WARREN THE 13TH AND THE THIRTEEN-YEAR CURSE COVER REVEAL!

I'm so excited to share the cover for the third book in the WARREN THE 13TH trilogy, WARREN THE 13TH AND THE THIRTEEN-YEAR CURSE. During my last school tour with illustrator Will Staehle, there was a lot of speculation among the students over what color the final book would be. So if you guessed blue, you win a virtual pudding cookie!

The book comes out on March 24th, 2020 and the description is as follows...

**(mild spoilers for those who haven't read the first two books!)**

At the end of the second book in the Warren the 13th series, the Warren Hotel had transformed into a giant ship and set sail for the open seas! When Warren the 13th and the 13-Year Curse opens, Warren is adjusting to the demands of running a floating hotel and is planning his 13th birthday party when disaster strikes--the hotel is shipwrecked on a strange island. To make matters worse, his octopus-like friend Sketchy is kidnapped by a traveling circus! Warren and his friends must solve a series of riddles to find the next location of the circus and rescue their friend before it's too late. Along the way, they meet a delightful new cast of characters, including elderly pirates, a sea witch, a talking clam, and a giant sea monster. As Warren pursues Sketchy's kidnappers, he will learn the truth of his friend's mysterious origins--as well as one final secret of the Warren Hotel.

You can preorder the book now via:

Amazon

B&N
Indiebound

My Fantabulous Philly Visit!

A couple weeks ago I went to the beautiful city of Philadelphia to attend Wizard World and visit my family. But the best part about being in Philly was getting to visit the Quirk headquarters for an afternoon. It's very serendipitous that my trip brought me to the city where my publisher is, so naturally I was excited to see it for myself and meet all the awesome people who work there.

I was fresh off a red-eye flight (a turbulent red eye flight, so I wasn't able to sleep for gripping my armrests so hard), and I may have appeared slightly zombiefied. Luckily Quirk books is no stranger to zombies, so I think things went well, overall!

Me in front of the Quirk Building

I got to meet my editor and publisher, Jason Rekulak, and he gave me a tour of the place, introducing me to everyone as he led me through the labyrinthine Quirk Books building (so many stairs!-including a vertigo-inducing spiral staircase - not for the faint of heart. Incidentally, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Warren hotel with all its narrow, twisting corridors!)

It made me really happy how excited everyone seemed to be about Warren the 13th - it feels so good knowing that everyone at Quirk is a fan and is supporting it 100%. It was also really nice to meet the marketing team in person, especially after so many faceless emails exchanged back and forth over the last few months.

I then had an excellent lunch with Jason, Rick (another editor at Quirk), and Nicole (associate director of marketing), followed by a meeting with Jason and Rick to discuss Warren Book 2 (and beyond??). We brainstormed some great ideas, and I'm now working on a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of the next book. I'm really looking forward to writing this one - I wish I could give you a hint about what it's about, but the first book isn't even out yet, so you'll just have to wait! ;)

Anyway, my entire trip to the east coast was worth it just for getting to visit Quirk alone. I left there feeling so invigorated and excited about Warren (even more so, if that's possible).

OH! And the BEST thing was that I got a copy of the Warren the 13th ARC! Look at it! It's gorgeous!  I wish I had more than just one, because I'd totally host a giveaway, but I think they're saving most of the ARCs for Book Expo America, which is coming up this weekend. (So if you want one, stop by the Quirk booth! I believe there will be a little game you can play to earn one.)

My preciousssss

After my Quirk visit, I headed over to my table at Wizard World where I handed out Warren bookmarks to the kids. I was pleased to see how many people seemed curious and intrigued by the project! 

 But I realized later that the bookmarks have a tiny typo. Can you spot it? (Hint: it's on the front).

How annoying! Well, I also forgot to put the ISBN on the bookmarks so maybe this is a sign I just need to have new ones printed...

But in happier news the Warren the 13th website is now live if you want to take a peek! 

Anyway, that's all the news for now. I should be having more updates soon about my upcoming appearances to promote the book, so check back!

Title Reveal and Synopsis!!!

Woo hoo! I can finally reveal the title of the book I've written for Quirk, as well as the synopsis! I've been bursting at the seams for what feels like forever to share this - especially since Will Staehle and I first conceived of this project over 10 years ago!

Without further ado...

The title is...

WARREN THE 13TH and The All-Seeing Eye

Meet Warren the 13th, a cursed 12-year-old Victorian bellhop who’s terribly unlucky . . . yet perpetually optimistic, hard-working, and curious. Orphan Warren’s pride and joy is his family’s hotel, but he’s been miserable ever since his evil Aunt Anaconda took over the management. Anaconda believes a mysterious treasure known as the All-Seeing Eye is hidden somewhere on the grounds, and she’ll do anything to find it. If Warren wants to preserve his family’s legacy, he’ll need to find the treasure first—if the hotel’s many strange and wacky guests don’t beat him to it! This middle-grade adventure features gorgeous two-color illustrations on every page and a lavish two-column Victorian design that will pull young readers into a spooky and delightful mystery.

The final cover is still being designed and illustrated by Will, but it's looking awesome so far and I look forward to sharing that as soon as I can! Oh, and mark your calendars because the book is set to be released on November 24th! 

Quirk Book Update

I realize it's been a while since I've posted. Time flies when you're busy! I've been itching to give an update on my middle grade novel for Quirk Books, but it's a little tricky as the project is still under wraps at the moment. I can't wait to reveal the title, which I believe will happen very soon!

Buuuuut here's a little hint in the meantime ;) :

As I mentioned previously, I'm collaborating with illustrator and designer, Will Staehle, and we have a phone meeting set up with Quirk's marketing team next week. I'm looking forward to this because it means we're going to start the process of book-promotion before long! Woo!

The manuscript is just about done and ready to go to - after cranking out the first draft during NaNoWriMo, I've been spending the last few months doing revisions. The downside of rushing to complete an entire novel in the span of a month means that it isn't going to be perfect. It also means MANY revisions/tweaks are needed to transform it from a first-draft to a polished manuscript fit for publication.

I've going back and forth with Quirk publisher/editor/man-of-many-hats, Jason Rekulak, to make the story as tight as possible. This has been my first time working with an editor who is so hands on, and it's been a wonderful learning experience. Jason is a writer and author as well, so his insights have been really valuable. It actually reminds me of being in a writing group, which I was until recently (sadly, it disbanded because, life).

There's still been the pressure of a time crunch because Will is going to need as much time as possible to do his portion of the book if we want this to be released on schedule. You see, it won't just be a novel with a few spot illustrations - this is going to be a really cool looking book with a unique interior design and lots of art! If you look through some of Will's other design projects, you'll have some idea of what he's capable of! But Will can't get fully started on his art and design duties until the text is 100% complete - and we're very, very close! The final manuscript should be wrapped up within the next week or so!

Watch this space, because once we get going with marketing and promotion I'll be able to post a lot more! I can't wait to share more of this project with you guys! :D

Quirk Publishing Deal!

I'm super excited to announce that I have signed on to write two middle grade books for one of my favorite publishers, Quirk Books, with the talented and award-winning designer Will Staehle illustrating. This pretty much sums up how I feel about it:

I'm afraid I can't say much more about the project at this point, but I wanted to share the good news! As soon as I'm able to share more, I'll be doing so on this blog, so keep checking back.

In the meantime, this will be me: