Excerpt from Little Miss Thunderhead Posted

The fourth book in the Red Cloak Island series is coming later this year, and the first chapter is available for you to read.  Click here to read the excerpt and find out how the next all-new adventure of our favorite sixth-grade superheroes begins.  You can also find links to read the first chapters of all the other Red Cloak Island books by clicking on the Books link in the menu above.  Enjoy!

April Showers Bring ... Excerpts!

Spring has sprung, and as the weather warms and the grass and flowers begin to grow again, it seems like the perfect time for something new.  During the winter hibernation there was time to write and polish the next book in the Red Cloak Island series, Little Miss Thunderhead.  This time it is Sidney Raine taking center stage as she and her friends from the first three books find themselves on a break from school for the holidays.  Evil doesn't take breaks, though, so expect them to find themselves in the middle of a new adventure with a villain unlike any they have faced so far.  Come back to the blog later this week to read the first chapter excerpt, and check out the excerpts already posted from any of the other books in the series you may have missed.

Happy New Year!

Happy holidays to everyone! The weather is getting cold here in this part of the world, but I'm planning to heat up the blog here in 2017. Look for an excerpt in the next week or so from the fourth Red Cloak Island book, tentatively titled Little Miss Thunderhead. A book cover reveal will follow, and the book itself will be out within the next couple of months. Meanwhile, I have a number of thoughts to share in upcoming posts, and even more books to write.

Got an Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Google Play gift card this holiday? Not sure what to use it for? Use the links on the Books page to pick up any of the Red Cloak Island e-books you might have missed. They're great fun, and if you have them all then there are tons of other great books. If you'll spend the next 2 months snowed in, like me, books are an excellent way to pass the time and fight the winter blahs. And if the weather is warm where you are (lucky you!) then get outside, enjoy the sunshine, and don't forget to bring a book with you.

Whatever 2016 was for you, I hope 2017 is ten times better for us all.

Story Building Part Three - Endings

You could say that writing a book is like running a marathon, because you have to take that first step, then keep taking step after step, and eventually you get through it even though it is a long and sometimes exhausting process. In previous posts I described getting started, and said that you can never, ever get finished if you keep putting off getting started. That's the truth. I believe that. In another post I said that you need to keep at it, keep writing every day -- or at least as often as possible -- to keep the momentum going and work your way through that long, long middle part between the very beginning and the very end. Also true, I believe.

But writing is unlike running a marathon, because the course is not laid out for you. As a writer, you need to figure it out as you go. Each sentence leads to the next to form a paragraph, each paragraph leads to the next to form a scene, scenes build into chapters and chapters into books. But nobody can tell you which way you should go. You have to make your own choices along the way, and to tell a good story you often have to choose the least predictable options to keep readers intrigued. If marathons were like that, you could run a full 26 miles but instead of crossing the finish line in front of cheering crowds you could end up lost, confused, and unsure how to get home.

Writing a good ending depends on having written a good opening and a strong middle. At the start, you need to get your readers hooked by raising questions. Paint a picture of an amusing hero, but suggest he has a secret. Introduce an ordinary young lady, but mention that she has an important destiny to fulfill. As the story unfolds, answer some questions to reward the reader for following along, but raise new questions as well. Keep those questions in mind while writing the book. Jot them down in a separate notebook or computer file, if necessary, because the job of your ending will be to answer those questions. Was the villain's evil plan thwarted? Did the star-crossed couple find true love? Did the main characters find that magical thing they were after, and was it worth the price they had to pay to obtain it?

Speaking for myself (and being well aware that others have different opinions and that there is no one-size-fits-all right way to do things) I like when the ending calls back to the beginning of the book. If the story opens with the hero leaving home, it can be very satisfying to have it end with him or her coming home again, or finding a new home. Taking into account all that has happened throughout the book, the author has an opportunity to paint a similar picture with a different brush, and the contrast will be what sticks in the reader's mind. For example, think about The Hobbit (the book more than the series of movies) which is literally subtitled There and Back Again. Bilbo wants nothing more than to remain safe in his quiet Shire at the start, only to find later that such quiet safety can be boring for someone who has discovered a yen for adventure. A more recent example is the difference between how Harry Potter views his life with the Dursleys between the start of Sorcerer's Stone and the end of it (and in some of the subsequent books as well.)

I grew up in a smallish city that felt pretty large to me at the time. Then I moved to Atlanta, spent time in San Francisco, and visited Philadelphia and New York City. I've been back to the place where I grew up since, and it looks different to me now. Smaller. Quieter. I don't miss it the way I thought I would.

That isn't to say that all stories should be about leaving on an adventure and coming home again afterward. But something in the end ought to call back to the beginning, to give the story the feeling that it ended where it should because it started where it should. It could be a relationship or friendship torn apart that comes back together in the end, or an object lost that eventually is found.

For me, the end isn't just a place where I stop typing, it's where the questions of the story are answered and the mystery is resolved. The path of the story isn't so much a line from beginning to middle to end, but a circle, a loop made by events set in motion that swing around until they come once again to rest. When that's done, the glass starts to cloud over again and the world I've created lives its own life while I look around and find that I am back in mine, right where I left it.

Story Building Part Two - Middles

The saying goes that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." The lesson (I think) is that no matter how big of a job is front of you, you need to get it started if it's ever going to get done. I agree with that.  In my previous post, I said the most important thing about starting a book (or chapter, or page) is to get started right away.

The less obvious lesson is this: a thousand miles is a very, very long journey.  It can be exhausting.  Once the beginning is written, there can be a whole lot of middle before getting to the end.  Looked at one way, the largest part of the work is all middle.  But there are other ways to look at it.  Here I like to draw on my programming background.  What I learned over 20+ years in the software industry is that creating a large and complex application can be a lot easier if you approach it as if it were a group of smaller and simpler apps working together.  I can create a program that does nothing else except open a connection to a database, and then close it again.  I can create another program that reads a list of names and addresses from a database table.  I can create a program that adds a new record to the database, and I can create one that sorts a list of names, and one that can print a list from the screen onto paper.  Put those all together and I've got an address book application that allows me to open a database, retrieve my list of contacts, update it and print it out.

The same can be applied to writing a novel.  Writing hundreds of pages is a lot of work.  Just thinking about it is a lot of work.  So I concentrate on smaller chunks.  I write a chapter, or a scene, or a paragraph.  Maybe just a sentence.  Instead of a huge unwritten middle standing between your beginning and some faraway ending, instead there are a lot of smaller chunks.  Don't worry about how many, just concentrate on one of them.  It doesn't even have to be the one that comes next in the story.  Let's say you have written an opening about a young man named Norton, who finds himself having to spend the summer with his grandparents on a farm instead of at camp with his friends.  In the back of your mind, you have this image of Norton running through the woods, being chased by a bear.  You have no idea how far into the story this will happen, or what events transpire to get Norton from his arrival at the farm to the big chase scene.  You sit for an hour, unsure what to write, how to bridge the gap.  My advice?  If it were me, I would just go ahead and write the chase scene.  I say this for many reasons.  One, you will have written something, and I always feel better after a session where I get some words on paper than a session where I just spend the time thinking things over (although I also believe that thinking through the story, especially in the editing phase, can be every bit as productive as writing.)  Two, you will discover things about your character and story that can help fill in the gaps later on.  Maybe Norton escapes the bear by climbing up into a tree house and pulling the ladder up behind him.  Now you can go back to that first day at the farm, where Norton is bored and unhappy, an have his grandfather try to cheer him up by telling him about this great treehouse out in the woods nearby.  The order in which you put the pieces together does not detract from the beauty of the finished puzzle.  And three, never forget one of your goals (and mine) should be to continue to improve as a writer: clichéd or not, practice makes perfect.  If you can't think of a scene to write, then write a scene you are thinking of, and even if you end up cutting it later you've gained some experience from it.

There are other methods to keep things on track while working through the middle.  Some writers create an outline first, so they know what to work on next because the outline tells them.  Outlines don't work well for me, and in any event I find myself with the same issues writing an outline as I do writing a novel.  I'm not sure what comes next, but I think I know what will come some further point down the road.  So if I'm putting together an outline I'm writing a brief description of the scenes I can think of, then trying to think of more scenes to fill the gap so I can plug the holes in the outline.  So it's the same process but on a smaller scale.  So if my advice for beginnings is just to get started already, my advice on middles is to keep going.  Concentrate on small pieces and knock those out, and let the momentum build until there are enough pieces to connect together and form the bridge between Once upon a time and they all lived happily ever after.  Or between It was a dark and stormy night and everyone dies.  Every story is different; start now and write yours.  And post a comment here every once in a while to me know how it's going.

Story Building Part One - Beginnings

If you've ever lived anywhere that freezes over, like New England or Minnesota or Siberia, you've probably had this experience (and if you've only ever been in warm places, lucky you.) Sitting behind the wheel, needing to get somewhere, but the windows are iced over. The heater is on full blast, the dashboard light shows the rear defroster is active, but for the moment you're going nowhere. You're keenly aware of the slowly warming rush of air from the vents, the cold seat on which you sit wrapped in layers, and you really start to notice how much the car needs a good cleaning. There's a gum wrapper on the floor, an empty plastic bottle in a cup holder, and a bit of dust gathering in every nook and cranny of the dashboard. But before long, a small piece of the windshield becomes translucent and you start to see the outside world. You notice the garage door first, not too exciting except that the fact you can see it means you're almost ready to hit the road; things are about to start happening. The clear spot widens and you can see more of your house. The dog is watching you from the front window, no doubt wishing he could come along for the ride even as you wish you could go back inside with him where it's warm. A single bird flies by, and you wonder how long it will be until spring fills the air with them. Neighbors emerge from their houses to get their mail or newspaper or start defrosting their own vehicles. Little by little, you can see more of the world around you, and as that happens you pay less and less attention to the gum wrapper and the plastic bottle and the dust. When enough of the windows are clear, you drop the car into gear and you're off on the day's adventure, your mind on the road and the traffic, all thoughts of cleaning forgotten.

Beginning to write is like that. Not just the start of a new project, but the start of each new session. I often write at night, after the rest of the house is asleep. The dog, laid out on the floor near my wife's side of the bed, snores and occasionally taps the footboard with his restless legs as he chases something in his dreams. The furnace or the air conditioner (depending on the season) kicks on and blows for a bit and shuts off. Somewhere in the distance a truck passes or a siren wails, and in front of me is a blank white screen, the digital equivalent of an empty page, featureless as a frozen windshield. But then a window slowly starts to open and in my mind I can see and hear and smell ... someplace else. If I'm patient, the window widens and bit by bit I can see a story unfold, and when I do, I write it down. I can still look around and see the room I'm writing in, of course, just as I can look around the inside of the car while I'm driving, but most of my attention is on the other side of the window, until it fogs over again and I'm done for the day.

I don't start with an outline. Over the years I've read a lot of articles about the process of writing, and I've paid a lot of attention to how other writers (especially the successful ones) go about it. I'm always curious about how they decorate their writing space, what music they listen to, whether they prefer pen and paper to computers, whether they research first or just wing it. What I've learned is that their processes are theirs. There is no right way, and the only wrong way to be a writer is to not write anything. Long story short, if anyone wants my advice about beginnings, it is simply this: begin today. If you want to be a writer, write something. If you're the kind of writer who needs an outline, start with that. If you're the kind who starts with the ending and works backward, then do that. If you don't know what kind you are yet, try ... everything. Trust that you will figure out what works for you, and what doesn't, along the way. But get started, because you can't know until you try.

I prefer a quiet setting. When I listen to music, it's usually instrumental only, at a fairly low volume. Lyrics get in the way; it can be hard to find the words to describe what I'm seeing through that window to another world when someone else's words are flowing into my ears. Sometimes I'll write longhand but mostly I prefer the laptop because I can type faster than I can write, and I can (and occasionally will) type with my eyes closed. But the rules aren't hard and fast. Sometimes I'll write during the day, and other nights I'll put on my headphones and crank up the tunes while banging out a page or two. Even for this one writer, there's not one right way.

So what do I start with? Whatever comes first. If the fog clears and the action has already started, I try to follow along. If not then I'll concentrate on the characters (who's here? why? what are they waiting for?) or the setting (where are we? what's the weather like? how do I feel about being in this particular place at this particular time?) I go into it knowing -- and more importantly, not caring -- that some of the words I put down at the very start are going to be thrown away later, replaced by something better. I get started with whatever I see first, but that isn't always the best starting point, if that makes sense. Like I said, my advice on beginnings is to just begin. See where it goes, and fix it later. Let the window clear a bit, watch what unfolds on the other side, write it down. That's what works for me. Use the comments below to let me know what works for you. As I said, I'm always curious.

Excerpt from McStretchy Posted

The next book in the Red Cloak Island series is titled McStretchy, and it should be available for purchase in the next few weeks, once the cover art is finished. Click on the Books link above for a synopsis and a link to read the first chapter here for free.  The Books page also contains synopses and excerpt links for the other great Red Cloak Island titles, Captain Kissy-Face and Invisible Max. Check them out, and stay tuned for the announcement when McStretchy becomes available for purchase.

What Just Happened? Also, What's Next?

My last post here was pre-NaNoWriMo. Today is January 18th. That's a long, quiet stretch. Too quiet, for a blog. So this post will be a quick recap of the last couple of months, and a peek ahead at what I think is going to be a pretty exciting year.

To start with, no I didn't hit my NaNoWriMo goal. Congrats to everyone out there who did, and I'll give it another go when November rolls around again. I did get a lot of writing done, however, and this week I will be posting the first-chapter excerpt of McStretchy, which is the title of the next Red Cloak Island book. The book itself is complete, just waiting for cover art, and will be available in the next couple of weeks.

I write slowly, which is part of the reason I didn't hit the 50K mark for NaNoWriMo. But there's a method to the snail-paced madness, and I've decided to dedicate the next few blog posts to my process for storytelling. Call them New Year's resolutions or writing goals or just good intentions, but I plan to try and stick to a more regular posting schedule here.  And I'm already at work on the fourth Red Cloak book, tentatively titled Little Miss Thunderhead.

Apart from the writing, I've also been doing quite a bit of reading. Throughout the year, I'll also be posting more reviews here, as well as those I post on GoodReads and Amazon and other places online.  Reviews (especially good reviews) are an author's best friend.  Hint, hint.

So ... writing, reading, the holidays, work, family, volunteering (PAWS for my wife and daughters, Toys for Tots for my son and I) and not blogging. I think that covers November and December.  Goodbye, 2015, hello 2016, and here's to a new year. Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned -- there's so much more to come, I promise.

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.