Honors student Abby Kane walks us through her newest novel Song of the Stars and shares advice for her fellow Honors classmates and aspiring authors!
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Abby Kane (she/her) and I’m a sophomore here at DePaul, working towards a BA in animation with a minor in screenwriting. I’m originally from Crestview Hills, Kentucky, about ten minutes south of Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve always loved making any kind of art, whether that be writing short stories and poetry, playing guitar or piano, or drawing. I also love to read, watch movies and TV, and dance in my free time—I’m on DePaul Dance Company’s musical theater team. I’m also an animal lover! I have a cat named Quigley back home who is like a son to me, as well as a little dog named Bam-Bam. I love exploring Chicago with my friends, trying new foods, and shopping for things I don’t need.
Tell us about your recently published novel Song of the Stars!
Song of the Stars is a young-adult dystopian novel set in a future where the world as we know it has been destroyed due to nuclear war. A new country called Estil has taken over what used to be Europe and secured its place as the new global superpower, inhabited by the elite and the slaves that serve them. The story follows a slave girl named Coral, along with her twin sister, Paisley, and older brother, Tristan, who have served the Holwin Family for ten years. Coral begins to uncover hidden secrets and missing pieces of herself that could change the course of not only her life, but the world as a whole—for better or for worse.
Publishing this book has been an absolute dream come true from the start. To be honest, sometimes I still can’t believe it’s real! I’ve been writing stories since I was in kindergarten, and it wasn’t much later that I decided I wanted to be an author one day. All throughout elementary and middle school, I would come up with ideas that I was sure would be the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games. Obviously, none of those ever went anywhere, but eventually, I came up with the concept for Song of the Stars and it became the first idea that I came up with a fully developed world, characters, and plot for.
Writing the story from start to finish was a very long process—almost eight years. I came up with the idea and started writing it when I was in seventh grade, finished the first draft in my senior year of high school, and officially published the book just a few months ago, in September 2023. The process of writing was very off and on for a while. I would get writer’s block and not write anything for weeks or even months at a time. Then, I’d get a burst of inspiration and write three chapters in a day. There were definitely a lot of obstacles along the way, but I ended up finishing and sending in my manuscript to a publishing company called GenZ Publishing. They are a company that focuses specifically on publishing new, emerging authors. I had heard of them through a friend who also used them to publish her first novel, and they seemed perfect. A few months later, they responded and told me they wanted to move forward with publishing my novel! Getting that email was one of the greatest moments of my life. One of my biggest dreams was finally coming true, and it was so much fun to share the exciting news with all my friends and family.
It took about another year and a half to finalize everything for publishing. We went through a few different steps to get everything ready, including multiple rounds of editing the manuscript and formatting everything for the inside of the book. One of my favorite steps was cover design, where I got to work with a graphic designer at the company to create the images for the front and back covers of my book. I had a general idea of what I wanted it to look like, and the finished product turned out better than I ever could have imagined. After all of that was finished, I got to see and hold a physical copy of my book for the first time—another “dream come true moment.” We set the release date for September 29th, 2023 and worked on spreading the word. When the day rolled around, I got to celebrate the accomplishment with all my friends and family, and the rest is history!
How has your experience in Honors impacted your educational career and your life beyond? Any advice for your fellow Honors students?
The Honors Program has introduced me to so many wonderful people and opened up lots of great opportunities for me. I’ve gotten to take lots of interesting classes that have left an impact on me. In particular, I took HON 100 with Jen Finstrom my freshman year, and it still remains one of my favorite classes I’ve taken at DePaul. It led me to so many new opportunities, such as presenting my research paper on animation’s uses as a medium in society at the Honors Research Conference and the First-Year Writing Showcase, and becoming a tutor at the Writing Center. I’ve also connected with lots of people through the Honors Program who I know I can rely on for help with classes, jobs, and anything else in the future.
Working as an editor of Honorable Mentions has also been an incredible experience. This has been my first year in the position, and I have loved looking for new ways to explore the newsletter’s potential with my co-editor, Ella. At its core, Honorable Mentions is created by Honors students for Honors students. Reviewing all the submissions for the newsletter has allowed me to see how much talent there is in the Honors community in terms of writing, artwork, photography, and much more. Our fall quarter issue included plenty of great work, and I expect the same from our winter and spring quarter issues this year! If you haven’t, I highly recommend you take a look at all the incredible content our Honors students contributed!
The best advice I can give to other Honors students is to make time for the things you love. I know that we can all tend to overbook ourselves with classes, clubs, internships, jobs, and more, but be sure that you also set aside time for some self-fulfillment, whether that comes through creating art, reading, hanging out with friends, playing a sport, making music, or something else. Taking time to focus on and develop your hobbies is not only a great way to relax and wind down, but it can also open doors for plenty more opportunities throughout the rest of your life. Just because something you love isn’t what you’re studying or working towards as a career doesn’t mean that you can’t still keep it in your life. You can become a doctor and still play a musical instrument or write songs in your free time. You can be a teacher and play a sport. Or, in my case, you can be an animator and write stories on the side. Don’t confine yourself to just one thing—do as much as you want, as long as it makes you happy!
Even though you are just a sophomore, what are some of your goals after graduation? Any more novels to be on the look out for?
I definitely have plans for more novels soon! As a matter of fact, I am currently working on a follow-up to Song of the Stars. I plan to write three more books for a total of four in the series. I’m about halfway through writing the sequel now. After I finish the first draft, I’ll go through the process of editing and formatting again before publication. I’m super excited for what I have planned for the rest of this series, so be on the lookout!
Aside from my writing, I’m also studying animation and I’d love to work in the entertainment industry one day, specifically on animated cartoons/TV shows. I’m also working towards a minor in screenwriting, so I’d love to write for TV shows as well, and possibly even develop my own animated series one day! Right now, I’m in the process of searching for and applying to internships, which I hope will develop my experience in these fields and possibly even open a gateway to a career after graduation. While I’m not completely sure where I’ll end up after graduation, I’m excited to see what the future holds!
Anything else you would like to add?
I want to encourage people to never give up on their goals, no matter how long it may take to achieve them. It took me eight years from start to finish to publish my first novel, and I had been dreaming about it for a long time before that. I could have given up at a lot of different points during those eight years, but if I had, I wouldn’t have gotten to experience all the wonderful moments of seeing my dream come true. It’s okay to shelve something for a little bit, to put it down and come back later, even if later means waiting weeks or months. I certainly did that while writing my book. The best things always take some time. Patience is as much a part of reaching your goals as hard work is. Don’t be afraid to take things slowly. I think in our world, there’s a huge misconception that in order to do something well you have to do it first or finish it the fastest. I think that any accomplishment is something to celebrate, no matter when you finish it or how long it takes. Whatever goals you all might be working towards, I hope that you keep them with you and continue persevering until you see them become reality.
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