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TWEEN READERS

Tween ReadersTWEEN READERS!

In order to create more Tween Readers in our country, I sat down and wrote the adventure novel Saltwater Taffy so I could teach the ideal: Your life is up to you!

Nobody can do it for you.  Not your parents.  Not your teachers.  Not even your best friend.  If you want something special out of your life, the journey is entirely up to YOU.

Going after a dream that is out of the ordinary takes work.  You have to really want it.  Each moment in your life is an adventure and should be treated as such.  If you don’t, all that will show up in your life is more of the same.  If you want greatness, you have to start with thoughts about greatness.  If you want adventure, your thoughts need to be adventurous.  If you want happiness, your thoughts need to be about happiness.

Saltwater Taffy is an adventure novel for tweens and is endorsed by 12 Teachers of the Year around the country.  The book has become an Accelerated Reader title and tween reader favorite for children’s book clubs.

CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING

Children's Book WritingCHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING

Children’s Book Writing can be a difficult task, but from the minute we sit down to write something without an assignment from a teacher, we are officially writers.

The minute we have a desire to create something out of nothing, we are writers.  The minute we answer a story call from the deepest parts of our souls, we are writers and we are at our very best.

After 7 seasons of Law & Order, 2 seasons on The Big Easy for USA Networks, writing and directing a nightmare job for Lions Gate Films (Venice Underground), adapting a NY Times best seller for 2oth Century Fox Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Read Across America

Saltwater TaffyREAD ACROSS AMERICA

READ ACROSS AMERICA celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday every year and children’s book authors across the country visit schools to read to children.  This year was a great even!   Dodger great “Sweet Lou” Johnson, the Laker Girls, and Saltwater Taffy helped kick off the amazing event.

I was able to read to 3 different 5th Grade classrooms and then gave away a whopping 375 copies of Saltwater Taffy to every kid in the entire school.  We are rapidly approaching giveaway copy #5,000!!!!  How cool is that?  5000 kids energized about reading again?  Here are some images from today’s visit: Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: It Bled and it Led…Bhaaaaa

middle grade fiction

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION

At the start of our middle grade fiction tour, something happened that is a testament of our society.  In a moment of ‘sureality,’ which is my new word for a surreal reality, I flew home to Las Vegas for two speaking engagements with Saltwater Taffy at Cannon Jr. High School on Tuesday.  What made this visit surreal is the full-page story about Saltwater Taffy on the front page of the R-Jeneration Section.

Having prepared for the trip for a good month or so, we gained interest from ABC News, Channel 13 as a community interest story of ‘home town boy makes good.’  While they couldn’t book us on their morning shows, they did want to come out and tape an interview for the evening news as I presented to 150 middle school children.

As a speaker, the Middle School audience can be the most intimidating audience there is.  Speaking to adults is easy, but Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: ‘I Got a New Pair of Shoes’

middle grade fictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION:I Got a New Pair of Shoes”

This middle grade fiction post is about that new pair of shoes you just bought.  I mean, what is it about a new pair of shoes that can make us feel so amazing?   

The minute you lace ‘em up, you feel as if you can run faster and you suddenly forget all about your middle grade fiction fantasies.  

Yes, that cushiony feeling wrapped around your foot even makes you feel taller somehow.  Oh yes, let’s face it…a new pair of shoes can make a person feel down right special.

If a new pair of shoes can make you feel this way, I would like to introduce you to an energy that is ten, twenty, thirty, perhaps one hundred times the power of a new pair of shoes. Read more