Coming Soon: Strange but True

I’m very excited to announce that my first trade book comes out October 1, 2019!

Strange but True: 10 of the world’s greatest mysteries explained

Preorder from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Indiebound

Attend the book launch party

October 5, 2019 at 11:00 AM | Beaman Memorial Library, West Boylston, MA

There will be cake. Kathryn will sign books. A few brave souls will share their own experiences with the paranormal so we can practice scientific thinking to try to figure out what really happened.

How Strange but True Came to Be

This book explores the science and history of UFOs, ghosts, Atlantis, psychics, sea monsters, and more. When I was young, I was fascinated by the paranormal. I actually studied auras and palm reading. And when I was very young, I thought that if I stared into a candle flame, I could empty my mind enough to unlock its powers of telekinesis to move objects. (I had read the book Matilda at least ten times, and believed that The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar was entirely true. In both books, characters have mental powers.)

I know I’m not the only one who loved the idea of magic. To my young self — and I’m sure to many other kids and teens — it seemed that science ruined mysteries by trying to explain the magic away. Now I believe that’s a completely wrong way to think about it. Science is curiosity. It’s the act of wondering with such dedication that you actually go out there and search for the truth. Science also brings its own magic into the world. Each question that scientists answer gives way to several new questions. There will always be mysteries. Scientific, skeptical thinking is the only way to get at the truth behind mysteries. And true scientists also keep an open mind. No explanation that fits the evidence is ever completely out of the question.

Strange but True is about wondering and dreaming. It’s also about thinking practically and practicing the art of doubt. It’s about the truth behind the strangeness in the world.