Book Birthday Blog with Melanie Hooyenga

 

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators. 

 

Congratulations to Melanie Hooyenga on the release of Chasing the Moon

 

 

 

How did you come up with the idea for your book? Is this part of a series?

Chasing the Moon is the third and final book in the Campfire series, so the inspiration for this book was a bit different than the start of the series. One of the main characters, Melody, tried to steal the spotlight in book two, Chasing the Stars, and I knew I wanted to tell a story with her perspective.

The series follows teens as they camp and fall in love during celestial events (solar eclipse, camping at a dark park, and now a lunar eclipse) and I’ve had my heart set on throwing people into the Grand Canyon and seeing what happens. SPOILER: lots of good and lots of bad happens. 

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

There are several themes in this book, but a key thing I hope readers take away is that life is full of surprises and most likely won’t go exactly as you plan — no matter how determined you are to stay on track. And that’s okay. Because the fun comes in the unexpected moments and that’s what makes things interesting. 

What inspires you to write? 

At the heart of everything I do, I love telling stories. Since I was a little kid, I’ve loved seeing the crack of a smile or hint of tears in someone’s eyes over something my brain came up with, and even though it can take months before I get that payoff because novels take so long to write, those reactions are what keep me going.   

What are your marketing plans for the book?

As with all my books, I have a list of things planned:

• sending advanced copies of the book to early readers in exchange for honest reviews
• having a book launch party at my local independent bookstore (The Bookman in Grand Haven)
• enlisting fellow YA authors to share news of my launch in their newsletters
• submitting a press release to local newspapers
• radio interviews at my two local stations
• running Facebook and Amazon ads
• posting on my social accounts

It's a little tricky with the end of a series, because as authors, we really want people to start with the first book, but it's important to share the news of each release!

What's next for you?

I’m torn between two book ideas. I’ve had one idea for well over a year now and that’s what I’ve planned on writing next, but then a shiny new idea interrupted my plans as I was finishing edits for Chasing the Moon, so now I’m not sure which I’ll write first.
 
I have a couple events in the last quarter of the year, including teaching a session called How to Write a Novel at a workshop hosted by my local library. I’m hoping that after a dozen novels, I have a few thoughts worth sharing. I’ll also be with SCBWI-MI in Ann Arbor at the beginning of December!  

A little bit about the book . . .

Two best friends. One tiny tent. An attraction that's impossible to ignore.

Melody
Being a semi-famous science tokker epically rocks because I get to make science accessible for girls. Until I make a mistake and a jerkface tokker ridicules me to his fans. I need to prove I’m not a hack before my followers bail and I ruin my credibility—all before I graduate from high school.
 
Just one problem: my family’s hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where I won’t have signal for a week. Oh, and I’m sharing a tent with the Bestie Brigade—my two best friends—and I’ve crushed on one of them for longer than trends last on TikTok.
 
Dating Steph would make Jess feel left out and I vowed I’d never do that to her again. Do I risk hurting my closest friend for a chance at love?
 
Stephanie
Senior year was rolling along just great until my parents announced they’re getting divorced the same night I broke up with my girlfriend.
 
Spending a week offline in the Grand Canyon to watch the lunar eclipse with Jess and Mel is the perfect way to pretend my life isn’t falling apart. Except we’re camping with people who insist on talking through EVERY FREAKING PROBLEM around the campfire.
 
And I’m not ready to share.
 
The time away with Mel makes our connection even stronger, but I’m scared whatever she’s hiding could change our friendship forever.
 
Book 3 in the Campfire Series is filled with grand adventures, secret kisses, and an epic eclipse you won’t soon forget.

A little bit about the author . . .

Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga writes books about strong girls who learn to navigate life despite its challenges. She first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group.

Her award-winning YA sports romance series, The Rules Series, is about girls from Colorado falling in love and learning to stand up on their own. Her YA time travel trilogy, The Flicker Effect, is about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. The first book, Flicker, won first place for Middle Grade/Young Adult in the Writer’s Digest 2015 Self-Published eBook awards, and The Rules Series has won ten awards, including Finalist for MG/YA in the 2019 BookLife Prize. The first book in her newest series, Chasing the Sun, won gold for young adult general fiction in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and was named one of the Best Indie eBooks of 2020 by Barnes & Noble Press.

When not writing books, you can find her wrangling her Miniature Schnauzer Gus and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.

 

Website: https://www.melaniehoo.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelanieHooyenga 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelanieHoo

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melaniehoo/ 

 

 

 
     

Featured Illustrator Nico Ridge

 

Meet Nico Ridge! Nico is an illustrator (see our new fall banner) and is one of our newer members.     How has being a member of SCBWI benefitted you?

The SCBWI membership has offered me the opportunity to display my work on The Mitten’s website. I hope it may lead to other opportunities to do so in the future and may lead to other networking opportunities.

 

We’d like to get to know you! Tell us about your past creative work in the area of children’s literature or related areas of interest or expertise.

 

My name is Nico Ridge, 32 years old. I’m a self-taught artist who started drawing when I was young. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I started to get serious with art, I’ve been spending time working on improving my drawing skills and started dabbling in painting when I’m not working. I decided to start attending school at KVCC last year and am hoping to make a career through art. I won first place in the KVCC art show for a watercolor painting I did—that’s about as much acclaim as I’ve ever received for my work lol, so that was pretty cool! 

What in your childhood or youth piqued your interest in illustrating? What were some of the major influences that led you to this road?

My uncle Ryan Roxbury is probably my main inspiration. He’s also an artist, mostly working in acrylics. I remember him painting when I was maybe 7 or 8, and ever since then drawing was something I did often. 

Please share anything about your current projects or what’s ahead in your creative work. We’d love to hear about it!

 

I’m planning on doing some artwork soon that highlights political/social struggles that the nation faces. I have a painting that I’ve been working on in starts and fits that would be the first in a series of these works with a couple more kind of planned out …dealing with the justice system, American exceptionalism, class struggle, social solidarity, and the power of corporate interests and big tech exerts on our political system.

 

In our emails you shared some wonderful news you might want to share with our readers. Here's my question: What's new in your life, Nico?

 

My son Evander Robert Blue Ridge was born on the 24^th of September, healthy as can be. Mary, my love, had a short labor, only ten minutes, everything went smoothly. We brought him back to meet his big sister of three, Nyx Lynell Faye Ridge, a couple days later. She was suuuuuper excited to meet her baby bro that she had heard so much about the past 9 months.

 

Thank you, Nico, for letting us get to know you and for designing our fall banner! And congratulations to you, Mary, and Nyx on the birth of Evander!

 

--Isabel Estrada O’Hagin

SCBWI Michigan Outreach Coordinator

 

Book Birthday Blog with F.P. LaRue

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators. 

 

Congratulations to F.P. LaRue on the release of The Legend of the Serpent Witch

 

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

I wondered what Ollie, Mellie, and Scotty would do if they came face to face with an evil witch. Now I know.

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

I hope the readers will enjoy Ollie, Mellie, and Scotty’s adventure. I also hope that they enjoy the friendship that Ollie, Mellie, and Scotty have. They are committed to helping each other, no matter what the circumstances are. 

What inspires you to write?

I want to encourage children to read and to show them reading can be fun!

What are your marketing plans for the book?

My marketing plans are to use my website, social media, school visits, library visits, and interviews to promote my book.

What's next for you?

I am writing a third book in the Scary Shivers series. This book will also involve Ollie, Mellie, and Scotty. It will be out in 2023.     

A little bit about the book . . .

Two boys have gone missing. Ollie, Mellie, and Scotty set out to determine what happened to them. As they do, they are forced to confront an evil witch with snakes as pets, scary spells and wicked curses. They discover nothing is as it seems. They come face to face with pure evil and don’t know if they’ll survive long enough to solve a mystery centuries in the making.

A little bit about the author . . .

The Legend of the Serpent Witch is the second adventure in the Scary Shivers series by F.P. LaRue. Her career has been in education, where she progressed from a teacher to the Dean of Academic Affairs for a small Michigan college. During that time, she authored Stalking: Surviving the Hidden Terror and co-authored Discover Your Inner Strength, both adult non-fiction books.

When not writing, F.P. LaRue loves to travel, having visited all 50 states in the U.S.A. and 53 countries worldwide. When COVID hit, F.P. took to writing again. She loves a scary story and looks forward to sharing her own scary stories. She is hoping her stories encourage children to discover the wondrous adventures reading can bring…no matter what their age.

https://www.fplarue.com/

https://www.scaryshivers.com/ 

 

 

 

Hugs and Hurrahs

Can you believe September has already come to an end? The good news is it's time to celebrate the many literary achievements of our friends and colleagues. Welcome to this quarter's Hugs and Hurrahs post!

Jay Whistler, had a new book release in May 2022. THE GHOSTLY TALES OF PUT-IN-BAY was published by Arcadia Press. 

“Ghost stories from Put-in-Bay have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery! The haunted history of Pudding Bay comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Visit Perry’s Cave to catch a glimpse of its mysterious, otherworldly glow. Or look for ghosts amongst the hallways of Cooke’s Castle on Gibraltar Island. Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.”

What a perfect book for the season. Congratulations, Jay!

Lori McElrath Eslick has much to celebrate this quarter. Four pages of illustrations for the story:

The Trapped and Tangled Loon were in the April 2022 issue of Cricket Magazine.

Her cover art painting for Janet Heller's book; Nature's Olympics, was published as cover art for Cricket Magazine (pictured above), and was displayed at  ArtPrize 2022 iin Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Lori also won Best of Show in the 2022 75th Annual Michigan Watercolor Society Exhibition (and a $2000 prize) for her plen air painting "Fly Fishing the Platte River" that originally was commissioned to illustrate a story in National Wildlife Magazine. This painting is included in a touring exhibition (for the 2022-23 year) around to art centers in Michigan. 

We’re so proud of you, Lori!

Jean Alicia Elster's latest book HOW IT HAPPENS (Wayne State University Press, 2021) is a 2021 Foreword Indies SILVER Winner for Young Adult Fiction.

Well done, Jean!

Kristin Bartley Lenz's YA short story "Flirting with Danger" was published in the Summer/Fall 2022 issue of Lunch Ticket, the literary journal of Antioch University. “Lenz’s sympathetic portrayal of young people is an engaging and conversational story about assumption, rumors, and truth.”

Way to go, Kristin!

Kim Bartosch's debut novel Ask the Girl was published by Woodhall Press.

 

Murdered in 1925, Katy must seek the help of sixteen-year old Lila and her sister to save her from her demon prison.

It's a young adult paranormal mystery with themes of forgiveness, sisterhood, and coping with bipolar disorder. 

Congratulations, Kim

Cindy Schrauben received a coveted Kirkus Starred review for her picture book This Could Be You.

What an honor, Cindy!

 

Ann Dallman’s second book in the Cady Whirlwind Thunder mystery series, "Cady and the Birchbark Box," has been recognized by the Historical Society of Michigan with its prestigious State History Award in the Books: Children & Youth category.

Her earlier book, "Cady and the Bear Necklace," also received this award.

We're so happy for you, Ann!

Tracy Detz's Icky Berg, An Iceberg Tale (Smarty Pants Magazine For Kids) is being made into an informational audiobook.

Learn about icebergs and all the animals and creatures who love them. Complete with a game and a simple science experiment.

What a fun project, Tracy!

 Renee Bolla is excited to announce the release of her second book, Imagine That, which launched September 24.

Congratulations, Renee!

 

Ian Tadashi Moore's audiobook Where All the Little Things Live recently won Second Place for best audiobook in the Purple Dragonfly Awards!

Yay, Ian!

Melanie Hooyenga has a book releasing October 10th, Book Three in the Campfire Series: Chasing the Moon.

Two best friends. One tiny tent. An attraction that’s impossible to ignore.

We're excited for you, Melanie!

Monica A. Harris has sold 18 writing passages to Data Recognition Corporation. (DRC is a company that hires writers for various assessment testings around the country.) Her pieces have included such topics as biographies, history of various games, animal life cycles, and the invention of many modern technologies.  

 

In addition, her business as The Doodling Duchess has taken off!  She teaches her method of meditative doodling as a way to gain personal insight and relieve anxieties. She has done several workshops for kids including teenagers and they have found doodling a way to concentrate, deal with trauma, and a form of stress relief.

That's wonderful, Monica!

Finally, the Critique Carousel Co-Coordinators, Alicia Curley, Wendy BooydeGraaff, and Natalie Aguirre would like to congratulate Dionna Roberts who will receive a critique from Janine Le and to Valerie Kemp who will receive a critique from the agent of her choice from SCBWI-MI's Critique Carousel Equity and Inclusion Scholarship for historically marginalized or underrepresented writers.

 

We're celebrating with you, Dionna and Valerie!

Congratulations, Everyone! Watch for announcements of Hugs and Hurrahs deadlines here on The Mitten, listserv, and the Michigan SCBWI Facebook page. Meanwhile, please feel free to submit all your kidlit publishing news to Alison Hodgson at aewhodgson@gmail.com. Have a wonderful fall here in beautiful Michigan!