The Belfast writer will travel to the US this year to promote the series which tells the story of a little witch and her sidekick in a fantasy world.
Mr. Keilty, who has written 17 children’s books, is also preparing to write his first adult novel.
As well as writing his books, the author is known for visiting primary schools in Northern Ireland and beyond, where he presents interactive shows and runs creative writing workshops for children.
He talked about how his career as an author began.
He said: “When I was in year 5 I started writing books: “When I was in year 5 I had a little bear and I wrote stories about him. I made little books and took care of the cover, the text and the illustrations.
“I loved it, I would bring them and show them to my teacher.
“As I got older and continued to enjoy doing this, my own twins started bringing little books home, I remembered doing this and thought I’d try writing .
“It was around the year 2000. I started sending out my stories and was lucky enough to have my first book published in 2003, Going Back Up The Beanstalk.
“I have published 17 books to date.
This part-time civil servant’s books have sold all over the world.
He adds: “We have books in Lithuania: “We have books in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Russia, France and now the United States and Canada over the summer. This is an important event for me, because the Will Gallows series sold very well, but it never reached the United States, even though it was a book about cowboys.
“Ivy is the first series I have published in the US and I hope sales will be good there.
Mr. Keilty will travel to New York to publicize the series. He also said he was very excited about a possible movie deal.
Previously, the rights to his book Will Gallows and the Snake-Bellied Troll were purchased by Rocket Pictures, Sir Elton John’s film company, but the film was not made.
-He said: “There’s a guy in the US who bought the book: “There’s a guy in the US who’s interested in Ivy and Will Gallows again. Will was considered many years ago, but never made into a film.
“It’s very difficult and it may take a long time, but there is some interest in Ivy at the moment, so I hope it comes to fruition.”
Mr Keilty spoke about the importance of getting children interested in reading during his visits to schools.
He said: “After my first book was published, I became interested in reading: After I published my first book, I walked into a primary school and said: ‘Would you be interested ?
“I try to make the visits interactive. The children are very enthusiastic. I like to offer them not only a reading, but also a show, an event.
“I start with a little bit of ambiance, I do some voices, some impressions, because I do voiceovers for some of my audiobooks, then I say we’ll have some magic, I put on my magician costume and I disappear bookmarks, we have a few rounds and then I move on to narration. It’s varied and fun.
“If I can make children want to read. Hopefully, we catch them and make them readers for life.”
Mr Keilty said he wanted to push himself by writing his first adult book.
He added: “I won’t give up on the project: “I won’t give up on children’s books, but I wanted to see if I could try my hand at it. It will probably be a fantasy book, because I like world building.
“Over the years, I haven’t had many ideas for an adult book, so I always come back to children’s books, because they come so easily to me. I gave myself a big challenge.
“I also received an order for a new children’s series. It’s called Olivia Shivers, A Spectral Agent. It’s going to be chilling.
“I also have some ideas beyond that. I’ll stay busy.
