Gotta Read: Investigator Anne

So far on You’ve Gotta Read Wednesdays, we've covered books for middle grade and teens.  Today I am excited to share with you a fabulous book for elementary readers. Investigator Anne: Case #1 Timeless Treasure Lost 
  
This book is one my youngest daughter loved!  It’s about a little girl, Anne, who loves mysteries.  She reads all the mystery books she can find.  When her mother's birthday gift goes missing, Anne comes to the rescue!  Readers will love following the clues with Anne as she searches for the gift and the answer to the mystery.  Anne shows us that we don’t have to be famous detectives to be helpful.  We can use our sleuthing skills to solve mysteries here in the real world.



My Thoughts
The Investigator Anne series is fabulous because the author incorporates science and deductive reasoning into the story as Anne and her friends try to solve the mystery. As a teacher and a parent, this is special because it demonstrates to the young reader how the things they are learning can be used in real life to fix tough situations.  It also encourages kids to be helpful, something many children naturally desire.


My daughter, Evie, turns 8 this week. She loves detectives and secret agents (honestly, I think she just likes an excuse to sneak around!) This book had her begging for more. "One more chapter, mom, please!" How can you argue with that? As soon as we finished the book, Evie raced upstairs to get a pink cape like Anne. She came back with an old camera box, one with a long strap and a shiny metal clasp on the front. "Look, mom, it's a clue kit, just like Anne!" Inside she had a magnifying glass, a notebook and a pencil. She couldn't wait to help us solve a few mysteries - just like Anne. That is the mark of a good book! When the reader puts it down and immediately wants to put what they've learned into practice somehow, you know you've found something special.


Where to Get It

Investigator Anne - Case #1 Timeless Treasure Lost [NOOK Book]

Investigator Anne - Case #2 Sneaky Sneakers [NOOK Book]

More to Come
On Friday, we will have a very special visit from the author herself, Sarah Treu. Please come back to hear how she put together the series and what it is like to be a writer/illustrator. Be a good friend and share this with your book-loving pals. It's easy to share with the buttons below.


Want a free copy of Investigator Anne? Leave a comment below. One lucky reader will recieve a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble. That's enough to buy most of Sarah Treu's books for Nook! (May I suggest Counting Bugs? Adorable!)

Story Starter Tuesday

Hope you had fun writing yesterday as you reimagined something you enjoy. Ready for this week's story starter? Don't forget to ask yourself good questions before you get started with it, okay? Happy writing!




Boy was mom mad!  I ran across the yard to my favorite tree and climbed up as fast as I could.  That’s when it hit me ....

Writing Exercise: Reimagine Something

Hello, Writerlings! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I didn't get a single word typed this weekend, so I was kind of disappointed. But, I had lots of fun with family, so that makes up for a lot.  


I've been thinking a lot lately about a new story idea and wondering if I can make it work without seeming like every other story in the same genre. It had me thinking about many of my other favorite stories and this led me to today's writing exercise:


Think of something you find interesting, an invention, a myth, an animal, a fairytale, etc. Then, redefine it. Look at it from a new angle.


This what great writers do to make their story familiar and still new. Some take a familiar tale and then reverse it somehow. One example would be the recent Disney movie about the Frog Prince. Instead of the same old story about how kissing a frog makes him a prince, the writers turned it around. Now the girl who kissed the frog is a frog, too! What happens next? Well, that's where the real story is, right?  


Or, you could take a historical or mythological topic you find interesting and already know a lot about and turn it around a bit. Ask yourself, what if this was still true somewhere today? What if these people or creatures are around us and we just aren't aware of it? Rick Riordan caught the attention of millions with his Percy Jackson story that used this same technique as he reimagined Greek mythology (and then Roman and Egyptian, as well!) J.K. Rowlling did the same with magic and wizards when she created Harry Potter. What could you reimagine? Norse mythology? Mermaids? The legend of Atlantis? 


The fun is just beginning with the question of "How can it work? How could that happen?" Once you begin to ask "Why?"..... Well, that's when the real story begins.
Why are there still wizards in the world and why do they need Harry Potter?
Why are all the demi-gods abandoned by their immortal parents? Why must they stick together?
Why?


So, try this for your own favorite topic of interest. Reimagine it, look at it from a different angle. Then, ask yourself why. See if that doesn't spark a new direction for your writing this week.


Gotta write,
Heather

Freebie Friday Goes Hip-Hop

I am thrilled to share today’s freebie with all of you.  It is not a book this week, but as a writing teacher, I am super excited about this one, guys, and I know you are going to love it.

Earlier this week I was discussing tools for teaching kids how to write really great stuff with my pal, Joshua Unruh.  He suggested I check out Flocabulary, a company that uses hip hop to help kids learn academic material.  I’m honestly the least “hip-hop” person I know, except for maybe my mother in law, but that’s why Flocabulary is so fabulous.  Kids love hip-hop and Flocabulary brings that fun and creativity that they naturally connect with and uses its power to introduce great material, including writing techniques.  You get to be the cool teacher, just by sharing Flocabulary with your kids!

Well, naturally I explored their website and I loved their recent post about 5 ways to teach writing with Flocabulary.   That’s when I went to find my 12 year old to drag her into the middle of this.  We don’t listen to a lot of rap music in our house (if you don’t count the rapping on Electric Company, that total goes down to “none”) so I wasn’t sure how she would respond to this idea.  What an idiot I am sometimes.  Of course she loved it!  We watched a few of their free videos and she was asking me to play them again and again.  Then, she wanted me to print off the lyrics to the Transitions song.  I asked her why.  “So I can memorize them.  I didn’t know this stuff and I think it would be fun to learn the rap so I can remember it.”  That’s the whole point of Flocabulary.  She got it!  It grabs their attention and makes them want more.

I contacted Flocabulary and asked permission to blog about them.  They were excited to share their hard work with all of us.  If you go to they're website, you’ll find Flocabulary’s great products are accessible without signing up for a trial. But thanks to the awesome people over at Flocabulary, we have an incredible opportunity to share the fun of hip-hop learning with our students this spring.

When you visit Flocabulary’s website, you’ll see that they offer everyone a free trial which provides unlimited access to all of their songs and videos for 14 days. 
But wait, there’s more!  Just for you, the good people at Flocabulary have created a special code that will allow you to swim in the Flocabulary fun for a whole 30 free days! 
Just use this link: http://flocabulary.com/kidsgottawrite30/ or enter the code "kidsgottawrite30" when you sign up for a free trial and the 30 days of Flocabulary awesomeness are yours!  

Now don't be stingy. Share this great deal with all of your teacher friends and the great parents you know. We could all use a little help when it comes to enticing our students to learn. And don't forget to check out Flocabulary's other fabulous products, too! I know a certain girl in this house who is going to be begging me for the Flocabulary Shakespeare.  


Thank you, Flocabulary for sharing your genius with all of us and making us the coolest teachers on the block!

Story Starter Tuesday

If you missed the lesson on how to get more out of your story starter fun, click here. 

 Here is this week’s story starter:

I was so excited to be his assistant for a day that I accidently dropped the cup he had given me.  The liquid spilled out onto the grass, forming a small puddle at my feet.  But then I noticed something strange ...

Writing Exercise: Story Starters

***Congratulations to Becca Campbell who won a free copy of Island of Fog!***

Ask yourself this question.... How to get more out of story starters.
My kids say I should be offering more ways to get kids writing.  I completely agree.  They suggested a few fabulous ideas and one of them is the classic “story starter”.  So, starting tomorrow, I’ll be offering up a story starter each week for you writers out there who need a little jumpstart.  Share them with friends, make a game out of it.  See who can write the most fantastic story from one little sentence.  But first, I want to teach you how to make a story starter more fun and more effective.  

Let’s say I give you a story starter like this one: You are riding through the woods with a group of friends.  Then, suddenly....

Well, that should be an easy one, right?  But wait!  Before you start writing ask yourself this question - What are you riding on?  How many of you read that story starter and instantly pictured your friends on either a horse or a bicycle?  What other things could you be riding through the woods?  Could you be riding a motorcycle?  Inside a car or even a royal carriage?  What about riding on a unicorn?  A dinosaur?  A giant spotted leopard?  A mutant plant?

Do you see how asking yourself that one question could change the entire direction of a story?  It could change the genre from classic fairytale to alien space adventure!  Write the unexpected.  Imagine something new.  Tomorrow I’ll give you a new story starter to play with, so come back and this time... bring a pencil!

Gotta Write,
Heather

Free Book Friday (the Thirteenth)

It's Friday the 13th, people!  I'm not very superstitious, but when I saw that we had a Friday the 13th coming up, I set out to find a good book to share with all of you who love the creepier tales.  Unfortunately, I don't read a lot of creepy tales these days.  I've outgrown them, I suppose.  So, when I mentioned this dilemma to my daughter, she pointed out the book I had been telling her about recently, Island of Fog.  "It sounds pretty creepy, Mom."  Well, I wouldn't have put it that way, but there are certainly a lot of secrets hiding on the Island of Fog.  So, grab a copy and dig in.  Or, better yet, leave a comment and win a free copy of this exciting book!  We'll announce the winner on Monday.

Today I have the honor of introducing you to the fabulous author, Keith Robinson.  He's working diligently on the second half of this series and has made quite an impression on fans, even catching the attention of the fabulous Piers Anthony.  Today he shares with us the process of building his series from the ground up.  So, take a peek into how it all began with Keith Robinson.

I moved to the USA from England in 2001 and started writing ISLAND OF FOG the following year.  It was a long process writing bits here and there, honing my skills, and also switching from British English to US English (which I felt was necessary if I ever planned to submit a manuscript to a US publisher.)  In 2008 I made a concerted effort to finish the novel, then sent it to a professional editor.  This was the first time anyone other than myself had read it, so I was nervous. But she loved it.

I had one copy printed by CreateSpace just because I wanted to see what it “felt” like, but once I held it in my grubby hands, I decided to go ahead with self-publishing. This was in April 2009. Somehow I ended up being “discovered” by the local library (by word of mouth) and from there I did book talks, signings, interviews, and so on, all in the local area. My books are in three public libraries, several middle schools, and on the shelves at the local Barnes & Noble (next to J. K. Rowling!). Meanwhile, bestselling fantasy author Piers Anthony favorably reviewed ISLAND OF FOG in his July 2009 newsletter, and because of that I was contacted by an agent who wanted to represent the book as a potential TV/movie property.

The book started out as a single novel, but even before I finished writing it, I’d decided to make it into a trilogy. So the second book, LABYRINTH OF FIRE, came along in November 2009. This was a six-month turnaround from start to finish, a vast improvement over six years! Clearly I had figured out what I was doing. The third book, MOUNTAIN OF WHISPERS, rounded off the trilogy in August 2010.

But as I was finishing that third book, I decided I wanted to continue the story further. Even though the trilogy had ended, I saw no reason not to start another 3-book arc. LAKE OF SPIRITS continues the story but also starts a new arcing subplot. Naturally the series is now intended to be six books (possibly more); I’m currently writing the fifth, ROADS OF MADNESS, and will start on the sixth later in the year. There seems to be an endless number of angles I can explore in this series; my only dilemma is which I should choose.

Writing a series has many benefits. The characters are established in the first book, and the rest of the series is spent expanding on their personalities. It’s a cliche, but when you write/read other books in a series, there’s a sense of “putting on a comfortable sweater.” You can be with old friends again and join them on a new adventure. And from a purely business point of view, once you sell readers on that first book, they’re going to want to get the rest in the series. It’s a no-brainer in terms of “cashing in.”

I often use a single point of view in my writing. The entire FOG series is seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old Hal Franklin. I’ve been very careful to ensure that every word of narrative is from his POV and doesn’t temporarily jump into someone else’s head. This approach works well for me, and I think it draws readers deeper into the story. For one thing, they’re not continually jumping from character to character where one subplot might, unfortunately, be less interesting than another. Also, it helps convey a greater sense of mystery; when you read a chapter about a villain plotting his Great Scheme early in the book, the reader is then more knowledgeable than the main protagonist, and it can be frustrating waiting for him to catch up. Being firmly inside the main character’s head throughout means we know only what he knows, thus heightening the mystery.

But this approach does present limitations. Occasionally a scene will take place that I would love to describe but can’t because the main character is not there. He can’t be everywhere all the time, and it would seem forced if he was. So, sadly, once in a while that scene happens “off-camera,” which itself can be a challenge. Careful plotting is needed in these instances.

Then again, careful plotting is ALWAYS needed, so nothing new there. I wrote my first book organically and ended up rewriting or deleting entire chapters when I realized I was going in the wrong direction. Writing a chapter summary beforehand means I go through that same plotting/thinking process early and can therefore avoid writing chapters I don’t need!

Want to win a free copy of Island of Fog?  Leave a comment below and you are entered to win!  The winner will be announced Monday.  *** If you are visiting us from Facebook, you need to leave Facebook and come back to us through your browser in order to leave a comment. ***