Author Interviews

The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston

By on November 19, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh, except inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000—the world’s eighth-largest electronics factory.    
   Beneath the glass towers and glittering skywalks, there’s a rambling old mansion from which all the company’s amazing inventions spring forth. And no one except Uncle Archie knows what’s behind the second-to-last door at the end of the hall.
   Until Elliot and Leslie are invited to take a glimpse inside.
   They find stooped, troll-like creatures with jutting jaws and broken teeth. Tiny winged things that sparkle as they fly. And huge, hulking, hairy nonhumans (with horns). It is unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
   But when Chuck Brickweather threatens to shut down the DENKi-3000 factory if a new product isn’t presented soon, the creatures know they are in danger. And when Uncle Archie vanishes, it’s up to Elliot, Leslie, and every one of the unusual, er, “employees” to create an invention so astonishing it will save the Creature Department.

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Amie: Welcome to the Files, Robert! Your book is so fun – kind of like a grown up Monster’s Inc! Which makes me wonder… if you could be any creature in the world, what would it be?

Robert: This question is much too easy. In the future, please ask a more difficult one. For example: Do human beings possess free will? Or perhaps: Does thought require language? This question, however, is a piece of cake. I would be a Snub-Snouted Danger Moose. The weight of their antlers puts pressure on the part of their brains governing fear—so they don’t feel any. That’s why they’re such daredevils. I think I would make a excellent daredevil (if I were a Snub-Snouted Danger Moose).

Amie: Well I was going to say Cookie Monster, then I could eat all the cookies I wanted and no one could say anything about it! When I was little there were scary little creatures that crawled out from under the bed when I was asleep. I swear they nibbled on my fingers and left boogers in my eyes.  What monster lurked under your bed as a child?

Robert:  A fuzzy purple one with yellow horns. His name was Rudy McQuillen and I still see him now and again, when he comes up to London. These days he works in the payroll office at Dover City Council.

Amie: Yellow horns? Too bad it wasn’t just one – then it could be a unicorn and they’re not scary at all! What is a monsters’ favorite food? 

Robert: Another easy one! Don’t you already know this? You should. Could be a matter of life and death. The answer is children, of course. Although in a pinch a hungry monster will settle for Bundt cake.

Amie: My worst fear has come true. It’s a miracle I survived my childhood!  I wish someone had warned me when I was little…maybe with a book…about monsters…Where were you Robert?? Where were you when I was seven and scared of those monsters? *Clears throat* Ahem. I mean, why did you chose to write for middle-grade readers? 

Robert: They’re the only ones who laugh at my Bundt cake jokes.

Amie: Probably true. Just kidding. I laughed. A little. Okay, but seriously, I have one very important last question, so pay attention.  Boogers or vomit? Vanilla pudding or green jello? Tootsie rolls or skittles? 

Robert: Boogers or vomit? Now that’s more like it. Now this is a difficult question. A true conundrum! Let me think. Okay, well, hmmm…while boogers represent a effective and time-honoured way of clearing the nasal passages, vomiting is just so rare! It’s like a special occasion! Come to think of it, why isn’t it a special occasion? If it were up to me, I’d change the second Tuesday of every month to “Spewsday.” We would all gather around the Great Community Bucket, join hands and barf our hearts out! (But not literally, of course. That would be silly.) Yes, definitely vomit.

Vanilla pudding or green jello? Yick. Neither. Let’s face it: Vanilla pudding looks like a bowl of popped zits. Who would eat that? And green jello? Green jello obviously fell from space disguised as a gelatinous dessert in order to lull us into a false sense of security before rising up to take over the world in an extremely wobbly revolution. My advice: Stay away. Death to Green Jello!

Tootsie rolls or Skittles? I prefer Maltesers.

Amie: Well, there you have it, folks! Maltesers. They are the answer to the age-old question – “What do you use to clean your windows?” You heard it here first! Malted balls to the rescue 🙂

Want to win a copy of The Creature Department? Celebrate spewsday? Clean your windows with malted balls? Then just fill out the rafflecopter form below and you’re sure to have a fuzzy purple cheeto-stealing Snub-Snouted Danger Moose with yellow horns visit you in your sleep. Perhaps his name is even Rudy McQuillen.

Robert Paul Weston 
is the author of Zorgamazoo, a novel entirely in rhyme, which was an E.B. White Read Aloud honoree and a “natural descendant of the works of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl.” It was also a Booklist starred top ten debut of 2008 as well as a recipient of the California Young Reader’s Medal, the Silver Birch Award, and the Children’s Choice Award. 

 Weston’s second novel was the hardboiled fairy-tale Dust City, which was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery. Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff published in February 2013. 

Find Robert on Twitter, his Book Website, His Website and  Facebook

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Amie Borst is the co-author of Cinderskella. She guarantees there are no monsters by the name of Rudy in her book. But there is a skeleton named Cindy. Find her on Facebook and her blog.

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Catherine Murdock Interview & Giveaway

By on October 21, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

“Pick me, pick me!” was my response to the Mixed-Up Files request to interview Catherine Murdock. That was before I found out that her new book,  Heaven is Paved with Oreos, is connected to the Diary Queen Trilogy – then I almost fainted. Dairy Queen was one of the first middle grade books I read as an adult and, well, I think it’s fair to say that the main character of the series, D.J. Swank, is the one who made me fall in love with the genre all over again.

FINAL_Heaven_JKTNeedless to say, I gobbled up Heaven is Paved with Oreos, which is told from the perspective of Sarah Zorn, D.J.’s younger brother’s best friend and fake girlfriend (yes, you read that right – it’s part of their “Brilliant Outflanking Strategy”). When I was done reading, I had tons and tons of questions for Catherine, which she graciously answered (as drool seeped out the corner of my mouth).

Thanks for joining us at the Mixed-Up Files, Catherine.  As you can probably tell (ahem!) I’m a big fan of yours (and D.J.’s!)

It’s been four years since Front and Center, the last book in The Diary Queen Trilogy was published. You’ve written at two fantasy books in between, Princess Ben and Wisdom’s Kiss. What made you revisit D.J.’s family?

I love D.J. so much, and I really wanted to see her from another point of view — to let us understand her through someone else’s eyes. I also wanted to make sure that Curtis was okay. I worry about the boy, and I needed to see him through.

Reading the books, it’s obvious you love D.J. (almost as much as me) but I can understand why she could no longer be your main character – her story really did come full circle in the three books and it’s hard to imagine how you could have continued on such a dramatic arc. How did you choose which character in The Diary Queen Trilogy to put in the starring role of the follow up?

This relates to the next question — I’ve been to Rome several times and simply adore the city, and for about ten years I’ve been entertaining the thought of writing a book set there. I just didn’t know how to approach it. And I wanted to return to Red Bend, Wisconsin in some way …  With hindsight the choice of Sarah was obvious, but it took me a long time to come to that realization — it took me a while to take her seriously as a character. I’d thought of her as rather mousy. But it turns out that Sarah isn’t mousy at all, she’s only mousy around D.J.!

You do a great job of dividing Sarah’s story between Red Bend and Italy – where she travels with her zany grandmother and unexpectedly learns a lot about her family (and her relationship with Curtis). Did you do a separate visit Rome to research the book?  

shapeimage_4As I said, I’ve been to Rome many times, beginning in, oh, 1987 … I am a huge architecture buff (as anyone reading Heaven is Paved with Oreos can tell), and I also love to eat, and to walk — really it’s the best of everything. I made one trip there as I was developing the book (curiously, I took loads of pictures of marble skulls even before thinking up that subplot with Curtis!), and another trip to fact-check it later. This last time I stayed in an old monastery, and it was magical. Simply magical.

Will you be writing more books set in Red Bend, Wisconsin?  

I don’t think so — but I’ve said that after every Red Bend book. So who knows? At the moment I’m more focused on adult non-fiction, but the project is in the very early stages … Still, Red Bend is my home away from home.

Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between writing contemporary middle grade fiction versus fantasy?  Similarities?

The wonderful thing about fantasy is that you can solve pretty much any plot or character problem with magic. I’ve spoken with other children’s authors about this, and we agree that it’s the best part of the genre — well, that and dragons. Contemporary middle grade, I feel, comes with an expectation of more character development, and possibly more of a moral — a learning experience, if you will. But in both cases, you need believable, sympathetic characters and a really good story. Simple, right?

Right! And no one creates them better than you (IMHO). Thanks for your time, Catherine. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I hope readers enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I have no doubt that they will – and thanks to Catherine’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of you is going to win a free copy!  Just follow the link to our Rafflecopter giveaway to enter to win a copy of Heaven is Paved with Oreos.  Good luck!

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Indie Spotlight: A Brand New Mr. Mopp’s in Berkeley CA!

By on September 30, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Indie Spotlight  

Mopp's logo

It’s always so exciting and heartening to learn that someone is opening a new children’s bookstore , and in the next few weeks, Davin MCDonald and Jenny Stevenson, owners of Mr. Mopps’ Toys and Books will be doing just that (www.mrmopps.net)

Sue Cowing for Mixed-Up Files: Congratulations on your new bookshop venture, Devin! We should also say thank you, because  nothing keeps the magic of books and reading alive for kids like a dedicated children’s bookshop. You’ve carried books in the toy shop before and tried to do readings there, so is this a kind of expansion of a dream?

Devin:  It is.  Mr. Mopps’ actually opened in 1962 as just a book shop and expanded shortly after to include toys. Over the years, it became quite famous for both. Ultimately, it became a large toy shop with a separate room for books. We took over the shop in October of 2010. The former owners were retiring. They liquidated the inventory and terminated the lease on the book room. It saddened us that we no longer had the book room, but at the time it was a bit of a happy accident. There was no way we could have afforded the lease on both of them.

Under construction!

Under construction!

In carrying on the grand tradition of Mr. Mopps’, we have carried books, and up until now have had a decent selection. While the shop is actually quite large (~3700 sq. feet/344 sq. meters), we have found that we just didn’t have the space we wanted to offer the selection we desired to carry. When a space several doors down from the shop became available, one of our staff, Eric, mentioned he thought it would be awesome if we could open a book shop there. We kind of laughed it off at the time, but over dinner that night, we decided to  crunch some numbers and it became apparent it was actually

something we could possibly do. So, yes. It is an expansion of a dream. A recent and sudden dream, but one we are extremely excited about. We are opening the shop on October 19th, and we just can’t wait.We have actually started dreaming of the shop in our sleep. This is a massive deal to us.

MUF: It seems that every children’s book shop has a unique atmosphere, simply because the owners are free to realize their  particular vision of what a book shop could be.   What is yours for Mr. Mopp’s Books?

screenshot_854Devin: Well, we are firm believers that just because this is a space for children’s books, that doesn’t mean that it has to be decorated with rainbows and primary colors and the like. In fact, the palette we have chosen as far as paint and flooring and light fixtures is a bit mature. As for decor, we are putting plants on top of the shelves and the space you can see in the back there, and will have some neat things on top of them as well, such as a globe and a telescope, lamps, and things like that. I guess what we envision is sort of a cozy study- but for children. The space in the back there will be a reading corner with a big chair and a children’s table. We will have step stools around, and perhaps something along the lines of bean bag chairs or ottomans to sit on and read. We’ll  have some toys on hand to play with as well.

The music we listen to at Mr. Mopps’ is a wildly eclectic mix culled from  Jenny’s and my collection at home that is family friendly. We get compliments on it all the time. Jazz, blues, soul, funk, rock,  R and B, obscure vintage music, Bollywood tunes, Thai disco, Cambodian folk music, cumbia, ranchero, salsa, 70’s Irani music, mellow electronica, Balkan brass… It really is all over the place. We find that it adds to the richness and texture of the shop and leads to interesting conversation. People from all over the world who have dropped in to the shop have run over to the counter to ask how we could possibly know about the song we are  listening to. We don’t do kid’s music or holiday music, and our customers tend to really appreciate that.

Another exciting thing is that we have a friend of the shop who who will be curating artwork to hang in the book store. She throws what is arguably the coolest art event in San Francisco annually- it’s called ArtpadSF. If you are ever in the Bay Area when it is happening, you should jump on the opportunity to go. She knows loads of artists and will be helping us find work that is not “kids” art, but is still kid-friendly in terms of appropriateness.card from Chronicle

MUF: Are you planning to have author visits or on-going programs like story-hours, classes, or book clubs ?  What middle-grade author (s) would you most like to have appear at your shop?

Devin:We are! The shop is quite small (360 sq. feet/33.5 sq. meters), so readings will most likely have to be an RSVP type of deal. But signings and such will be open to the public. We are toying with the idea of book clubs, but this is all happening so quickly we haven’t had time to really think about the actual “nuts and bolts” of how something like that would work.

Truthfully, I’ve been ordering so many titles over the past few weeks that it is all a blur as far as being able to choose any particular authors that we would like to have visit the shop. Of course there are the superstars- like Rowling and Riordan, Gaiman and Palacio, but there are so many lesser-known authors I am coming across in the buying process whose work looks great.

MUF: Who will be working in the shop and recommending books to children and their adults?

Devin: We are interviewing 20 candidates now, and, really, they all seem great. The majority of them have bookselling experience and in some cases, have even been buyers. This is going to be a tough decision. We are hiring a staff of 3, two of which will be working on any given day. Jenny and I will also work in the shop at times, of course.

We are also going to publish a newsletter with reviews by kids who frequent the shop. Several are already on board!

A young intern at Mr. Mopps'

A young intern at Mr. Mopps’

MUF: How will you select books for your shop?  Do you have some favorite titles that you will carry and recommend to middle-grade readers?
Right now, I am the buyer for the shop. My technique so far has been to order books I am familiar with, are by authors I love, and we have recieved scores of emails (and even hand-written) lists of suggestions from children who come to Mr. Mopps’. Some of the publisher’s reps have been very helpful in pointing out work that they like. We are very particular in expressing our tastes to them, and they have gotten to know what types of books we like carrying. We are going to the NCIBA show in early October and the ABA show in January. I’m sure we’ll be finding some great stuff there.

MUF:  If a family visits your store from out of town, would there be a place nearby for them  to get a meal or snack after browsing your shop? And are there family-friendly activities to enjoy nearby.
Devin:  Yes! There are a handful of wonderful restaurants near the shop, ranging from delicious pizza to sushi and even organic vegan fare.  We are just two blocks away from Martin Luther King Jr. Junior High School, where the famous Edible Schoolyard is located (there is also a playground and track there) and very close to Live Oak Park, which has a nice playground and a creek, Codornices Park (where there is a really fun and super long cement slide), and the Berkeley Rose Garden. screenshot_860My favorite of them all, Adventure Playground, is about a 10 minute drive from here (and that’s really just because of cross-town traffic. It’s only maybe 3 miles away). There, children can check out hammers and such, build and paint forts out of scrap and plywood, and ride on a super fun zip line.

MUF:  Sounds great! Thanks, Devin, for taking time from your hectic preparations to talk with us. All best wishes and hoorahs for your opening and for the the success of Mr. Mopps’ Books!

MUF:More good news.  Spellbound Children’s Bookshop in Asheville NC, interviewed here in April, is also realizing it’s expansion dream soon.  They’re moving from downtown Asheville  to Reynolds Village in North Asheville, where they’ll have plenty of free parking for customers.  They’re painting now and shooting for early October.  Check their Facebook page or website (ww.spellbounchildrensbookshop.com) for announcement of the  open-house date.

Readers, please use this comment space to wish Devin and Jenny well in their new Berkeley shop and, if you can, visit them after the 19th !

Sue Cowing is the author of the puppet-and-boy novel You Will Call Me Drog (Carolrhoda 2012, Usborne UK 2012).

 

 

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