Category: Uncategorized
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 10: MAYHEM AT THE MINISTRY
First Paragraph: Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 8 THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP
First Paragraph: Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Harry couldn’t stop grinning. They walked through the wood for […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA STUFF: Cannibalism: A Post About Editing (Part One)
THIS WEEK IN NINJA-ING: Tuesday’s Book of the Week is Finn Finnegan, Wednesday we’re discussing Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Thursday author Darby Karchut will face the 7 Questions. Saturday, as ever, we’ll be joined by a surprise literary agent. Greetings, Esteemed Reader, from the home of YA writer Jody Sparks. I’m writing this from the soft, over-sized chair […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA STUFF: Indiana, My Home
Do you love where you live, Esteemed Reader? Did you consider all the wonderful places there are in the world and decide to live where you are instead of a tropical paradise because you like your spot better? Were you born there and simply happy to stay put? Were you compelled to move there and now […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA STUFF: Rob or Robert (What’s in a Name)?
Esteemed Reader, If you like the look of the snazzy new cover of Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, you can download the newly re-mastered ebook right now FOR FREE. It doesn’t matter when you’re reading this as the ebook will be permanently free to download on multiple platforms. I’ve been running this blog […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Review Policy Amendment, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Indie Book
It’s an exciting time to be an author, Esteemed Reader. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard industry insiders bemoan the lowly state of modern publishing because it’s nothing like it used to be and the empire is crumbling. If I had a once cushy job at a publishing house and I’d […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Toy Story 3 and Darkness in Children’s Stories
Hey there, Esteemed Reader. I hope your weekend is going well. Mine is swell, thus far. I had time yesterday and today to do some serious writing and as soon as I finish this post, I’m going to get back to it. And, of course, I’m reading the last of Dawn Lairamore’s Ivy’s Ever After […]
Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author Barbara Shoup
Barbara Shoup is the author eight novels, including Night Watch, Wish You Were Here, Stranded in Harmony, Faithful Women, Vermeer’s Daughter, Everything You Want, An American Tune, and Looking for Jack Kerouac, as well as the co-author of Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process and Story Matters. Her young adult novels, Wish You […]
Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author Jack Ketchum
Jack Ketchum is the pseudonym for a former actor, singer, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk–a former flower child and baby boomer who figures that in 1956 Elvis, dinosaurs and horror probably saved his life. His first novel, Off Season, prompted the Village Voice to publicly scold its publisher in print for publishing […]
Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author M.T. Anderson
M.T. Anderson is the author of the Pals in Peril series; The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, which won the National Book Award; The Game of Sunken Places; Burger Wuss; Thirsty; and Feed, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, and the winner of the Los Angeles […]