Giveaways

Boo! Let’s get creepy! (And enter to win!)

By on September 13, 2013   /   Giveaways  
blackcat

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

Happy Friday the 13th, MUF peeps! In the interest of personal safety on this creeptastic day, go ahead and hang a horseshoe for good luck, don’t break any mirrors and — whatever you do — hold your breath when you pass a cemetery!

At least, that’s what my 8-year-old self would have advised… That stuff doesn’t scare grown-up me one bit. I’ll just be here blissfully stepping on cracks in the sidewalks, spilling salt everywhere, and whoa… wait a minute? Was that a black cat? Crossing my path? Excuse me while I run home and hide under the covers…

Phew! Safe now.

Okay, in all seriousness, there’s just something about a good, creepy story — no matter what your age — but especially when you’re a middle-grader. Maybe it’s because it’s sorta scary (in an exciting way, of course) to leave childhood behind. Or perhaps it’s because looming adolescence makes it feel like you’ve been possessed at times. Or, it could just be that there’s no better way to safely scare the socks off yourself than with a good book.

Whatever the case, I distinctly remember devouring ghost stories as a fifth-grader — then hanging out with my buddies at recess holding seances, trying to conjure up spirits and lift each other using only our fingertips (“light as a feather, stiff as a board” anyone?).

And we all had Ouija boards, which of course we never EVER used alone, lest we become the earthly vessels for some malevolent spirit…

Still, as much as I enjoyed spooking myself out as I kid (like the time a friend and I found a smashed gravestone in the woods, took it home and hid it in my closet until we became convinced that it was possessed and had to be exorcised and properly disposed of…), I’d never actually written a spooky story. I’ve always been funny/realistic writer. Well, until my recent work-for-hire gig with the fabulous Working Partners Ltd., that is. So let me share a few things I’ve learned along the way:

  • Less is more. Horror and humor are similar in this regard. Over-the-top can be funny or scary, but oftentimes it’s much creepier not to have the whole monster jump right out at you — let the reader get just a glimpse of a jagged fang, the outline of a horrifying shadow, the scrape of nails along the wall.
  • Physical reactions can be your friend — and enemy. Hearts can only pound so much before they explode. Too many goosebumps make your characters look like they’re diseased. Find other physical ways to convey fear — the uncontrollable twitch of the eyelid, a sweaty palm sliding down a railing, a mouth suddenly gone dry.
  • Don’t rush it! The anticipation of something scary can be even creepier than the thing itself. Telltale heart, anyone? Let the suspense build — don’t just rush into the big “BOO!” moment. Make. Them. Sweat. It. Out…

And… apparently because I’m writing a creepy post, I was just, quite literally, interrupted by the sound of footsteps clomping across my back porch. Seriously. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! And I am here alone. Gulp. Excuse me while I go check things out. And if I don’t come back, please call 911. And tell my mom I love her…

Okay, upon a very freaked out investigation (heart pounding, for real…), I just discovered a worker had erroneously wandered into my back yard (she was supposed to be at my neighbor’s house next door).

Phew. (Wipes sweaty palms on dress.) On that note, I am going to sign off now.

And go hide under the covers. For real.

Jan Gangsei is a writer on the Welcome to Weirdsville series, published by Little Brown in the UK. And because she wants to thank you for making it to the end of this post, she’ll be giving away one copy of the first and second books: Happyland and Ghost School. Share your favorite spooky story in the comments below (or just say “BOO!”) and she’ll pick two random winners next week! But whatever you do, please don’t hang out on her back porch. You’ll give her a heart attack.

 

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Rose by Holly Webb

By on September 12, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

I received a copy of Rose by Holly Webb a short while ago and started sharing it with my daughter at bedtime. It’s a fun story that we’ve enjoyed reading together! So you’ll definitely want to read on to find out more 🙂

Rose

The grand residence of the famous alchemist, Mr Fountain, is a world away from the dark orphanage Rose has left behind. For the house is positively overflowing with sparkling magic – she can feel it. And it’s not long before Rose realises that maybe, just maybe, she has a little bit of magic in her, too…

Me:   I’ve really enjoyed reading Rose and the world you’ve created.  What do you like most about writing for children?

Holly:  Creating worlds, and knowing that people are actually reading about them and imagining them and adding to them! I spent so much time living in my favourite books as a child, I love it that children meet my characters.

Me:  There’s a great amount of world building in Rose. There’s some great characters, too! Who is your favorite fictional character?

Holly:  Bree, the talking horse from A Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis. He’s so conceited, and actually a bit cowardly, but desperately brave when he has to be.

Me:  Great characteristics – especially for a horse! Favorite place to visit?

Holly:  The seaside in Suffolk, where I spent a lot of childhood holidays. We’ve just been back there with our own children,and it was wonderful. (But it’s always sunny when I remember it!)

Me: Sounds lovely! If you could take one of these two things on a deserted island for two weeks, which would you chose? A library full of books or your favorite restaurant?

Holly: Definitely the books. I could imagine the restaurant, I think. Although I suppose I’d be so bored without the books that I might actually bother to formulate some kind of escape plan.

Me: That’s true – plus, with books you really can escape to just about anywhere! You wouldn’t need to be trapped on a deserted island in order to do so.  Thanks for joining us, Holly.

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Holly Webb is a best-selling author in the UK with her books Lost in the Snow and Lost in the Storm. She was born and grew up in southeast London. She worked for five years as a children’s fiction editor, before deciding to become a writer. The Rose books stem from a childhood love of historical novels, and the wish that animals really could talk. She lives in Reading with her husband and three small children. Visit Holly at her website.

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Want to win a copy of Rose? Just leave a comment and you’ll be automatically entered! Contest ends 9/30/2013.

Amie Borst writes twisted fairy tales with her middle-grade daughter, Bethanie. Their first book, Cinderskella, debuts October 26th, 2013.

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Sky Jumpers! (Author interview and a giveaway!)

By on September 9, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

sky jumpers

Who doesn’t love a series? Peggy Eddleman’s Sky Jumpers plunges you right from the first page into a post World War III world where things have gone both wrong—and right—since the release of green bombs. There’s enough drama to keep the pages turning and this new series going. Book one releases from Random House on September 24—add a comment below to win a copy!

As the jacket blurb says, it’s the story about twelve-year-old Hope, who lives in White Rock, a town struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. The bombs destroyed almost everything that came before, so the skill that matters most is the ability to invent so that the world can regain some of what it’s lost. But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb’s Breath—the deadly band of air that covers the crater the town lives in—than fail at yet another invention. When bandits discover that White Rock has invented priceless antibiotics, they invade. The town must choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from disease in the coming months or to die fighting the bandits now. Hope and her friends, Aaren and Brock, might be the only ones who can escape through the Bomb’s Breath and make the dangerous trek over the snow-covered mountain to get help. Inventing won’t help them, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets Hope into trouble might just save them all.

Peggy Eddleman authorPeggy Eddleman, who lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Utah with her husband and their three kids, took some time to answer a few questions via email:

Mixed-Up Files: Sky Jumpers is post apocalyptic, but yet it’s more hopeful than some of the other books out there. Can you talk about that?

Peggy Eddleman: This came from two things: First, to me, if the world came close to ending and only pockets of people remained, one of those pockets would emerge to be very similar to White Rock. Mankind has an amazing ability to survive and fight to carry on and move forward. When devastating things happen, we emerge stronger. We stick together and we work together to make a life that’s worth living. We, as humans, have a lot of hope in us.

Second, I don’t believe that middle grade kids are as big of fans of dystopia. I think that dystopian conflicts in books work really well for teens—they are at a time in their life where they feel like they are constantly fighting against authority figures to move from childhood to adulthood, so conflicts with an uberly-controlling government are right up their alley. But middle grade kids have their whole lives ahead of them—the whole world ahead of them—and they want to know that the world is going to be one worth living in. That no matter what crazy things happen, they are going to flourish living there.

MUF: Hope struggles to be an inventor like everyone else, since inventions are so important to the survival of the community. How did you get your ideas for the inventions?

PE: The idea for Hope came first—I wanted a character who couldn’t do the one thing that mattered most. So then I asked what mattered most in White Rock? When the answer of inventions came to mind, it felt natural and right. When most of everything we had was destroyed, and there are people alive still who remember what things used to be like, of course inventing would be important. It’s what got us to the point we are at today, and it’s what will get White Rock back to that point in the future.

MUF: One of the other things I love about this book is the strong emphasis on family. Everyone sticks together. Was that important to you?

PE: Very. My husband and my kids mean the world to me, as do my parents and siblings and their families. I think strong families can make an incredible difference in the lives of children, and I wish every kid could experience that. When they can’t experience it in real life, I think they should get the chance to experience it in books.

MUF: Have you ever jumped off a cliff?

PE: Yes. 🙂 But into water, not into the Bomb’s Breath. I think a more close representation to jumping into the Bomb’s Breath would be paragliding, which, sadly, I’ve never gotten the chance to do. But I do take every opportunity to jump into water that I can. And no—you’d never catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. As fun and fascinating as that sounds, the part of my brain that controls my will to live speaks louder than the part that wants to experience that.

Like to win a free copy? Post a comment below by midnight September 24 to be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced on Thursday, September 26.

 

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