Yesterday, I had the privilege and the honor of celebrating Read Across America week with the 6th Graders of my alma mater, Wagner Elementary School. Read Across America is a week-long celebration of reading, beginning on Dr. Suess's birthday. Its purpose is motivating children to read more, celebrating reading and literacy, building community, and educating people about the benefits of reading. With me in Eastern Tennessee and Wagner Elementary in Southern California, we truly embraced the concept of Read Across America.

I read a chapter from 7th Grade Revolution, then we had a Q&A session, and I also had the chance to share an excerpt from my current work in progress. I love answering questions and talking about the writing process, so the Q&A portion was so much fun. The kids asked insightful questions, and it turned into several joint teachable moments between the teacher and me.

An example was the simple question: "Which of your characters is your favorite?" Spoiler Alert: All of them. While explaining that I couldn't choose one favorite, I mentioned Katie McCabe. Katie is the character who has been living in my head the longest, so in any given scenario I know exactly how she'll react, what she'll say, and how she'll deal with the situation. The teacher jumped in and emphasized that I had mentioned how the character reacts as it is something she had pointed out to the class in previous lessons. They don't just talk and take action, they have reactions to the situation.

Leaders of the 7th Grade Revolution

I could go on and on about the questions and answers, but suffice it to say that my answers supported and validated what the teacher had been presenting to the students throughout the school year. Prior to the event, I had provided some background information on 7th Grade Revolution and made sure to point out the character pictures with brief bio I have on my website and the teacher projected them on a board.

While I read, the kids, on hearing a name would check the board so they had an image to help them better imagine the story as it continued. The images had an even greater impact during the Q&A portion. We discussed the tools used to create them, and as they had used the same tools they saw different ways to apply the tools.

A huge thank you to the 6th Graders of Wagner Elementary for such a great experience. I believe we can say "Mission Accomplished" for Read Across America week for 2025.

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Happy Bat Appreciation Day!!!

Until today, I didn't even know bat appreciation day was a thing. Who knew??? I gained a better knowledge and appreciation of bats when working on 7th Grade Revolution … after all there had to be bats in the tunnel.

Bats over the years have gained an undeserved unsavory reputation. The first thing most people think of are blood-sucking vampire bats, but there are over 1,400 species of bats and only 3 of those are vampire bats—who tend to bother livestock more than people. What else are people afraid of with bats?

• All bats have rabies and if they bite you, you'll get rabies, too. WRONG
  Approximately 5-6% of the bats captured for testing have rabies, so while possible, a far cry from ALL.
  
• Bats are bad luck. WRONG
  Bats actually do several things that are helpful. Such as eating disease-spreading insect like mosquitoes, roaches, etc. Forget the citronella candles … put a bat on the patio and it can consume up to one thousand mosquitoes an hour. Plus they do such amazing work like spreading seeds for future bananas, avocados, and about 300 other plants.
  
• Bats will try to nest in your hair. WRONG
  Though as a child I thought this might be a possibility, and it has happened to some people, it is more a matter of accident than design. Bats don't nest. They roost upside down because they have difficulty in taking off from the ground. But by hanging upside down, the can drop and use the momentum from the fall to start their flight. It might give the appearance they are swooping toward you, but the reality is they are simply taking flight.
  

I have another reason for celebrating Bat Appreciation Day. Meet Melvin.

Isn't he adorable??? When I shared that it was Bat Appreciation Day with a friend who loves bats, the name Melvin hit me, so I created an image of an albino bat named Melvin. He will be in the Homeless Myths series, my current work in progress, and I already know where he lives, how he's going to interact with the kids, and he's just too cute not to share. I'm certain Melvin is going to have mega personality to match his endearing appearance, so keep your eyes peeled for more about Melvin as the series continues.

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I am so proud 7th Grade Revolution is Story Monsters Approved and honored for it to have won two Purple Dragonfly awards.

WHEN UNEARTHING A NATIONAL TREASURE
BECOMES A NATIONAL INCIDENT

Inspired by True Events

Dennis Alexander: Washington Academy Middle School promises to be another in the long line of boring schools he has been expelled from.
Rhonda Snodgrass: Although trained from childhood in survival tactics, she tries to stay off the radar of the “cool” kids who think she’s weird.

7th grade turns out to be anything but normal when teachers announce the students’ bloodless revolution succeeded and they are now in charge. After conducting a secret-ballot vote on policy, the 7th graders emerge to find the school evacuated and the FBI lurking outside with the task of unearthing a treasure of national importance.

The students’ mission is clear—discover the treasure before the FBI locks down the building. Dennis and Rhonda lead the revolt and must work together to follow century-old clues left by a crazy Revolutionary War buff.

To stay one step ahead of the FBI, they must delve into history and amass an arsenal to defend their school … because this is WAR!

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When the kids discovered the secret tunnel which had been the source of rumors for years, they had to decide who would be part of the delegation to go into the tunnel in search of the “treasure” … and Rhonda was certain of one thing, Spencer wouldn’t be a part of the crew.

     Dennis scowled. Someone had come into the tunnel after them, and he had a good idea who. He turned off the flashlight and plunged the tunnel behind into darkness once more.
     “Stay with the group, Maddie.” He trailed his fingers against the wall to keep from running into it. He moved with stealth-like steps toward the noise source. When the torch in the distance dimmed, Dennis stopped and waited.
     Closing his eyes, he listened as hard as he could for their approach. Spencer was about to get punked. Too bad he didn’t have an infrared video camera handy. He heard footsteps and smiled; another couple seconds.
     He inhaled deeply. “Boo.” His voice sounded deep and menacing as it rumbled through the tunnel.
     Spencer gave a frightened yell and Brooke screamed.

Yep. Spencer decided he wasn’t going to be left behind, and he brought Brooke along for good measure. Though still quick with a joke and a healthy heaping of sarcasm, Spencer showed he was just as serious as the rest of the group about keeping the FBI out of their school.

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My instincts were right. She had NEWS!!! A quick word of explanation about author life (hopefully you won’t mind the digression) — You spend months and sometimes years working on a novel and then send it out to the world to be enjoyed by the reading public, but for industry validation, there are contests to enter. Italia usually brings the contests to my attention and badgers me, I mean, encourages me until I submit. Such was the case for the Nautilus Book Awards.

The upshot is 7th Grade Revolution silvered in Middle Grade Fiction for the 2018 Nautilus Book Awards!!!

On it’s Guidelines for Entry page, the Nautilus Books Awards states: The Nautilus Mission continues — Better Books for a Better World!
To recognize, promote, and celebrate books that support conscious living & sustainability, high-level health & wellness, spiritual growth, and positive social change & social justice.

“The ancient Nautilus Shell is a symbol of proportional perfection. … It is also the perfect paradox – having survived relatively unchanged for millions of years, the Nautilus Shell is, oddly enough, a symbol for expansion and renewal as it grows increasingly larger chambers throughout its life.” ~ Rebecca Cotton

I am so thrilled and honored to have 7th Grade Revolution place so well in such a prestigious award contest. Past winners of the Nautilus Book Award include, Deepak Chopra, The Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Charles, Prince of Wales, Mariel Hemingway, David Suzuki, and Desmond Tutu. I am truly humbled to be in such company.

* Intravenous Immunoglobulin

— IVIG is used to treat various autoimmune, infectious, and idiopathic diseases. IVIG is an approved treatment for multifocal motor neuropathy, chronic lymphocytic lymphoma, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, Kawasaki disease and ITP. In basic terms for me, I have the treatment because my immune system has been compromised in multiple ways — through having CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) and SLL (non Hodkgin’s small lymphocytic lymphoma) in addition to the targeted therapy I have been on which suppresses parts of the immune system as well. The treatment does nothing to stimulate my own immune system, but rather provides those elements my system is not producing to give my body a little fighting power should I come in contact with anything immune system needs to fight off.

To buy 7th Grade Revolution online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository | Ebook

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Mexican free-tailed bat in flight; photo by Ron Groves / EOL Learning and Education Group on Flickr (public domain image).

In Bracken Cave, located in Texas, it is estimated that the Mexican free-tailed bats (Texas State Flying Mammal) living there eat approximately 200 tons of insects and crop pests each night. The farmers thank them (and so do I). Would anyone brave the caves without a flame-thrower if they didn’t? They also summer in Austin under the Congress Avenue Bridge, just 10 blocks south of the Texas State Capitol. It’s the largest urban colony in North America, extending to some 1,500,000 bats all doing their bit to keep the Capitol insect-free.

I know … I know, you’re not quite ready to invite bats to live in the local belfry because bats can be rabid. However, there have only been 10 cases of rabies contracted from bats within the last 50 years in North America. Maybe in part due to the bats motivation to avoid human beings as much as possible.

Another thing I found fascinating is that the spines on their wings are actually their fingers. And finally, a really cool fact — the saliva in vampire bats contains an anticoagulant which is being studied because it works the same way in humans and scientists are hopeful that by copying the enzymes in the saliva, they may be able to treat heart conditions and stop strokes.

What part do bats play in 7th Grade Revolution? When the kids are on the hunt for the “treasure” the FBI believes is somewhere in the school, the kids uncover the secret tunnel which leads to an otherwise unknown cavern. The perfect bat hangout.

     In the darkness ahead, strange noises, squeaks like fingers sliding on a steel guitar—times a thousand—cut through a fluttery sound. Beating wings.
Crud. Rhonda threw her arms over her head and ducked. “Bats!”
     Selena screamed.
     The shrillness ricocheted off the walls and assaulted Rhonda’s ears. “Get down.”

Knowing the only place the tunnel led was back to the school, the kids began to wonder whether they’d be trapped all day, huddled in the dark, with a bat colony flying overhead. And then Rhonda learned a bat attack wasn’t the only thing to get her heart pumping …

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The awards ceremony was held in Nashville this evening, and I wasn’t able to attend, so waited patiently for the announcement to be posted online. The categories 7th Grade Revolution finaled in weren’t being announced at the ceremony, so I would have been awaiting the online announcement anyway. I felt a little like Alice in Through the Looking Glass when my publisher contacted me with the results. Lewis Carroll said it best:

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”

And the answer to the question about the pigs is YES, they do have wings and were flying around Nashville tonight because 7th Grade Revolution WON in the category of Best Use of Social Medial in Book Marketing. I don’t know about book marketing, but I do like the way Twitter, or as it is in the book QuackerMe, is used in the story. Without the use of social media, the book would have been significantly different. But I cannot claim all the credit for the award.

Without the use of social media in the Exploris Middle School classroom experience, first of all, I wouldn’t have had a book because I would never have heard about the exercise in the first place. But also, the teachers used Twitter in the guise of being reporters/the media to broadcast the events of the classroom to the world. I knew from the very beginning that had to be a part of the conclusion of the story … how social media is now the more immediate news source. So thank you, Karen Rectanus and Exploris Middle School for broadcasting the events via Twitter. It helped shape the book in many ways.

Here is just a part of what Digital Book World had to say about the awards this year:

“Digital Book World is honored to recognize best-in-class achievement across the wide world of publishing, and we’re thrilled to celebrate these distinguished award winners with the publishing and technology community,” said Digital Book World Executive Producer Bradley Metrock. “Congratulations to all of the award winners – we’re proud to showcase your work.”

Click the image below to go to the full article and winners list

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Let me just say that I don’t pay attention to reviews … no, really. I cannot tell you how many there are on Goodreads or Amazon or any other retailer. I also cannot tell you what they say. The only time I even see them is if I need to look at the product page for any reason. Otherwise, unless someone tells me about it, I don’t know. So when Italia mentioned something about a statement made in a review of 7th Grade Revolution and to keep it in mind for The Journal of Angela Ashby, I hadn’t seen the review and my response was that they are different books and what the reviewer had commented on wasn’t intended to be a part of 7th Grade Revolution, but that it already was handled in The Journal of Angela Ashby.

Yes, this is the point when the discussion took a turn toward the intense zone. And in the discussion, I said this:

It’s like trying to shame a cat for not having the characteristics of a dog.

The cat is going to squint its eyes, think of ways to murder, and do nothing to change the fact that it is indeed, a cat.

In the reverse, the dog will scurry around trying to figure out how to increase its catliness and will be worried and seeking approval.

While most of the time, I’m more dog than cat … in this … I am all cat.

When it comes to my writing — the thing I do I am most passionate about — I write the book I have envisioned to the best of my ability. There isn’t a single book I haven’t pushed myself on to make the best it can possibly be — but once it has been released, it is out in the world and I cannot run around explaining to all who read it why I made the choices I made. It either comes across well, or it doesn’t. I make no apologies for my work … ever. If I missed the mark, I missed the mark, but I’m going to do my best to hit it the next time. And no book is ever going to hit everyone the same. Why? Because the readers are a huge part of the experience, and we each have our own tastes and no one book is going to satisfy everyone.

Before I got off my soapbox and put it away, I wound up telling Italia that instead of being bothered by anything she sees in the reviews, she needs to Be the Cat. Because I am. At that point she told me it needed to be my blog.

It has since become a running joke between us. We all need a bit more cat when it comes to other people deciding what we should or should not have done. And the truth of the matter is, it wasn’t that the reviews were terrible or saying the book wasn’t well-written, it’s just that the reviewer wanted to see something more that I CHOSE not to put in. It was a conscious choice on my part during the writing process. So one or two (adult) readers are disappointed … I’m sorry about that, but I stand on the ground that I write for my target audience who are kids, and had I included what an adult felt was lacking, the kids would not have enjoyed the experience as much. In my opinion, but then again, I am the cat.

Does this mean I’m not open to constructive criticism? Absolutely not. I am always striving to improve my craft, and if I’ve completely missed something, then I do want to know about it. But, if what was “missed” is something I did with deliberation and not through ignorance or oversight, it was a choice I made for my work and I’m standing by my choice. Overall, with the reception 7th Grade Revolution has had, I feel pretty good about my choices for the book. Not only has it won some awards, but every kid I have spoken to who has read the book has loved it.

I will leave you with these words … if there is something you are passionate about, think about the cat when the cat has a goal. The cat is consumed by what it is trying to achieve; it remains undaunted in the face of obstacles; you can tell it, “No!” a hundred times, and it might twitch an ear and wait for you to get tired, but it never once loses sight of its goal. This is how we need to approach those things we are passionate about … ignoring the naysayers, keeping our focus, and being persistent until we figure out how to best achieve our goals.

BE THE CAT!

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This absolutely MADE MY DAY. I am still smiling. Because this is why I write and share my stories. It was such a delightful note and brought such joy to me, especially after an out-of-sorts day, that I wanted to share it here.

I just finished 7th grade revolution!!! I enjoyed 7th Grade Revolution very much! It was almost like being along with the kids on their journey! I loved when they found the wax portrait. My two favorite characters were Maddie, because of her kindness, and Rhonda, because of her bravery! The book cover says it was inspired by true events. Which parts of the story were true? My sister just finished reading and she loved it, too! Her favorite part was reading Rhonda’s funny thoughts. 7th Grade Revolution was such a great book and is now one of my top three favorite books, along with Harry Potter, and the Bible!

It’s not often you have your work as a favorite alongside Harry Potter and the Bible!!! She enjoyed it so much, she created a picture to show her favorite books, and then when she learned that Instagrammers often create scenes with books, she created one for 7th Grade Revolution — and I love it. She did a MUCH better job at creating a lovely scene than I ever would.

I do love my readers.

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The 2018 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion International Readers’ Choice Award has opened voting and 7th Grade Revolution is up for Best Fiction – Juvenile and I need your help to win.  From the Killer Nashville site:

Every year Killer Nashville receives hundreds of submissions for our Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards for best books of the previous year. It will take three rounds of judging by industry professionals, peers and to determine the winner(s). 
 
However, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion READERS’ CHOICE Award is different.  This is your chance to vote for your favorites!  New titles are added daily – so check back often.  You may vote for titles in more than one genre, but you may not vote for the same title more than once. Multiple votes for the same title from the same IP address will not be counted.    Spread the word and encourage other fans to vote!

So HOW do you help? Easy … Go to  the Killer Nasvhille Readers’ Choice page and scroll down to Best Fiction – Juvenile, and click the radio button next to 7th Grade Revolution.  If you’d like, browse the other entries and vote for those books that have caught your fancy. In fact, right above the Juvenile section is Best Fantasy/SciFi/Horror where two of my publishing mates are competing: Alexandrea Weis with Blackwell and Gareth Worthington with Children of the Fifth Sun. So give them both a little click if you’d like. (You can vote for more than one book in a category, but not for the same book more than once.)

There is no need to vote in every category, so vote for what you want, scroll to the bottom and click the Continue button. It’s that easy.

From me, Dennis, Rhonda, and all the rest of the kids at Washington Academy, a great, big …

Thank you!!!

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I’d also like to give a shout out to my publishing-mates Gareth Worthington for his WIN in the Science Fiction Category with Children of the Fifth Sun: Echelon, Mary Ting for her Science Fiction Runner up honor for ISAN: International Sensory Assasin Network AND Runner Up honors in Unpublished Manuscript for Jaclyn and the Beanstalk (Vesuvian Books 9.4.2018), and Alexandrea Weis and Lucas Astor and for their Honorable Mention for Blackwell in the Wild Card Category and for Honorable Mention for Death by the River (Vesuvian Books 10.2.2018) in the Young Adult Category.

So I should probably stop staring at shiny gold seals and get some writing done.

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I’d also like to give a shout out to my publishing-mates Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor and Mary Ting for their wins in the Horror: Supernatural/Paranormal (Blackwell) and Science Fiction: Post-Apocalyptic (ISAN) respectively.

This is going to be an incredibly short post, because I have some dancing and skipping around the room to do while marveling over the shiny new gold sticker my book can now wear.

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