NEWS RELEASE
KAJA BLACKLEY
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Kaja Blackley began to write Maggie MacCormack over a two-year period when he found himself partially paralyzed and unable to work. With only his two index fingers functioning, he set out to realize a story inspired by the birth of his daughter.
“It struck me that there were lots of boys’ adventures that girls enjoyed, like the story of the boy wizard with Coke-bottle glasses who took the world by broomstick; but there wasn’t a girl’s adventure story, especially one featuring a strong girl in a world that brings out that strength, that resonated as universally.”
Maggie is a ginger-haired, twelve-year-old orphan who has been passed from one foster family to the next all her life. She never knows where she’ll end up so she’s become suspicious and very independent.
As the story begins, Maggie is placed yet again into foster care – this time into a much more welcoming family. But Maggie can't shake the feeling that something is a bit off about her new home. She slowly ends up having to toss everything she understood about herself and her life out the window. But by that time, things have gone awry – it’s too late for her to run from the approaching danger.
“Maggie MacCormack and the Witches’ Wheel can often times be quite charming, while at other times nail-bitingly grim,” said Blackley. “It is a love letter to imagination and Earth’s environment.”
Maggie MacCormack, though heavy on the magic, is based on a daunting reality: introducing toxins into the environment compromises or destroys entire ecosystems. And for that, there are no magic remedies.
10.5 % gross sales of Maggie MacCormack and the Witches’ Wheel will be donated as follows:
• 2.5% of Maggie’s gross sales will be donated to the Barrie Food Bank, for those who live under the threat of hunger.
• 2.5% of Maggie’s gross sales will be donated, in perpetuity, to https://www.sealegacy.org;
• 2.5% of Maggie’s gross sales will be donated, in perpetuity, to https://onetreeplanted.org;
• 3% of Maggie’s gross sales will be donated, in perpetuity, to http://www.
There is no affiliation implied between Kaja Blackley and the beneficiaries.
Blackley explains why he has set up his own imprint, KB Editions, to publish Maggie MacCormack and the Witches’ Wheel: “Acquisition editors are known to overlook quality material. Books like J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and The Philosopher Stone, Frank Herbert’s Dune and CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia were all initially rejected. I would rather put my trust in my prospective readership.”
Workshop and Book Signing In Support Of The Barrie Food Bank
Author Kaja Blackley will be signing copies of Maggie MacCormack and the Witches’ Wheel at the Drawing House, 60 Mary Street, Barrie, on Oct. 27, 2019, between 3 PM and 6 PM.
Prior to the book signing, Kaja will be holding two workshops open to the public.
Admission to Workshop is Free with Food Bank Donation.
Attendees are asked to please bring a non-perishable food donation to the Drawing House on the day of the workshops. If you attend both workshops, please bring a separate donation for each event. All contributions will be donated to the Barrie Food Bank.
Food donations are welcome throughout the day but are not mandatory for attending the book-signing.
Further details here: https://www.
