Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Celia Krampien (The Bellwoods Game)!
Meet the Author: Celia Krampien
Celia Krampien grew up in a house in the woods in a small town near Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and currently lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with her partner, a mischievous cat, and a nosy beagle. She is the author of The Bellwoods Game.
About the Book: The Bellwoods Game
Perfect for fans of Small Spaces and Doll Bones, this spooky, highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.
Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.
Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
The first inkling of The Bellwoods Game came many years ago when I was living near this scenic area with this high, treed cliff that overlooked a creek and train bridge. Going by one day I imaged a figure standing up on the cliff and part of a rhyme (the same one at the beginning of the book) popped into my head, including the name Abigail Snook. She felt like a character asking for a story. After many years and several attempts, I’m happy to have finally found one for her.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
I’m so fond of the core group of kids in the story. Each of them are struggling with some aspect of their external life which drives them to go into the woods. It was important to me that each kid come away from this adventure changed in some way.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The novel. Starting with the image of Abigail in the woods, up on that cliff, I had to figure out why she was there. I did a bit of deep dive into my own childhood and settled on the idea of a game. The concept of a game and led me to the idea of having a bell in the story and the title followed from there.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I’m fond of the scene where Bailee gets lost on her own in the woods and encounters the wolf (or what appears to be a wolf). It was one of the first scenes early on where I felt I had captured the level of spooky I‘d envisioned for the book. Whenever I was feeling a bit in the weeds with this story, it was a scene I returned to, like a touchstone, to remind myself of the atmosphere I was hoping to accomplish.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
I’ve been reading a ton of middle grade graphic novels recently. When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed was very moving. I couldn’t put down The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao and I recently re-read Rosena Fung’s Living With Viola which I absolutely adore.
YABC:Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
In the book, there’s conflict between former best friends Bailee, Madison and Fen. The scene where Madison comes clean to Bailee and Fen about the misunderstanding that has fractured their friendships was a difficult. I find grappling with big, honest feelings almost scarier than ghosts and monsters because they’re real and can do harm to the ones we love. But these big, difficult feelings also a normal part of life. I wanted to show how making mistakes can be ok, even if it’s not easy making things right again.
YABC:Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
If anyone was a problem, it was me. I feel like the characters knew what they were doing but I was the one struggling to keep up and get their thoughts and words just right.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
I’m sensitive. It’s a trait that sometimes gets in my way but I think it helps me be empathetic too. I’ve started looking my sensitivity as a skill, something necessary when creating for others.
I’m also quietly stubborn so even though rejection can sting, it also makes me want to try harder. I like rising to a challenge.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
Read lots and read widely. You never know what you’ll learn.
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Thank you so much for having me. I hope readers out there will enjoy THE BELLWOODS GAME, available wherever books are sold July 18, 2023.
Title: The Bellwoods Game
Author: Celia Krampien
Release Date: 7/18/23
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children’s Horror
Age Range: 8 up
