Monroeville native's debut book tops Amazon charts

When Monroeville native Kelley McNeil was driving along a rural road with her daughter in the car, she had an idea pop into her head.

“I thought what if we got into an accident and when we woke up, (my daughter) had disappeared,” she said.

McNeil would explore that idea in her debut novel “A Day Like This.” The main character, Annie Beyers, looks for answers after she is told her daughter never existed following a car accident. The book was released Nov. 1, and it has already topped many Amazon charts including Magical Realism, Small Town & Rural Fiction, and Marriage & Divorce Fiction (Kindle).

”It has been really exciting. Every time I open Amazon, I pinch myself,” she said.

Her vision for the book was to write about a mother’s intuition and her longing for different parts of her life. The book explores the dynamic of what the mother knows and the facts being presented to her, McNeil said. Writing “A Day Like This” turned her attention to researching alternate theories of her idea and being mindful of how she touched on mental health and illnesses throughout the book.

“The main character has strong feelings about it (mental health) that could be off putting to readers. I had to manage that topic in a respectful way,” she said.

Before writing, “A Day Like This,” McNeil had written another novel that was planned to become her debut, but she and her agent decided to not pursue it. McNeil took a different direction and wrote “A Day Like This” in six months, finishing it in 2018. The longest part of the process was getting the book submitted to a publisher.

“When we were able to sell this book, I was very proud this turned into my debut,” McNeil said.

Writing has always been a passion for McNeil who started the craft as a child. Writing was put on the back burner when she decided to pursue concert promotions and entertainment marketing through an internship for DiCesare Engler Productions. She would spend her time in the industry throughout the early 2000s. Being a marketing director for the former Civic Arena would be her last job before moving to a rural town in New York.

She never lost sight of returning to writing as she navigated through the entertainment industry. Moving to a rural area would be her opportunity to have a quieter space to jump back into writing.

”It was an inspiring place to live and turned my attention to writing,” she said.

As McNeil continues to bask in the celebration of her book release, she is already focusing on writing her second book. She is excited to share more details about it when more information becomes available.

“A Day Like This” is available to purchase on Amazon.