What I Do At My "Other" Job ;)

I'm also a copywriter with an ad agency called OnMessage and we just finished this behind-the-scenes look at a print campaign shoot... where we shot a monkey (with a camera, of course). 

While this has nothing to do with children's books, I thought you might like to see how cute these little capuchin monkeys were.  Enjoy!

Author Spotlight: Andrew Clements

There are some authors that you just know, pretty much whatever they write, you're going to like. Andrew Clements is that kind of author, for me. When my eldest son was about 7, we read Frindle (S&S, 1998) together and we both loved it. 

What a great way to illustrate to kids the meaning and importance of words. I recently read it again with my youngest son, and still loved it just as much. 

In between, our family has read many of this author's wonderful books, all of which I would highly recommend. They are appropriate for middle grade readers (second grade and above could probably read most of them on their own) and they are innocent stories that teach a lesson without being sticky sweet or preachy. 

Clements does have a YA series (at least one that I know of) which I've read the first two books: Things Not Seen (Penguin, 2004) and Things Hoped For (Penguin, 2008). The first is a favorite -- about 15 year old Bobby who wakes up one morning to find himself invisible. The joys and the perils of how he deals with this are fantastic. Especially when he finds the only one who can help him is a blind girl. The latest Things That Are (Penguin, 2008) came out last fall.

Other Clements favorites are No Talking (S&S 2007), The School Story (S&S 2002), and The Landry News (S&S 2000). 

To learn more about the author, go to andrewclements.com. 

Author Interview: Linda Urban

I recently reviewed A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and she was kind enough to answer a few questions for Cool Kids Read:

Cool Kids Read: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Linda Urban: I loved writing when I was young, but put aside creative writing once I got to high school. It wasn't until I started reading picture books to my newborn that the writing urge returned.

CKR: In A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Zoe dreams of being a concert pianist. Did you take piano lessons?

Linda: On a paper keyboard! And then later, my father bought an organ instead of the piano I longed for. He was nothing like the dad in Crooked, however. He was an engineer and loved all the buttons and switches and gadgetry of an organ.

CKR: Is Zoe based on you as a child?

Linda: Zoe is more talented and patient and less selfish than I was. Than I am, actually. But we do share that piano frustration, and I have gone to my share of parties where it was quite clear I was wearing the wrong outfit.

CKR: Is there really a Perform-O-Rama competition?

Linda: There are, of course, organ competitions, just as there are competitions for just about anything we ask kids to do -- but I made up the Perform-O-Rama.

CKR:  Do you own any striped toe socks like Zoe wears?

Linda:  Toe socks are uncomfortable to wear, but they are adorable on book jackets.

CKR:  Who were your biggest writing influences growing up?

Linda:  I'm not sure I had writing influences growing up, but there were books I loved to read. I was especially fond of Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, of all the Little House on the Prairie Books, and of Little Women.

CKR:  What’s a book that you’ve read recently and did you like it?

Linda:  I read all the time -- a novel or two a week, on average. I just finished rereading a bunch of Edward Eager books: Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, Seven Day Magic, etc. I love the gentle magic in these books, the straightforward characters, and Eager's sly sense of humor.

I've also read two manuscripts for books that will be released this year: Kate Messner's The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. and Sara Lewis Holmes's Operation Yes. Both are great middle grades. Big heart. Honest characters.

CKR:  If there was a movie of A Crooked Kind of Perfect, who would you cast in the main roles?

Linda:  I try not to even think about this. I’d be so honored to have a movie made of the book, but those characters exist in my head the same way my friends and family do in the world. To ask about casting them is like suggesting I swap my daughter for Abigail Breslin. Unimaginable.

CKR:  Tell us a little bit about your new book: Mouse Was Mad.

Linda:  The title says a lot. It’s about a mouse. He’s mad. He expresses his anger and is counseled repeatedly by his forest friends about better ways to execute that expression. This makes him madder, of course.

It strikes me that this is the life of the picture book reader. So much of kid life is spent with people correcting and guiding and counseling. Totally maddening. No wonder kids have tantrums.

CKR:  Any other projects in the works?

Linda:  I’m currently switching back and forth between two novels-in-progress, one contemporary, one not-so-much. I’ve also got a transitional reader that I just adore and hope will find a home if ever I get the courage to send it out again.

CKR:  Anything else you'd like to share?

Just my thanks.

My thanks, too, to Linda Urban for sharing her answers with the Cool Kids Read readers!

Are there other authors you'd like to see interviewed? Leave me your suggestions in the comments section!

Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLaughlan

This is a review originally posted last summer on my LiveJournal blog (before I started Cool Kids Read).

Sometimes I'm not sure how to review a book (and this was a good example). Edward's Eyes (Atheneum, 2007) touched me, it moved me to tears, and yet it raised some questions for me about levels of emotion in children's literature.

In my posting where I talked about books that stick with you, I mentioned that the ones that seemed to really impact my childhood and stay with me forever are the ones that made me cry. Not all of them, mind you, but a great many.

On this particular day last June, however, I wasn't up for my heart being ripped out. Here's what happened...

June 2, 2008

Fair warning: I'm in a mood.

Tragedies. They're so depressing. Sure, these stories are touching and help us connect with the horrible injustice of the world we live in, but (heavy sigh) do we really need that? For me, reading is a pleasurable escape. I don't want the sucker punch to the gut. I want to connect emotionally, but not have my heart ripped out.

While there are many adult-reading titles that have left me reaching for handfuls of Kleenex, they don't bother me as much as the children's books.

You know the ones... they cleverly paint characters you fall in love with -- best friends, dogs, siblings, parents, etc.-- only to kill them off in some freak accident. You know, the award-winners.


So I'm reading "Edward's Eyes" by Patricia MacLachlan. (BIG OLE HONKIN' SPOILER ALERT) Actually, I'm listening to the audio book on my commute to work. This is not a long book. It's only two discs. But by the end of the first disc, I knew something horrible was going to happen.

I knew it not just because the author does a wonderful job of hinting along the way, but because she totally created this amazing little boy who was the apple of everyone's eye, could throw a knuckle ball and psychically knew his little sister would be born as a... well, a sister... and even named her in utero.

So if everyone around him, including the reader, loved him this much, I knew he wasn't long for this world. And I was right. Okay, sobbing my eyes out in the privacy of my own room is one thing, but I was driving to work trying to keep my mascara from running into my eyes while the thought screamed in my head: why do we need these kinds of stories????

To make us feel emotionally drained and empty all day? Because that's how I felt. And I haven't even finished the book yet. I'm dreading the drive home. Of course I have to finish it, and sure, there may be some higher reason why Edward had to die that gives the entire story meaning, but frankly, I don't think it will change how I feel about the book.

There are a slew of books that do this. Where the Red Fern Grows is one. Bridge to Terabithia is another. I could go on and on, but I don't have to -- you've read them, too. So I ask... Do we HAVE to kill off the children in books to make the point?

On the flip side: these are emotional, wonderfully told stories that make a strong impact on the reader. And I'm all for that. Maybe today I just didn't need to hear a hard story. Maybe today I just needed to hear that there are happy endings. That wonderful, special children are not always destined for tragedy. Maybe I saw too much of my two boys in Jake and Edward and it scared me.

FOLLOW UP POST on June 4, 2008

Finished the book. And yes. I bawled. Sobbed like I haven't sobbed over a book in a long time. Sometimes, this can be a good thing, but this time it just broke my heart. All I could think about was losing one of my boys like that. Apologies to the wonderful author, but I just don't need to think about that kind of stuff.

That said, I recommend this book but only with a big box of Kleenex. Consider yourself warned.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer

Eoin (pronounced "Owen", btw) Colfer is probably one of my top ten favorite children's authors. I think the Artemis Fowl series is so clever and I love the characters. His other books (like The Supernaturalists, The Wish List and the recent Airman) are great as well, but the AF series is still my favorite EC fare.

I've been wanting to read book 6 in the series, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (Hyperion Books for Children, 2008) for quite some time (in fact, I received it as a gift for Christmas and I'm just now getting to it... quite the reading backlog next to my bed, let me tell you!) I was not disappointed.

In this episode, Artemis' mother has fallen ill with what appears to be a mysterious, and thought-to-be eradicated fairy plague. The only thing that will save her is a cure made from the brain fluid of a particular species of lemur that just happens to be extinct. Oh, and it just so happens that the person responsible for the extinction of that particular lemur is none other than Artemis himself. 

The only solution is for Artemis and Holly to go back into the time stream and return to the time when 10-year old Artemis stole and sold the lemur to a group of Extinctionists in order to fund the expedition to the Arctic in which he saved his father. (PANT PANT). You can see this is going to be a complex web of a story. 

And it is. But it's a wonderful ride filled with revelations about the time-space continuum and how things turned out the way they did in the future for a reason. It's all done very well and I admire Colfer very much for being able to pull off such a complex plot without having it unravel.

Anyone who is a fan of the AF books is going to love this. The series is probably best for kids 10 and up, and the issues of extinction are rich grounds for discussion. 4 1/2 bookmarks!

Watch a video about the book here.

2009 Cybils Winners announced

The Cybils are literary awards judged by children's and YA bloggers (one of which is not me, unfortunately.) The 2009 recipients are listed here and I agree with some of the winners. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games for YA Fiction (SF/F), obviously, had my vote. And, not surprisingly, Newbery winner The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman took the middle grade SF/F category.

I personally would have voted for Every Soul a Star for Middle Grade Fiction. I tried to read The London Eye a few months back and just couldn't get into it. I'm sure it's a great book and nothing against Siobhan Dowd at all, just didn't do it for me. Plus, Wendy Mass just happens to be one of my favorite authors, so I may be a bit biased on that category ;)

Other winners were Mo Willems,  Shannon and Dean Hale, and E Lockhart. See all the winners.

Congrats to everyone!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I have a thing for post-apocalyptic thrillers. Always have. So I knew I was going to like The Hunger Games (Scholastic Press, 2008) by Suzanne Collins (author of the Gregor the Overlander series) just from the concept alone. But I didn't like it. I LOVED IT.

It's most definitely for teens, due to the subject. In this futuristic world, the Capitol keeps control of the Districts by requiring two of their children compete in the annual competition called The Hunger Games. It's basically a sadistic reality show, broadcast across the country. It's a fight to the death, and the last teen left standing wins. And gets to live.

Katriss is from the poorest part of District 12 called The Seam. When her beloved little sister Prim is chosen to participate in The Hunger Games during the reaping (shades of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson) Katriss volunteers to go in her place because she knows, the odds of winning The Hunger Games are slim. Such begins Katriss' life as a tribute, where she knows that her only way to survive is to kill all the other tributes from all the other Districts. Including the other tribute from her own.

I devoured this book, what a page turner! I can't even tell you anymore about the plot because it would ruin it. Collins paints such a vivid picture of what it would be like to be thrown into a survivalist situation, out in the middle of the woods, knowing you are being hunted... 

The second book in the series, Catching Fire, comes out in September.

A rarely given 5 bookmarks for this one. Sails right to the top of my all-time-favorites list.

Create your own book trailer contest!

I know lots of kids are putting book trailers together for some of their favorite books. I'd love to see them! In fact, I'd love to see them so much I'm having a contest.

First, GET YOUR PARENT'S PERMISSION.
Please, do this.

Then, send me a link to your book trailer (it has to be hosted somewhere online like You Tube or something). I'll post all the book trailers (as long as they don't have any obscenities or anything) and everyone can vote on them. The trailer that gets the most positive comments wins a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card.

There are two ways to enter. Either leave me a comment on this post or email me at kimberlyjsmith1@mac.com. DO NOT GIVE ME ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION. Just an email address of how to contact you. If you're the winner then I'll email you to let you know.

Deadline is Sunday March 8th. I look forward to seeing how creative you all are!!

Classic Review -- Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace

Back in January, I blogged about an article by Tim Kreider (here) ... all about books that you read as a child staying with you for your whole life. I mentioned Betsy-Tacy and Tib and then I mentioned the books again a few days ago in a post about Meg Cabot appearing at a convention to celebrate the works of Maud Hart Lovelace. So it only seems fitting to do a quick Classic Review about the books themselves.

This series was introduced to me by my mother as books that she read as a child (they were originally published in the 1940s, which totally dates my mom -- sorry about that mom :)

They are sweet, wholesome stories about three little girls, two of whom have been friends forever (way before BFF was thrown around) and the third wheel who turns out to be the perfect addition to their group. One redhead, one brunette and one blonde, the three are as different as their hair color and they have misadventures and get into trouble and discover things about themselves... you know, like almost all kid's books used to be back when "times were simpler". 

The result is a wonderful trip into history and some life lessons that 7 to 10 year old girls (and maybe even some young boys who aren't to the "that's for girl's!" stage) will adore. Reissued by Harper Collins in the 90s, I believe there is a 50th anniversary edition out in stores now. 

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer -- Promo Video

I love me some Artemis Fowl-age -- great video for what is turning out to be a great book (not surprisingly). I keep waiting for an Artemis Fowl movie... anyone know any news about that?

Wanna Meet Meg Cabot?

Meg Cabot fans living within driving distance of the Houston, Texas area might want to put this on your calendars...


Meg will be at the the Blue Willow Bookshop on
Friday, April 03, 4:30 pm

The Blue Willow is at 14532 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77079

And they have a ton of great author appearances scheduled for 09.

For other tour dates for the lovely Meg, go here which includes a speaking date this summer at the Betsy-Tacy Convention in Mankato, Minnesota to celebrate those classic books by Maud Hart Lovelace.

Book Trailer for Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I am reading this now and it ROCKS let me tell you. I'm loving it. Suzanne Collins wrote the "Gregor the Overlander" series, which is a favorite around here, but Hunger Games is more appropriate for older readers. It's dark and haunting, most definitely, much like the last couple books of the Gregor series... but she's amazing. Look for my review in the coming weeks.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Beethovan's barbershop! I loved this book. Maybe it is the 14 years of piano lessons and multiple competitions I was involved in as a child, or being the daughter of a piano teacher, who knows. But I simply adored A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007).

It's sweet without being sticky, honest, real and quirky. Written for the 8-12 set, Urban captures the voice of a ten-going-on-eleven year old perfectly. 

Zoe wants to play the piano. Truth be told, she wants to play Carnegie Hall -- the ultimate in piano performance experience. But we all know how you get to Carnegie Hall, right?... Practice! (sorry, had to do it). Unfortunately, Zoe's dad has bought her an organ instead. That's right, an organ, complete with rhythm switches and foot pedals and two separate keyboards. (My grandmother had a similar thing when I was a kid and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing around -- this was way before Casios, people!)

But the organ will have to do for Zoe. After all, it does come with six weeks of lessons. Plus, her teacher has suggested she enter the Performa-A-Rama competition, where she could win a trophy!

Zoe deals with the typical 10-year-old girl issues: here today gone tomorrow best friends, the interest of boys, and then there's her mom (who's ALWAYS at work) and her unemployed dad (who has issues of his own, including an addiction to in-home courses and has diplomas for everything from aeronautics to baking on his wall).

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of this, and Tai Alexandra Ricci's performance is stellar. This is one of those books that I'll be buying for gifts. 4 1/2 bookmarks!

Author Interview: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Stephenie Meyer... watch your back. And your audience. Because Cynthia Leitich Smith is stalking your territory. 

Truly, though, she's a lovely person, so who better to do so? CLS is the acclaimed YA author of Gothic fantasies Tantalize (2007) and the soon-to-follow Eternal (in a few days!) and the forthcoming Blessed (release TBD)— all from Candlewick Press—is writing books that Twilight fans will gobble up and then demand film after film. 

She's a fellow Texan, living in Austin with her hubby author Greg Leitich Smith, and was nice enough to answer a few questions for Cool Kids Read...

CKR: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

CLS: I've loved writing since I first put pencil to paper. That's what "being a writer" is, the actual writing. In terms of writing for publication, I started as "Dear Gabby" for Mr. Rideout's sixth grade class paper, moved from there to become editor of my junior high and high school newspapers, and went on to major in journalism at the University of Kansas.

I continued my education at the University of Michigan Law School, and it was at U of M that, after a break, I returned to reading comics and books for young readers.

My initial career plan was to become a journalist covering court cases, and then perhaps a media law professor at a journalism school.

As a law clerk at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Chicago, I began scribbling stories on my lunch hour and before and after work. I fell in love with Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate (Delacorte, 1997) and was amazed that books for younger children had become more inclusive of ethnic diversity.

With conviction (and some foolishness), I took the plunge into writing full time at age 28 and both signed with my agent and sold my first book a couple of years later.

CKR:
What inspired the idea for Eternal?

CLS: Eternal is part of a larger three-set of companion books—including Tantalize and Blessed—that draw their primary inspiration from Bram Stoker's classic Dracula (1897). The nods to the Gothic master become increasingly more pronounced with each new novel.

However, Eternal was also inspired by Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (1895), which students in my ninth grade English class read aloud in turn over the course of a semester.

CKR: I love it that both Tantalize and Eternal are set in Texas. Is there a specific purpose for keeping it in-state, so to speak?

CLS: Just for context, Eternal is set in Austin, Dallas and Chicago, as well as a fictional North Shore Suburb of the Windy City. You see, the protagonist of Tantalize, Quincie P. Morris, was inspired by one of Stoker's original vampire hunters: Quincey P. Morris, a Texan. Morris is the link to the U.S. in the classic itself, and I wanted to pay tribute to that tradition. So I named my hero after Stoker's, though I gender-flipped her into a girl and (hopefully) offered my readers more dual-gender appeal.

Also, I live in sunny and proudly weird central Austin, and as many Texans can fondly tell you, the idea that creatures of night walk among us seems wholly plausible.

Likewise, Miranda, the heroine of Eternal, is from Dallas. I chose Dallas because it's another Texas tie and because I just love it. I worked there one summer during law school while living with my great aunt Anne, to whom I dedicated my first book, Jingle Dancer (Morrow, 2000).

I've found that YA readers in Texas especially enjoy this aspect of the novels. It offers them another connection to the books, and besides, what could be more fun than a werearmadillo?

CKR: In Eternal, Matilda is a shy girl who dreams of an acting career. Have you ever dreamed of acting?

CLS: If I could change one thing about my past, it would be to have quit cheerleading and student council and to have joined my high school thespians group. Not because I wanted to take the stage myself, but because I wanted to be in that crowd. They were such vibrant, talented, wholly individual people.

When I think back on why I didn't, it has so much to do with being the "good little girl," fulfilling parents' and societal expectations. Thespians were artsy and out of the box and, my dad said, "weird" (and not in the affirming way). I can't imagine how much happier I would've been though, if I'd mustered courage to change my life in that way.

More recently, I do feel like I'm an actor in a way. I bring fictional characters to life and through only a few marks on the page. I get to see through others' eyes and think hard about points of view beyond my own. I get to be part of the magic of story.

CKR: Who was your favorite character to write in Tantalize?

CLS: I have a particular affection for Clyde, the werepossum from Tantalize and Blessed. He's initially more of a comic-relief character, but as the books progress, readers will see that he has layers. The majority of my reader mail comes from girls (along with suggestions for future books and attached photos of their kittens), but I've found that when I do hear from the fan boys, they often mention Clyde.

CKR: Can you give us a little preview of Blessed?

CLS: Blessed will crossover the casts of Tantalize and Eternal, picking up where Tantalize left off. While I may write other books in this universe, Blessed will bring this specific tribute to the Dracula tradition to a close and finish off the building storyline with a huge showdown.

CKR: Any other news you'd like to share?

CLS: There's a Tantalize graphic novel in the works, and I hope to be able to announce the illustrator soon. I'm also looking forward to the release of a couple of short stories in 2009:

"Cat Calls" will appear in Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists and Other Matters Odd and Magical, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, July 2009), which is set in the same universe as my Gothic fantasy novels and "The Wrath of Dawn," co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith, will appear in Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown, August, 2009).

Thanks Cynthia!

Go out and buy Eternal, everyone. It's out February 10th!

Here's the Book Trailer, to get you in the mood!

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot, the queen of teen books (Princess Diaries,  Allie Fink, Jinx, etc. etc. etc.) has hit on something that every teenage girl can relate to -- wishing they were a super model. Only Em Watts really is. Now.

Through tragic circumstance, which I won't reveal because half the fun of the first few chapters is figuring out what the heck is going on, Em ends up in the body of uber-popular teen super model Nikki Howard. Inside, she's still the video-game loving, computer geek she always was, but outside she's... well, she's hot! And not sure what to do about it.

Airhead (Point, 2008) is the first of a three-book series featuring Em, err, Nikki... her best friend Lulu and a cast of characters who could have stepped out of a soap opera except for the fact that Cabot paints them so real and likable (well, except for that Stark fellow) that you can't help but be drawn into this story.

Most definitely for the teenage set, this book (along with Jinx and Avalon High) join the ranks of some of my favorite "teen girl" books. Meg Cabot has such a great style and snarkiness that I just adore. And I love how Airhead explores the importance of soul vs. beauty. The sequel, Being Nikki, will hit stores May 2009.

Another 4-bookmark read! Check out more about Meg Cabot here. 

Coming up tomorrow:  an interview with Tantalize and the soon-to-be-released Eternal author Cynthia Leitich Smith. A must for Twilight fans!!!

Author Interview: Ted Bell

There's a joke in the advertising business that every copywriter really wants to write novels. Ted Bell proves that you can be successful in both.

He had an amazingly successful career in advertising (no, really, he not only won the Grand Prix at Cannes but a few Clios along the way, AND was the youngest VP in the history of legendary ad agency DDB -- see how he ended up in advertising below) but finally retired from the business in 2001 to write full time.

Author of the Alex Hawke spy thrillers, Bell last year ventured into the world of children's books with Nick of Time (MacMillan, 2008). Many thanks to Ted for taking the time to answer questions for this interview on Cool Kids Read!

CKR: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

TB: I started writing short stories (science fiction, westerns) in the fourth or fifth grade. All i wanted to do was read, and I guess something in me was saying, "You can do this, too. Why not try?" I still recall the intense thrill of realizing this was 'my' story and I could make it go anywhere I wanted. I showed a few to the teacher who put them up on the bulletin board for the whole class to read. You had to sign the story out and could only keep it overnight (like Blockbuster!) and then you could write your comments on the sheet next to your name. I'd sometimes arrive at school a little early so I could read the 'reviews'. All very thrilling at that tender age. I suppose that from then on I was constantly reading everything with a 'critical eye', thinking, well, how would I have done that? Or, what a beautiful sentence. This is something all writers do, even subconsciously. The fact that I've been doing it for a VERY long time has, I'm sure, helped me. When, later, I discovered writers like Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzerald, the romantic ideal of the writer's life appealed to me. Right after college, I sailed for Europe, lived in Paris and Italy, writing my first novel. Unlike Scott Fitzgerald, I was not an overnight success. But I kept at it. Scott Fitzgerald and Mark Twain are still my two favorite authors. THE GREAT GATSBY and HUCKLEBERRY FINN are, for me, the two best novels in the English language.

CKR: How did you make the move from advertising copywriter/creative director to author?

TB: Actually, I went from author to advertising writer to author. While living in Italy, trying to finish my novel, I realized I'd have to make a living some other way for a while. I happened to meet some advertising people in Milan who thought I might be good at it. I was offered a job as a copywriter, taking Italian lessons at night. The job didn't last long, but I was hooked on advertising as a way to live a creative life, but still be able to afford food and shelter. Later, I got a good job in New York City. I continued with my own writing, short stories, a Broadway musical that never made it to Broadway, and, at age 25, sold my first screenplay to Hollywood. It was called SCREAMATHON and was about a horror movie film festival at a drive-in movie theater where all the teenagers are being murdered by a psycho escapee from a mental hospital. Not exactly CITIZEN KANE but it was a start. I think all that time writing TV commercials helped me develop some new skills. I thought commercials should be stories, but you had to tell them in 30 seconds and still have a beginning a middle and end. Tricky.

CKR: What inspired the idea for Nick of Time?

TB: I was living in London, where it rains a lot, and my 8-year-old daughter, Byrdie, spent a lot of time reading. this was pre-HARRY POTTER and I realized that no one was writing the kind of thrilling adventures I had read at that age. Books like TREASURE ISLAND, KIDNAPPED, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, CAPTAIN BLOOD. So I thought I'd write an old-fashioned adventure in a new-fashioned way. Exciting, but filled with the notions of heroism, loyalty, self-reliance, love of family and love of country I had cherished so much as a child. I began NICK OF TIME while working in London, actually writing a lot of it up in my daughter's room on the top floor of our house because that's where the computer was. There was a painting in that house of a lighthouse standing high on a cliff overlooking a stormy sea. I was staring at it one night and began thinking, what if there was a young boy who lived in that lighthouse? That was the beginning of NICK and that painting hangs over the desk where I am writing these answers now.

CKR: Young Nick is quite the sailor. Are you a sailor, too, or was that just lots of research?

TB: In one of the earliest pictures of me (about 1 or 2 years old) I'm sitting in my grandfather's lap behind the great wooden wheel of our schooner RAMBLER. My grandfather was a very competitive racing sailor and won the St. Petersburg-Havana-St. Petersburg race many times. My uncle was the Flying Scot national champion when I was a boy. I grew up in Florida and so was messing about in boats from a very early age, like Nick. My first sailboat was called STORMY PETREL just like Nick's. My last sailboat, MARACAYA, had won the Block Island Race, in 1954. I have two boats now, a sport-fishing boat called SPY and a little sailing dingy called HIBISCUS.

CKR: How many of the historical elements of the story are fact and how much is "creative license"?

TB: All of the historical elements in the story are factual. I did a great deal of research on the German invasion of the Channel Islands to provide the background for NICK, also the threat of the packs of U-boats in the English Channel. Winston Churchill actually had a network of spies just like Nick's father, Angus. Admiral Lord Nelson, like Churchill, is a great hero of mine. Nelson's victory at Trafalgar in 1805, and all the details surrounding that battle and his death are completely factual. The Tempus Machina time machine is made-up but I wish it wasn't.

CKR: Which was your favorite character to write in Nick of Time?

TB: I'd have to say Nick's younger sister, Katie. I like the fact that she's always 'one-upping' her big brother. She is funny, spontaneous, and very smart. While Nick and Gunner agonize over solutions to various problems, the answers just seem to pop out of her mouth. As in the scene where Nick and Gunner are debating how to open a forbidding door at Hawke Castle and Katie says, "Why not just push it open?" They do, and of course it works.

CKR: Is there a sequel in the works? Any film news?

TB: Yes, there is a sequel and I'm putting the finishing touches on it right now. It will be out next summer, I think. The title is THE REVOLUTIONARY SPY and it picks up right where NICK leaves off. The Nazis invade Nick's islands and he and Gunner go about making life miserable for them in a lot of ingenious ways. Nick also travels back to the 18th Century, meeting General George Washington and playing a role in the Battle of Yorktown. Katie returns, of course, and helps foil a plot of the evil Captain Blood.

As to film news, I am in the middle of serious negotiations with a major Hollywood studio to produce the ALEX HAWKE books as movies starring a wonderful actor I'm very excited about. The producer is now reading NICK OF TIME. All I can say is, I hope he likes it, too! Fingers are crossed around here.

CKR: Anything else you'd like to share?

TB: I was extremely honored to receive a letter from Mrs. Barbara Bush inviting me to speak at her annual Foundation for Family Literacy dinner in April. I can think of nothing that would be more helpful for our country in these trying times than for parents to encourage a love of reading in their children at a young age. And reading books that not only entertain, but help build strong character, a sense of honor, and virtue, and pride. These are the precious values that made this country great and we desperately need to embrace them once again.

CKR: Well said!  Thanks, Ted, for spending time with Cool Kids Read!

TB: Thanks, and keep reading!!

Win a free ARC of Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Austin author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize) is running a contest to win one of four autographed ARCs (advance reader copies) of her upcoming book Eternal (Candlewick, 2009).

First, read the two sample chapters here

(which are AWESOME, btw)

then go here to find out how to enter the contest.

The deadline is February 5th -- book comes out February 10th. 

Plus, keep checking back here at Cool Kids Read for an interview with the author!

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

If you read Shakespeare's Secret (Henry Holt, 2005) then you know Elise Broach can tell a great story. Masterpiece (Henry Holt, 2008) is not the great story that Shakespeare's Secret is, in my opinion, however it is quite an enjoyable book to which younger readers will be drawn (eek -- forgive the pun).

This story is about a boy and a bug. A bug who has an amazing talent for art. If you can get past that suspension of disbelief, the rest unfolds wonderfully. Through circumstance, Marvin -- a beetle who lives in the walls of James' New York apartment -- discovers an open ink pot sitting out. He dips in one leg, and ends up drawing a detailed reproduction of the view out of James' window. Although Marvin and James cannot speak, they strike up a friendship. So when James' mother (and subsequently, father and friend of the family museum curator) believe the amazing ink drawing is done by James, the boy and his beetle friend go along with it. After all, who would believe the truth?

Unfortunately, the lie is put to the test when James is asked to create a reproduction of a famous Druer painting to help the sweet and lovely curator at the Metropolitan Museum not only thwart an art heist, but perhaps recover the rest of the missing Druer collection as well.

Caught up in the lie and the ensuing sting operation, Marvin finds adventure outside the walls of his apartment like he never dreamed, and James discovers a few things about himself (and his parents) that help him grow up. 

This read like a younger Chasing Vermeer for me, which is a high compliment. Not only will kids fall in love with sweet Marvin, but they just might learn a thing or two about the art world as well. 4 bookmarks out of 5 !