One Year on Broadway blog tour

Happy Friday! Today I'm delighted to welcome a guest post from one of my oldest blogging friends, Kathryn McKendry, who is celebrating the release of what sounds like a fascinating memoir. Here's Kathy to explain more.

First of all, thank you Nick for letting me take over your blog.

Today I’m talking about my new release One Year on Broadway: Finding Ourselves Between the Sand and the Sea

This is the true story of how my husband, Jesse, and I became co-producers of the Tony Award winning Broadway Revival of our favorite musical, Once on This Island, and the incredible year-long journey that ensued.

You might be thinking, “Oh they must have spent years in the theater business, in order to do that.”

Well not in our case. Neither Jesse nor I have any theater background other than the fact that we are fans of Broadway musicals and super-fans of Once on This Island.

Of course you’ll have to read the book to find out the whole story but here’s a sneak peek at how it all started: 

Over twenty-five years ago, when Jesse and I were both in college, he stumbled upon the U.S. tour of the original Broadway production of Once on This Island. He bought tickets and it was our first fancy date together. 

Set on an island in the French Antilles, we were enchanted by the heart-felt Caribbean tale and its colorful music. But even more than that, we saw a bit of ourselves in the two young main characters who had fallen in love despite their parents’ and society’s disapproval. Their story mirrored ours and touched both of us to the core. It also gave me the strength to choose my own path, to choose Jesse, not allowing my parents to decide for me. We could only hope that our tale would end differently. 

It’s amazing how deeply a story-whether, a book, a movie, or a musical can touch someone’s life and forever change them.

Fast forward to 2017 where by a strange twist of fate, we were led back to the Island. Jesse happened to be on a business trip in New York City where he heard about someone producing a Broadway revival of the show. One crazy decision led to another, and suddenly we were co-producers of the show that had changed our lives.

We had no idea how much more the show was going to give us.

One Year On Broadway is my love letter to Once On This Island.

I would love to hear what stories have impacted your lives the most. Did you see a musical or a movie that influenced you so much that you would never be the same? Or was there a book that changed your life forever?

Thanks again Nick for having me!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Kathryn McKendry

*****

Back cover blurb:

A true story of forbidden love, adventure, and letting go

How do you know when it’s time to close one chapter of your life and begin a new one? To let go of the past, open your heart, and trust in a new beginning? At first we said, “no.” We knew it was ridiculous.

And yet something in our hearts led us back to the Island. Having no idea where it would lead us, my husband and I took a leap of faith and became co-producers of the Broadway Revival of Once On This Island, the musical that had given us so much. Even if it failed, we would have a great story to tell. We ended up with so much more.

GoodReads Description:

A true story of forbidden love, adventure, and letting go. Weaving together a fan girl's tribute to her all-time favorite musical and a memoir, One Year on Broadway is a closeup view into the production of a Broadway musical and a testament to the power of the stories that become a part of us forever.

Pre-order link for e-book on Amazon

Amazon paperback link

Goodreads link

IWSG August 2021

It's time for the first Wednesday of the month and time of course for our monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers of all kinds can share fears and insecurities without fear of being judged. Today's co-hosts are PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi and Sandra Cox.

This month's optional question is: What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time you read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?

I know this is an answer that will probably come up A LOT today, but I'd have to say Stephen King's On Writing. I like the fact that it's partly an autobiography, which makes it more engaging than some other books that are focused only on theory. For an author starting out, it's very inspiring because they can see that even the great and the good had trials and setbacks starting out. And overall it has a very laidback and conversational style. I haven't picked up the actual book for a while, but you don't really need to when quotes come up from it so often on memes and social media. I'd definitely recommend to any new writer. 

What about insecurities for this month? Well, I've been venturing into uncharted territory by drafting a synopsis and query letter for my current WIP. These are notoriously hard to get right, and although I did struggle to reduce everything down to a couple of pithy paragraphs, I did quite enjoy the process too. I'm not supposed to enjoy it, am I? That probably means I'm not doing it right, and it will likely take a bit more polishing to get it right, or even just good.

More entries to this month's IWSG can be found here. I'm looking forward to picking up some craft book tips!

Also, don't forget there's only a few more weeks to enter for this year's IWSG anthology contest, with a theme of "Sweet Romance." Closing date is September 1. Full details can be found here.