Evolution of a YA Series: Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback (Part 2)

As mentioned in the May 19, 2021 blog post, “The Legend of Koolura: The Evolution of a YA Series,” the novel was written to motivate a sixth-grade girl to read. The second book in the series, Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback, came to me while visiting my youngest daughter in college.

My wife, Jila, and I visited Koren twice a year while she was attending the University of California at Santa Barbara. On one visit, Koren prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for the Santa Ynez Mountains. She had discovered Lake Cachuma with some friends and wanted Jila and I to experience its beauty. While there, we took plenty of pictures, and when we got hungry, we found a park bench and enjoyed Koren’s tuna sandwiches. 

During our wanderings that day, we came upon a sleep-away-camp, Camp Whittier. As soon as I had laid eyes on the place, I got an idea. What if Koolura spent a summer at this camp, and to add tension to the plot, she mysteriously loses her powers as her camp group is threatened by an inscrutable interloper. 

In the novel, I picked characters my readers could relate to. Linda, an antagonist in the first book, joined Koolura at camp. They had a wise college-age counselor, Sarah, who was studying to become a teacher and her African-American CIT, Queen. Other characters included a cute CIT, Jake, who Koolura really likes, a strange red-headed girl from Rhode Island, and a deaf girl, Leila, from the San Francisco area. Koolura’s camp group was the Chumash Girls, using the name of the Native American people living in that area. 

The novel was quickly accepted for publication by Solstice Publishing as Book 2 in the Koolura Series with this book cover: 

Alas, back in 2020, the book’s contract ran out, and like my other YA Solstice books, was orphaned. 

I thought about what to do and decided to give self-publishing a try. I hunted for a gifted illustrator, and was lucky to find April Klein, and contracted her to create new book covers for the Koolura Series.

Here’s basically what the book is about: Koolura has the ability to teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback she wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers? 

As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls have to deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback? 

I’ve learned some of the mysteries of self-publication and managed to find my way through the labyrinth of details and roadblocks to publish Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback in digital format for Kindle consumption and as a trade paperback. Don’t even get me started on the differences of publishing a Kindle edition of a book and getting the book in print. The Kindle is a piece of cake compared to the complexities of a print book. Fortunately, April served as a wonderful resource and I managed to achieve my goals of Amazon self-publication, after pulling out all of my virtual hair.

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback is now available on Amazon.com in print and a Kindle e-book. If you decide on reading the second book in the Koolura Series, please leave a review on Amazon.