Head shots
Author K. Stephens. Photo courtesy Mandie Sawyer
|
[l to r] Director James Khanlarian, Author/screenwriter K. Stephens, and producer Peter Couture at Maine International Film Festival '24 where The Ghost Trap was its 'Centerpiece Film.' photo courtesy Peter Couture
|
Author bio
K. Stephens is an award-winning Maine journalist whose debut novel, The Ghost Trap, was adapted into an independent feature film and filmed in Maine. It released in 2024 winning three film festival awards. Of Irish descent, Stephens traveled extensively throughout Ireland, Scotland, and England to collect selkiefolklore from libraries, shops, and storytellers, taking 10 years to write the novel. She resides in Midcoast, Maine.
Book Information
Publisher: Maine Authors Publishing
Publication date: September 1, 2025
Print length: 323 pages
ISBN-10: 1633814696
Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
4.5 Customer Reviews
$19.99 with MAP 40% discount
Publication date: September 1, 2025
Print length: 323 pages
ISBN-10: 1633814696
Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
4.5 Customer Reviews
$19.99 with MAP 40% discount
Back Jacket Blurb
In 1927, with Prohibition luring Maine lobstermen to smuggle liquor under moonlight, a merciless rumrunner steals a selkie’s child from the storm-ravaged rocks. To reclaim her child’s sealskin and return to the sea, she must place her trust in the unlikeliest of allies: the rumrunner’s apprentice, a young man torn between loyalty and conscience.
Logline
In Prohibition-era Maine, a selkie mother goes to brutal lengths to reclaim her stolen child—unleashing the fury of her feral seal colony on the rumrunner who took her
Genre/Themes
Maine Fiction
Sea Myths
Coastal/Island Atmosphere
Prohibition/Rumrunners
1920s Rural Fantasy
Selkies & Irish Folklore
Grimdark
Sea Myths
Coastal/Island Atmosphere
Prohibition/Rumrunners
1920s Rural Fantasy
Selkies & Irish Folklore
Grimdark
Awards & Contests
- The novel's first chapter won Stephens a scholarship to the Salty Quill Writers' Retreat in Maine in 2017.
- The book placed as a quarterfinalist in Screencraft's Cinematic Book Writing Competition in 2022.
- The novel's chapter, "Weltering," will appear in Echoes in the Fog: Reflections on the Liminal Spaces of Maine’s Coast, an anthology to be published in December, 2025 and presented at the Bangor Author's Book Fair & Literary Festival December 12 & 13, 2025.
Press
K. Stephens appeared on WABI's "Bookmarks" segment: "Author of 'The Ghost Trap' Releases Sequel to Lobstering Novel."
Press Release
Author of The Ghost Trap Returns with Prohibition-Era Maine Novel Rooted in Folklore and Myth
K. Stephens, author of the Maine novel The Ghost Trap, which was adapted into an award-winning feature film in 2024, will release a new novel on September 1 through Maine Authors Publishing. Set against the backdrop of coastal Maine in the late 1920s, the story blends lobstering culture, Prohibition drama, and folkloric themes drawn from Irish and Scottish myth.
Titled By the Dark o’ the Moon, the novel builds on a thread introduced in The Ghost Trap, where superstitious lobstermen are wary of harming seals, believing that the ocean has a way of exacting justice.
The book’s blurb offers a deeper glimpse into the story:
In 1927, with Prohibition luring Maine lobstermen to smuggle liquor under moonlight, a merciless rumrunner steals a selkie’s child one night from the storm-ravaged rocks. To reclaim her child’s sealskin and return to the sea, Aaelene must place her trust in the unlikeliest of allies: the rumrunner’s apprentice, a young man torn between loyalty and conscience.
Set in Midcoast Maine, the historical novel took ten years to research and write. Over the course of five years, Stephens traveled to Ireland, Scotland, and England to collect origin stories of selkies, while also delving deeply into Maine’s rumrunning and bootlegging culture.
“I’m of Irish descent, and folklore has always drawn me in since I was young,” said Stephens. “When you have magic and nature, foolish humans, lessons wrapped in morality, and vengeful otherworld beings seeking to redress harm, it’s the kind of escapist literature I’m most drawn to.”
Stephens found late-in-life success when her 2009 debut novel The Ghost Trap was adapted into an independent film. She served as the screenwriter and an executive producer, participating in every phase of the production from development to the final cut.
For more information, visit www.kstephensauthor.com or www.maineauthorspublishing.com.
To request a review copy or schedule an interview, contact [email protected]
K. Stephens, author of the Maine novel The Ghost Trap, which was adapted into an award-winning feature film in 2024, will release a new novel on September 1 through Maine Authors Publishing. Set against the backdrop of coastal Maine in the late 1920s, the story blends lobstering culture, Prohibition drama, and folkloric themes drawn from Irish and Scottish myth.
Titled By the Dark o’ the Moon, the novel builds on a thread introduced in The Ghost Trap, where superstitious lobstermen are wary of harming seals, believing that the ocean has a way of exacting justice.
The book’s blurb offers a deeper glimpse into the story:
In 1927, with Prohibition luring Maine lobstermen to smuggle liquor under moonlight, a merciless rumrunner steals a selkie’s child one night from the storm-ravaged rocks. To reclaim her child’s sealskin and return to the sea, Aaelene must place her trust in the unlikeliest of allies: the rumrunner’s apprentice, a young man torn between loyalty and conscience.
Set in Midcoast Maine, the historical novel took ten years to research and write. Over the course of five years, Stephens traveled to Ireland, Scotland, and England to collect origin stories of selkies, while also delving deeply into Maine’s rumrunning and bootlegging culture.
“I’m of Irish descent, and folklore has always drawn me in since I was young,” said Stephens. “When you have magic and nature, foolish humans, lessons wrapped in morality, and vengeful otherworld beings seeking to redress harm, it’s the kind of escapist literature I’m most drawn to.”
Stephens found late-in-life success when her 2009 debut novel The Ghost Trap was adapted into an independent film. She served as the screenwriter and an executive producer, participating in every phase of the production from development to the final cut.
For more information, visit www.kstephensauthor.com or www.maineauthorspublishing.com.
To request a review copy or schedule an interview, contact [email protected]
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: @kstephensauthor
Instagram: @kstephensauthor
TikTok: @kaystephensauthor
Facebook: @kstephensauthor
Instagram: @kstephensauthor
TikTok: @kaystephensauthor
One-pager pdf - click to download
| one-pager.pdf |