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.

Your authorness here. Yes I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, but well, a LOT has been happening. First, my publishers are trying to kill me. Yes, you heard me correctly. By releasing two books in the same week! I have to say, I know I’m lucky, but I’m also exhausted. I’ve spent almost the entire month of November on the road traveling to events, doing interviews, and attending conferences.

But last week, I got the news every writer dreams of. It seems my little book of upside down Christmas Carols (and let me remind you again, this book is rated T for Teen!) IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ZOMBIES: A Book of Zombie Christmas Carols, has MADE THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER LIST! Yes, its number 35, the last spot, but it’s on! There’s an old saying in baseball: when you hit one of those little dribblers, or dying quails or a ball that just squeaks past the fielder’s glove ‘It will look like a line drive in the box score!” So forever more, your authorness can now refer to himself as a New York Times Bestselling Author! Let me tell you, it’s a long way to from tiny Homer, Michigan to the New York Times List and this is one happy Midwesterner!

But the good news doesn’t stop there. A lot has been happening with The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail. First off, it’s been selected for the Truman Reader’s Award list in Missouri! One of only twelve books chosen! Students in Missouri will read and vote for the winner. It’s become cliché to say it’s an honor just to be nominated, but it really is.

Next comes a fantastic review of Trail of Fate from School Library Journal. As soon as it’s posted on their website, I’ll link to it but here is what it said.

“The action and intrigue start right from the first page…puts a brilliant spin on…traditional tales.” –School Library Journal

They also used the word, ‘riveting’ in their review! If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll pick up your copy and find out what happened to Tristan in his quest to keep the Holy Grail safe.

Midwest Book Review also had great things to say:

“Run out and grab a copy of both Keeper of the Grail and Trail of Fate for all of the young readers on your holiday list. This series is sure to launch even reluctant readers into adventures that they’ll be fantasizing about for a long time! But be prepare to buy the third book when it comes out next year.”

As you can see, it’s shaping up to be a fantastic holiday here at Team Spradlin Headquarters. Thanks again for all of your support!

Happy Holidays!
Your New York Times Best Selling Authorness

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Great reviews continue to tumble in for The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate. The reviewer at Reader Views Kids had this to say: I highly recommend “The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate” to people who like action, adventure and historical fiction.  Totally full of action and adventure, this was a real page turner that I am not going to forget.  It sweeps you in from the very first page and you won’t want to put it down until you finish it.

This week Templar Tuesday takes a look at some of the mysteries surrounding Rosslyn Cathedral, the so called “Grail” Cathedral in Scotland. If you saw the movie The Da Vinci Code, you know the role played by the Cathedral in Grail Legend. Our friends at www.templarhistory.com have an interesting article surrounding some of the myths and legends of this famous building:

Recent popular books have put forth theories that the treasures this 15th century structure may contain include: the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the lost teaching of Jesus; even one author went so far as to suggest the mummified head of Christ Himself. Very soon these speculations may finally be put to rest and a five-century-old puzzle solved.

A group of Scottish Knights Templar, led by John Ritchie, whom many Masons will be familiar with from his many television documentary appearances, is about to make a “non-invasive” survey of the land around the chapel. Using the latest ultrasound and thermal imaging technology, the group shall soon conduct tests in the hope of finding evidence of the existence of the legendary vaults so often rumored to exist under and around the chapel.

“The plan is to investigate the land around the chapel to a depth of at least 20ft,” said Mr. Ritchie, Grand Herald and spokesman for the Knights Templar in a recent interview with the Scottish press.

Ritchie informed the press that the machine they will use is the most sophisticated in the world and can take readings up to a mile beneath the surface.

Rosslyn Chapel is also known by the name of the Collegiate Chapel of St. Matthew and was built in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair, the third and last Prince of Orkney. Among the many intricate carvings found in the chapel is the depiction of cacti and sweet corn, carved decades before Columbus’ famed voyage of 1492. Indeed legend has it; and fairly well documented legend at that, that Henry St. Clair voyaged to America in 1398, a full century ahead of Columbus’ voyage, which never made it to North American soil.

Become a fan of
The Youngest Templar!

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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

On some level I think I always knew. I don’t know that I ever had that bolt of lightning moment. When I was a kid I dreamed of being all the things all kids dream about. Major league third basemen, fireman, cowboy. You name it. But what I did learn at very young age was a love of reading. To learn that books were not just a source of information or knowledge but of entertainment was a very important lesson. Gradually, I think I migrated from loving to read to believing that writing books would just have to be about the coolest job in the world. Turns out I was right.

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

In terms of writers the list is probably far too long to mention. But in my mind the biggest influences on me as a writer were my Mother and Grandmother. My mother loves to read and always made sure I was surrounded by books. She encouraged and fostered my love for reading and writers. Even when money was tight, she somehow always found a way to buy me books or comics.

My grandmother Maxine Patrick was, without a doubt, the world’s greatest storyteller. As a small boy I spent many hours at her side on the farm and she would spin the most elaborate tales of her childhood. For many years I actually believed my grandmother traveled the American West by train with Sitting Bull and Custer and Wyatt Earp. I finally figured out there wasn’t an ounce of truth in any of her stories. She spinned her elaborate yarns to distract us from all the work we doing. This only made me love them more.

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

Right now I’m reading Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker. Parker is, in my mind, the best thriller writer working in America today. This book is about the flow of firearms across the US Mexico border. Like all of his best books it’s peopled with incredibly rich, diverse, flawed yet heroic characters. I just don’t know how he does it. It’s a phenomenal work and he’s an incredible talent. I fell in love with Parker’s work when I first read Laguna Heat and I count the hours until he has a new book available.

I’ve also just finished reading Bite Me by Christopher Moore. Again, one of America’s finest novelists in my mind. I first discovered Moore when I read Coyote Blue many years ago. He has a rare ability to make me laugh, cry, and think all within the space of a single sentence. And I don’t take lightly the skills of a novelist who can make me laugh out loud on every single page.

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

I would say treat writing the way you would treat any craft. Practice and nurture it and your writing will improve. The key to success in almost any endeavor is practice. The more you do it, the better you get at it.

My second piece of advice would be to embrace revision. Rewrite and rewrite until every word on the page had justified its existence.

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

I sure can, it’s a novel called The Raven’s Shadow. It takes place in Washington, DC in 1825. It features a teenage Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin who must defend the world from a horrible and ancient evil the world will come to know as Count Dracula. It will be published in spring 2011 by G.P. Putnam’s Son.

I’m also putting the finishing touches the third Youngest Templar novel. It’s called The Youngest Templar: Orphan of Destiny and it will be published in fall 2010.

©2012 Michael Spradlin Blog. All Rights Reserved.