Michael Spradlin Blog » Uncategorized

Rounding First and Heading to Second…

Michael — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:27:32 +0000

Hi Readers!

Your New York Times Best Seller Authorness here! (I never get tired off the sound of that!) Here with a few little tidbits to make your holidays a little smoother and more fun! Just one of the many services we provide here at Team Spradlin HQ.

But first, have you entered my contest yet? No? WHY NOT? It’s so simple. In fact you’re half way there. All you need to do is read one of my blog posts and post a comment. Comments such as “Hi!” “Did I win the contest?” and “Does this comment qualify?” all work. That’s all you need to do to win valuable prizes! So what are you waiting for. It’s a contest in advance of my my new picture book Baseball from A to Z, which is coming this spring, so don’t swing and miss!

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ZOMBIES: A Book Of Zombie Christmas Carols is #21 on the New York Times Best Seller List! Its third week on the list! And it’s getting all kinds of great publicity including holiday roundups in The New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun Book Blog, and LA Weekly.com. And this week, I made a visit to New York City to visit the FANGORIA Radio studio on Sirius/XM. Here’s a picture of me in my official Radio Guy Earphones. It was a great night and special thanks to Kelly, Kateri, Rebecca and Aaron for rocking out on the carols. It was great fun talking to a national radio audience about the book.

So as you’re finishing up your holiday shopping, here is my annual MICHAEL SPRADLIN, NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR, HELPS YOU CHOOSE WHICH OF HIS BOOKS WOULD BE PERFECT FOR THOSE EASY AND HARD TO BUY FOR INDIVIDUALS ON YOUR LIST list. I do what I can to help.

Boys Ages 10 and up.

The Youngest Templar Series–This is perfect for boys who like action-adventure novels like Ranger’s Apprentice or the Percy Jackson Novels.

Boys and Girls 14 and up.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Zombies–This book is rated T For Teen. More than two dozen slightly twisted and definitely upside Christmas Carols with macabre art by Jeff Weigel.

Girls 10 and up

The Spy Goddess Series–Available in reasonably priced paperback editions. Full of action, intrigue and suspense. And humor. And action. And humor.

Boys and Girls ages 4-8.

Daniel Boone’s Great Escape–Daniel Boone is running for his life, literally as he escapes from Shawnee captivity. Young readers will enjoy this thrilling true story!

Texas Rangers: Legendary Lawmen–Young readers will enjoy exploring the Wild West as it was tamed by some of the toughest lawmen around.

And don’t forget, Baseball from A to Z and Off Like the Wind: The First Ride of The Pony Express will be on sale in the New Year, so gift cards or Coupons for a book will make a nice surprise for a young reader once the holidays are over.

That’s all for now. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Your New York Times Best Selling Authorness

Writing in the wintertime…

Michael — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:11:59 +0000

Many times when I speak at schools, I get asked by students and teachers where and when I write. The other day we had an absolutely beautiful snowfall here in Michigan and I thought I’d show you the view from my office. It’s in the lower level of my house and where I do most of my writing. We live on about 14 wooded acres in the Michigan thumb and the view from my office window is spectacular. So beautiful, that I often have to close the shades, lest I spend all my time staring at the splendorous surroundings. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Things are progressing nicely on The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate, the next book in The Youngest Templar Trilogy. I’ve just gone through the copy edits and over at http://www.theyoungesttemplar.com/ we’ll shortly be launching a countdown calendar for the October 29, 2009 on sale date. Also, if you’re a Facebook user, please sign up to be a fan.

Our School Library Journal review of The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail has arrived and they call it a “fast paced historical adventure…” and an “exciting story.”

But probably the biggest news on the horizon is that it is now less than two weeks until New York Comic Con! I can’t wait. I’ll be speaking and signing on Sunday so please check out the schedule on my events page. If you live in the New York area, you have to check out the con. It’s fairly cheap to get in, and you can see panels with some of your favorite writers, sneak peeks of some of your favorite television shows and movies and just generally have a blast.

Things are also progressing well on the foreign front for The Youngest Templar. We’re getting more interest in from other countries and it’s now on sale in several more countries including Finland and Sweden. Here is a look at the Finnish cover.

There is a lot going on in 2009 and I’ve finally updated my events page. So please take a look and if your going to be near any of these places, please come by and say hello.

Peace,

Out.

PS Also here is a picture that shows a slow day in Lapeer, Michigan for my December Book Signing at the Book Shelf. Mom always said someday I’d have my name in lights.

I Am Done With Book Two!

Michael — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:46:03 +0000

Happy Holidays to all of you! I wish you nothing but success, health and happiness in the New Year. Despite the uncertainty of the economy and all the bad news permeating the airwaves, I find much to be thankful for. A wonderful family, great friends and relatively good health for all of us. I know not everyone out there is so fortunate and all that I can offer is encouragement. Things will get better. They always do. Yes, things are bad now, but it is not the end of the world, despite what the media and our elected leaders may tell us. We’re lucky that most of us live in a world of freedom and opportunity. Where you can succeed by your own hard work and inventiveness. This is something we should all remember as we face down the gloom and doomers.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but I have adopted a philosophy that always seems to help me through the bad times. And that is whenever there is a recession or a downturn or some other negative event, I refuse to participate! That’s right. When things are bad there can also be times of tremendous opportunity. For example we just refinanced our house and saved a ton of money each month. Because the housing industry is in such turmoil lenders are begging for good customers. We had banks tripping over themselves to get our loan. As the old saying goes, sometimes when a door closes, a window will open. Opportunity out of chaos.

It’s hard and it’s scary during times like these, and I’m no stranger to them myself. I’ve been without work, heavily in debt, with no health insurance and a family to support. But you make it through. You keep your head down and push on. Then one day you look around and things aren’t so bad anymore.

I just want to say as we head into the new year to keep your head up. Keep smiling. Refuse to participate in the bad times. This too shall pass. Also, buy more books! At the very least reading will allow you to escape from your troubles for a few hours!

In a prime example of burying the lead, and on a more relative note, as you can see from the headline I HAVE FINISHED BOOK 2 IN THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR TRILOGY. Done. Finito. It is called The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate and will be published in September of 2009. I will also tell you that the cover for the book, which I can’t reveal yet, will be knocking the socks off of all you. So stay tuned for a reveal and sneak peak excerpt coming up soon.

The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail appears to be selling well. I’ve heard from the German folks that it’s a big best-seller in Germany this year. It’s hard for me to imagine but it’s exciting nonetheless. Book One has also garnered some great reviews including this one at www.templarhistory.com. Check it out.

Also, speaking of Templar History, as many of you know I’m a big fan of the comic book both as a literary and an art form. If you want to read a fascinating comic on the history of the Templars, I highly recommend Outremer by Stephen Dafoe. It’s available here. It’s first rate and a great introduction to the Templar origins.

Be sure to keep an eye on my events page also as I begin posting my 2009 appearances. I’ll be attending New York Comic Con again this year and have the great good fortune to be speaking on two different panels. I’ll also be attending IRA in Phoenix in February and the Texas Library Association in Houston in April.

Many thanks for all of your support in 2008! I’m excited and looking forward to 2009.

Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

Your authorness,

Mike

The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get…

Michael — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:17:04 +0000

It has been a nutty few weeks here at Team Spradlin World Headquarters. Or as I like to call it TSWH. I’ve been traveling all over this great land attending events and promoting the recent release of The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail. From South Dakota, to New York, to Missouri, back to Michigan and I soon leave for Colorado, Ohio and Kentucky. While I find the travel a lot harder than it used to be, it’s still exhilarating to be on the road in support of your own book. It beats any other job I’ve ever had hands down. So as Mr. T. used to say, “I’ll take the pain!” (in the photo at right, you’ll see me participating in a ‘play’ with three of my author friends, Barbara Robinson, David Harrison and Sandy Asher at the Literature Festival of the Ozarks. Somehow I was cast as the obnoxious bully! I just don’t get it!)

But the travel has made it very difficult to keep up with the blog and for that I apologize. I’ve been revising a couple of books and had other deadlines to deal with and to be truthful, I sometimes find a 500 word blog post to be immensely more challenging than a 60,000 word novel. I’m not sure why that is. Trying to be relevant and pithy in so short a space is just beyond my writerly gifts I guess.

However there is some news you should know about. This week, all week long, as in every day, I will be guest blogging at the Penguin USA blog post. You can check it out here. All week long I’ll be talking about writing and researching The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail. That’s right. Every single day. A whole new blog. No problem. Really.

I’ll also be appearing at the upcoming Ohio and Kentucky book-fairs. And shortly I’ll be writing about a wonderful event that I just attended at my hometown library in Homer, Michigan. A great day with tremendous support from a wonderful community. But I need some time to digest all of the thoughts and feelings about the day before I write about it. So stay tuned!

As always, thanks for reading!

Your authorness,

Mike

We Are Officially Counting Down…

Michael — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:31:24 +0000

Only 12 days to go.

I find myself pacing. Sitting on my hands. Trying to write, trying to focus on anything but the calendar. 12 days until The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail goes on sale.

Reviews are coming in. Booklist praises it for “deadly action” and “uncompromising descriptions” and says “the stirring saga ends with a true cliff-hanger, priming fans for the next installment.” So yay! I’ll have the full review posted on the site soon.

Also, if you haven’t yet, please visit The Youngest Templar website at www.theyoungesttemplar.com and check out all the reviews and praise and keep an eye on the countdown clock.

September 18th. It’s almost here.

Back to pacing. (Um…unless my agent and editor are reading this post in which case I meant to say back to writing!)

Ciao!

Your authorness

Why Is Daniel Boone Running?

Michael — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:32:15 +0000

Good question!

Ol’ Dan’l is running because he wants to be one of the first to arrive at his local bookstore to pick up a copy of Daniel Boone’s Great Escape which is now on sale. He knows that if he isn’t quick, they will all be sold out and he doesn’t want to be disappointed.

The thing is, Ol’ Dan’l is pretty quick. You see Daniel Boone’s Great Escape tells the true story of how Boone ran 160 miles in just four days time to escape captivity. So if you’re going to beat him you’d better get started!

I’m just sayin!

LIVIN’ LARGE AT THE BOOK EXPO!

Michael — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:15:48 +0000

So this weekend I was in the City of Angels (that’s Los Angeles, California for those of you who don’t know that the City of Angels and Los Angeles are one and the same) to attend the annual Book Expo America which is the largest publishing event in the world. As my friend Chris Moore says, “every year publishers and booksellers get together in an agreed upon city to eat, drink, and discuss why the book business is going to h-e-double hockey sticks in a handbasket.”

This was my twenty fourth year in a row of attending the BEA. I really enjoy it. It’s a good chance to meet and talk with authors, learn about the gazillion new books that are being published in the coming year and of course to go to a lot of fancy parties. I also had a wonderful time signing advance readers editions of my new novel The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail, which goes on sale September 18th, in case I haven’t mentioned that.

But the real attraction of BEA is not the celebration of books or authors. It’s not the realization that as a published author you are at the center of the publishing world and bringing art and culture to the masses. No. The real purpose of BEA is of course, meeting celebrities!

And of course, since BEA was in LA this year, the celebrity quotient was dramatically increased. Here were my personal highlights:

1. Meeting and having my picture taken with Maureen McCormick. That’s right! Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!

2. Meeting Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons and getting his business card which has Homer’s face on it.

3. Meeting and getting Slash to autograph a tiny picture book. (And I can’t believe how cool he was!)

4. Meeting Kevin Nealon and realizing that he is even taller in person.

5. Having Jan Brett, yes the Jan Brett, author of about a zillion books tell me how much she liked the cover of The Youngest Templar.

6. Hanging out with my author buddies.

So there you have it. My close encounters with fame and fortune. It was quite a week and my head is still spinning.

So I’d like to know what kinds of brushes with celebrities have you had? Write back and let me know!

Peace. Out.

MY BOLOGNA HAS A FIRST NAME…

Michael — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:08:17 +0000

Bon journo!

I’ve just returned from attending the Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy. For those of you who may not be familiar with the fair, it’s the largest celebration of Children’s Books in the world. Publishers from all of the world meet to sell rights to their titles back and forth. It’s a tremendously energetic show and it was a thrill for me to be there.

Why was I there you ask? That’s a very good question and I’m glad you asked it. Really I am.

I was in Bologna to celebrate the upcoming publication of my new novel THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail which will be published (please pause for a moment to mark this date in all Google, Yahoo, Outlook and Aol calendars) on September 18 by G.P. Putnam Sons. THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail has been purchased by seven countries so far and audio rights have been sold to Listening Library (a division of Random House). So my agent, Steven Chudney, or as I now refer to him, Supreme Commander, hosted a very lovely cocktail party and invited all of the foreign publishers and the foreign agents and scouts who worked on the book to attend.

It was a thrilling night. I met all of the foreign publishers and editors and had a wonderful time listening to and appreciating their enthusiasm for THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail. For about two hours I felt like I was J.K. Rowling or something. It was so delightful to see their genuine enthusiasm and to watch them grow more and more excited when I explained to them my plans for books two and three in the YOUNGEST TEMPLAR trilogy. Many of them asked me to return to Europe in the fall to help them launch the book. To which I responded “‘kay!”

I’ve come home tired but at the same time energized by the response I received to my work in Italy. When things like that happen it only inspires me to work harder. To try to write better, more meaningful books. It was probably one of the most thrilling experiences of my writing career so far and I hope I have a chance to return there someday.

Of course the trip wasn’t all work. We had a chance to visit Florence and Venice on day trips and we also spent some time in Bologna which is a beautiful city in itself. In fact my wife and daughter managed to witness a political rally, complete with police in riot gear and every thing! In short we had a blast, and I would take a trip back there anytime. The food is fantastic and the Italian people are wonderful, warm and friendly. After Canada, Italy is my totally favorite foreign country!

About the only downside of my visit to Bologna is that I never got to meet Oscar Meyer. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Some other odds and ends…

Just a reminder to all my Texas Librarian friends that I will be attending The Texas Library Association meeting in Dallas next week. I’ll be signing copies of TEXAS RANGERS: LEGENDARY LAWMEN at the Walker & Company booth (#1335) on Wednesday April 16th from 11am to 12 noon.) So please be sure to stop by and say hi.

Also, I’ll be signing SPY GODDESS: CHASE FOR THE CHALICE at New York Comic Con on April 19th from 2-2:30 at the HarperCollins booth. Hope to see you there!

READER’S MAILBAG

Michael — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:39:33 +0000

It’s been almost a month since my first two books of 2008, Texas Rangers: Legendary Lawmen and Spy Goddess: The Chase for the Chalice went on sale. It’s been a very busy few weeks of sending out postcards and emails and blogging and myspaceing and all the other things an author needs to do to reach an audience. But one of the great things about the Internet is you tend to get immediate feedback from fans. Some of the emails I get are so good, I like to share them. So let’s get to it.

Dear Mr. Spradlin,

I love the Spy Goddess novels. I have already read the new manga SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE. Will there be a third novel in a regular format?

Signed Anxiously Waiting,

Dear Anxiously,

As of right now, there will not be a new Spy Goddess novel. The story and the characters in the manga pick up right where SPY GODDESS: To Hawaii with Love left off. It was the only way the series was going to continue. I would love to write more Spy Goddess novels but the marketplace has voted and the publisher has been unwilling to continue the series in novel format. So what do we do?

1) Buy and read SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE

2) Get all of your friends to buy and read SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE.

3) Get all of their friends to buy and read SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE.

If the manga becomes very popular we might convince the publisher to try new novels. But for now we live on Mangafied.

Dear Mr. Spradlin,

I love Friday Night Lights too and I’m glad it’s coming back for a third season. What other TV shows are you watching this year?

Signed Tivo Diva,

Dear Diva,

Right now I’m watching the third season of Battlestar Galatica on DVD. It’s one of the best written shows on television and the cast is phenomenal. There is not a weak actor or character in the entire show and that’s extremely difficult to pull off for such a large ensemble cast. I’m also a huge fan of SUPERNATURAL and can’t wait for it to return with new episodes.

Dear Mr. Spradlin,

Will Spy Goddess ever be made into a movie?

Signed S. Spielberg

Dear S.

Well we can all hope and say a prayer. The books have not been optioned yet. During the Hollywood writer’s strike I had calls and inquiries from about a half dozen producers, some of them attached to very big films and studios, but so far no takers. Let’s keep hoping though.

Dear Mr. Spradlin,

If you had your choice would you rather have Spy Goddess become a movie or a TV Show?

Signed Ned Wurkexecutive

Dear Ned,

Truth be told I would probably flip out if either one happened. But if I had a choice, I honestly think the books are better suited to a TV audience than a movie. I think it would be very hard to condense the books down to a two hour movie. With a TV show you can tell more of the story and develop arcs that you can’t in a film. So that’d be cool. Joss Whedon? I’m waiting for your call!

Dear Mr. Spradlin,

I love your books! What are you writing now!

Signed Your Biggest Fan

Dear Biggest Fan,

Well you are obviously a reader of discerning taste and great intellect! Right now I am working on the final book in The Youngest Templar trilogy. I’m also working on another novel that I hope to show to some publishers soon, but the topic is a secret. I’m also developing the story arc for the third Spy Goddess Manga. So my plate is full.

That’s all for this week. I’ll be in Bologna, Italy next week so no new blog. I’ll be attending the Bologna International Book Fair. My new novel, The Youngest Templar, has already sold in seven countries and we’ll be hosting a party for all of the foreign publishers and agents. It’s going to be a thrill for me to be at the biggest Children’s Book Fair in the world! So I’ll update you on all the details when I get back! Ciao!