MSU professor Brooke Carnwath publishes debut novel

Brooke Carnwath has been teaching for the last 20 years, and recently made a turn to writing. On Sept. 1, 2026, Carnwath published her first novel, “Far From the Ocean’s Edge,” which she wrote while teaching at MSU. 

Carnwath started teaching at MSU in 2016 after spending the beginning of her career at University of Montana and Eastern Oregon University. She said that teaching college students gives her a perspective that she doesn’t get in everyday life. 

“I've had my community of adult friends, and we're all adulting and doing kids stuff and responsibilities and bills,” Carnwath said. “And it's just so nice to be among curious people talking about books.”

She said teaching the craft of writing to young adults gives her an advantage in her own writing. 

“If I were not teaching writing, I wouldn't have that constant growth edge,” Carnwath said. “I'm filtering and processing and exposing myself to great writers all the time, and I don't feel that I would necessarily do that if I was just in my bubble writing for young readers.”

After receiving her masters in journalism, Carnwath took some summer courses in fiction writing that sparked her love for the genre. 

“I started taking fiction classes, which I'd never taken before because in journalism school, I was obviously focusing on non-fiction,” she said. “But once I got a taste for make-believe, I realized that’s where my heart is.”

According to Carnwath’s website her debut novel, “Far From the Ocean’s Edge,” tells the story of a 12 year-old girl who travels from Maine to Wyoming to help her mom take care of her ailing grandparents. Carnwath said that her book is intended for a middle-grade audience of 8- to 12-year-olds, and tackles some heavy topics.

“There’s a lot of fantastic contemporary middle-grade out there right now that covers divorce, death, homelessness,” Carnwath said. “These topics are sort of gritty and challenging but they’re here, and if we don’t talk about that, kids get confused.”

Carnwath said that the process of getting her first book published was a long one, and one she was going through while teaching and navigating motherhood. She said that the back-and-forth nature of the publishing business is a frustrating one, but the payoff is rewarding.

“You write the thing because you love to write, and then it’s like, I do want readers. And now, so many of my friends are sending pictures of their kids reading my book, and I’m just melting,” Carnwath said. 

Carnwath’s novel was officially picked up for publication by She Writes Press, an all-women-run publishing press. According to Carnwath, one of the goals of She Writes Press is to invite women to think of themselves as writers.

“[She Writes Press’s] focus on women is not only adding value to the market, but supporting those of us who consider it their professional and personal responsibility to likewise empower women’s voices,” Carnwath said. “I am a daughter, a sister of a sister and a mom of two daughters. I feel deeply and passionately about giving girls and women ample room and permission to raise their voices. To share their stories. And to inspire others to do the same.”

Carnwath said she is working on her second novel, which will feature a young girl traveling with her grandmother.

“The grandmother of the protagonist is a death doula, which on the face of it, sounds morbid,” Carnwath said. “But I’m hopeful my story will initiate conversations with kids about death, dying and grief, because everybody wonders, and this is something that happens to everybody.

“She sees dying, the process of dying, as a reflection of how one lives. And if there are people there, as someone dies — because of the connections you’ve made in your life — dying can be a beautiful honoring rather than a lonely passing.”

Carnwath will be hosting a reading of her new novel at Wheatgrass Books in Livingston on Oct. 24. For more information, visit their website at https://wheatgrassbooks.com/events/.