Ryan Jacobson is here today with a Teenage Garage Sale post courtesy of the Teen Book Sceneblog tour for his brand new release, Can You Survive: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Thank you for being here today, Ryan! You can follow along with the tour here. Enjoy!
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Welcome to my teenaged garage sale. I’m something of a pack rat, so I could probably really have this sale. (Hmm, maybe next summer.) I’ll try not to embarrass myself too much, but here are some of the must-have items you’ll find:
1. Transformers & G.I. Joe toys. I confess: I played with toys WAY too long. When my friends started going to movies and hanging out at the local pizza place/arcade, I stayed home with my Transformers and G.I. Joes.
2. Comic books. I will always love comic books. Back then, my favorites were Batman, Daredevil and Iron Man. I’m kind of over Daredevil and Iron Man, but my collection of Batman comics is still going strong.
3. Football cards. I was obsessed with football in general and collecting football cards in particular. I mixed in a little baseball and basketball here and there, but I was all about football.
4. Minnesota Vikings paraphernalia. If football was my game, the Vikings were my team. My entire bedroom was decked out in Vikings posters, magazines, autographed cards, calendars, toys and more.
5. Sports Illustrated. I had a subscription for most of my teenaged years and never threw a single issue away.
6. Tasmanian Devil T-shirts. My high school wardrobe consisted almost exclusively of jeans and Tasmanian Devil T-shirts. No kidding, I think I wore a Taz shirt almost every day. In completely unrelated news, I never had much luck with the ladies.
7. Track & Field ribbons. By seventh grade, my body was the size of a full-grown adult. I was the star athlete of my middle school. Too bad everyone else had to go and catch up with me by high school.
8. Bon Jovi cassettes. Come on, what child of the ’80s didn’t have Bon Jovi on tape?
9. Ninja costume. Yes, I was in a ninja club. Yes, it ended with a ride in a police car. No, I won’t say any more about that.
10. Miami Vice coat. I had this obnoxiously yellow coat that looked like something Sonny Crockett would wear. I felt so awesome in it, but it was a hand-me-down from my older brother. So I think I was probably three years too late for that look.
11. Alto saxophone. I was in band, and as much as I pretended to hate it, I actually quite
liked it.
12. Notebooks. I still have most of my old notebooks. They’re pretty fun to look through once in a while, as they’re filled with doodles, cheesy poems and far too many love letters that were never delivered. [Sigh.]
Thank you for sharing items from your teenage years with us today, Ryan! Thank you for being here as well!
He's the world's most famous detective, and thanks to this brilliantly adapted book, he's you! The cases, the clues, the suspects, they're yours to sort through in this exciting Choose Your Path book. You are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. You make the choices. But be careful; the wrong decision could lead to your doom.
Ryan Jacobson has graciously provided Lost For Words with a copy of Can You Survive: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for giveaway.
Thank you, Ryan!
Giveaway is open to US only.
Giveaway will end December 14, 2011.
Please fill out this FORM to enter. Comments, while appreciated, won't be counted as entries.
Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are here today with their latest installment in their Goddess Girls series, courtesy of the Teen Book Sceneblog tour for Artemis the Loyal. Thank you for being here today, ladies! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!
Honey or sugar?
Artemis: Neither. Nectar! And none of that fake diet stuff, either.
Salty or sweet?
Artemis: Salty and sweet at the same time.
Roman or Greek mythology?
Artemis: Greek, of course.
Harp or Flute?
Artemis: Flute, played by my friend Athena.
Centaurs or Satyrs?
Artemis: Centaurs.
Mountain or Beach?
Artemis: Mountain. Especially Mount Olympus!
Hiking or Horseback riding?
Artemis: Hiking through forests to hunt.
Long or short hair?
Artemis: Shortish.
Studious or Athletic boys?
Artemis: Smart, athletic boys who support my interest in sports, too. (They don’t necessarily have to be archers like me.)
Swimming or suntanning?
Artemis: Swimming, I get bored if I’m not doing something active.
Thank you for sharing your preferences with us, Artemis!
Thank you for being here Joan and Suzanne!
Joan & Suzanne can be found on Joan's website, Suzanne's website, and on Suzanne's blog.
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It's time for the annual Olympic Games, and the four goddessgirls are not happy--especially Artemis. Even though she's better at sports than most of the godboys, she can't compete because rules say the Games are boys-only. No fair!
Led by Artemis, Athena, Persphone and Aphrodite, the ladies of Mount Olympus hatch a plan to get Zeus to open up the games to everyone. Will they succeed--or end up watching from the sidelines again?
* GODDESSGIRLS bead necklaces made by Joan and Suzanne.
Strung on colorful stretchy cord, they can be shortened into bracelets. (Beads & cord packages purchased at Michaels say they're not for under age 14. Actual colors will vary.)
* Artemis the Loyal book signed by Joan and Suzanne
You find yourself in Alaska, a dangerous world of greedy men and savage dogs. Every moment, your life is at risk. Do you have what it takes to survive as Buck, literature’s most famous sled dog? Or will the freezing temperatures and rugged wilderness lead to your doom? Step into this adventure, and choose your path. But choose wisely, or else…
Title: Can You Survive? Jack London's Call of the Wild
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Adventure, Action
Publisher: Lake 7 Creative
Publication Date: October 15, 2011
Format: ARC
Source: Received from author. Many thanks goes to Ryan Jacobson for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
Can You Survive: Jack London's Call of the Wild is an adaptation of the classic tale Call of the Wild. It has been adapted into a choose your own adventure book, where the reader becomes Buck. Choices abound for the reader as they follow along with Buck on his journey across the wilds of Alaska.
The wilderness is a treacherous place, and death beckons to the unwary. Buck has to learn who to trust, and how to adapt to the harsh conditions he is forced into. He no longer lives in the lap of luxury and you will need to make the choices alongside him. If you make the wrong choice, that will be the end of the line for Buck. There are many different choices to make within the pages of this book, and many of them lead to Buck's demise. Will you, and he, be able to make the right decision in every situation? Only time will tell.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-living the classic tale of Call of the Wild in this format. I believe many middle grade readers and even teens will enjoy reading it as well, especially since they get to dictate what Buck does next. All in all, this is an adventurous adaptation that will have the reader living out Buck's story.
Now for a Spooky Treat!
The Haunted Hutch
“Surprise!” exclaimed Lila Palmer.
Her daughter Jenny stifled a gasp. It was indeed a surprise—but not a good one. Jenny’s parents had unexpectedly arrived at her home, and while they were always welcome to visit, the gift they had brought was not a happy sight.
The china hutch was a gorgeous piece of furniture, but its worth was measured only in sentimental value. The antique had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Apparently, now it was Jenny’s turn to own it.
As a child, Jenny had never given much thought to the hutch. She would have ignored it all together if not for the times she had gotten into trouble on its behalf. The items displayed behind the hutch’s glass doors had a strange habit of rearranging themselves, and the hutch doors often popped open without explanation.
For years, Jenny shouldered the blame, even though she was innocent. Fortunately for her, when she was eight years old, her mother witnessed a door opening on its own; a statuette jumped off its shelf and onto the floor. After that, Jenny wasn’t blamed anymore.
Before the girl’s ninth birthday, the Palmers hit a stretch of bad luck. The family’s house was burglarized, and the thieves took several hunting rifles and a jewelry collection that included Lila’s heirloom wedding rings.
Mere months later, an electrical fire destroyed the Palmer’s home, consuming most of their belongings. The only item to survive the blaze was the old hutch. Lila took special care in cleaning the soot off her prized possession, and while she did so, she made a startling discovery: The two stolen wedding rings had suddenly appeared on one of the hutch’s shelves.
Even after the Palmers moved the hutch into their new home, its contents continued to change positions, and the doors sometimes opened themselves. At first, these happenings were little more than fun conversation topics. However, as the years passed, Jenny detected a ghastly pattern: Every time the hutch doors opened, a loved one died within three months!
Jenny hated herself for discovering the correlation. She spent most of her teen years in fear of finding the hutch open, and when this harbinger came, she waited in dreadful anticipation for death to find someone she cared about. It always did, without exception.
By contrast, in the years after she left the hutch behind, Jenny didn’t attend a single funeral. It would seem that in escaping the antique cabinet, she had saved her family and friends from the Grim Reaper.
Yet here it was. Death—the hutch—had found her again. Jenny silently debated her options. Although it would break her mother’s heart, she eventually chose to refuse the gift.
She didn’t have to.
As the hutch was lifted off the truck, the glass on its doors broke. Jenny tried not to smile; now she had an excuse for keeping it in the garage.
Three years came and went, and the hutch sat in storage. Time softened Jenny’s opinion of the family treasure. Eventually her sentiments got the better of her. (The hutch’s predictions of death couldn’t be real. They were simply matters of coincidence.) She fixed the hutch and moved it into her dining room.
For the better part of a month, Jenny enjoyed the old piece of furniture without incident. Then one day it happened. Jenny came home from grocery shopping to find the hutch’s doors standing open.
Exactly three months later, her 36-year-old cousin died from a heart attack. Jenny wasted no time in getting rid of the hutch, once and for all.
Ryan Jacobson has always loved choose your path books, so he is thrilled to get a chance to write them. He used his memories of those fun-filled stories and his past experiences to write LOST IN THE WILD. The book became so popular that he followed it with STORM AT THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST and CAN YOU SURVIVE: JACK LONDON’S CALL OF THE WILD.
Ryan is the author of nearly 20 books, including picture books, comic books, graphic novels, chapter books and ghost stories. He lives in Mora, Minnesota, with his wife Lora, sons Jonah and Lucas, and dog Boo. For more details, visit www.RyanJacobsonOnline.com.
When Spartacus Ryan “Poop Lip” Zander finds his house destroyed and his wacko, Human Cannonball mother missing, it’s obvious that she’s been kidnapped by Bartholomew’s World-Renowned Circus of the Incredible. But when his dad and brother refuse to believe it—because they’re morons, obviously—it’s up to Spartacus to be the hero.
With the Internet-wizardry of his best friend and clues from his mom’s postcards, Spartacus sets out on a zany, west coast rescue mission. But as the stories about the circus get stranger (and Spart’s enemies get weirder), he realizes the only way to bring his family back together is to bring the big top down, once and for all.
Source: Received from publicist courtesy of Teen Book Scene. Many thanks goes to RainTown Press and Teen Book Scene for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
Tour: Teen Book Sceneblog tour. You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner located below the review. My rating: 4/5
Spartacus Ryan Zander has always disliked his name. It's not normal enough for him, and to add insult to injury, his older brother has dubbed him "Poop Lip" due to the freckle or mole on his upper lip. When his mother joins the circus, Spartacus is left bereft. He believes she has been kidnapped, and no one will do anything about it. His father doesn't seem to be worried, which makes Spartacus even more concerned. He devises a plan to find his mother, but he'll have to rely on his best friend to find him the rides he needs to get to the circus. Once there he uncovers more disturbing news, and he will have to bring down the whole circus if he is going to save those he cares for, as well as himself. Spartacus is a sweet kid. He is completely infatuated with saving his mother, and will do anything to bring her back home. With the help of his best friend, he embarks on a journey across several states to get to the circus. He hitches rides with some questionable characters, and finds himself in some hairy situations, but he doesn't lose his determination to find his mother. He is a plucky character, and will have readers engaged in his wild ride to the circus. Johnson displays a tongue in cheek quality to her writing, one that will have readers laughing alongside Spartacus as they find him in some increasingly compromising predicaments. The friends he makes as well as the enemies, will have readers hoping that he makes it to the circus in one piece. Then of course, the hard part will be extricating his mother from the grasp of the evil Bartholomew. Many characters pop up throughout the novel, and they bring about some of the best comic relief I have read in a long time. The elderly women in the car are hilarious, and will have readers laughing as well as hoping that Spartacus can get himself out of yet another dangerous situation. All in all, a hilarious and enterprising read. Spartacus will draw readers to him as he travels across state lines to find his mother. An engaging hero, a diabolical villain, and many humorous yet complicated situations will have readers deeply invested in Spartacus' story.
Molly E. Johnson is here today with an author interview courtesy of the Teen Book Sceneblog tour for her soon to be released, Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows. Thank you for being here today, Molly! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!
If you could live in any time period in history, which would you prefer and why?
So, my current media fixes have all been depression-era: the book Water for Elephants, the show Boardwalk Empire, and the movie The Razor’s Edge (Bill Murray = the cat’s pajamas) so I’m in the middle of a 1920’s kick. But while I love the clothes (especially the hats) and the slang…yeah, that whole skyrocketing unemployment, crippling poverty, dust bowl part? I’d like to leave that out.
What one song defines the world as you see it?
Ghost of Corporate Future by Regina Spektor. This song teaches many life lessons that are true the world over, specifically:
Take off both of your shoes
Cut your own hair
Kiss someone nice
Lick a rock
People are just people (like you)
If you were dropped within the pages of Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows, what would you do first?
OMG, I would run straight for the sideshow and learn how to breath fire with Zeda. I researched all about how to do it, watched a lot of videos, and even stalked and made an appointment with a hair dresser who breathes fire on weekends. All that plus writing about it and I’ve still never had the chance to do it myself! Funny enough, at first I had Zeda explain exactly how to do it—and then I remembered I was writing for readers who are probably just as eager to try it as I am. Not good.
….Oooooh, hi kids. So, don’t Google “how to breathe fire.” It’s….it’s not available anywhere on the Internet.
There are two doors before you. One opens to Narnia, the other to Hogwarts. Which do you go through?
Hogwarts! I want to see if butterbeer really tastes like liquidy butterscotch pudding, to teach Hermoine the wonders of a good hair product—and I secretly want to ride around on Hagrid’s shoulder.
If Murphy's Law applied to you, what law would you most likely encounter?
Somebody would read my book and be inspired to learn all those crazy sideshow acts, like getting tied up like Houdini, or the fire-breathing I mentioned. Or sword swallowing…
Excuse me, after considering all this, I think I need to go call my publisher. And perhaps my lawyer.
Thank you for being here today, Molly! I absolutely loved your answers!!
Molly E. Johnson can be found on her website, and on twitter.
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When Spartacus Ryan “Poop Lip” Zander finds his house destroyed and his wacko, Human Cannonball mother missing, it’s obvious that she’s been kidnapped by Bartholomew’s World-Renowned Circus of the Incredible. But when his dad and brother refuse to believe it—because they’re morons, obviously—it’s up to Spartacus to be the hero.
With the Internet-wizardry of his best friend and clues from his mom’s postcards, Spartacus sets out on a zany, west coast rescue mission. But as the stories about the circus get stranger (and Spart’s enemies get weirder), he realizes the only way to bring his family back together is to bring the big top down, once and for all.
Matt Myklusch is here again today with an inspiring guest post. This post was originally published on WriteOnCon. You can find the link to the original posting here. Thank you to Matt and the team behind WriteOnCon for allowing me to re-post this article. You can follow along with the Teen Book Sceneblog tour for The Secret War here. Enjoy!
Moments that Matter
by author Matt Myklusch
I remember watching the Olympics many years ago and an American swimmer was being interviewed. I don’t remember his name. I guess it’s not important. What is important is that he was heavily favored for his event. So much so, that in the interview, he spoke as if it were a given that he’d be taking home the gold. If I recall, he said something along the lines of the following:
“I don’t need the medal. I’m going to give the medal to some people who I care a great deal about. They can have the medal, that’s for them. I have the moment. The moment is everything.”
A bit arrogant? Probably more than a bit, considering the company he was in. But, this guy was coming up on the defining moment of his swimming career. He’d spent entire life building up to it, and he was determined to own it. I have to respect that. I’ll never forget that guy whose name I can’t remember. “The moment is everything.” I couldn’t agree more.
I think about this when I’m writing because it’s the presence or absence of moments like these – moments that really matter – that make or break any story. There’s only going to be a couple of them. I’m talking about big moments, unforgettable moments… “You Can’t Handle the Truth” moments.
When I write, I always start out knowing what the big moments are in my stories. That is usually the first spark of any idea I have. The trick for me is writing my way up to them. Back when I first started writing, I just wanted to get there. My focus was on getting done. I looked at plot as paramount, and my characters as little more than tools to advance the plot. As a result, the big turning points in my work always lacked punch. There was no real connection with the characters. I didn’t realize that even if I had written a scene as well as Aaron Sorkin wrote that speech from A Few Good Men, it wouldn’t have mattered. Not if I phoned in the set up.
Powerful dialogue is important, but it’s not enough to make us care all by itself. What makes the moment matter is everything that comes before it. The only reason we care what happens in a story is because we care about the characters. That’s where we get invested. It’s like in baseball… If you follow a team and only watch them play in Game 7 of the World Series, you might be happy if they win, but you’ll never care about the game as much as the person who watched every single game that season. The person who did that loves the team. They live and die with every pitch.
Writers need their readers to love their characters and live and die with their actions every step of the way. That’s when the promise of the big moment is made, in the build up. The emotional investment that the reader puts into a character is what gives those big turning point moments punch.
When writing The Jack Blank Adventures, I worked hard to make Jack, my main character, somebody that people could immediately sympathize with and root for. He’s an orphan growing up at St. Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost. He doesn’t know anything about who he is or where he comes from. His name is Jack Blank because he was found on the doorstep of St. Barnaby’s in a basket with the name “Jack” written on the handle. Growing up, every time he had to write his name on a test or homework assignment, he just wrote “Jack” and left the rest blank. Jack Blank. After a while, the name simply stuck.
St. Barnaby’s is built on a stretch of swampland alongside the New Jersey Turnpike. Every year the whole place sinks a little further into the muck. They say for a kid growing up at St. Barnaby’s, staying above swamp level is about as much as you can hope for in life, and it doesn’t look like things will be much different for Jack. He actually takes a career aptitude test there that tells him he will have a long and fruitful career as a toilet brush cleaner! Not exactly the fast track.
Luckily, a robot-zombie comes out of the swamp and tries to kill Jack before that happens. He survives using some super powers he didn’t even know he had, and earns himself a trip to the Imagine Nation, the place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world originate— including him. It’s a world filled with super-heroes, super-villains, aliens, robots, ninjas, and more, but when Jack gets there he runs into more trouble. It turns out Jack is either going to be the savior of the Imagine Nation, or the worst threat its ever faced.
Most people are convinced Jack is going to be the latter, but here’s the thing. He doesn’t let that define him. He has his own ideas about the future. That’s the key with Jack, the quality that I think connects him with readers and makes him likable. Admirable even. He’s a courageous underdog. Someone who won’t give up. And, the central question that drives all of his actions in the story is understandable, realistic, and something the reader wants to know as well. Who is he? The questions about Jack’s past mysterious tie into the problems looming in his future. What is he going to grow up to be?
If I’ve done my job right, I’ve created a situation that everyone can relate to (the desire to break away from mundane, bleak circumstances and escape to a magical world that is full of possibility) and I’ve inserted into that situation a character that people will get behind. The world Jack goes to is larger than life, and the things that happen to him there are too, but they only matter if they are set up properly. All of that build up has to be viewed through the lens of character.
That’s how I approach my writing today. I am less concerned about getting done and more concerned with getting it right. Before I let myself move on from one chapter to the next, each individual chapter has to feel right to me. I can’t define what “right” is, but I know it when I see it. And, I absolutely know when something feels wrong.
Each chapter has to pass muster before I write the next one, and when I get a block of 5 or 6 chapters together, I stop and read them straight through too. I want to see how they play. Are character’s actions staying consistent with who they are? Do they all have their own personality, voice, and vocabulary? Are they engaging and likable (or hate-able, depending on who they are in the story)? Is the story moving? The action in the chapters has to move the story at a pace that feels right. The individual chapter endings and beginnings have to fit into each other like songs in a good playlist. You never know if they do or not until you read a bunch of them together. That’s when you find out if you’re taking the reader to the place you want them to go. If your characters, plot, and setting are all intertwining to maintain emotional investment. If you’re building up moments that matter.
Those moments are the difference between a good story and a great story. In order to deliver on the promise of a big moment, the writer has to know what it is ahead of time, build up to it properly, and own it. Kind of like the swimmer I told you about earlier. One other thing I remember about him? He took home the gold, just like he said he would.
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Matt Myklusch has been drawing ever since he could first hold a pencil, and super heroes have always filled up the majority of the pages in his sketchbooks. That lifelong love of comic books spurred him to create the Jack Blank Adventure series from Simon & Schuster, Aladdin. Books I and II, THE ACCIDENTAL HERO (2010) and THE SECRET WAR (2011) are in stores now. Matt has recently left his job at MTV to write full time. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and family, where he is hard at work on the next book in the JACK BLANK series.
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THE SECRET WAR by Matt Myklusch: Picking up a year after the events of Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation, Jack and his fellow students are now well into their School of Thought training and are “sidekicking” for official, card-carrying super heroes. But, even though Jack feels more at home in the Imagine Nation, he’s still hiding secrets from his friends Skerren and Allegra, both about his shocking connection to their enemy Revile and about his “Top Secret” school assignment, which involves investigating the RÜstov computer virus that affects the Mechas. Jack is busy trying to find out how far the RÜstov sleeper virus has spread, working to find a cure, and striving to avoid the dire future that Revile warned him about. Meanwhile, Jonas Smart is working just as hard to discover what Jack is hiding from everyone. When a rogue Secreteer–the protectors of secrets of inhabitants of the Imagine Nation–starts selling secrets to the highest bidder, Smart is ready and waiting. Jack knows that if Smart finds out the truth about him and Revile, he’s as good as dead. When Jack discovers that the Secreteer causing all this trouble also has information about his father, the distractions really start piling up. If Jack is going to help prevent a second RÜstov invasion, keep Smart from discovering his secrets, and find out what a shadowy, half-mad Secreteer knows about his long-lost father, he’ll need to learn to trust his friends, and to find the true path toward becoming a hero himself.
Matt Myklusch is here today with a Teenage Garage Sale courtesy of the Teen Book Sceneblog tour for his newest release, The Secret War. Thank you for being here today, Matt! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!
Thanks for having me on the blog! This is a great post topic and a great way to get to know someone. I think that there is part of us all that is “just us,” and that part is there from day one, but the rest… the rest comes from where we’ve been and what we’ve done. For the most part, I think we are the sum total of our experiences. High school, growing up… these are experiences that really shape us, so my Teenage Garage Sale is great way to get an inside look at my early environment, who I am, and what I am all about. Here goes:
Yankees Ticket Stubs
My friends and I used to drive into the city or take the train up to Yankee Stadium and buy bleachers seats for six dollars apiece. Six dollars! It boggles my mind how cheap it used to be to go to a game. I’m a huge Yankee fan, but the Yanks weren’t very good in those days. In fact, they stunk my whole childhood. But, those past hardships just make it all the sweeter now. In sports, like in life, you have to be there for all the ups and downs for the big moments to really matter.
Sketch Pad
Growing up, I was always drawing. Always. In class, at home, in front of the TV… everywhere. I’d read comic books or watch TV shows and movies, and I’d want to create my own versions of what I had just read or saw on the screen. For the most part, I spent my time creating my own super heroes and super villains. I filled up sketch pad after sketch pad. I thought you could get a job selling characters to Marvel or DC Comics. Unfortunately that job doesn’t exist. The “character creator” job is actually a little job called “writer.”
Luckily, I found out that artwork was just the first step in my creative process, and a lot of the characters I came up with back in those days found their way into THE ACCIDENTAL HERO. You can see some of them by clicking here.
Comics (specifically Uncanny X-Men # 275)
I’m a big comic book fan. I doubt that comes as a surprise to anyone who has read my books, but it often surprises people to learn that there was a time in my life when I gave up comics and drawing for almost a whole year. It was my freshman year in high school. I felt like it was time to grow up, so I stuffed all my comics in the attic and I stopped drawing. It took a long time for me to wise up, but I remember the moment when I finally did. It was when I saw this comic book on the shelf:
This was drawn by an artist named Jim Lee, who was one of the hottest artists in comic books at the time. Today, he is the co-publisher of DC Comics and maybe the hottest artist in the business. When I saw this picture it hit me right in the gut. I got inspired. I wanted to do what this guy was doing. One look, I knew I had to get back in the game and start flexing my creative muscles. This image reopened the floodgates of my imagination, so if you’re reading this Jim Lee… thank you.
CDs
Music is a huge part of my life. Some of the albums I listened to over and over and over in high school are listed below:
- Pearl Jam, Ten, Versus, Vitology
- A Tribe Called Quest, Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders
- Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
- The Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks 1964-1971
- The Beatles, Best of 1962-1966 and 1967-1970
- Bob Dylan, Best of
- Bob Marley, Legend
- The Doors, Best of
- Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming
- Green Day, Dookie
- Nirvana, Nevermind
Deli Apron:
I worked at a deli all the way through high school. My hours were from 3pm - 9pm two days a week after school, and from 6am – 2pm on Sundays. That was the minimum. A lot of times, I ended up working one more weekday or weekend day. That made getting my schoolwork done a challenge, but I did get it done. The upside was, I had money to pay for my own car (a must). The downside was some very early mornings on the weekends. Also, sometimes I can still smell the oil and vinegar from the Italian subs on my hands…
Movie Stubs:
I was a huge movie buff back then. I still am, but I have a lot less time to watch movies these days. When I was in high school I not only saw everything, but I also prided myself on knowing what was coming next. This was before the internet, mind you. It wasn’t so easy back in those days. I was especially proud of knowing what the hot independent movies were. I knew about Pulp Fiction before all of my friends. Same with Reservoir Dogs, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Trainspotting, and Swingers. My first date with my wife (while we were in college) was a screening of The Usual Suspects.
Football Helmet:
I played football my freshman year. It was a great experience, even if I decided not to keep up with it the following year. Football is a total team sport. The greatest things we get out of team sports are lessons about commitment, dedication, and teamwork. Pride, confidence, and a feeling of accomplishment can be part of the bargain too. I got all of that out of my freshman football experience. People who know me always find it funny when I tell them I played right tackle and defensive end. (I’m not nearly big enough to play either position).
Books:
I read my fair share of books growing up too. (Shocker, right?) I remember reading a lot of Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and Stephen King on my own, but the book that sticks with me the most from my high school days was Orwell’s 1984. The thought of that book still gives me chills. It’s funny how a book can stay with you that way. I hope I’ve created some moments in the Jack Blank Adventures that will stick with my readers too.
Thanks so much for reading!
Awesome garage sale, Matt! What a great selection of items! =) Thank you so much for being here today!
Picking up a year after the events of Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation, Jack and his fellow students are now well into their School of Thought training and are "sidekicking" for official, card-carrying super heroes. But, even though Jack feels more at home in the Imagine Nation, he’s still hiding secrets from his friends Skerren and Allegra, both about his shocking connection to their enemy Revile and about his “Top Secret” school assignment, which involves investigating the Rüstov computer virus that affects the Mechas. Jack is busy trying to find out how far the Rüstov sleeper virus has spread, working to find a cure, and striving to avoid the dire future that Revile warned him about. Meanwhile, Jonas Smart is working just as hard to discover what Jack is hiding from everyone. When a rogue Secreteer—the protectors of secrets of inhabitants of the Imagine Nation—starts selling secrets to the highest bidder, Smart is ready and waiting. Jack knows that if Smart finds out the truth about him and Revile, he’s as good as dead. When Jack discovers that the Secreteer causing all this trouble also has information about his father, the distractions really start piling up. If Jack is going to help prevent a second Rüstov invasion, keep Smart from discovering his secrets, and find out what a shadowy, half-mad Secreteer knows about his long-lost father, he'll need to learn to trust his friends, and to find the true path toward becoming a hero himself.
Author B.K. Bostick is here today with an interview and giveaway. Thank you for being here today, B.K.!
If you made the front page headline of a newspaper, what would you not want it to say?
Local author requires medical evacuation after binging on doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.
If you could describe yourself with one song, which song would it be and why?
The Eye of the Tiger- I listen to it whenever I go into writing mode (I imagine myself in lots of montages)
Before you are two doors. One opens up to Hogwarts, and the other to Narnia. Which one would you go through?
Definitely Hogwarts. I've always wanted to try a butterbeer.
Can you give us a description of Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure in haiku?
Hidden long ago
Deep within the mountain side
The dead guard the gold
If you were a character in Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure who would you be and why?
While not the main protagonist, Scott is probably my favorite character. If Huber is Frodo, Scott is Samwise. Plus, he says it like it is and doesn't hold back.
Thanks!!
Thank you for being here today, B.K. and answering my questions!
B.K. Bostick, author of Dead Man's Treasure, resides among the magnificent Rocky Mountains. In addition to writing, he has spent his career in education. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Utah and his Masters in Psychology from Utah State University. He has worked as a teacher, after school program coordinator, junior high school counselor, and most recently as a teacher mentor for a University. He loves spending time with his lovely wife and two dogs. In his spare time, he enjoys eating cheetos and watching old episodes of the Twilight Zone.
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When his grandfather dies, Huber Hill is devastated---until he opens Grandpa Nick's mysterious box. An old gold coin and directions to a hidden Spanish treasure send him and his friends off on an mind-blowing adventure, but he's not the only one on the hunt. Filled with dangerous animals and cryptic puzzles, this book will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.
