I’ve been talking on the radio all morning long about my new young adult novel, Paraworld Zero… literally. 18 radio interviews, back-to-back. Just about all of the interviewers had one question in common, so I’ll address that topic, which is… drum roll, please. Now that Harry Potter is over (and even that is questionable) how do we get young adults to keep reading? Being a father of five boys–all of whom enjoy fighting with light sabers on a daily basis–I have my work cut out for me. After watching my book’s video trailer on my website (http://www.paraworlds.com/) a dozen times yesterday, my oldest son said he couldn’t wait for me to put the rest of my book into a movie, so that he wouldn’t have to read it. He’s only eight-years old, so it’s understandable that he’s not into reading just quite yet, but his comment made me realize that I’m going to have to work harder at helping him to enjoy reading. The first step is to understand your child’s interests. I have boys who can’t get enough fantasy and science fiction in their lives. They breath it in like air. So I naturally need to pick some shorter…
Trick or Treat! I’m disguised as a blogger today. Usually I look like a science fiction romance author, which means I look a lot like a middle-aged woman in rimless glasses, cropped sweatpants, a ratty pink t-shirt emblazoned with MY NAME’S NO, NO BAD CAPTAIN, WHAT’S YOURS?, and lime green Crocs. But today, in honor of Halloween, I’m disguised as a blogger. Meaning I’ve switched out the lime green Crocs for my fuchsia pink ones in the Mary Jane style. As you can probably surmise, there’s not a whole lot of difference in the costume. Nor the author. You see, for most people Halloween is the one day they get to dress up and be someone else. For me, every day I get to be someone else on paper (or my computer’s screen, more likely). Authors live in a perpetual Halloween state. Scary, no? This past month I’ve been (mostly) Captain Chaz Bergren. She’s a gutsy gal, late thirties, dealing with being court-martialed for a crime she didn’t commit, and dealing with the love of her life being someone—and something—she never expected. She’s making a return appearance in my 2008 release from Bantam, SHADES OF DARK. Those of you who’ve…