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Welcome Kevin Emerson, Author of The Fellowship for Alien Detection!

By on February 25, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Giveaways, Publishing & Promotion  

I’m not usually a fan of aliens.  Really I’m not.  They give me nightmares and take me on their spaceships and run crazy experi….I mean they’re not real at all and nothing ever happened.  It was all a dream.  Just a crazy dream.

I blame Kevin Emerson.  It’s all his fault.  He wrote this book…about aliens and stuff.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?  Anyway, to make up for the alien abductions dreams, he’s here today to tell us all the warning signs of an imminent alien attack.  A little too late for me, but thanks for trying.

FAD - Front Cover - 12x16

Juliette, Arizona is missing, and so is eleven-year-old Pennsylvania resident Suza Raines. Most people believe Suza was kidnapped, but there are others who are convinced something more sinister is going on. The night Suza vanished everyone in her town dreamed they were being taken into space. And it turns out they were not alone. People in towns across the country have been having the same dreams…and it’s only getting worse. Enter Haley and Dodger, two kids from opposite sides of the country who believe there is one explanation for these strange events: aliens. Having each been awarded a Fellowship for Alien Detection (a grant from a mysterious foundation dedicated to proving aliens exist), Haley and Dodger and their families set off on a cross-country road trip to prove their theories. They soon realize that the answers to their questions lie in the vanished town of Juliette, AZ, but someone…or something… is doing everything in its power to make sure they never reach it. If Haley and Dodger don’t act quickly, more people may go missing, and the world as we know it will change for the worse.” Independence Day meets Holes in this thrilling new title from author Kevin Emerson.

 

Top Ten Signs that You May Soon be On the Run from Extra-Terrestrials Bent on World Domination

10. You notice sometimes that time seems to go by really fast, almost like you missed it, and you have to reset your bedroom clock.

9. You have this weird song in your head that goes “Shoop shoop ba-doop.” When you look it up, you find out it’s from 1994.  Who is Salt-N-Pepa? You weren’t even alive in back then. It’s probably your parents’ fault, or is it?

8.  Even though it’s four in the afternoon, you are absolutely craving pancakes.

7.  Every clown you see looks more creepy than usual. Also, they look like they would be really good at mixed martial arts.

6.  You have this weird sense of déjà vu, like you’ve done all this before, like this same day is repeating over and over…

5.  Your town seems to have a lot of construction going on, almost like they’re doing something really big underground.

4.  You have a strange urge to itch behind your left ear.

3.  You remember a place called Juliette, but you can’t find it on any map.

2.  You keep hearing a radio station in your mind.

1.  You just got a letter that you won the Fellowship for Alien Detection.

 

Kevin Emerson - Author Photo

Kevin Emerson has never been abducted by aliens, at least not that he remembers. He has been to Roswell, but all he found there was a cool key chain. Kevin is the author of a number of books for young readers including The Fellowship for Alien Detection, the Oliver Nocturne Series, Carlos is Gonna Get It, and The Lost Code, the first book in the Atlanteans series. Kevin is also a musician. His current project is the brainiac kids’ pop band the Board of Education. A former elementary school science teacher, Kevin continues to work with kids and teens at 826 Seattle and Richard Hugo House and with the Writers in the Schools Program of Seattle Arts & Lectures. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two children. You can visit him online at www.kevinemerson.net

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting on my acceptance letter!  Uh, I mean…who’s Salt-N-Pepa anyway?

I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of The Fellowship for Alien Detection a few months ago.  One word: Unputdownable!  If you read any middle-grade book this year, you’ll want to make sure this is the one!  And now’s your chance.  Kevin has graciously agreed to giveaway a copy of The Fellowship to one lucky reader.  Just enter your name below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for joining us here at the Mixed-Up Files today Kevin!  I’ve got this informative list neatly packed away in my 72 hour kit, you know, for my next alien abduction  dream.

Amie Borst writes fairy tales with a twist with her 12-year-old daughter. Their first book, Cinderskella, releases October 2013 by Jolly Fish Press.

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Interview with Hollow Earth author, Carole Barrowman!

By on February 22, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Hollow Earth takes readers on a classic fantasy-adventure featuring twins with the power to bring art to life, Animare, and a secret society determined to use that ability at any cost, including the twins’ lives.  Written by real-life brother and sister Carole Barrowman and John Barrowman, the story ranges from the National Gallery in London to the remote shores of Scotland to a place called Hollow Earth, where demons and devils are trapped for eternity.  Carole is Professor of English and Director of Creative Studies in Writing at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  John may be familiar to fans of Doctor Who as Captain Jack Harkness.  Carole was kind enough to take a few moments to visit us on the Files.

Hollow Earth US

The author’s note says that you and John cooked up the characters and plot while on a trip together.  Had you ever worked together before?  What was your process like?  (Did you ever pull rank as big sister?)  

This is our fourth book together, but our first novel. We’ve also collaborated on a comic (adapted from one of my short stories and featuring the character, Captain Jack, that John plays on television) so we have a good working relationship. We outline together, brainstorm etc. and then I return to Milwaukee and I do the writing. When I have a solid draft, I send to John for comments etc. I’m the big sister. Of course, I try to pull rank… some things never change no matter how old we are.

You said it!  You have two fascinating mythologies in your book – the idea of Animare, or people who can bring their own drawings into existence, and Hollow Earth, a place where mythological beasts are kept.  How did you come up with these ideas?  

Many of the books we love have strong mythologies (The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter series, The Golden Compass, etc.) and we wanted to create something that had some weight to the adventure, something that connects the twins to more than their immediate family. We also both loved Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl as children so we also wanted to make the stories epic adventures or sorts. I’m also a fan of William Blake and John Milton so their mythologies influenced us too.

William Blake - poet, painter and middle-grade inspiration

William Blake – poet, painter and middle-grade inspiration

That’s a fabulous range of influences.  Did anything happen during the course of writing the book that surprised you, i.e., a character or a plot twist?

Oh my, yes. Solon was not supposed to stick around, but as I wrote he just kept coming back and so when I sent the finished draft and sent it to John we knew we had to keep him.

You write about the Art of the Mystery for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  How do you think the traditions of mystery-writing in adult fiction translate in kid fiction? 

Although there’s also a significant supernatural element, there’s certainly a mystery at the core of Hollow Earth. By its nature, the mystery genre is about moral dilemmas and questions of life and death and loss and I think lots of great kidlit has adapted the traditions and the conventions of the mystery.

Well put! What are some of your favorite kidlit mysteries?

I’m a fan of many of the books that I think follow the conventions of traditional thrillers and mysteries like Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider series.

I think readers who enjoy the adrenalin rush of Alex Rider will feel quite at home with Hollow Earth.  I noticed that you have two distinctly different covers – one with a bird on the cover, and one featuring the twin main characters.  Is there a story behind this?  Do you prefer one over the other?

Buster Books first released Hollow Earth in the UK and they put the caladrius on the cover. The twins and the peryton are on the US cover. Most books have different covers when published in UK and US.

Hollow Earth - UK Edition

Hollow Earth – UK Edition

You’ll have to read the book to find out what role the peryton plays.  Hollow Earth definitely ends with the reader wanting to know what happens next!  What should readers expect next?

John and I imagined a trilogy so the second book (Bone Quill) will be released in the UK in February of 2013 and in the US in July/August. Our plan is a book a year if there are readers…

Bone Quill

I’m sure there will be many readers, including one lucky winner on the Files!  To enter to win a copy of Hollow Earth, post a comment below on what famous painting you would bring to life if you were an Animare.

Wendy Shang would get lost in the swirls of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

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Worlds Apart

By on February 20, 2013   /   Book Lists  

father's dragon map

 The middle grade novel I’m working on takes place on an island in the Great Lakes. That, coupled with how, this time of year, my favorite daydream is lying on a sandy beach in the Caribbean, has me thinking a lot about islands. As settings, they offer a remove from the larger world, an isolation the writer can treat as lonesome and confining, fantastic and rife with possibility, or any combination.  Whether inhabited by baby dragons, convicts, plucky orphans, wild ponies or, of course, pirates, islands are the scenes of some wonderful middle grade novels, from classic to contemporary. Here are a few of my favorites:

My Father’s Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett. This is my go-to book when an adult library patron asks for a read aloud to share with a child not quite ready for longer novels. But even older middle-grade readers can’t resist the heroics of Elmer Elevator, who stows away on a ship to Wild Island to rescue a poor, over-worked baby dragon. It also features the best all-time maps in kid literature (see above) .anne of green

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery. Need I say more? An all-time favorite among children’s books, it’s the story of orphan Anne Shirley, who arrives on Prince Edward to be adopted by the elderly Cuthberts, who are expecting a boy, not a fesisty red-haired girl. The wild beauty of the island is essential to the charm of this book and its sequels.

misty of c

Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry. When my daughter was nine or ten, her favorite game was Misty. She and her friends would gallop everywhere, imaginary manes flying in the island wind. Set on a real island off the coast of Virginia, this book and the others in the series explore powerful, poignant themes of what happens when humans and nature meet.

the cay

The Cay, by Theodor Taylor. Two islands in this book—Curacao, from which the hero Phillip escapes on a boat when German soldiers invade, and the small desert island where he winds up a castaway, blind and dependent on Timothy, an old West Indian unlike anyone he’s ever met. A terrific survival story, with moving themes of the destructiveness of prejudice and the redemptive power of love.

al capone

Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko. Alcatraz! Just the name sends a shiver down the spine. In this comic, engaging novel, set in 1935, Moose Flanagan’s father takes a job as a prison electrician and the whole family moves to the island with him. A fascinating account of what it was like for the children of the guards and other workers who lived there, as well as a great story about the bonds of family and the dilemmas of first love.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell; Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson; and of course Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stephenson….I could go on!  Please share your own favorites!

(An interesting aside: As I was writing this post, I came across this tidbit on one of my favorite sites, A.Word.A.Day., with Anu Garg. The word island was originally iland–literally, watery land. Somewhere along the line, an s was added, because it was erroneously believed to derive from the French isle. The French word has dropped its s to become île, but we English speakers are still carrying that misbegotten s.)

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Tricia’s new picture book, Phoebe and Digger, publishes on March 26. It’s not set on an island, but is still pretty exciting.

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