Featured Author: Cheryl Carpinello

A warm welcome to American author Cheryl Carpinello who tells us about the inspiration behind her exciting prize-winning book for middle grade/tween readers: The King’s Ransom. First an introduction to the book. Further down you can read a little about Cheryl’s other tween book, Guinevere: on the Eve of Legend. I think most adults enjoy the Arthurian legends too!

The King’ Ransom

In medieval Wales, eleven-year-old Prince Gavin, thirteen-year-old orphan Philip, and fifteen-year-old blacksmith's apprentice Bryan are brought together in friendship by one they call the Wild Man. When an advisor to the king is killed and a jewelled medallion is stolen from the king’s treasury, the Wild Man is accused of the theft and murder.

Filled with disbelief at the arrest of the Wild Man, the three friends embark upon a knight’s quest to save their friend’s life. To succeed, the three must confront their fears and insecurities, and one of them will have to disclose the biggest secret of all. Together, they learn the value of Honor, Loyalty, and Friendship.

Inspiration Behind the Story

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table never seem to lose their appeal to readers of all ages. When I talk about the medieval times with kids and adults, the talk centers around the exploits of the knights, heroes like King Arthur and Lancelot, and magic and Merlin. The stories of the knights with their quests, their jousts, their rescuing of the damsels in distress, and their fighting for the underdog dominate the conversation. Never mind that in real life knights weren’t always so gallant and frequently only defended the underdog if he belonged to the same or a higher social class. The Legend has outgrown and overshadowed any historical truth. And, because of this, kids of all ages are drawn to it and medieval times. One has only to look at the popular TV shows out there now like Merlin and The Game of Thrones to realize this.

 The pieces of the Legend that I use in my stories involve adventure, magic and mystery, and heroes. The adventures of knights fighting knights, evil kings/queens/magicians, and dragons and other mythical characters appeals to kids. The infamous Quest presents characters and readers with exciting tales of righting wrongs and/or searching for magical life-saving objects. There is something about solving medieval mysteries involving magic that fuels young readers’ imagination. However, the desire to be a hero represents the ultimate goal of nearly all kids, and heroes abound in the Legend.

Arthurian Legend allows kids to experience a world in which a person is judged on who they are and on what they accomplish, not on outside expectations. In other words, the Legend gives readers a chance to be themselves.

Many thanks for such an inspiring piece, Cheryl!

The King’s Ransom is available from MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon US and UK, Barnes and Noble

Guinevere is available from Amazon US and UK, Barnes and Noble

  

I am a twice-retired high school English teacher. I’m afraid I’m one of those people who do not do retirement well. Working with kids is a passion I have never lost. I regularly conduct Medieval Writing Workshops for local elementary/middle schools and for the Colorado Girl Scouts. We explore writing and reading, and it is fulfilling to see young students excited about writing and reading. It seems I'm not the only one who loves Medieval Times and the King Arthur Legend. The kids thoroughly enjoy writing their own medieval stories complete with dragons, wizards, unicorns, and knights.

Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend was a Finalist in the 2011 Global eBook Awards for Pre-Teen Fiction. In it, readers are introduced to the Princess Guinevere who is struggling with growing up and taking on the responsibilities of an adult at age thirteen. The King’s Ransom (Young Knights of the Round Table) was the 2012 Silver Award Recipient for YA Fiction from Children’s Literary Classics and also earned the CLC’s Seal of Approval for Recommended Reading. The King’s Ransom was also named a Finalist in E-Book Children’s Fiction from USA 2012 Best Book Awards. In this story, three unlikely friends swear a knight’s oath of loyalty to one wrongly accused of murder which forces each to confront and conquer their fears or face humiliation and/or even death.

You can find out more about Cheryl on her blog.

Featured Author: Penny Lockwood

A warm welcome to author and editor, Penny Lockwood, who tells us the inspiration behind her charming picture book, Boo’s Bad Day.

Rosemary, thanks for hosting me. At the end of the tour, I will pick out one commenter’s name and send an autographed copy of Boo’s Bad Day to a United States address only. If the name I pick is someone who lives outside the U.S., I will send a PDF copy of the book. So remember, readers, be sure to leave contact information when you comment!

If your readers missed yesterday’s post, they can catch up at http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/. Tomorrow, I’ll be visiting with http://www.dreamseekeradventures.com/blog.

Boo’s Bad Day

Boo sneaks out of the house and discovers that freedom by himself can be scary.

Boo is a very bored kitten. When Timmy and his mom return home, Boo sneaks out of the house. Boo is frightened by the noises of the big world outside of the safety of his warm home. When Timmy coaxes Boo back into the house, Boo realizes some places are safe and some are not.

Inspiration behind the Story

What inspired me to write Boo’s Bad Day? My grandchildren, of course! 

When I first started writing professionally, my children were in grade school and middle school, so my first novel was a middle grade reader. Now those children are adults and parents of their own children, so I look to my grandchildren for inspiration. 

Over the years, I have written about what is important in my life. My nonfiction has been in the areas of parenting, teen self-help, and writing. My fiction was written either for my children’s age group or adults. As my children grew older, my stories ended up being geared more for teens.

Now, with a five-year-old granddaughter and a twenty-one-month-old grandson, I’m more interested in writing picture books and early readers, as well as continuing to write for adults.

The actual story for Boo is based upon a real adventure our own black teenage cat endured several years ago. At the time, we had several cats, and they were all inside/outside cats. 

Boo had gone outside in the morning. It was winter, and the day was cold and overcast. Before evening, an ice storm came up, and Boo didn’t come inside. We called and called, but he didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. We assumed he had found a dry spot in a neighbor’s barn. The next morning, it was still freezing, but no Boo. We called again and heard his meow. We searched until we found him high up in a fir tree. My husband got out his tallest ladder and tried to reach him but couldn’t. Poor little Boo. His meows became sadder and weaker as time wore on.

Finally, a friend, who was a bit taller than my husband, came to our home. He was a construction worker, used to climbing on tall ladders. He stood on the topmost rung of a 50-foot ladder and was just barely able to reach Boo. He grabbed him and got him down. Once we got Boo into the house, the poor kitty snuggled by the woodstove for at least a week!

Since my grandson loves kitties so much, I knew I had to write a kitty story, and Boo’s story was a good one to tell. Boo’s Bad Day isn’t quite as traumatic as what actually happed to our kitty, but Boo does have some fearful adventures on his own. This gives parents something to talk about as they read with their young children.

Boo's Bad day is available in print from 4RV Publishing, Amazon US and Amazon UK

Penny Lockwood has published more than 100 articles, 75 stories, a chapbook, and her stories have been included in two anthologies. She writes for both adults and children. Her fiction has appeared in numerous genre and children’s publications, and non‑fiction work has appeared in a variety of writing, parenting, and young adult print magazines and on line publications. She edits for MuseItUp Publishing. You can find out more about Penny on her website and blog. Connect with Penny on Facebook and Twitter: @PennyEhrenkranz

Penny has recently released Boo’s Bad Day with 4RV Publishing and has three other children’s books under contract with them: Ghost for Rent, Ghost for Lunch, and Many Colored Coats. She has three romances published by MuseItUp Publishing: Love Delivery, Lady in Waiting, and Mirror, Mirror. Her short story collection, A Past and A Future, is available through Sam’s Dot Publishing and Smashwords.

 

Featured Author: J.D. Pooker

A warm welcome to children’s author, J.D. Pooker who is visiting us from America with her intriguingly titled book, The Ifs. J.D. tells us about the inspiration behind the story. Thanks for coming over, J.D.

The Ifs

Landon and Broden don’t get along very well. As brothers, they spend most of their day fighting with each other or plotting ways to get revenge. Then, strange things start happening, such as homework being mysteriously finished and clothes being put away in the hamper. 

The brothers want to share their weird experiences, but they don’t know if they can trust each other. Then, when a tiny, six-inch tall man asks them to help him fight a battle, they’ll have to put their grudges away and learn how to work together. Can they face their fears and figure out what it takes to be brave?

Inspiration Behind the Story

My sons, Landon and Broden, were the inspiration for this story. While they are not quite as old as the characters in the book, they enjoy camping, fishing, and snowmobiling with us as a family. They also enjoy wrestling, playing their Wii, playing with their toy guns and bows and arrows, and playing with their pets.

The Ifs is available from Little Devil Books, Amazon US and Amazon UK

J.D. Pooker lives in wonderful Wyoming with her husband and two sons, along with a black lab named Ryder and a sweet kitty named Alia. J.D. likes to spend time with her family on all the outdoor pursuits above. She can’t wait until her boys get older as she is sure they will have many fabulous adventures.

Featured Author: Jack Hastie

A warm welcome to writing colleague and children’s author, Jack Hastie, who tells us about the inspiration behind his intriguing debut novel, Fraser’s Voices.

Fraser’s Voices

Set in Argyll in the West Highlands of Scotland, Fraser’s Voices tells the story of ten year old Fraser who suddenly discovers that he can speak to animals. This gift is associated with a mystery illness – “tumblings of the mind” – and when this goes into remission, his unusual ability fades too. 

The book is split into five sections, each beginning with the onset or recurrence of the illness and ending with a temporary cure and the loss of his gift. His voice introduces him to friends like One-eye the fox, Barook the badger and Nephesh the owl. These new friends lead him into a series of adventures where Fraser and his friends have to solve a problem and face great danger: a murderous intruder, toxic pollution of burns, rabies, a forest fire. But what will happen when he can no longer talk to the animal friends he has come to know and love?

Inspiration behind the Book

Fraser’s Voices was inspired by a number of factors, primarily my lifelong interest in animals and telling stories to my grandchildren. I was greatly inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, and the Benderloch district of Argyll in Scotland, where I holidayed as a child and which forms the setting for my book. This is the story I would love to have read as a child.

Fraser’s Voices is available from Troubador in print and ebook, and from Amazon

Jack Hastie is a retired Scottish lecturer. He has previously self-published two collections of short stories for children. He is married and has four grandchildren, who have inspired much of his writing, and has been the owner of several large dogs, who have also been inspirational.

You can find Jack on Facebook

Featured Debut Author: Philip Coleman

A warm welcome to interesting YA author, Philip Coleman, who has used his knowledge of certain European cities to write this exciting debut novel, The Master’s Book – it’s definitely on my TBR list!

Thanks for being my guest, Philip, and for providing such fascinating information.

The Master’s Book

Sean moves to Brussels to a house that is a crime scene...

In 1482 Mary, the last Duchess of Burgundy, lies on her deathbed in a castle in Flanders. She is only 24. In her final moments she makes a wish that, 500 years later, will threaten the lives of a boy and a girl living in Brussels.

The Master’s Book is the story of Sean, an Irish teenager, just arrived in Brussels to a house that is also a crime scene. Together with Stephanie, his classmate, he finds an illuminated manuscript, only for it to be stolen almost at once.

Where did this manuscript come from? Who was it originally made for? Is there a connection with the beautiful tomb Sean has seen in Bruges? Above all, why does someone want this book so badly that they are prepared to kill for it?

Part thriller and part paper-chase, this book is aimed at boys and girls of twelve and over.

In the Master’s Footsteps

The time I spent in Brussels was one of the happiest of my life. Some of the reasons for this were work-related but it was also because my son and daughter were at just the right age when, coming from Ireland, they were exposed to the rich culture and history of mainland Europe.

Despite its reputation as a boring EU city – and the fact that some areas are quite run down – Brussels and the beautiful neighbouring towns of Bruges, Ghent and Leuven are almost like time capsules of European history. They were ruled over at various times by the Romans, the Holy Roman Empire, the Burgundians, the Spanish, the French and the Dutch, before Belgium became a new country in the 19^th century (and soon acquired colonies that became its shame). At the same time, Brussels is also very much a modern city.

One exciting aspect of life there for our children was the cultural melting pot in the European school, as manifested by the number of startlingly beautiful mixed race children.

Without wanting to put my own children – or any others I knew in Brussels - into a story, I wanted to recapture the feeling of seeing the city through the eyes of a young teenager. I found a way to do this when I stumbled on an Internet article about the Master of Mary of Burgundy, a medieval artist (we don’t know his real name) who created several beautiful illuminated manuscripts, including two for Mary, the last Duchess of Burgundy, who lived in the late fifteenth century. I decided straight away that this enigmatic artist would be the anchor for the plot.

So the story has all these elements: it is set in many locations around Brussels, Bruges and Ghent, it features a medieval manuscript, and the two main characters are a teenage Irish boy (Sean), his sister (Maeve) and Congolese-English girl (Stephanie). It’s aimed for the readership to which my own children belonged at that time (i.e. 12 plus) and, above all, it’s meant to be fun.

I hope you like it. (Sounds brilliant, Philip!)

The Master’s Book is available from MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon UK and Amazon US

Philip Coleman has worked as a biologist for most of his life—in Ireland, Belgium and now in Switzerland. Having been an avid reader all his life, he took up writing only in 2006. This is his first published novel. He has a grown-up son and daughter (who were roughly the same ages as Sean and Maeve during the time in Brussels but otherwise aren’t a bit like them at all!). He now lives in France.

You can find Philip on Facebook

 

And the Winners Are...

Once again, thank you so much to everyone for making The Jigsaw Puzzle launch such a fun and memorable day - I really appreciate all your support!

First of all, the strange looking bird is indeed a capercaillie, quite a rare, large type of woodland grouse found in certain parts of Scotland with native pinewood, and it's in danger of extinction.

I've chosen two winners from the blog and one on Facebook, where the party was almost as big as on here! And the winners from the blog are... Ange and Cheryl. As promised you can choose either a free ebook of Summer of the Eagles, or a signed print copy of the same, or a signed print copy of Victorian novella, Mischief at Mulberry Manor. I'll contact you both soon.

I feature children's, tween, or YA authors here each Monday, so please pop in some time if you're looking for ideas for these age groups.

Thanks again,
Ros x

The Jigsaw Puzzle Launch Party!

Hi everyone – it's Thursday 18th April and many thanks for joining me to celebrate the online launch of my new Tween/Middle Grade book, The Jigsaw Puzzle. This is aimed at roughly 9 to 12 year olds, but if you’re anything like me and enjoy mystery and slightly creepy goings on, it might appeal to you too.

The beautiful cover is by wonderful artist C.K.Volnek

The Jigsaw Puzzle is available to download in all formats from MuseItUp Publishing at the special price of $2.80, saving 20%!

It’s also available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The names of everyone commenting will be entered into a hat and I’ll be giving away one of the following prizes to two winners who can choose from:

• a free download of my previous tween book, Summer of the Eagles, in any e-format
• a signed copy of the print version of Summer of the Eagles (different cover)
• a signed print copy of my Victorian novella, Mischief at Mulberry Manor

Please help yourself to a drink  - champagne only for adults! - and some cake, or fruit if you’re being healthy, while I introduce you to the characters from The Jigsaw Puzzle with the back cover blurb, video trailer and a short excerpt. Enjoy!

The Jigsaw Puzzle

Twelve-year-old asthmatic Daniel stays with his bossy cousin, Amy, her mum, and two cats in the Scottish countryside during the Christmas holidays while his parents take a trip to sort out their problems. When Amy and Daniel make up an old jigsaw puzzle, the cottage and garden gradually change to resemble the Victorian cottage pictured on the box lid.

In between searching for the missing Title Deeds of the cottage to save it from land developers, they complete the jigsaw and find a strange rhyming puzzle hidden within the box. What does it mean? Daniel and Amy soon find out when they become trapped in the past.

Will they solve the cryptic written puzzle and find their way back to the present before it’s too late to save themselves, the destruction of the woods, and their cottage?

Excerpt 1

“I know what we’ll do.” Amy suddenly ran into her room, startling him out of his thoughts. “I found an old jigsaw in the attic one day and I haven’t tried it yet. Let’s take it downstairs and we could start it now.”  

    Hardly pausing to see if Daniel agreed, Amy led the way down to the living room as though expecting him to follow. So, he did. He didn’t really care what they did today. Anything would do to stop him picturing his mother and father driving away without him.

    He didn’t even want to think about them flying across the Atlantic to America with the kinds of trouble these days, or accidents. No, don’t think of that. At least Amy kept him amused in her bossy way, taking charge. He used to like jigsaws and hadn’t done one for years. In fact, he loved any kind of puzzle, especially anything in code. It was a change from playing computer games, though his friend back at school, Paul, would never believe Daniel put together a jigsaw.

    Once seated at the big table in the corner, they opened the jigsaw box, standing the picture lid against the fruit bowl so they could see it clearly. Hundreds of small pieces lay in the box. Daniel picked one up, surprised to find the pieces made of thin wood instead of cardboard. It appeared very old and cut a bit differently from more modern jigsaws.

    Some of the curved edges had no cut-out bit to attach to another piece. He reckoned they probably shaped against another curve to join up. Other pieces looked more like the kind he knew with notches or spaces to connect to each other.

    Daniel stared at the picture on the lid. “Huh, a house and garden. Why can’t it be something interesting like wild cats or birds?”

    Amy shrugged, not bothering to answer. She might be bossy, Daniel thought, but at least she didn’t chatter all the time like the girls at school.

    Then he stared at the picture more closely, noticing something strange about it. The house did look a bit familiar. But the old-fashioned crisscross windows had tiny panes of glass which he’d never seen before. A strange doorknocker shaped like an old face hung on the door, and the garden bloomed with lots of colourful flowers and plants. A stone sundial stood at the bottom of the garden, casting a shadow across its surface. Daniel’s stomach flipped. The house in his dream!

Have another drink and some yummy chocolate – don’t leave me with all this food!

In the story, when Daniel and Amy discover the nearby woods are in danger, Daniel is sure he hears this strange bird that we can find in some parts of Scotland. Do you know what it’s called?

Photo by David Palmer (Creative Commons)

Daniel and Amy get trapped in the past, or is it a parallel time to the present? Would you like to visit another age? What period?

Try this time travel quiz and see where you should travel to in time. Since I’m a fairly content person, I’m not surprised I ended up travelling to the Present, although it agreed I like parallel time zones!

Here’s a little exciting bit from further on in the story.

Excerpt 2

They ran through the house again, checking the other door and all the windows. Nothing would open. Daniel’s heart beat faster. His face started to get all hot and sweaty. Then his chest tightened. Difficult to get breath… He gasped a few times, trying to suck in some air. He needed his inhaler.

He put his hand in his pocket. It wasn’t there! He searched the other pocket. Same thing. Then he remembered. He’d put it on the table in the real house during that asthma attack while watching the cartoons.

He started to breathe even quicker, panic taking over at not having his inhaler. Daniel leaned against the wall, half-bent over, gasping for another breath. He was going to die here! And Amy would be all alone, trapped in a house that didn’t exist like this any more.

*

 
Well, I do hope you've enjoyed your visit here today - I've really enjoyed your company! Thank you all so much for helping me to celebrate the publication of The Jigsaw Puzzle!

I'll leave you with this fun little puzzle to do for yourself - click on the puzzle and hopefully it works! I'll announce the winners of the prize draw on Saturday if you want to drop by then.

Ros

Misty pine Jigsaw Puzzle