courses now will enable me to be a killer (I mean, not killer because we don't kill in our family) AP tutor.

No killing. Srsly.

Writing again for the middle grade audience is like coming back to my childhood playground and finding the swings empty and waiting. I am enjoying it immensely!

However, that part of me that is brimming with picture book ideas is still alive and well, too. So today I sent my first query letter in years! I sent it to a children's book publisher with whom I would absolutely love to work! I can't divulge too much about the picture book project, but it's about dragons and it draws on what I've been studying about neuroscience and behavior as I prepare to enter the program at the Y. All the studies that have been done on how to manipulate your own biochemistry and maintain a peaceful, productive mental and emotional state really need to be made available to children and families in ways they can understand and use. The family is where children receive their first instruction in emotion management. If parents never learned effective emotional management techniques, then the automatic dysfunctional habits they learned from their parents end up being passed along to the rising generation. 

The boys helping me pick up my St. George Marathon packet - 2018

As a mother, I speak from experience. Kicking my own bad habits and teaching effective emotional management is a personal mission for me in my own family. They say this generation deals with more anxiety and depression than any generation before it. There's much work to be done, and I believe we can usher in an era of optimism and health when people who care work together to raise awareness and teach mental hygiene skills.

As I continue to learn, I hope I'll have opportunities to share the useful tips and tricks of the trade with readers everywhere! That's the dream!

Tell me, what are your dreams and projects this year?

                                                                                                

How to Invite the Power of Intentional Growth into Your Life this Year

Exciting news! I have a new book out and it's available for pre-order now!

 I'm so happy to be able to offer this to readers who are looking forward to some serious and intentional personal growth in 2019! Read the ebook with a journal or notebook handy because this book is meant to give you ideas...

The Healing Bucket: How to Invite the 

Power of Intentional Growth 

into Your Life this Year

by K.L. Lantz

This is my first foray into the realm of nonfiction as well as into the world of Christian motivational books. I personally love inspirational books of all kinds, and have read excellent books by Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons (Latter-day Saints) like me, and those of no particular faith. In fact, a few of these authors are referenced in my own book because a book without references is a sad, lonely island. As such, my book is rich with references to scientific studies, wisdom from other books I have read, as well as personal experiences that have informed my perspectives.

I've written this book because I believe that every person's experiences qualify him or her to share unique perspectives on universal wisdom. We all come at this big, blue world from different angles. It's through our differences that we discover the most powerful truths about what makes us human and what that even means. My faith informs every decision I make in my life, so it wouldn't have felt right to write this book without it. The main reason I had to include a fair dose of God in a book about overcoming personal challenges is that all of the amazing personal achievements I had in 2018 were gifts. Yes, I am the one who ran the marathon in the rain. I am the one who busted my butt until twenty-five pounds fell off. I am the one who wrote and published my first middle grade novel. I am the one who, terrified though I was, squeezed myself into a leotard and took an adult ballet class every Friday at 10am. I am the one who signed up for science classes and went back to college. But you guys, God is the one who gave me the breath from day to day enabling me to take these frightening paths. God is the one who lined up the ducks and made it easy(er). God is the one who comforted me and guided me through the lowest points of my journey--and every journey has 'em. Yes, it would have been ungrateful not to include God. 

I hope that those who pick up The Healing Bucket discover in themselves strength they never knew they had, and power to change their lives. I also hope those who journal their way through this book will acknowledge all of their angels, the mundane and the divine, who help them along the way. As I mention in Chapter 11, gratitude is the secret to lasting happiness. Oops, I'm giving it all away. Just don't forget to pick up your digital copy. At $4.69, it is a steal! Enjoy!

Here's the blurb:

Prepare yourself for the future life you want to live. While there may be bucket lists full of items that sound exotic or alluring, the best goals are the most personal ones. What you want is not a bucket list, but a healing bucket. The items you add to your healing bucket will not come from a travel website or a fashion blog. They will call to you from within your heart as you use the power of prayer and this unique journaling aid to find the fulfillment you've been longing to find. This isn't just a journal and it isn't just a Christian motivational book. It's a little of both. And it's an invitation, a guide to a journey that ends with a greater sense of purpose and meaning, the kind that can only be found on a journey with Christ.

Katrina Lantz is the author of the middle grade book Drats, Foiled Again! She is also a wife and mother to five rowdy boys. Finding peace and a fulfilling purpose in the midst of a sometimes crowded and chaotic life has not been easy for her, but with God all things are possible. Writing as K.L. Lantz, Katrina leans on her faith as a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints and shares her experiences after an intense year of goal-setting and miraculous fulfillment in this unique inspirational book, The Healing Bucket. Some miracles are big and some are small, but all have the same source. Lantz invites you to lean on Christ while daring to dream of a bigger and brighter life for yourself and those you love.

And the COVER!!

Pre-Order Now