middle grade

Where Are They Now: Janet Fox

One of my favorite reads so far in 2016 is The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox, so it’s a great pleasure to catch up with her today. Her original Creative Spaces interview can be found here. Read on to find out what’s new!     What have you been working on since Faithful? Wow! It’s been a while, right? Since Faithful, I’ve had two more YA historicals published: Forgiven, and Sirens, both out from Penguin (2011 and 2012). And I finished my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts (2010). But the big news is the release of my middle grade debut, The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle.… Read the rest

What Would Garrison Griswold Do?

(Cross-posted from EMU’s Debuts) I’ve been in the midst of making promotional plans for Book Scavenger. I’ve sought out advice from other authors on what they recommend and don’t recommend for your debut book, and the only bit of advice that everyone seems to agree on is this: The best thing you can do to promote your first book is write your next book. Okay, cool, I’m doing that! I have two more books scheduled to come out in 2016 and 2017, and I’m currently working on both simultaneously. One is in the outline/first draft stage, and the other is nearing the end of its second revision.… Read the rest

A Peek at the Creative Space of Kerry O’Malley Cerra

Kerry O’Malley Cerra is a former high school history teacher who often incorporated historical fiction along with traditional textbooks to bring time periods to life. Just a Drop of Water, her first middle grade novel, was inspired by a deeply personal experience following the tragic events of September 11, 2001. You can read more about that inspiration on her website here.  A summary of Just a Drop of Water from the publisher:  Ever since he was little, Jake Green has longed to be a soldier and a hero like his grandpa, who died serving his country. Right now, though, he just wants to outsmart—and outrun—the rival cross country team, the Palmetto Bugs.… Read the rest

A Peek at the Creative Space of Uma Krishnaswami

Today we step inside the writing space of Uma Krishnaswami. Uma is the author of Out of the Way, Out of the Way (illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy–same name, different person); Remembering Grandpa (illustrated by Layne Johnson); The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story (illustrated by Ruth Jeyaveeran); and many other titles. Her latest novel, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, was published this month and has received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Here’s a bit about The Grand Plan: Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies–watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own–especially Bollywood movies. But when her mother tells her some big news, it does not at all jive with the script of her life she has in mind.… Read the rest

Long Live The Traitor King

My book group recently read The Traitor King, by Todd Mitchell, and the author was kind enough to join our book group for the discussion. For anyone looking for authors to invite to speak at your schools, libraries, bookstores, or conferences, you might want to consider Todd. Based on how he was with our book group, I think he’d be fabulous for an author visit. (You can find information on his visits and how to contact him at his website www.toddmitchellbooks.com.) He has been a teacher for the past twelve years and is currently the Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado State University.… Read the rest