Children & Young Adult

About a month ago I did the bravest thing I have ever done in my life: self-published a novel, THE KEYS OF THE WATCHMEN, on Amazon. Compared to publishing a novel, writing a YA historical paranormal novel was a breeze!

My novel tells the story of Katelyn Michaels, a 17-year-old girl who is confronted by two unusual young men while visiting Mont Saint Michel in France. One insists she has come to save the mount, and the other will stop at nothing, even murder, to prevent her from fulfilling her destiny. I thought publishing would never be my destiny—but I am here to tell you that, like Katelyn, you do get to decide your destiny!

Now—lest you think this is my first rodeo, or my even first novel—I wrote my first novel in the 1980s…before some of you trying to publish novels now were even born! Some authors talk about the anguish of waiting months before they are finally published. Well, just try a thirty-year journey! Back then, I had my novel, I had my agent, and I thought I was on my way. My agent wooed me with tales of a bestselling novel and a feature film in the future…well, obviously that didn’t happen. And life happened instead. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I come by my passion for words honestly. My father was a storyteller par excellence, often making up tales to entertain us, and my 94-year-old mother’s life to this day is brimming with books. However, neither of my parents had the advantage of being college-educated since they came of age during WWII.

While my father flew mission after mission in a B-24 bomber, including on D-Day and during the Battle of the Bulge, my mother gave birth to their first baby. During those dark, uncertain days, he and my mother wrote letters to each other every day. However, after my father safely returned, that period was so excruciating for them both that they burned the letters. How I wish I could touch those pages, filled with words I can only imagine, but they are lost forever.

Wartime ended, and eventually I came along as the beloved baby in a family where good literature, proper English, and imaginative thinking were highly valued. I grew up telling stories and concocting poems just like my father.

I loved how—like colors—words could create somber scenes or capture bright, blissful moments. Now, as an adult, I write to compensate, in a way, for my parents’ lost words. I use my word-brush to paint satisfying stories that acquaint readers with some of the most marvelous places and moments in history.

My muse is and has always been La Belle France. My husband is French, and over the years we have discovered so many beauties and mysteries in France. I’m always getting new inspiration for stories as I explore its historic hills and ancient edifices. As you read my books, you will fall in love with France, too!

I am also a French translator, and the lyrical French language inspires my writing. I write not only to honor my past, but I write to honor my future, to leave something permanent for my own posterity, something that also links them with their French heritage.

My first novel, again, not THE KEYS OF THE WATCHMEN, was one called THE PEACOCK STONE. After the unfulfilled promises of my agent back in the 80s, that novel was filed away, along with my dreams of publishing fiction.

Then my husband was called as a mission president in Tahiti when he was 39 and I was 35 years old. I thought, “Mission president’s wives don’t write silly fiction; they submit articles to the Ensign and the Church News!” And so that is what I did.

After our time abroad, I was able to write SEASONS OF FAITH AND COURAGE, a history of the LDS Church in French Polynesia, with S. George Ellsworth, who was a wonderful mentor. The book was a success, but I still craved telling my own stories.

So in the 1990s, I wrote a second novel, THE SIGN OF THE OWL, about the Knights Templar and a secret society, but couldn’t get it published—I was told nobody would be interested in that topic! Then when I tried to sell it again ten years later, I was told it was a Dan Brown wannabe! I quit trying after that.

As I mentioned before, my husband is French, and together we have recently renovated his family’s historic cottage in the Brittany region. We have also taken many tour groups to France, and with my background as a docent at the LDS Church History Museum, I couldn’t help but share the history of each hill and each stone monument with our guests.

And a trip to France must include a trip to the incomparable Mont Saint Michel—a magical, mystical place, the legendary site of the War in Heaven where Lucifer and his followers were cast out. As I walked the ancient stones of the Mont, they murmured to me the story of Katelyn Michaels, my novel’s protagonist.

So, in the 2000s, I wrote the story of Katelyn, the Mont, and her destiny, then sent out this historical paranormal story to national agents. I was overjoyed when an editor at Deseret Book called me in, only to discover she loved my story, but couldn’t sell it to Deseret Book. She wanted me to write “an LDS novel.” Well, I thought I had!

WATCHMEN is laced with gospel concepts like the pre-existence, the War in Heaven, agency, and the plan of salvation—but in a way that also appeals to a non-LDS audience. I just couldn’t bring myself to write an LDS story (no offense to those who do publish with DB!).

I still had hope of publication fueled by very positive comments from several other agents. But one by one, they turned it down. When I received the rejection email from the final agent (while at Walt Disney World no less!), I couldn’t take any more. I was finally done trying to publish and putting myself through this agony.

The only problem was—I couldn’t stop writing, and people liked my writing. I had articles published in Church publications and BYU academic publications. My fiction won awards at writer’s conferences. If I could write, and evidence pointed to this conclusion, then why on earth couldn’t I get published?

One day my daughter Christine said, “It’s a different world now. Publishers don’t take risks to sign new writers because everyone is self-publishing. This is a viable option. I believe in your writing; you have to try.”

After thirty years of trying in vain, it really would have been easier to give up. But Christine spent countless hours helping me navigate the self-publishing world while also raising her young family. My incredibly supportive husband took on planning Christmas so I could focus on my book; he also put together a website for me in just two days!

We had to do everything ourselves, including deciphering strict format requirements, designing the cover, and filing for a Library of Congress number. It has been its own kind of agony. But at long last, my book is published!

My story—Katelyn’s story—is out there and promises to enchant all who pick up a copy of the book (or an e-copy on their Kindle)! So if you are wondering if you can really publish a book, you can! WATCHMEN is proof of that.

And I still have more stories to tell: two more novels continuing Katelyn Michaels’s story in the Watchmen Saga. I also plan to get my (currently out of print) nonfiction book on Amazon as well—I still get constant requests for it. And you may yet see THE PEACOCK STONE and THE SIGN OF THE OWL in print. I have so many words to share. Grab a croissant and come along for the ride.

Kathleen C. Perrin is the author of the new Young Adult paranormal novel THE KEYS OF THE WATCHMEN, set in one of France’s most unique sites, Mont Saint Michel.

Kathleen holds bachelor’s degrees in French and Humanities from Brigham Young University and is a certified French translator. She has published several non-fiction articles, academic papers, and a religious history about Tahiti, where her husband served as a mission president.

Kathleen has lived in Utah, New York City, France, and French Polynesia. She and her French husband have spent years investigating the mysteries and beauties of his native country—where they have a cottage—and have taken tourists to Mont Saint Michel.

The Perrins have three children and currently reside in Utah.

Novel Summary: During a tourist trip to Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France, 17-year-old Katelyn Michaels is confronted by two unusual young men, one who insists she is there to save the mount, and the other who will stop at nothing, even murder, to prevent her from fulfilling her destiny. This is the first in a series of three novels that make up THE WATCHMEN SAGA.