For most parents it’s the hap-happiest season of all. Teachers are preparing their lesson plans and librarians are pouring over reading lists and getting everything ready for their hordes of students to return.

But it’s also Back-To-School time for authors as I and many of my fellow authors start up a new year of school visits. If you write children’s books, appearing at schools and talking to young readers about the importance of reading and writing and books is one of the great side benefits of the job. Writing tends to be a solitary occupation and you spend a lot of time in your own head. (I know…scary!) Having a chance to get out of your office and talk to students and hopefully offering them even a spoonful of inspiration is a tremendous side benefit of being a writer.

Almost all of my author friends make school visits. Some spend the entire school year on the road traveling from one town to the next. Others do only a handful, keeping their eyes instead on the always-approaching deadline.

Having done this for a while now, and having talked with many of my writer friends who have been doing school visits for a much longer time. I’ve come up with a list of hints, tips and tricks that you can use to make your Author visit a tremendous experience for your school, the author, and most importantly your students.

1. The Honorarium

Most authors require an honorarium for school visits. Some who have only published a book or two, ask for modest amounts, some award-winning authors and illustrators command much higher figures. This speaker’s fee is often the greatest obstacle to schools hosting an author event. Budgets are tight for schools and libraries; there is no question about that.

But what must be understood is that the vast majority of writers, especially in children’s books, are not able to make a living from solely from their writing. It is sad but true. Not every author is a major-bestseller living comfortably off his or her royalties. Most of us work another job. To schedule a school visit we usually have to take a day or more off from that job. If we’re traveling to another state, it’s usually three days out of our schedule to make an appearance. (Understand this is only a fact not a complaint).

Yet if a school is creative there are many ways to help defray the cost of the honorarium, at least in part, if not fully and make the visit a break even day. Here are several suggestions

A. Have An Organized, Pro-Active Book Sale Before The Author Arrives.

And by organized I mean, don’t just send a photocopied note home with the kids telling parents the author will visit in a month. Appoint a chairperson of the pre-order campaign. Get your PTO’s or PTA’s involved. Send home multiple copies of the order form with your students. The more times it’s sent, the better chance it has to get out of the backpack and into the hands of the parents. Make sure the information is posted on the schools website and in school newsletters. Put up posters in the hallways. Make a display in the school library or the office. Post notices of the impending visit at your local public library. Talk to other schools in your district about sharing the costs. Get your local media involved and list the event online with local newspapers, TV and radio stations.

If you work with a local bookseller, most will offer schools a discount for author visits. If you’re creative, focused and organized at selling enough books, you can pay for or greatly defray the cost of the honorarium and are that much closer to a great author event.

B. Look For Partners In Your Community To Help Defray The Costs

As I already mentioned a local and energetic bookseller can help. But there are other sources of funding in your community you may not have thought of.

• Your local public library. Many libraries get grants and funding for special events. Many libraries get grants and funding for special events. Most authors are willing to speak at a school during the day and a library event in the evening. Your local library can help you publicize the visit, sell more books and again, defray the cost of the honorarium.
• Approach local service clubs like the Kiwanis and Rotary Club for donations toward the author visit. Most clubs are willing to pitch in a few hundred dollars for an event like this. And you can also offer the author as ‘programming’ for the club. Most clubs have weekly or monthly meetings and they are always looking for speakers. If you schedule the visit around the club meeting you can offer the author as a guest speaker. And don’t forget these clubs are made up of Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles who would love to purchase an autographed book for the child in their life. Another sales opportunity!
• Look for potential grant money at your city, state or county level. Offer the author visit as a fundraiser for your local literacy group. There are many organizations out there that offer grant money for ‘educational purposes’. Last year I made a school visit to Missouri where a county organization had not only funded the honorarium and travel expenses, they also purchased a book for each student in the 6-8th grades and a classroom set of all my books for each teacher! It was all funded by a local county organization whose mission is to promote reading and literacy.

2. Prepare Your Students For The Author’s Visit

This is especially important for the non Rick Riordan’s and Jeff Kinney’s among us. There is nothing more deflating for an author to visit a school and find none of the students read or are familiar with your books. Believe me it happens. If you have an interest in a particular author, make sure at least some of your best students have read at least one of his or her books. It makes the Q&A sessions go so much better!

3. Visit The Author’s Website

Many authors have a wealth of content on their sites to help make your job easier. For example, I have PDFs of customizable event posters and order forms so each school can create their own individual materials. My website also outlines the different type of presentations I do, from ‘writing workshops’ to ‘hands on history’. Discuss with the author before the visit 
what you think might most appeal to your students, or help meet the curriculum needs of your school. Most authors are flexible and can tailor a presentation in a lot of different ways to make it more meaningful to your students and educators.

4. Remember It’s All About Fun

An author visit is something your students should look forward too. With the proper preparation, and yes, a little bit of extra work, you can give your students an experience they’ll remember for a long time, maybe forever. And you might even connect that reluctant reader with an author who will turn them into a lifetime reader.

Isn’t that’s what it’s all about?

(Check my website for some links to some other articles on hosting a great author event!)

Like this post? Please share it, via one of the links below.

Your authorness,

Michael P. Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Neither the Green Arrow or Hawkeye are what could be considered major characters in the Marvel or DC Universes. As I’m always saying, anyone can be a Superman or Spiderman fan but it takes real dedication to favor the Red Tornado or Nightwing. And for a long time the only place where I could find the Green Arrow or Hawkeye was when they teamed up with another more popular character or they went to the Justice League (Green Arrow) or Avengers (Hawkeye) meetings. In those cases my two favorite archers might get off a wise crack or two and that would be it.

I was thrilled, when I found that Marvel had started a new four issue series called Hawkeye: Blindspot. And when I read it, I was even more thrilled, not just because it’s a great story, but it’s also a great introduction for young readers to learn about a member of the Avengers. And remember how I’ve said that we have an opportunity to use the power of popular culture to inspire kids to read? Hawkeye: Blindspot is a great place to start because next summer we’ll see him in the Avengers Movie in theatre’s everywhere and Hawkeye will have a major role. Reading Blindspot will give your young reader an introduction to Hawkeye and his role in the Avenger universe as well a summary of his life story and how he became a hero and an Avenger whom Captain America himself said “might be the very best of us.” (Also, if you’ve seen the Thor movie, you’ve already seen a cameo by Jeremy Renner who will star as Hawkeye in the Avengers movie).

So here are four reasons why you should try out Hawkeye: Blindspot on your reluctant reader.

1) It tells Hawkeye’s story, so you need not have read anything about him before you read Blindspot

2) It’s a great story filled with action and a great premise. Hawkeye is the worlds greatest archer. But on a mission he is injured and is losing his vision. Not a good thing if you’re an archer.

3) A villain from Hawkeye’s pasts shows up and Hawkeye, like all heroes and despite his handicap, most find a way to stop this evil person from wreaking havoc on the innocent.

4) As mentioned next summer The Avengers will be the biggest movie events of the summer. Hawkeye will help your young reader get up to speed on what is sure to be a fantastic movie event. And who knows. They just might want to read more!

And that’s the point of it all, isn’t it!

Your authorness,

Michael Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

How many times have you uttered a phrase or quip and said “That ought to be on a t-shirt!” Personally I know I’ve said it at least 3,678 times in my lifetime. Trust me. I keep track of these things. And since illustrator Jeff Weigel and I have started collaborating on our Zombie books, we’ve found a lot of the designs and phrases from our books cry out for a t-shirt.

And that’s where Nerdtastic Designs comes in. We’ve created a little spin-off company that creates t-shirts from some of the best illustrations from our books. Plus a few others that we’ve come up with along the way that we just think are darn funny. 

So, take a moment to check out all of our designs including our newest, the Mt. Rushmore “Zombie Nation” design and of course our extremely popular Civil War Buff designs. All of them are unique, fun and quirky. The perfect gift for that hard to buy for unique fun, quirky person that you need to buy a gift for. You know who I’m talking about.

The best part is, you can take your favorite design, and with our print on demand technology you can have a t-shirt in just about any size and with over dozens of colors to choose from! It’s like Build-A-Bear only with t-shirts!

Watch for a Nerdtastic Designs Website soon but in the meantime:

Visit our shop today!

Be a friend on Facebook

Tell all your friends!

Your Authorness

Michael P. Spradlin

Also don’t forget we have Zombie themed Christmas Cards too! Visit www.zombie-cards.com for details!

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

So without  further ado:

Know a dad who is a history lover? Social studies teacher? Reads big, thick biographies of obscure Civil War generals? If so they need a ‘Civil War Buff’ t-shirt. Available in a design with General Grant or General Lee.

How about a Dad who has a really great sense of humor? Or has visited the Arctic Circle and seen two polar bears in the wild? In that case, the ‘Bi-Polar’ t-shirt is for them!

Does Dad like Pirates? Has he already been to see Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides seven times? If so, he needs a ‘Got Rum?’ t-shirt. (And okay, he should really have a copy of Pirate Haiku, also. Sorry. Can’t help myself).

Is the Dad on your list into computers? Then he needs a ‘Spambot’ t-shirt.

And if you know a Dad who loves horror movies and zombies, who thinks George Romero should be elected President then check out one of our zombie themed t-shirts! My personal favorite is ‘Always Double Tap’.

There you have it! A gift for any and every Dad!

You’re welcome!

Your Authorness,

Michael P. Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I grew up in a one stoplight town in Michigan. A little farming community of about 1500 people. A place where everyone knew everyone else. Before I get all maudlin

Layne and I with actor Barry Corbin

talking about how life was better then, simpler, less hectic and all the other things I find myself saying more often these days, as I slide ever closer to curmudgeonhood, let me just say, one of the fondest memories of my childhood were the TV and movie westerns that I loved. In my opinion, there is very little that can compete with a classic oater. Bonanza, Gunsmoke, High Chaparral, The Big Valley, these were the shows I cut my teeth on as a youngster. And I grew up with an appreciation of western history and all things ‘cowboy’.

My Wrangler Award enjoys the after party at the Marriott

And my love of the west didn’t stop with movies and television. In college, my specialty within my history major was American Westward Expansion. I learned the Turner thesis and studied the scholarship of western scholars. My love of western history is plainly evident in many of the books I’ve written like TEXAS RANGERS: Legendary Lawmen and OFF LIKE THE WIND! The First Ride Of The Pony Express! And to this day I still study and consume books and movies and documentaries on the American West.

This weekend, I found myself in Oklahoma City to receive the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The award was given for Best Juvenile Book for OFF LIKE THE WIND! The First Ride Of The Pony Express. The award was presented at a black tie gala and hosted by actors Ed Harris and Rex Linn. Some call it the “Cowboy Oscars” and having gone through it, I’d say that’s a pretty close description. From the red carpet arrival at the museum to having my award presented to me (along with illustrator Layne Johnson) by Patrick Wayne, (that’s right The Duke’s son!) seeing cowboy stars like Robert Fuller and Stuart Whitman and Barry Corbin…all I can say is what a night!

The Wrangler Award at the Black Tie Gala. That's me in the background

Not only was the event a fabulous evening, being able to share with my wife and daughter and with Layne and his family made it all the more enjoyable. I hope I’ll get to write and publish more books on the Great American West. And while my childhood dream of becoming a cowboy never became a reality, I think maybe this was the next best thing.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Green Arrow protected "Star City" the loosely disguised Seattle.

I’m here on business, attending Emerald City Comic Con. Me and William Shatner will both be there. That’s right. Captain. Kirk. It starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday. If you’re in the area, you should come. Looks like lots of great programming. But being in the Emerald City, got me thinking about, of all things, Detroit. Because when I got to the rental car aisle at SeaTac I was given a Chrysler 200. The car Eminem has now made famous with his highly watched, internet sensation Super Bowl commercial. If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, watch it and come back. I’ll wait.

Needless to say, being from Michigan, I had a very visceral reaction to the ad. And I had intended to blog about it when it happened but it created such a fire storm of coverage that it appeared everything had been said. So I let it slide. Not too mention, I have a zillion deadlines and editors who are about to leave the ‘polite inquiry as to the status of your manuscript’ stage to, “dude, on my desk, tomorrow!” stage before long. Blog posts tend to get pushed aside when you have editors peeking in your window and violating your personal protection orders.

My reaction to the ad. I was blown away. And I was reminded of it driving the car today. We can argue about bailouts and whether car companies are ‘too big to fail’. And I’m a self-professed, born to late, curmudgeon who tends to

This ain't no Emerald City, dude.

think life was a lot easier and better in many ways forty years ago.  But also I feel like we’re losing something really valuable in this country. We don’t make things any more. And for a fleeting moment, this ad captured the essence of Detroit. A place where things are made. Yes, a city with tremendous problems, many of them self-inflicted, but a city once called by the New York Times in the early 1900′s the “Paris of the Midwest”. With that single two minute ad, Detroit and Michigan got some much needed positive buzz. The hottest fires make the hardest steel.

We have so much in Detroit that nobody knows about because of our ‘if it bleeds, it leads” news culture. We have a beautiful riverwalk. Great ethnic neighborhoods with fabulous restaurants like Greektown, Corktown and Mexican Town. We’ve got a long way to go. But we’ve come so far. We put America on wheels. We were the Arsenal of Democracy. And yes it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately” world. But we’re not just high unemployment and failing schools. We’re a world class art museum. The Fox Theatre. Hockeytown.

If you want to start a fist fight with me, tell me Detroit doesn’t make good cars. Go drive a Chrysler 200 and see for yourself. Twenty five years ago, you might have had an argument.

The elegantly appointed Fox Theater. A one of a kind venue.

Not any more. That dog won’t hunt. 

I guess sometimes it takes you being in another place, to appreciate the place you live. I’m a Michigangsta and I ain’t going anywhere else. Not California. Not Florida. Not the Emerald City.

This is the Motor City. This is what we do.

Peace. Out.

Your authorness.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

First, that Hollywood can’t come up with anything new. Everything has to be remade or my new least favorite buzzword (replacing synergy) ‘rebooted.’ But then I think, maybe a concept like a special police squad in Hawaii, chasing down bad guys, with today’s special effects and production values might not be such a bad thing. And of course, once I heard Grace Park was cast in the new version, I was sold. More on that later, but for now, here is my running diary of the premiere of the new Hawaii 5-0.

10:06 Excellent sequence to open the show. Lots of action, stuff blowing up (if you’re a frequent visitor to this web site, you know how I feel about that)

10:07 Great move. They kept the original theme song. One of the great TV theme songs of all time, Hawaii 5-0. I even heard they brought in some of the original musicians to rerecord the score in a digital studio.  Smart move.

10:08 Never have been a big Alex O’Loughlin Fan. Everywhere I hear thousands of woman taking my name in vain. Blaming me for the cancellation of his previous shows, Moonlight and Three Rivers.

10:10 GEEK ALERT! GEEK ALERT! I just realized a double Joss Whedon connection in this show! James Marsters who played Spike on Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, is the bad guy in this episode. Daniel Dae Kim, one of the regulars, also played a recurring role on Angel

10:11 Also, Jean Smart is playing the governor. Another good move. She played the crazy President’s wife in 24. I have a feeling early on, that the show could benefit from more of her on the screen. If she’s only going to be in the pilot, I think that makes the show weaker.

10:18 Commercials remind why I like to watch television shows when the entire season is available on DVD. Yet I’m afraid if I like a show, and don’t watch it ‘same night’, it will get cancelled. I am reasonably sure there is scientific evidence to back this up. But I do not have it on me at the moment.

10:20 Twenty-minutes in and still no Grace Park sighting. That is a major drawback as far as I’m concerned. It’s going to cost them at least one star in the review. If you have Grace Park in your show, you do not wait until, twenty minutes in to have her appear.

10:22 Instant conflict between McGarrett and Dano. Nice move, conflict is always good. Playing the rogue cop who has to earn the grudging respect of his new partner angle , can be interesting when it is well done. This looks well done.

10:26 Dano has already saved McGarrett.

10:27 Finally, the first Grace Park sighting!  (Important Disclaimer. In case you were wondering. Grace Park is the Official Emergency Back Up Wife of Michael Spradlin. And yes. My wife understands this. After all: Emergency!). And let me just say, I saw Grace Park in person at San Diego Comic Con this year, and was about to inform her of her status as my Official Emergency Back Up Wife, when I learned, quite unfortunately I might add, security guards at the San Diego Convention center ARE equipped with tasers. If you don’t know who Grace Park is, you might recognize her as Boomer on Battlestar Gallatica. And if you still don’t recognize her, got to Google Images and type in Grace Park. Go ahead, I’ll wait here.

10:29 You’re back. Told You.

10:45 The team comes together. It’s a good cast. A little too quick on the ‘making up’ between Dano and McGarrett. Will be interesting to see if the conflict surfaces again. And I would also highly recommend to the producers that they feature more Grace Park in each episode.

10:49 Hmm. Commercials, still considering waiting until the DVD comes out before watching another episode.

10:53 So far, Scott Caan as “Dano” is the best part of the show.  Aside from Grace Park I mean.

10:55 The first “Book ‘em, Dano.”

10:57 And of course the question, hanging on the lips of every one of the original 5-0 fans is: Will they bring back Wo Fat? They must. They simply must. What would Hawaii 5-0 be with out Wo Fat?

10:59 We’re all friends now.

So, did you watch it? What do you think? How does it compare to the original? Will you watch it again? I’d love to know.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

One of my favorite movies is Bull Durham. And not because it’s a baseball movie, because it isn’t. It’s a movie about life. There’s a great scene at the end of the film, where Costner’s character, Crash Davis, is cut from the Durham Bulls. He’s a career minor league catcher who once spent 21 days in the Major Leagues. He’s in his mid-thirties now and knows he’s never going to make it back to “The Show” as a player. So he leaves because he wants to catch on with another team and break the minor league record for Home Runs. And Susan Sarandon thinks he’s gone forever. But at the end of the season, it’s a rainy day and she’s walking home only to find Crash sitting on her porch swing. He asks her if she thinks he could make it ‘the Show’ (the Major Leagues) as a manager. And she jumps over next to him and starts talking fast, telling him how great it would be and how he knows all the linear and abstract theories of baseball…and he holds  up his hand and says “Annie, you have a lot of great theories on baseball and I want to hear them all, I really do. But not right now. And not today. Today…I just want to be.”

For my next fifty years, I hope to keep growing and learning as a person. But I also hope I spend a lot more time just “being.”

But as for the things I’ve learned. Well, if it helps, you, makes you think, disagree or ponder…that’s a writer’s job right?

1) The three greatest days in my life were September 25th, 1982, October 3, 1985 and January 24, 1992. The day I married my wife of almost 28 years and the days my children were born.

2) The greatest honor I have ever received in my life was the day my son asked me to stand next to him as the best man in his wedding. My son is a wonderful young man, with many close friends, but when he asked to perform this duty on the biggest day of his life, it inspired feelings beyond my abilities to describe. No matter what else I’m ever able to achieve, not even winning a Nobel Prize would ever exceed this.

3) I’ve tried my hardest to teach my children two important things. The first is the 90/10 rule. I believe that 90% of just about every situation is life is worthy only of laughter. If you laugh your way through life, you children will see it and they will learn to laugh as well and be so much happier for it. They watch what you DO much more than listen to what you SAY! The second is the 80/20 rule. I believe that about 80% of life is compromise. The other 20% is your ‘sacred ground’. Those parts of yourself that you will never compromise. Fidelity to your spouse, honesty in your actions, respect for yourself and others. No job, no amount of money, no person is ever worth giving up those parts of yourself.

4) I believe that men should always ‘marry up.’ I am beyond lucky in that I somehow won the hand of a woman so far out of my league, I still have no idea why she said yes. And no matter what happens, through all the trials and tribulations of life, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t tell her how much I love her. She has made me a better man, a better father and a better person. I believe that woman are much more intuitive than men. Maybe it’s hard wired into our brains, I have no idea. But if a man is open to it and listens to his wife, really listens, he will be the better for it.

5) I believe in America. I think it is, as Ronald Reagan said “A Shining City on A Hill.” It is not perfect, nor will it ever be. And it is a country that bears many shameful scars. We are not always right. But what makes us great, is that we never stop trying. Whenever something shameful occurred in our past history, their were always other brave Americans with the courage to rise up and say “This shall not stand.”I choose to live my life believing in the essential goodness of man. That when people are given freedom and opportunity, they will instinctively do the right thing. Maybe that is naive, but it is what I believe. Americans are the most generous people on earth. If that isn’t true, why is that even though we’re down in the middle of the list in per capita income among the civilized nations of the world, whenever a disaster strikes somewhere (the Tsunami, Haiti), Americans and America itself give more financial aid, medical assistance and materials than all of the other nations combined?

6) As a student of history, I never cease to be amazed at the profound changes in the world that have taken place in my lifetime. The comedian Louis CK said it much more cleverly than I, but think about it. Since I was born in 1960 we have sent men to the moon, not once, but several times, and safely home again (as Byron MacGregor of CKLW would say). Computers that once filled an entire office building now slide into a briefcase. Fifty years ago, most Cancers were an automatic death sentence. Today we can pick up a phone the size of a credit card and talk to someone on the other side of the world. To me, this is not science or technology. It is the magic of human ingenuity.

7) Alan Trammell belongs in the Baseball Hall Of Fame. This is not open to debate.

8 ) I believe it is too hard to be a kid today. At fifty, my ‘old-fogeyness’ is starting to show and all I can say is “we need to lighten up people”. While I’ve never been a scholar in the academic sense, I’m virtually certain that I couldn’t pass high school today. We put to much emphasis on our kids achieving things, instead of worrying what it is doing to them and what kind of people they will be. Your kid doesn’t need to be on three soccer teams. Send him outside for a pick-up game in the neighborhood. Your seventh grader will gain nothing from taking the ACT test for ‘practice’. Your kids can skip being on a ‘waiting list’ for a private kindergarden from the day they were born. Give them love, support and encouragement, not trips to visit colleges when they’re in 9th grade. One of the best pieces of parenting advice I ever received was try to never be the one to dash your child’s dreams. If your son wants to play NFL Football when he’s seven, just say ‘wouldn’t that be great!’ The world will tell him if he can or can’t play in the NFL. You’re going to need to be there for him either way, so why dash his dreams when he’s young or push him relentlessly toward a goal he may not be able to achieve? You’ll both lose.

9) I’ll probably be the last man standing, but I just don’t ever see an electrical device replacing the tactile sense of a physical, printed book, one of the most enduring and successful pieces of technology ever. I want to feel the paper in my hands. I want to write in the margins, not type. I want to dog ear the pages, not push a button. Devices are useful. But just because you can do something easier, quicker or faster, doesn’t mean you should.

10) I believe we are responsible for our actions and our destiny. We may need the additional hand along the way, but it is up to each one of us to do the heavy lifting of our own lives. I believe in equal opportunity for everyone but it is up to us as individuals to determine the outcome.

11) Anyone who intentionally seriously harms a child or hurts an animal should be locked in jail forever. I am very Code of Hammurabi on this. I believe we should be judged by our actions toward the weakest among us.

12) I know that times are bad right now. Times will be good again. And they will be bad again. But we will get through it all. And we will survive and prosper by the sweat of our labor and the freedom to choose our own path.

These things I believe.

Happy Birthday to me,

Michael P. Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

For the class The Modern American Novel, I was required to read You Can’t Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe. Like another one of my favorite novels, The Great Gatsby, Wolfe’s classic tells us that we can never go back. We can’t reclaim our past. Time moves on, things change and even something as ‘familiar’ as home is never quite the same. People might accept you, but once you leave, you can’t return.

I’m no Thomas Wolfe, but I think his reach may have exceeded his grasp in You Can’t Go Home Again. Because you can. And no matter where you go, what you achieve, or where you live, home is always home.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit my hometown for a book signing at the Public Library. I grew up in Homer, Michigan a small town straight out of Norman Rockwell. About 1500 residents, with the population remaining pretty constant for the last few decades. Every time I have a new book, the staff at the Homer Public Library invites me to come and sign books.

It’s hands down my favorite event. I get to reconnect with friends and family. Sandi and Trixie and the rest of the staff are so supportive and friendly and it serves to remind me of what’s important. The people who have helped you along in life. Several of my former teachers come each year. (I always joke that they show up because they heard that I’d written a book and have to see for themselves). My typing teacher Mrs. Acker always comes. For years; my sixth grade English teacher came until she sadly passed away well into her 90′s.

Then this past week, I had a chance to visit my nephew Scott’s school for a presentation. He’s in fourth grade and smart as a whip. Just like his older brother Brent. Seeing the happy smile on his face while I spoke to his classmates about writing and books and history was a truly great feeling.

And then, like most gifts, I realized those good feelings came to me not because of what I’ve done. But of what was done for me.

Some announcements:

SPY GODDESS: The Chase for the Chalice has been named to the American Library Association’s Popular Paperbacks list. Along with both Spy Goddess novels! Which are on for the second year in a row.

There is now a Facebook Fan page for The Youngest Templar! Become a fan here!

Peace out!

Your authorness

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