Here at team Spradlin we are constantly working to bring you the best most fascinating books possible. Using the latest technology we look a variety of metrics, meta-data, verticals and other such buzzwords (and we have no idea what they mean) to bring you exciting stories, complex characters and books that will hopefully leave you wanting more. One of the most frequent questions I’m asked by readers is “What are you writing now?”

The answer to that question can vary. For example right this moment I just wrote the words ‘right this moment.’ Now I am writing different words. But I know that I just tricked you and what most of you want to know what BOOKS am I writing next. And the answer to that question is: it depends. Now that I’ve sucked you into this blog with vague and annoying answers to questions I’ve posed myself, I’m ready to tell you about my next project. Right after I tell this story. (Seriously, I’m getting to it. Relax.)

One of the great things about being a writer is getting to meet other writers. Almost nine years ago, I was invited to a Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri. It was after my first book The Legend of Blue Jacket had been published (which School Library Journal called “a well-researched labor of love, beautifully and accurately illustrated, just sayin’…) and it was my initial introduction to conferences and lit festivals. And at this conference, I happened to meet Roland and Marie Smith. Mainly, I got to meet them a lot because at this conference we stayed in a dorm/conference center and I kept locking them out of our shared bathroom. So embarrassing.

Anyhoo, Roland and Marie and many other authors and illustrators I met there have become great friends. And as you write more books, you go to more conferences and see your friends throughout the year, and talk about books and writing. And at a conference last year Roland and I were talking and he mentioned his very popular I,Q series. He was working on book 3 . And he really wanted to do more books but like many of us, he had a lot of other projects in the works and wasn’t sure he could devote more time to it past Book 3. Then he looked at me and said “Hey! Why don’t you write the next three books? We’ll work out an outline and story arc and then you can pick up the characters and story in Book 4 and continue on with them! It’ll be awesome!” So I did what any writer would do. I looked at Roland and said: “‘kay.” Then he got in touch with the publisher and they said “‘kay.” And it was done.

This story does not have a beginning or an end without Roland Smith, a kind an generous man. So we will be teaming up. I get to be the Robin to his Batman. The Hutch to his Starsky. The ah…er…co-writer of the next three I,Q books! It’s like being asked to take the Ferrari for a spin. You just try to hold on through the curves and hope you don’t crash it.

My recommendation to you is to go out and pick up the first book I,Q: Independence Hall and dive right in. (To the book. Not Independence Hall. They tend to frown on that.) I,Q tells the story of Qwest and his step-sister Angela. Their parents are famous musicians, recently married, who take off on a cross-country tour. Along the way, Qwest learns that Angela’s mother was a Secret Service Agent who died in the line of duty. But everything is not as it seems, and when a mysterious terrorist organization called The Ghost Cell surfaces, Angela learns a terrible secret. And she and Qwest, along with the mysterious roadie ‘Boone’ are drawn into a web of intrigue that follows them where ever they go. Like all of Roland’s books, I,Q is full of action, suspense, fantastic characters and  intrigue. You’re going to love them. The second book is I,Q: The White House and this October comes I,Q: Kitty Hawk.

And I’m just going to try to make sure I don’t crash the Ferrari.

Your authorness

Michael P. Spradlin

Visit the I,Q website!

www.iqtheseries.com

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

But the thing about reading is, it’s a personal choice. And I know the subject matter of The Hunger Games would be difficult for me to deal with. Reading is an intense emotional experience for me. And I’m certain the idea of children being forced to fight to the death for food, no matter the reasons or circumstances, would bother me. Again. I don’t have a problem with Suzanne Collins writing about it, people reading it or watching it on the screen. I want to be clear. It just not for me. I know a lot of authors, but I’ve never met Suzanne Collins. But from reading about her she seems like an imminently likable, nice person and and an obviously talented writer. I congratulate her on her success. But I won’t be reading her books. At least not The Hunger Games.

I realize it sounds like a contradiction for me to say, as someone who has written about the Third Crusade in my Youngest Templar series, a particularly violent period of human history, that I don’t want to read a book like this. My characters face battles and death and all things the people of that era faced. But I also try to show them avoiding violence whenever possible. Resorting to violence only when it’s necessary to defend themselves or someone else. I also try to show that violence has consequences. It changes a person.

And I understand the concept behind The Hunger Games of a young girl doing what she feels she must to save herself and her family. But as a father, upon reading the books or seeing the movies, and cursed with a vivid imagination, I know I would imagine my own children in a similar predicament and it would upset me. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. I tend to do this all the time. I love reading Dennis Lehane for example, but I have never read his book Gone Baby, Gone because it deals with a kidnapped young girl. I know I would instantly imagine my own daughter in that situation and become emotionally distraught by it. I can’t watch movies or TV shows or read books where children face this kind of danger. Like I said, it’s a personal thing. Maybe it is a naive viewpoint, heck it probably is. But its how I feel. Maybe I’m just a big ole wuss.

But I will watch the success of The Hunger Games with a smile. I rejoice in the fact that we live in a place where books like The Hunger Games are published. Where books that inspire, teach, entertain, speak to and sometimes even anger people, are readily available. And I’ll especially rejoice that we live in a place where we are free to make our own choices.

So if you’re going to the movie this weekend, I hope you enjoy the experience. If you are a parent taking your child to see it, I congratulate you for allowing books like The Hunger Games to be read in your home. I hope you’ll discuss it with each other, reveling in the parts that spoke to you. And when the movie is over, I sincerely hope you’ll stop by the bookstore or library on your way home and pick out something else to read.

I would love to know your point of view. Are you going to the movie? Have you read the books? Love them? Not love them? If not why not? Tell me what you think. No spoilers please for those who may not have read the books or seen the movie.

Your authorness,

Michael P. Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It’s hard to believe we are almost a month and a half into the year 2012. The last year of human existence if you believe the Mayans. Personally, I think they just ran out of space on the rock.

I see it sort of like this. Two Mayans carving the calendar into a rock…

Carver 1: “2010…2011…2012…uh, dude we’re out of space. Bigger rock?”
Carver 2: “No. I’m good.”

So just in case, and because this blog is mostly about me, I’m giving myself a reverse promotional calendar! Luckily all my new books this year will be out before the world ends in December. So in reverse order, here is what readers have to ‘luck’ forward too in 2012.

The way the publication has aligned for Blood Riders my first adult novel almost makes me believe in stuff like the Mayan calendar. Blood Riders will go on sale on September 25, 2012 which also happens to be my 30th wedding anniversary. It’s a fitting day for my venture into the world of writing for grownups for there is no one who has helped me become a better adult than my loving, lovely and gracious wife of thirty years. What can I say? I married up. And I’m the luckiest man in the world.

Blood Riders is what we call in the writing game a ‘mash-up.’ It takes several genre conventions and mixes them together for what I hope will be a fast-paced, action packed thrill ride. It starts on the plains of the Eastern Wyoming Territory in the 1870′s. Captain Jonas Hollister leads a platoon of troopers on a search party for a missing group of settlers. He finds their camp, with the settlers apparently murdered by Lakota raiders. His instincts warn him that something is wrong and when he and his men enter the camp, they are set upon by the settlers who have come to life. Only they are no longer human. His men are killed, and only the rising sun saves Hollister from death.

Of course the army doesn’t believe his wild tales of strange creatures. He is court-martialed and cashiered from the Army and thrown into Leavenworth prison. There he spends his days digging wells, until one day the famous detective Allan Pinkerton shows up with an offer for Hollister. These creatures have been killing again. There is a survivor and this time, as the son of a famous politician, he is believed. Pinkerton offers Hollister a chance at redemption. Find these creatures kill them. And you’ll be pardoned.

Hollister knows what he is up against. He has seen what these creatures can do. With a few conditions, Hollister sets off with Pinkerton and another inmate from Leavenworth, a young man named Chee. With the help of Pinkerton and some of his associates Dr. Abraham van Helsing and Oliver Winchester among others. In a specially outfitted train he follows the trail until it leads him to these creatures who have grown in strength and numbers. And he and Chee encounter a mysterious woman named Shaniah who is also tracking the creatures for her own reasons.

As I said, there is action, adventure, steam-punk, the supernatural and as with all of my books, lots of stuff blows up.
You can read more about the book on my Coming Soon page. And it’s now available for pre-order at all of your favorite booksellers. Think of it as The Wild, Wild West meets The X-Files.

August 17th is the publication date for The Monster Alphabet my newest picture book for young readers. With the most delightful illustrations by artist Jeff Weigel, readers can follow Morgan Marvin Marshall the world’s best monster hunter as he travels the world looking to find a monster for every letter of the alphabet. In full color and priced at only $7.99 you won’t want to miss this one. It’s also available for pre-order and you can see more of the illustrations on my Coming Soon page.

This summer (date to come) will see the publication of my very first short story Running With Geronimo in Boy’s Life Magazine. It’s a thrill for me to be published in Boy’s Life, which has published authors like Jack London, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. It’s a thrill and an honor to be published there.

So there you have it! The entire year in reverse chronological order. While you look for these books, I’ll be busy storing up on canned goods and bottled water. You know. Just in case the Mayans are right. So I hope you’ll stock up on these books and get copies for your and your friends. I mean if the apocalypse actually happens, you’re going to need something to read!

Your authorness

Michael P. Spradlin

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Author writes first book SPY GODDESS: LIVE AND LET SHOP. Gets great reviews. A nomination from Mystery Writers of America for Best Young Adult Mystery. Fans rejoice.

Author writes second book SPY GODDESS: TO HAWAII, WITH LOVE. More great reviews. More fan rejoicing.

Author writes third book SPY GODDESS: THE SPY WHO TOTALLY HAD A CRUSH ON ME and…the publisher says “Sorry no more Spy Goddess novels.”

Ouch.

We try a couple of Manga versions of Spy Goddess to see if that will work. It doesn’t. And I get angry letters from readers who ‘hate’ manga and actually ‘curse’ me for turning their beloved novels into ‘cartoons’.

So the manuscript sits there lonely on my hard drive, yearning to breathe free. Fans continue to email and send letters. Actual hand-written letters, asking me when the next book will be out. And all I can tell them is there won’t be another book.

Except now there is. While all of this time passed, these things like I-Pads and Nooks and Kindles and Kobo’s and Lions and Tigers and Bears started cropping up all over the place. And I started thinking, I bet if I could put SPY GODDESS: THE SPY WHO TOTALLY HAD A CRUSH ON ME out as an ebook, people would buy it. So will they? Time will tell. But if you’ve been waiting for more adventures of Rachel Buchanan and Mr. Kim and Blackthorn Academy this new book picks up right where SPY GODDESS: TO HAWAII, WITH LOVE left off. For all intents and purposes the Manga never happened. Never. Happened.

I’m considering this as an experiment. If it works, then more Spy Goddess books could follow. I hope you’ll pick up…err…download a copy (I’ll never get used to saying that) and let me know what you think.

And tell all your friends!

Your authorness!

Michael P. Spradlin

PS For those of you who don’t have an e-reader, fear not, follow this link and you can download a PDF that you read on a computer!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/98104

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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.

Lately, I’ve been on a crusade to encourage kids to read more comics. I’ve also been trying to inspire teachers, librarians and parents to let kids read more comics. I think we now have a tremendous opportunity with Hollywood cranky out so many movies based on comics and graphic novels, to use this medium as a tool to help reluctant readers, especially boys, get hooked on reading.

If you’re a parent who loved comics as a kid, why not start reading them again ? After all kids pay more attention to what you do, than what you say. Rediscover the love of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman or Supergirl that you had as a kid. If  you start reading comics, I’ll bet your kids will too. And I’ll be willing to bet, once they start reading comics, they’ll start reading other things. Like, you know, books. Take them to a comic shop and let them look around. Tell them they can’t have an action figure, but they can have a comic book! (You can come back later and get them the action figure!) Note: If your community doesn’t have a comic shop, there are a ton of online comic sellers, so let your child browse their selection and find one they like.

I really believe we have a golden opportunity now to use the power of popular culture to inspire our kids to read more. And don’t just take my word for it. There is a ton of research showing that comics are a great way to get reluctant readers hooked on reading. Here is just one article.

And to encourage more kids, parents, teachers and librarians I’m going to do my part by reviewing comics on a regular basis. And trying to give you some of my recommendations of what I think you or your young reader might like. I think it’s a worthwhile experiment. Trust me. Reading comics as a kid, made me want to read other things. And I know a lot of my writer friends say the same thing.

So to kick things off, this week, I’m recommending FLASHPOINT #1. In brief, the original Flash, Barry Allan was killed a long time ago and replaced by the original Kid Flash, Wally West. But now Barry Allan is back from the dead. And as usual, when someone comes back from the dead, things have a tendency to go wrong. Way wrong. Like Universe altering wrong. And this story is a suspenseful page-turner as ‘back from the dead Barry’ is trying to figure out what the heck is going on and why the world is upside down. Things really get weird when Barry discovers that all of a sudden the world he knew is completely changed. There is no Superman. There is no Justice League. There is a Batman, but he is not the Batman you think he is. Intrigued? I was. And I think you will be. Flashpoint #1 is on sale now and I believe this is a good way for you and your child to connect over a book. It might not be a traditional book, but remember this:

Reading is reading.

More later

Your authorness

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Now I get to go to the awards ceremony in Oklahoma City this April and pick up my ‘Wrangler,’ a bronze sculpture, designed by western artist John Free. I get to wear a tuxedo attend all kinds of fancy soirees and watch lots of famous performers like Sam Elliott and others get their awards. I might nearly faint from the excitement. Especially if Sam Elliott is there again because he’s just about the coolest cowboy ever.

Folks say it’s always just as great an honor to be nominated for an award as it is to actually win it. Those folks are wrong. Winning is soooo much better. And of course, with OFF LIKE THE WIND! being such a collaborative effort, I must thank my friend, Layne Johnson for his incomparable talent in bringing this book roaring to life through his beautiful paintings. Congratulations to you Layne! And thanks to my wife and family and my editor Stacy Cantor at Walker Books For Young Readers and my agent Steven Chudney for actually suggesting the book!

But mostly I would like to thank you. All of you: readers, librarians, booksellers, teachers and educators for supporting me and my work. If you don’t read my books, if you don’t buy my books, if you don’t recommend my books to your customers, students and patrons, then I simply don’t get published. And then winning an award is moot.

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. And if you’ll forgive me for asking one more time, if you haven’t purchased your copy of OFF LIKE THE WIND! yet, will now is the time! Because baby… it’s an award winner!

Your authorness!

Michael P. Spradlin
Award Winning Author!

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Check out the Preview Video for Off Like the Wind! The First Ride of the Pony Express below.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t. I must have started thinking about how I could get published when I was still in the womb.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

That is really a tough question because there are so many. My earliest influences of the joy of storytelling were definitely the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll. Those were the first books I read and they delight influence me still.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

Rock ‘n roll biographies are my main guilty pleasure, reading-wise, so I was very excited to read Life, the new Keith Richards memoir. I just finished reading it and it was terrific – truly a cut above the rest. I highly recommend it!

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

Don’t do it for the money! On a related note; don’t quit your day job. But ultimately, if you must write; meaning, if it truly calls you, then there’s nothing for it – you must do it. And if you must do it, then READ – as much as you can.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

I am currently at work on another novel – again in the area of psychological suspense – but there are other ideas brewing too.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer?

Not until five years ago. I wrote my first novel, The Thieves of Heaven, purely for myself, as I wanted to encompass all the things I found exciting in life into a book. When I finished it I found my true passion and have been writing as much as I can ever since.

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What book or writer do you feel influenced you the most?

I was a voracious reader after college and ever since. I don’t think there was one writer, but many: Dumas, Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, Alistair Maclean, Dickens, William Goldman. I love the David Lean movies and try to capture certain aspects of his work; the excitement and visuals on the page.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I just re-read The Count of Monte Cristo, my all time favorite. I also read all of the Ian Fleming Bond books in order, great writing and it makes the movies pale by comparison. And I’ll be reading A Christmas Carol in two months as I do every year. Dickens is amazing and most people forget that the classic tale is so many genres rolled into one; time travel, a ghost story, a morality tale, a story of love, family, forgiveness and redemption plus the magic of the holidays. What could be better?

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

Everyone says a writer has to write every day, well, that is obvious. I think as a writer though, we sometimes forget we are storytellers and to hone this I write a new story every day, a simple three-act story. It could be about anything, something familiar, something out of my comfort zone, a different genre. It allows my creative mind to breath and grow. After a year I have a file of 365 ideas, things I can draw on for my next literary adventure, things that I can combine and make my stories more original.

Granted most of them are sub-par but if only 5% are really goo, that’s 15 ideas to draw from to sharpen into an amazing book. So don’t just write every day, create something new every, single day and you will be amazed at what you come up with.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

The Thieves of Darkness was just released from Atria Simon and Schuster. My next novel will be out in six months called Half-Past Dawn, which is a story about a man who wakes to read in the paper that he and his wife were killed. Of course it goes nowhere near where people think and is a thriller very much in the vein of my last novel, The 13th Hour. I’m just finishing up The Thieves of Legend (doing this interview is a perfect distraction) which is my release for next August.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

It’s complicated because I grew up besotted with books–and watching my mom write letters home from our remote village in Ethiopia to her mom and my dad’s parents in the U.S. So I thought of myself as a writer waaay back. But I didn’t catch a dream of publishing a book until my kids were lap-sitters and I was going to the library and checking out armloads of books that I read out loud to them.  That’s when I truly got to know children’s books.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

I had different book mentors at different stages, but one of the most powerful was Sarah Plain and Tall. I wanted to figure out how she managed to make me feel so much with so few words.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I teach in the Vermont College MFA program for children and YA literature, and I once had Jandy Nelson in a workshop at one of the residencies. Her work dazzled me then and her first YA novel, The Sky Is Everywhere is dazzling me now. Wow.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

Read, read, read, and when you feel something–while you’re reading–try to figure out how the author did it.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

Hey! My two books for the American Girl Doll of the Year, nature girl Lanie, just came out mere weeks ago. Right now, I’m blogging about how I wrote them, not thinking about the next book.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.