Meet Kevin McNamee - Writer and Poet

Kevin McNamee is a writer and poet living in Yonkers, NY. He primarily writes for the children’s market. His work has appeared in Beyond Centauri and he has several children’s picture books being published by Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. His first book, “The Sister Exchange” is due to be released in 2009. He is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

When Kevin isn’t writing, he spends his time playing hide and seek, at the insistence of his four year old daughter, and at his day job, at the insistence of his wife. When time permits, Kevin also enjoys fossil hunting, home-brewing beer, and gardening. He is currently engaged in an epic battle against roving gangs of crazed squirrels who are digging up everything in sight. Kevin notes that the squirrels are winning.

To find out more about Kevin, visit his website at http://www.kevinmcnamee.com or visit his blog at http://kevinmcnameechildrensauthor.blogspot.com/

I asked Kevin a few questions about his writing.

What is going on with your writing these days?

Right now, I have several stories in various stages of completion, one story that has been finalized and critiqued and needs a final revision, and a few that are finished and have been sent out to various publishers.

What are your future goals for your writing?

I’ve been focusing primarily on picture books and I would like to branch out to middle readers and Young Adult novels. I have two middle readers in various stages of completion.

Can you describe a typical writing day for you?

There’s no such thing as a typical writing day for me. I try to do something writing related every day. But what I’m doing may vary. Sometimes I’m writing new material, sometimes I’m revising, sometimes I’m critiquing, sometimes I’m researching, sometimes I’m promoting. Due to the demands on my time, I’ve needed to adopt the philosophy of doing what I can, when I can.

Why do you write?

I first started writing in the second grade. I wrote a poem that was displayed outside the classroom and I liked seeing my poem and my name in public like that. I found that I took to writing naturally. Growing up, I was a constant daydreamer and would construct stories in my head all the time. Eventually, I started writing them down. Throughout my teenage years and throughout adulthood I always felt compelled to write. Although there were many, many times that I put creative writing on the back burner, I found that I was still writing at my day job; memos, procedures, proposals, requests, and I was receiving recognition for it. I realized that writing had been a constant in my life, but I wasn’t writing what I wanted to write. Now I make sure that I write what I want as well.