Category: Children’s books

Out now! GO VOTE, BABY

Go Vote, Baby is out in the world and IT IS ADORABLE. Anne Passchier’s illustrations are charming and joyful, and the sliding “vote” windows are lots of fun to play with, even if you’re not a tot. I’m thrilled that Book Riot recently included Go Vote, Baby in its recent round-up of “10 Great Children’s Books About Voting and Elections.”

In 2020, maybe you’re wondering why we didn’t call it, DEAR GOD BABY, GO VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS AND LOVED ONES DEPEND ON IT! But that doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue and besides, this is not a book about the election per se, but an introduction to decision making for little kids. But as for you, my (presumably) voting-age reader, you truly must DEAR GOD, BABY, GO VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS AND LOVED ONES DEPEND ON IT!

So, right now please do one or more of the following:
Register to vote.
Check that you are registered to vote.
Request an absentee ballot.
Help encourage others to vote. Volunteer here or here or here, or do a little googling to find other volunteer opportunities at the national level and/or for your local elections.

Please, please, PLEASE vote.

[Also, probably of note only to me, Go Vote, Baby is the last work-for-hire book under my real name. I’ve started using a pen name for my freelance, ghostwriting, and work-for-hire books. My reasoning: As I publish more widely in SFF and horror for adult readers, I want to be sure my work is as siloed as possible for younger readers, teachers, and librarians. Also, as I move toward publishing original children’s work, I want to clearly delineate my those publications from my work-for-hire writing. It’s probably more info than most (any?) people need to know, but I’m getting it out there now to avoid confusion later. I’ll also do a separate post about it for transparency’s sake. So hold on to your hats, I know this is thrilling stuff.]

Go Vote, Baby is available now at bookstores and online. Please consider supporting your local bookstore! If you prefer Amazon, be sure to use Amazon Smile!
B&N
IndieBound
Kew & Willow Books
Astoria Bookshop
Bookshop

VOTE!

New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

I know I usually reserve this space for my licensed and work-for-hire projects, but it felt right to also share this bit of news from my fiction life with you over here…

I’m incredibly, ridiculously, completely-dead-and-looking-down-at-my-body-from-above excited* that my short story, “Tag, You’re It,” will be included in the forthcoming anthology, NEW SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK.

This collection, edited by the inimitable Jonathan Maberry, will be published by HarperCollins in 2020 and is a tribute to the original series, which was (perhaps obviously) highly influential in my development as a reader and a writer.

The full list of contributors, adapted from Jonathan Maberry’s announcement:

NEW SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

1. Alethea Kontis is a New York Times Bestselling author, princess, fairy godmother, and geek, authoring of over twenty books and contributor to over thirty more.
2. Amy Lukavics is the author of The Ravenous, The Women in the Walls, and Daughters unto Devils, which was selected as a YALSA 2017 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.
3. Aric Cushing is the multi-award winning author of the young adult novel, Vampire Boy, and the co-writer and lead actor of the feature films The Yellow Wallpaper and There’s No Such Thing as Vampires.
4. Barry Lyga is the author of the New York Times bestselling I Hunt Killers, and more than a more than a dozen critically acclaimed novels
5. Brendan C Reichs is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller Nemesis and its sequel Genesis, and co-author of the six-volume New York Times bestselling Virals series
6. Brenna Yovanoff is the New York Times Bestselling author of five novels, including The Replacement and Places No One Knows, as well as numerous short stories.
7. Catherine Jordan is an author of horror, dark fiction, and articles for her hometown–facilitates writing courses and has been an award judge.
8. Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling author of ARARAT, SNOWBLIND, and many other novels, the co-creator of the cult favorite comics series BALTIMORE and JOE GOLEM: OCCULT DETECTIVE, as well as being a screenwriter, editor, podcaster, and lecturer.
9. Courtney Alameda’s debut novel, SHUTTER, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and hailed as a “standout in the genre” by School Library Journal.
10. D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies. As an author, his ten-volume book series: Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
11. Gaby Triana is the author of Wake the Hollow, the Haunted Florida series, Summer of Yesterday, an ALA Best Paperback, and Cakespell, a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.
12. Gary A. Braunbeck, is the author of To Each Their Darkness, creator of the acclaimed Cedar Hill Series, including In Silent Graves, and 7-time recipient of the HWA Bram Stoker Award.
13. James A. Moore the award winning, bestselling author of over 45 novels, horror and science fiction and fantasy alike.
14. Jamie Ford, New York Times best-selling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
15. Joanna Parypinski, college English instructor and writer of horror fiction published in Nightmare, Black Static, Haunted Nights, and more.
16. John Dixon’s first two books, Phoenix Island and Devil’s Pocket, inspired the CBS TV series Intelligence and won back-to-back Bram Stoker Awards in the Young Adult category
17. Jonathan Auxier is a New York Times bestselling author of strange stories for strange children. His haunted house story, The Night Gardener won the ILA Book Award, the TD Book Prize, and was named a Best Book of 2014 by Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, and NPR.
18. Josh Malerman is the author of Goblin, Unbury Carol, and Bird Box which is a major motion picture starring Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich.
19. Kami Marin Garcia is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures novels, which have been published in 50 countries and 38 languages. Kami is also the author of five solo novels, including Bram Stoker Award nominated novels, Unbreakable and Unmarked (The Legion series), Broken Beautiful Hearts, The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos, and her forthcoming graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven for DC Ink.
20. Kim Ventrella is the author of the middle grade novels Skeleton Tree and Bone Hollow.
21. Laurent Linn is the author of Draw the Line, which is a New York Book Show winner for Young Adult Illustrated Novel. Laurent is a professional art director for Young Adult books, and a Board Member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
22. Linda D Addison, award-winning author of four collections, including How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend, the first African-American recipient of the HWA Bram Stoker Award and recipient of the 2018 HWA Lifetime Achievement Award.
23. Luis Alberto Urrea, Edgar Award winner, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and best-selling author of The Devil’s Highway and Into the Beautiful North.
24. Madeleine Roux is the New York Times bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold into eleven countries around the world and whose first book was named a Teen Indie Next List Pick, and the House of Furies series.
25. Margaret Stohl is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve books as well as Mighty Captain Marvel for Marvel Comics.
26. Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of the middle-grade adventure series TombQuest and other books for kids and teens. His first graphic novel, Dear Justice League, comes out in May 2019 from DC Zoom.
27. Micol Ostow is the bestselling author of The Devil and Winnie Flynn, an illustrated paranormal mystery and BookRiot quarterly selection. Her haunted house novel, Amity, was recommended by Buzzfeed, The NYPL, and School Library Journal as a favorite horror novel of 2014
28. N.R. Lambert is a pop culture writer and HWA-New York Chapter author whose work has been featured on the award-winning horror podcast, PseudoPod.
29. R.L. Stine is the internationally best-selling creator of Goosebumps and Fear Street.
30. Sheri White is an HWA member who has had many short stories published in the small press.
31. Sherrilyn Kenyon, #1 NYT & International bestselling author of the Dark-Hunters, Nick Chronicles and League series.
32. Priya Parmar’s debut novel Vanessa and Her Sister was a New York Times Notable Book, was praised by Vanity Fair, Elle, Oprah.Com, Entertainment Weekly, and People Magazine.
33. Tananarive Due is a bestselling author, and The American Book Award winner and NAACP Image Award recipient, as well as a “New Voice in Literature Award” at the Yari Yari Pamberi conference co-sponsored by New York University’s Institute of African-American Affairs and African Studies Program and the Organization of Women Writers of Africa.
34. Tonya Hurley is the New York Times and international bestselling author of the ghostgirl series (Little, Brown) The Blessed Trilogy (Simon & Schuster) and Feathervein (Macmillan 2019.)
35. T.J. Wooldridge, author of spooky kids’ novels and poetry, is the child-friendly persona of Trisha J. Wooldridge,
36. Zac Brewer is the bat-loving, coffin-couch-owning New York Times bestselling author of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, 2008 YALSA Quick Pick for Young Adult Readers, and winner of the 2010 Truman Readers Award and 2012 Nevada Young Readers Award.

*Also, incredibly excited to read this collection–I mean, look at this TOC–holy forking shirtballs!
**This post originally appeared on my fiction site, nrlambert.com.

What I Did This Summer, Part 2: Writing for the Educational Market Workshop

[Read Part 1: The Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop]
A big (big, BIG) part of freelance life is the hustle, and a hearty chunk of that hustle is exploring new opportunities in your chosen field (or fields). For example, the educational writing market has always intrigued me–a distant glow shimmering on the horizon at dusk, calling me forth into the wilderness, but… I’m getting carried away with this metaphor. Suffice it to say, I’ve long been interested in expanding my freelance and work-for-hire writing to include educational publishing. But even after researching the market online, I wasn’t really sure where and how to begin. Which markets were legit? Which ones used freelancers? Which ones paid those freelancers in a timely manner? Which ones forced their freelancers to hire a flashy (but free!) legal team to chase down overdue invoices? There are hundreds of educational publishers and companies out there, which is great–lots of opportunities. But trial-and-error exploration of those opportunities could be costly both in money and time (which is money, so in money-money and time-money).

Flash-forward to early 2017, when I saw that Paula Morrow  and Jan Fields would again be offering their popular “Writing for the Educational Market” workshop in June. Reader, I jumped on board and I’m so glad I did. Not only did I gain loads of valuable advice and information on breaking into and succeeding in this market, I also discovered I’d found an additional outlet for utilizing and applying what I’d learned during my recent Launch Pad experience.

Paula and Jan were engaging and knowledgeable as they shared their experience, expertise, and advice across a wide range of interests and specialties in the educational market. They, along with their teaching assistants, Sandra Athans and Julia Garstecki, and guest editors Cindy Kane (Six Red Marbles) and Karl Jones (Penguin Workshop) were extremely generous with their time, both in and out of the workshop sessions. We also laughed as much as we learned—which is a rare but wonderful way to impart knowledge and speaks volumes to the faculty’s collective gift for teaching.

Julia, Jan, Paula, and Sandra.

My fellow attendees came from a variety of backgrounds and brought a wealth of experience to the workshop, further deepening and enriching the program. (One of the side benefits of attending this workshop is that I also gained a wonderful and supportive network of impressive professionals that continues to guide me long after our last class session ended.)

An exceptionally smart (and fun) group of humans.

I’ve been writing on the trade side for many years, but prior to attending this workshop I felt lost regarding the ins and outs of approaching the educational market. After spending the week with Jan, Paula, and my talented fellow attendees, I walked away with a real, concrete, and actionable plan for breaking into, and (hopefully) finding success in, educational writing.

If this is an area that interests you, I can’t recommend Paula and Jan’s workshop enough. It doesn’t look like a 2018 “Writing for the Educational Market” workshop has been scheduled yet, but you can sign up for updates on the Highlights website. (I’ll also update with a link if/when I see it.)

 

(Mirrored post from http://www.nrlambert.com.)

Out Today! The Powerpuff Girls: Superhero Crime-Fighting Games & Activities

9780399542732-1This was such a fun project! When I started working on
The Powerpuff Girls: Superhero Crime-Fighting Games & Activities, only the very earliest roughs of the reboot were available for research/reference. Animation is a world that’s always fascinated me, so it was pretty cool to see how those shows come together from a behind-the-scenes POV. Also, even without the final art, the episodes were FUNNY (“Painbow” was my favorite)–a testament to good comedy writing.

Most of the activity books I’ve worked on have been much more about coming up with puzzles and games and less about writing. (No shade on puzzle and game creation–I love that part, too.) But with the Powerpuff Girls, I was delighted that there was room for a bit of story to run throughout, packed with as many puns as punches. The art and design is gorgeous (of course), props–as always–to the art team.

A bit more from the Penguin Random House site:

The Powerpuff Girls are back, and even better than before!

Play along with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup in this action-packed, full-color Powerpuff Girls activity book with stickers! Help Blossom read maps, color in crime-fighting scenes with Bubbles, and play silly games with Buttercup. Saving the day with the Powerpuff Girls has never been so much fun!

The Powerpuff Girls: Superhero Crime-Fighting Games & Activities is available in stores and online:
Northshire Bookstore
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound