Local author reads to Monte crowd

Kathryn Taylor is the author of children’s book “Zip-Line Mice”

Local author Kathryn Taylor gave a presentation before a small group of attendees on her new children’s book, “Zip-Line Mice,” at the Montesano Timberland Library on Nov. 14.

Remarkably, Taylor said authorship wasn’t something that came easily to her, given she struggled with literacy as a young adult.

“I shouldn’t have graduated from high school or the eighth grade. I really couldn’t read at all when I graduated,” she confessed. “This is unusual for me. I can tell a story, and I have always told stories. But writing them down and reading out loud — horrification.”

One certainly wouldn’t know that from perusing her book written under the whimsical pen name Blue Bell Honeymouse. Set in mid-nineteenth century Scotland, her story focuses on the adventures of mice, cats and other animals given anthropomorphic characteristics. She’s also produced a related coloring book.

Taylor said she initially wrote the work several years ago in the space of about a month. Upon her husband Kevin’s advice, she took another six months or so working on illustrations even though she admits she’s a better sculptor than illustrator.

Getting published proved more difficult than writing, Taylor said, and she finally settled on putting the book out herself this past October in a print-on-demand format through Amazon-affiliated self-publishing firm Create Space. Even with self-publishing, there were a number of headache-inducing demands she had to meet before the book could finally appear, she explained.

Taylor now is working on donating her books to area hospitals to give to young patients. She said she also has approached a major retailer about the possibility of donating colored pencils.

“That’s my mission – to hopefully get books to children in the hospital,” she said, mentioning she’d recently given several copies to Providence St. Peter in Olympia.

Taylor also has a follow-up book featuring some of the same characters in the works.

Her current book is available from a variety of outlets, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon, for $20. The coloring book is $10.