Uh-oh, oh no, NaNoWriMo!

It's mid-October. The weather is turning cold in my neck of the woods, which I'm not excited about but my dog loves it. This is also one of those points on the calendar when time seems to accelerate, as all of a sudden a lot of big things feel like they're about to happen all at once. This includes three of my family's favorite holidays, each of which presents various challenges. Are the kids too old yet for trick-or-treat? Do we stay home and host Thanksgiving (which can be stressful) or travel to spend it with relatives out of state (which can be a whole different kind of stressful)? Why, oh why, have we not yet started Christmas shopping? Add to that the end of this school year's first marking period, the annual swap of warm-weather gear for winter duds, and, oh yeah ... NaNoWriMo.

If that sounds like gibberish to you, let me explain. November is "National Novel Writing Month," for which NaNoWriMo is the not-quite-acronym. It's an annual self-challenge for writers to produce 50,000 words within a single month. Web sites abound for writers to discuss their projects, track and share their progress, tout their successes and lament falling short. It's a big deal. It's an annual tradition. And it's not easy.

I've tried it several times, and never quite pulled it off. But along the way I've learned some lessons to apply all year long. For example, I started out thinking that taking vacation the week of Thanksgiving meant I would have a solid seven days of writing to make up for missed daily goals in the first half of the month. Not so. More than almost any other, that's a family-oriented week. There's the feast itself, of course, but before that lots of shopping and prep to help with, and the weekend following it we spend putting up the tree and decorating the whole house for Christmas. And if we're not hosting then there are also hours of travel time. Can't write and drive; I think there's a law or something. So, first tip: hit the ground running on November first, and try to get ahead of daily goals and stay ahead if possible. Things will inevitably happen, and it may be tougher to get back up to speed than it was to get started in the first place.

Second tip: go in with a plan. If you're starting a fresh project for NaNoWriMo, use October to think it through a bit, maybe create at least a basic outline. A blank page can be an exciting world of possibilities, but it can also be an intimidating void if the words to fill it don't spring to mind. And the pressure of the ticking clock doesn't help.

Last, best tip: don't stop at the end of November. If you write 50,000 words, good for you! Celebrate, then finish up the story, go back and edit and polish, and then start the next one. And if, like me, you don't get to 50K? Don't despair, whatever you got done in November puts you further along with that project than you were in October, and now you have December to continue working on it, and if need be also January and onward. Just make progress, and keep at it until the work is done. I haven't yet hit my NaNoWriMo goal, but I have finished several books, and eventually you can, too. Let's go!

Heroes, Super and Otherwise

What if you could fly? What if you were bulletproof? What if you could become invisible? As kids, my friends and I asked each other these questions. Most kids do, I would guess. I'm in my forties now, and these questions still come up from time to time. I'm still a kid at heart, I still read comics and go to movies, and I still love a good superhero story. And that's the ultimate answer, isn't it? Depending on your age, you might say you'd fly off to Hawaii and save a bundle on airfare, or get even with a certain high school bully, or sneak into the next Avengers movie without paying. But then you think about it a bit, and eventually you decide you would probably become a superhero. Wouldn't you? I know I would.

But I can't fly, and I'm not bulletproof, and I'm pretty much the opposite of invisible. I have no superpowers whatsoever. Bummer.

But if comics and superhero movies have taught me anything, it's that if you take away the "super", you usually still have a hero. Not always, but often. For example, Tony Stark did not become a hero when he put on the Iron Man suit; he became one when he said "I want to protect the people I put in harm's way." Kal-el had powers from the moment he arrived on earth, but it was the lessons learned from his adoptive human parents, and his own choices, that made him worthy of the name Superman. Perhaps the best example is Steve Rodgers, who had the heart and soul of a hero long before he became Captain America. He would have been a hero with or without the powers he gained. In each of these stories, the superpower is cool and provides the "wow" factor (especially in movies, where special effects wizardry has pretty much become a superpower itself.) But the best superheroes, in my opinion, are those who are heroes first, and super second.

In real life, we don't (yet) have any superheroes. But we do have heroes. Those who serve in the armed forces, for example. Firefighters, EMTs, and police officers. Teachers. Doctors and nurses. Parents. Volunteers. They are not hard to find. Most of them are not hiding their identities. They're just out there, getting the job done. Right here in this house are a volunteer firefighter and Young Marine, an educator and several animal shelter volunteers. I'm proud of all of them. Take a few minutes today, look around you, and figure out who the heroes are in your life. Thank them. And if you are one (even if you don't realize it) then thank you.

As for me, I'll keep dreaming about being super, but even if that never happens then I'll still try my best to be someone's hero, in whatever way I can.

Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Five nights a week, our family closes the day by reading aloud together. My wife and I (or occasionally, one of the kids) read one or two chapters per night, so we average perhaps two full books per month. Often we'll discuss what we've read for a few minutes afterward before everyone heads for their own room, conversations which can be just as entertaining as the books. It's a terrific tradition, a habit we got into early, and I'm extremely pleased that the kids still enjoy it even now that they've started the journey through their teens. As they get older, though, it gets trickier to find books that please the whole crowd. All of us are avid readers, but like every family we all have our own tastes and interests. Max the Minnow and Goodnight Moon had universal appeal, once upon a time, but are there books that my junior firefighter will love as much as my aspiring veterinarian and my budding cake decorator? The answer is yes, and one of those is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

The Graveyard Book is the story of Bod (short for "Nobody") Owens, an orphan who grows up in a cemetery, raised by ghosts and assorted creatures of the night, after his family is murdered. Yes, that setup sounds dark and scary, but no more so than the setup of Cinderella, Snow White, and a lot of other children's classics, and no more so than Harry Potter or other more recent favorites. What follows that setup is a childhood unlike any other, but still quite relatable. Bod has trouble making friends (didn't we all?) but the friendships he does forge are strong and true. Old-fashioned wisdom is passed to him from those who died centuries ago, and it still applies today. And when Bod ignores that wisdom, as children tend to do, he finds trouble and adventure in equal measure. The core of the book, in my opinion, is the difference between shape and definition of a life. Gaiman paints a portrait of childhood with both dark and light strokes, and deftly illustrates that the events that happen to us -- good or bad -- can shape the course of our lives, but only the choices we make -- good and bad -- truly define who we are and who we eventually become. Bod could choose to cower in the graveyard, the only place he is truly safe, giving in to fear, and that would be understandable given the events of his earliest childhood. But he chooses a braver path. He wants to learn, and to explore, and to be a part of the world instead of hiding from it.

My favorite section of this book was the chapter entitled Danse Macabre, a scene of perfect enchantment where the worlds of the living and the dead overlap in a manner both surreal and magical, told from exactly the right point of view. The conversation about it afterward, between Bod and his mentor / guardian Silas, will make you want to hug a vampire. How often does that happen?

Obviously I'm not the only one recommending this book. It won a Newberry Medal, after all. Nor is this the only fine book by this author (Coraline is also great, and so is The Ocean at the End of the Lane.) All I'm saying is that I loved The Graveyard Book, as did my wife and all three of my children, so if you're looking for a book to appeal to your whole family, this is one I would recommend. Feel free to comment below to share your thoughts on this book, this author, or anything else, including any books you'd recommend for a family reading.

Release Day: Invisible Max

It was all fun and games, until lightning struck the lasagna.

So begins the second book in the Red Cloak Island series. The young superheroes-in-training from Captain Kissy-Face are back, facing threats both old (boring classes, disappointing cafeteria food) and new (conspirators plotting to destroy the island and everyone on it.) Hunter Maximus – a.k.a. Invisible Max – pulls a prank on his friends with unexpected and disastrous consequences. His friends are annoyed, he’s given a month’s worth of detention, and he’s temporarily not allowed to use his invisibility power. Hunter decides the punishments are tough but fair, and tries to learn from his mistake. When he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and overhears a plot that threatens everyone, he sees a chance to be the hero he knows he should be and redeem himself in the process. But he can’t save the day on his own, and he has no proof, and his friends think his story is yet another prank. Worst of all, time is running out: in fact it may already be too late to set things right.

Invisible Max is available as an eBook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play Books and other retailers. Check it out, then come back here and tell me what you think, or post a review on your favorite book site like GoodReads. As an added bonus, Invisible Max includes the first chapter of McStretchy, the next Red Cloak Island book. Enjoy!

Origin Stories Part One: Captain Kissy-Face

Some of the most interesting (and most often told) superhero tales are so-called “origin stories.” An average young man named Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, gaining great powers that will help him fulfill his great responsibilities. An average young man named Steve Rogers volunteers for an experimental procedure that turns the tide of his life, and of a world at war.

Books have origin stories, too. An idea forms, merges with another idea, and with a little luck and lot of work, something great can rise from a humble beginning. I’m always fascinated by the “story behind the story”, and especially by how different the end result can be even for stories that start out very similar, when processed through different creative minds. Take the examples above: both authors started with an idea to transform an average young man into a superhero, but the choices they made (such as time period of the setting and method of transformation) make Spider-Man and Captain America two very different but equally compelling characters. You can read the book for the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the character, but here’s the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the book:

I started writing this story due to three basic facts: (1) I like to sketch almost as much as I like to write, (2) I’m not terribly good at drawing, and (3) I love my kids. One summer day I was sketching with my daughters (one of whom is a much better artist than me, which I’ll get into in another post) and I drew a superhero, but I could not get the face to look like anything other than a lumpy potato, which is no way for a hero to look. Finally I gave up and went for the laugh, just giving him super-sized lips and a funny name to match. That worked. Is there anything better than hearing children laughing? I think not.

Months later, another sketch, this time shared with my son. I was again avoiding having to draw a human (potato) face. In fact, this time I avoided the entire human and just went with the suggestion of a human. I labeled this one Invisible Max, and my son thought it was pretty cool (and having your kids think you’re cool, even for a moment, is right up there with laughter on my favorites list.)


Those two drawings were one-offs, but they stuck in my head. I have to admit, there is a lot of weird and wonderful stuff stuck in my head, the trick is to find a way to put any of it to good use. In this case, I did. Months passed again, as they do, and I found myself looking at the calendar, thinking about Christmas gifts. In part to save money, and in part just for the heck of it, I decided to write my children a book as one of their gifts. I sat down to ponder what the story would be. It had to include all three of them as characters somehow, which is tough because they are all so different from one another (again, like stories, people can start from the same point and become unique as they grow.) More than that, it had to convey how much I love them and how proud of them I am, but still be fun. And it had to be fair. Parents will understand this. I didn’t have time to write three books by Christmas, to make each of them the star of their own story, so I needed a story in which they could all star together. I decided to make them superheroes in training. I took elements from their personalities to create their characters’ powers. The drawing of Invisible Max, which I had toyed with writing a story about more than once, finally found a place to fit in. I just needed something to tie the story together, so I added a fourth character and put him in the center. What would his power be? Would he be friend or foe? As I thought about those questions, a lot of the comics I read as a child (and, I admit, as an adult) bubbled in my brain. So did that drawing of Invisible Max, and eventually, also that long-ago sketch of Captain Kissy-Face. And from that, a hero (and a story) was born.

Welcome to Red Cloak Island

Hello to all you readers, parents, reviewers, friends, and those of you just wandering by. Welcome to Red Cloak Island. This site is the Internet home of author Joe Mosher. Here you will find information about the Red Cloak Island series and other books for middle graders and young adults, and readers of all ages who enjoy a good story. You'll also find writing tips, links to other great sites for writers and readers, notes about works in progress and upcoming events, and probably a lot of random (but hopefully interesting) thoughts on a variety of topics. You'll also be able to add your own comments, and ask questions for the author to answer.  Here is one to get things started:

 

Why the name "Red Cloak Island"?

Many authors use their own name as the name of their blog or website, or a name from one of their most popular works. I was going to use my name, but then I found that the website www.joemosher.com was already in use by a gentlemen by the same name who sells houses in Ohio. That's not me. You won't find my books on his website, just as this is not the place to find a cozy two-bedroom condo. So instead of my name I decided to use the name of my first middle-grade book series, which is set on Red Cloak Island, the home of the world's first (and perhaps only) top-secret school for superheroes. From above, the island looks like a volcano sticking up out of the sea with smoking red lava ready to erupt, but the "lava" is really a cleverly-designed red dome that hides the school buildings that are built inside the island's walls. To learn more about the island, and the special kids that go to school there, check out the Red Cloak Island series of books here (or click the 'Books' link above.)

Bonus info: Before deciding to call it the Red Cloak Island series of books, I considered calling it the Sixth-Grade Superheroes series. Then I learned that there are already several other great stories available that use variations on this name. If you like my books, you should check out a few of these others as well:

 

• SecretDiary of a 6th Grade Superhero by Claudia Lamadre
• SuperPower of the Day: Origins of a Sixth Grade Superhero by Ann Wachtler
• MyLife as a Sixth Grade Super Zero by Peggy Martinez

Thanks for visiting, and please check back for new articles and information to be posted a few times each week.