Happy April Inklings,

 I can’t believe we’re four months into 2026, which simultaneously feels like it flew but also feeling like it’s been an eternity. I try to find positives where I can though, and one of those is that spring is here for those of us in the northern hemisphere. 

Spring is something I always look forward to. It’s a season of renewal, rebirth, and return. I love watching the color green burst back into life, and migratory patterns bring back the local fauna that had been gone for the winter. Most importantly though, spring means I can spend more time outdoors and taking hikes which is where I feel most at peace. I’m planning on taking many scenic hikes this year, and I’ll hopefully be able to share pictures. 

Updates at Hook & Quill

We’ve been very busy over here this past month and have a few projects that we’re very excited about. 

First, we have The Gods of Atalantis by our own Emily Klotz! 

The Gods at Atalantis follows a young girl named Mireia as she finds out she has been chosen as a candidate for the human reincarnation of a goddess known as the Sea Mother as she meets Kena a candidate for the human reincarnation of a god known as the Sea Father as they try to carve out their own destinies amongst scheming politicians, dangerous fanatics, and a prophecy of doom for the entire island. 

This first book of her Atalantis trilogy will be released digitally on April 30, 2026 with a physical copy to follow later this year. 

Preorders are open, so grab your copy today! 

Amazon | Books2Read 

Please keep an eye on Emily’s Bluesky account (here) and the Hook & Quill Bluesky (here) for more updates. I’ve also got a feature all about Emily and Atalantis below, so keep reading for more!  

Next, we have the physical release of Bludeye Beach by Eliwood S. Gheist! 

Bludeye Beach is a spooky tale full of friendship, romance, and cryptids that takes place in a small beach town. As she spends her first summer there, Edie Grayson comes to realize that there’s  much more to Bludeye than anyone could ever suspect. 

Physical copies are now available, so order yours today!

Bookshop.org | Barnes and Noble | Amazon 

Personal Updates

Currently Reading: The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon and Margin of Error by Rachel Lacey 

Currently Watching: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 

Currently Listening to: Mitski’s latest album Nothing’s About to Happen to Me

This month I’ll be excited to go on a hike hosted by a local queer hiking group where we’ll be looking for and learning all about various local mushrooms. I’m really looking forward to it, as mushrooms are one of my interests. What makes it even better is that it’s taking place at my favorite nature preserve where I spend a lot of time. 

In an effort to also build a sense of community I’ve been looking into various volunteer opportunities. I applied to volunteer at a couple local animal shelters and eagerly await to hear back from them. I’m also looking at some local food pantries to either volunteer to or make donations to. 

I’ve also started a new season with the Rock Voices choir that I mentioned in the first newsletter I wrote back in December. I think my favorite this season has become More than a Feeling by Kansas, though hitting those high notes can be a real challenge some nights. 

Where in the world is Quillbert?

Even though it was cold, Quillbert got to have a lot of fun at Green Lakes State Park. As you can tell, we explored the playground, before venturing further into the park. Quillbert was a little sad he couldn’t use his eight arms on the monkey bars, though. 

A few Questions with Emily Klotz

Emily was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions about her and her book, and I can’t thank her enough. 

What was your journey like writing The Gods of Atalantis?

I don’t even know where to begin! I started the book on a whim one afternoon while I was having writer’s block with a completely different book, and at the time I never would have expected that this would be the first book I ever actually finished and published! I’m so glad it is, though. Getting to know Mireia, Kena, Icozoue, and all the other characters through the process of writing this story has been pure joy. I joke a lot that Mireia is my weird daughter, but honestly it doesn’t feel like a joke sometimes – I truly do think of her that way! On top of that, building out the world of Atalantis has been an amazing project which I have, admittedly, used at times to procrastinate on doing more serious work. But I’m extremely proud of how rich and detailed the world is, and I’m looking forward to getting to show off more of it in the sequel books!

Is there a moment while writing the book that really sticks out to you as a very special memory?

Other than finally writing “the end”? Yes, absolutely! There are really two I think of the most. First, there’s the day I already mentioned, when I decided to start writing the book on a whim. I had been thinking for a while about a story I wrote when I was a twelve year old kid, which was also set on Atlantis. That story was garbage, of course, but ever since rediscovering it I’d had a vague notion in my head that maybe I could write a good story set on Atlantis. I was struggling to work on another book at the time, just completely hit a wall, so to get my writing muscles working I decided to step away from that project and just spend an afternoon brainstorming ideas for this random Atlantis story that probably wouldn’t go anywhere. Within about three or four hours I had established most of the main cast, and written the rough draft for what would eventually become the first chapter. It was the most invigorated about a story I’d felt for a long time!

Another moment that comes to mind is The Labyrinth chapters. I can’t elaborate on this part of the story (you’ll just have to read it!), but it was one of the most challenging things I’d ever written. I stalled out on the book for months because I simply could. not. get. the stupid. Labyrinth. to. work. It took I don’t know how many drafts, rewrites, and total back-to-the-drawing-board moments, and I started to fear that I was just going to stall out forever, and the book would become another of my many unfinished projects. But then somehow, at some point, something just clicked. I realized I had been too attached to a certain story outcome, and it was preventing me from seeing other possibilities. Once I freed myself from that attachment, I was finally able to write it — and the whole thing just flowed out of me! It was so liberating. And incidentally, changing the Labyrinth also gave rise to another sequence, the Game of Chance, which hadn’t originally been in my plans but is now one of my favorite scenes in the book.

Do you see a lot of yourself in the characters you’ve written in Atalantis?

Yes and no. My weird daughter Mireia is not much like me at all. She’s bold, spontaneous, stubborn, defiant, brave and sometimes brutally honest. I love all that about her, but she does and says a lot of things that I’d never dream of! But on the other hand, there are a lot of moments where she responds to situations in, I hope, a very relatable way, where I deeply empathized with her and drew from some of my own experiences of being a teenager trying to figure out the world. Kena is much more like me, personality-wise, though he’s a lot more clever than I am. But I’m definitely more the type to want to read a book or garden and just be left alone. I think both of them have a lot of myself in them, while also being very different from me and from each other. Honestly, as a teacher, the character I probably relate to the most nowadays is Icozoue — though I have been trying to cut down on my drinking!

If you could live anywhere on the island, where would it be and why?

Ooh that’s a tough question! There are so many places I’d love to see, but if I had to choose a place to live? Hm. I think I might have to pick Mireia’s hometown of Habuuket, actually. It’s very remote and small, which can be a disadvantage, but the cozy village on the shore would just be so picturesque and peaceful. I’d love to go swimming at Mireia’s favorite beach whenever I wanted!

If you had to convince me to read your book in five words or less, what would they be?

ATLA, but set on Atlantis. (Yes, I’m counting Avatar the Last Airbender as all one word. Sorry, I know that’s technically cheating, lol).

Closing thoughts

Thank you so much for reading, Inklings! I hope you enjoyed my takeover of the newsletter and I also hope you have an amazing April. 

Remember to be gentle with yourself and try to spread some joy. 

Sincerely, 

Kelsey