Nurture

Kelly Hargie is November's guest in The Book Room

Welcome to The Book Room!

Come on in and take a seat as we talk about books and our journeys to get them written, published, and seen in the world.
The connection and support shown to me as a fledgling author from the writing community have been phenomenal, so I thought I’d return some love to authors with newly published books or books that are already out there that would like a bit of love, and invite them to write a guest blog here in The Book Room.

November’s guest author is Kelly Hargie , whose book, Nurture, comes to us from the beautiful Mourne Mountains in Ireland. I sent Kelly a few questions about her book and her story, and here are her answers.

Welcome, Kelly, over to you.

My book Nurture: A Story of Body & Belonging was published in June of this year (2025) and I describe it in three ways. Firstly, it is a nature-memoir set during the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic and which dips into stories from my childhood and mothering years as I approach my fortieth birthday. Secondly, it is a love-letter to the Mourne Mountains here in my homeland of the island of Ireland. And thirdly, it is an invitation to join me on a journey of discovering what it means to me to be wildly alive in the world today.

What is your book about and what themes do you cover?

Nurture: A Story of Body & Belonging is a story of becoming, healing and sisterhood. It was written during the pandemic and is split up into the four seasons. It tells of how the Mourne Mountains and the wild places around me caught me and held me at a time in my life when I was really struggling. My family and I had been involved in a church for more than a decade which had sadly become an unhealthy environment for us to remain within. This book charts how the land called to me at I time when I was feeling unanchored, fragile and looking for a way back to life. The major themes in Nurture are belonging, transformation, womanhood, mothering, creative living, connection with self, others and the land.

Where did the idea for your book come from?

I had been blogging about our family adventures and my own solo expeditions in the mountains for quite a number of years and it was when we found ourselves at home during the pandemic that I found little windows of opportunity to sit down and put my own story of healing into words in a more substantial way. It was written in small fragments early in the morning before my three sons would get up for the home-learning day. Initially, I had thought the process was simply for me, a cathartic experience, and so the first draft was tucked into a drawer for over a year. I then came back to it and after several edits and working with a mentor I realised that it was something I wanted to share and so I set about figuring out how to publish my words in book form.

What were your childhood/early experiences of books and writing?

I loved words from a very young age. I wrote poems and stories since I was only a wee thing. I read voraciously too. I devoured books about horses mostly and was often scolded for reading into the dark hours of night when my parents would come to check on me before they went to bed. I couldn’t get enough of being transported to other worlds! I went on to study Journalism for my first degree, followed by English Literature as another. I was always on the pursuit of words it seems. I then stayed at home for ten years raising my family and only dabbled with writing whenever I had the energy, which was not as often as I would have liked. But that was the season I was in and I loved it, even though I did also yearn for the space and energy to spend some time creating. Now, my sons are in their teens/ early twenties and I am rediscovering that childhood love of reading and writing and I can honestly say that it is bringing me so much joy. I am thrilled to now be in my mid-forties and carving out a creative life for myself. As I enter my crone era I feel like I am finally stepping into the fullness of my creative power!

Tell us about your writing process and anything you have learnt along the way?

I think those of us who yearn to write are frequently told we ought to write daily and I think that kept me away from writing for a long while because I was rarely able to commit to that due to other commitments at home and at work. I love to write and to be in that flow state, but what I have discovered is that for me it is such a cyclical process. Just as nature has a time to do and a time to rest, so do I. When I work with that ebb and flow of my cyclical energies I find that I enjoy writing so much more than when I am trying to force something when I am tired or perhaps in need of something else creatively, say drawing or a handicraft like crochet. I am finding too that I need to move and shake my body in order to get into that beautiful place of flow and I frequently step away from my desk and my own expectations and drum or dance in order to connect in a deeper way with my creative being, my inner wild that wants to be unleashed onto the page! I tend to write in chunks then, say 1000-2000 words at a time, and then it could be a few days before I return to it. I used to berate myself for my lack of discipline but that was not conducive to getting the work done, now I am much kinder to myself and my creativity and I are in a beautiful place of collaboration! I am working on a little novel at the moment and I am savouring these days of getting the bones of it on paper before the real work begins in the editing process.

What was the hardest part?

I found the editing part to be the hardest part of birthing Nurture out into the world. I had written a fairly long first draft and had to make a lot of cuts and had to reshape the book around four times until I had something that I was really pleased with. Giving the book the four seasons structure really helped to pull things together and the old adage that ‘less is more’ seemed to apply with the story I was trying to tell. I wanted the moments I spent in nature to really shine on the page so I had to spend a long time thinking about what particular experiences to share and I hope I have done them justice.

How was the journey to publication?

I have to say, this has been one of the most joyful and expansive experiences of my whole life. I decided early on that I didn’t want to publish Nurture in a traditional way so I did not approach agents or publishers. With it being so personal I wanted to tend this project carefully, on my own terms and within my own timeframe. I wanted also to keep the process as local as possible. I employed a graphic designer from Belfast to create the book to my own specifications. I drew the front and back cover images and a local printing company produced the book to a gorgeously high standard, complete with my silver-embellished drawings of the Mourne Mountains and an oak tree that is special to me. All the colour photographs contained within the book were taken and hand-picked by me and as a result I think I have created a really special product that feels true to me. I learned through the process that I am a lot more capable than I give myself credit for at times, that I can trust my own intuition and judgement and also that if I don’t know how to do something I will figure it out along the way!

How about marketing – any top tips?

We live in a world that is absolutely saturated with ‘content’…I find it quiteoverwhelming at times and I am not keen on adding to the noise. However, I have created this beautiful book that I am extremely proud of and it is I believe a balm for these times in which we live, so I have to share about it. I try to show up authentically as myself, mostly on Instagram and Substack, writing about my passion for nature and community and sharing photographs of the wild spaces where I love to spend time. I don’t go in for the hard sell and I try to connect with people in a genuine way over mutual interests. Again, like my writing, this is cyclical in nature…there are weeks when I am really present online and then there are times when I simply need to hibernate and reconnect with myself and my message. I try to treat social media as an extension of my creative expression and that makes showing up in that space a lot more fun.

What would you say to someone starting on their writing journey?

To sit still for a moment, longer if needed. To feel that little flame within burning, to listen to it. That is your creative magic, the place where it flows from. To trust that little voice and begin. To not be daunted by the blank page. To not worry about perfectionism. Perfect is boring anyway! To enjoy life…to get outside into nature, go listen to live music, talk to people, to try things. And then allow your words to spill out from a place of joy and abundance. Life is hard enough and I don’t think that creation has to come from a place of anguish, even when you’re writing about hard things. And also, just show up fully as yourself. People are desperate for real and authentic in these weird times we find ourselves. We need you in all your wonder and magic and quirkiness!

Where can we buy your book and follow you? Nurture: A Story of Body & Belonging is available from:

Buythebook - Nurture: A Story of Body & Belonging | Buythebook.ie

Etsy - Nurture - A Story of Body & Belonging - Etsy UK

Or by contacting the author directly – kelly.hargie@live.co.uk

You can follow me on:

Instagram – wild_words_by_kelly

Many thanks to Kelly for being November’s guest author. Nuture is a beautiful book, which I can thoroughly recommend. Congratulations Kelly, it’s been wonderful having you here.

If you have a book coming out soon, or have one that would like a spotlight on it, then do get in touch. I’m fully booked up til June next year, but have spaces after that.

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