David Kelly speaking to students in the library

David Kelly always enjoyed reading books with his two sons - - particularly books about sports and mysteries. Eager to find a good sports mystery, he decided to write several on his own.  

David Kelly with students

Originally from New Hartford and now of Newton, Massachusetts, Kelly is an established children’s book author, travel writer and technology analyst. His published work includes the Ballpark Mystery series, in which cousins Kate and Mike solve mysteries at different major league ballparks, and the Most Valuable Players (MVP) series, in which a group of elementary school kids have adventures playing different sports. He also operates his own technology consulting company and writes travel articles for the Boston Globe, New York Times and Chicago Sun Times.

On January 18, Kelly visited the Primary and Upper Elementary Schools’ pre-kindergarten through fourth grade students. He discussed how to become a writer, the writing and editing process, specific techniques he uses and what it takes to be successful.

Mrs. Livermore, school librarian, organized Kelly’s visit.

“I wanted our students to learn more about the writing process and how it truly is a ‘process’ to write, and it’s normal to have more than one draft,” Livermore said.

Kelly explained how he’s always revising and rewriting before a book is published. He even said he took a class in children’s book writing and it took him more than two years to publish his first book, Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse, after working with a professional editor.

All of Kelly’s books have been published by Random House Children’s Books in New York City.

To learn more about David Kelly, click here.