Kelsey Impicciche: On Using Social Media to Build Community
In this interview, author Kelsey Impicciche discusses how her idea to retell Little Mermaid led to her debut YA fantasy novel, Voice of the Ocean.
Kelsey Impicciche is a professional YouTuber and Twitch streamer with over 1.5 million followers across various platforms, which altogether means she plays video games for a living. When Kelsey isn't making simulated characters fall in love online, she's writing about different characters falling in love in very difficult situations. Kelsey can be found sitting beside her dog Chewbacca, or making fun videos about books and games online @kelseydangerous. Follow her on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
In this interview, Kelsey discusses how her idea to retell The Little Mermaid led to her debut YA fantasy novel, Voice of the Ocean, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Kelsey Impicciche
Literary agent: Mark Gottlieb
Book title: Voice of the Ocean
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release date: April 22, 2025
Genre/category: YA Fantasy
Elevator pitch: From popular content creator Kelsey Impicciche, Voice of the Ocean follows a daring young siren who defies her people to save a human prince, unearthing ancient magic and igniting a dangerous romance amidst treacherous waters. This book is a swashbuckling retelling of the classic Little Mermaid for lovers of Pirates of the Caribbean, found family, forbidden love, and softer female main characters.
What prompted you to write this book?
When toying with the idea of writing a Little Mermaid retelling, the idea struck me while sitting on my couch: What if the mermaids were sirens? And what if the little siren, while on a quest to kill the prince she saved, ended up on a ship full of pirates? After that, I took my dog on a walk and details began to take shape in my head from there.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I began writing Voice of the Ocean in 2020, and it is being released in 2025. So, the journey took five years in total. Many things about the book changed, from the tense of the story to characters and scenes being changed and removed, but the central idea of a retelling where the mermaid was a siren sent to kill the human prince always remained the same!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
There were plenty of surprises! This is my debut book, so I’m learning everything about the publishing process for the first time. I was surprised that it took so long to publish a book. Voice of the Ocean was acquired in October of 2023 and releases in the spring of 2025! In content creation, which is where my background is from, turnaround is very quick. But I learned there is a lot to do before a book can be released.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
While writing this book, I learned a lot about my writing process and what worked best for me. Outlining before writing helps me to write so I don’t get stuck, but what surprised me most was how even with an outline, the book could take so many twists and turns!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope readers will see a part of themselves in Celeste and her story. She’s a deeply emotional character who struggles with feeling as though she should be “stronger” and “in control” of herself and her emotions. It’s something I dealt with a lot growing up, and I didn’t see a lot of books with characters like that who I could relate to in that way.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
One piece of advice I would share with writers would be to use social media to connect with the community of writers and readers. Writing can be so isolating, and I cannot overstate how much my community has encouraged and helped me to keep going. Plus, you never know who’s watching! I met my literary Agent through TikTok!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
