Release Day: NEIL FLAMBE AND THE DUEL IN THE DESERT by Kevin Sylvester

Neil, “the flamboyant, irrepressible chef” (Kirkus Reviews), hits the road in his food truck and drives right into a new case in the sixth book in The Neil Flambé Capers, the culinary mystery series celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey calls “good fun.”

Hardcover, 304 pages

Expected publication: February 23rd 2016 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Neil has lost his beloved restaurant. Though he misses it dearly, he and his friend Larry are headed on a new adventure. They are travelling to the Salsa Verde ranch in Arizona with their new food truck to participate in the legendary food truck gathering, the Broiling Man Festival. Once he arrives, Neil discovers that the Verde ranch is in danger of foreclosure, at the mercy of a developer who wants to turn it into housing and a factory farm. The only hope for the ranch is a treasure map left behind by the very first Verde, a chef who discovered a mine while escaping from a murderous army colonel. Neil and Larry are on a quest to find the treasure, but each time they think they’re close to finding something, they come up with nothing. Will the boys find the mine—and the treasure—in time to save Salsa Verde ranch?

Check out Neil's very own website here!

My 6th Neil Flambé book is now out, and it's a miracle (for me) that this ever happened. Like all true miracles, it happened because of other people. 

The idea for the series began as a kind of joke, or (more accurately) a dare among my friends at the CBC Radio show, Sounds Like Canada.

It was 2007 and the final Harry Potter was coming out. Who would take Harry's place in the hearts of children all over the world? They dared me to come up with "the next big thing."

Enter the ginger, obnoxious but incredibly talented Neil. I love Neil. He grew out of my own interest in food, travel and mystery. (I sometimes joke that I threw Julia Child, James Bond and Miss Marple in a blender and got Neil.)

I wish I could cook like he does. I wish he would be nicer to people.

What was amazing was how easily the original story flowed from my brain. We aired a ten-part mini-series in the summer of 2007, and I was sure it would be a great, real, book. 

But what was equally amazing was that I had a long way to go to actually write a good book. The radio plays were fun, but nor for kids. They were too foodie, too precious, too violent... and not funny enough.

So this is where the "larger message" of my little essay comes in. To be a writer I found that the idea was'nt enough. You have to (a) finish the book. But you also have to (b) realize that the first draft (or 27 drafts) will suck. So then you (c) seek help.

My friend and editor Charis stepped in, and offered to read my first feeble attempts. She ripped into me good.

Oh yeah.... (d) don't take criticism personally. Listen to what the person is saying. What she was saying to me was that I needed to actually think of who I was writing for. I had written a book about a kid for an audience of adults like me. "Make it fun,." she ordered.

Thanks goodness I listened (after a few moping days of self-pity).

Enter Larry, Neil's goofy, non-foodie cousin. He's the kid readers' entree into the world of high cuisine and amazing food. And he also gave the series the humorous interplay that it was lacking with just Neil moping around.

He helped flesh out the fully human world that NF now lives in. It's been a world that has seen them under attack, framed for murder, apparently killed, and losing everything that held dear.

But they have always, and still, have each other.

So, this might be the last book in the series. That's actually not my decision. If enough people buy the book, it won't be. 

If it is, man have I had a good ride. And I owe it all to my friends.

KEVIN SYLVESTER is an award winning illustrator, writer and broadcaster.  His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011! There are 5 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet is the latest, and the 6th book is due in Spring 2016.

Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.

He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio.

Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter 

And the greatkidsreadspodcast at greatkidsreads.com

Book Spotlight: NEIL FLAMBE AND THE DUEL IN THE DESERT by Kevin Sylvester

Today we're spotlighting Kevin Sylvester and his Neil Flambe, middle grade series. 

Neil, “the flamboyant, irrepressible chef” (Kirkus Reviews), hits the road in his food truck and drives right into a new case in the sixth book in The Neil Flambé Capers, the culinary mystery series celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey calls “good fun.”

Hardcover, 304 pages

Expected publication: February 23rd 2016 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Neil has lost his beloved restaurant. Though he misses it dearly, he and his friend Larry are headed on a new adventure. They are travelling to the Salsa Verde ranch in Arizona with their new food truck to participate in the legendary food truck gathering, the Broiling Man Festival. Once he arrives, Neil discovers that the Verde ranch is in danger of foreclosure, at the mercy of a developer who wants to turn it into housing and a factory farm. The only hope for the ranch is a treasure map left behind by the very first Verde, a chef who discovered a mine while escaping from a murderous army colonel. Neil and Larry are on a quest to find the treasure, but each time they think they’re close to finding something, they come up with nothing. Will the boys find the mine—and the treasure—in time to save Salsa Verde ranch?

Check out Neil's very own website here!

KEVIN SYLVESTER is an award winning illustrator, writer and broadcaster.  His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011! There are 5 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet is the latest, and the 6th book is due in Spring 2016.

Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.

He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio.

Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter 

And the greatkidsreadspodcast at greatkidsreads.com

Happy Release Day! Parched, by Melanie Crowder

Happy Release Day to Melanie Crowder, author of Middle Grade novel, Parched!

A mesmerizing debut about a girl, a boy, and a dog struggling to survive in a parched and barren land.

Sarel is a girl with secrets. She knows which tree roots reach down deep to pools of precious water. But now she must learn how to keep herself and her dogs alive. Nandi is the leader of those dogs. She knows they can’t last long without water—and she knows, too, that a boy is coming; a boy with the water song inside him.

Musa is that boy. His talent for finding water got him kidnapped by brutal men, yet he's escaped, running away across the thirsty land that nearly claims his life. And so Sarel, Musa, and the dogs come together in what might be their last hope of survival.

Sounds fantastic! I've added it to my TBR pile! Congratulations, Melanie!

Writing Suspenseful Middle Grade

Today, Kai Strand has kindly agreed to give us a little insight into writing suspense for the Middle Grade audience. Thanks so much for joining us, Kai!

Hi, my name is Kai Strand and I’m the author of the newly released middle grade fantasy, Beware of the White. Dorothy was gracious enough to ask me to talk to you today about writing suspenseful middle grade.

I believe there are two key elements needed when writing suspenseful middle grade. First you have to find what matters most to your target audience. And then take it away from the main character. It can be everyday things, such as Xbox, computer time or phone privileges. Or you can concentrate on bigger things like freedom to visit their friends, their allowance or their life.

Yes, I just said take their life away from them – or threaten to. Which brings me to my second key element. Drama. If you want your middle grade audience absorbed in your story, you have to exaggerate the heck out of everything. To them it isn’t an exaggeration. If having a phone to text on 24/7 is important, then taking it away from a main character by having an alligator snap it out of her hand and swallow it – leaving the m.c. with no means of telling her bestie that an alligator just ate her phone…well, that is huge in their world. Plus you used your two elements, taking away something important and doing it in a spectacular fashion.

Speaking of fashion, here is another example. Let’s say your m.c. is a fashionista, at the movie theater with her girlfriends. What would happen if the worker accidentally spilled a large soda down the front of your fashionista’s pale yellow shirt and snow-white shorts? To us adults it would be an inconvenience. We’d be sticky and wet. The stain may not come out. The clothes may need to be replaced. But for your main character (and your middle grade reader who fancies themselves a fashionista too) standing in a stained and dripping frock in the middle of a busy movie theater it is devastating to their carefully crafted reputation.

As adults, we tend to forget that kids don’t come with a fully developed set of life experiences to draw on. They don’t know that what they find horrifying today will simple be a funny memory in the future. The first time they live it – it is HUGE! As a writer, you should play on that. Take away what matters most and do it in a spectacular fashion, your middle grade readers will eat it up and clamor for more.

Oh and speaking of threatening your main character’s life:

About Beware of the White:

As is tradition, Terra learns on the Saturday past her twelfth birthday that she is a Natures Spirit. It is her legacy to serve in the peaceful underground city of Concord. Learning she is named in a prophecy and being threatened by the leader of the death tribe…that part breaks tradition.

The Trepidus are the death janitors of the Underworld, responsible for delivering fatalities with a smile and cleaning up after themselves until Blanco, recent leader of the Trepidus, decides the day of reckoning for his species is coming. He begins organizing the creatures and leads them toward an uprising. The prophecy says there is one person who can stop him. Terra.

With Spirit of Security, Frank, protecting her, Terra attempts to complete her training and discover her Spirit talents. Together, they go on a rogue investigation to learn how to defeat Blanco. In the end, it comes down to a battle of the minds. The future of Concord is at stake. Will Blanco, the older, more experienced being win? Or will Terra, the young, new Spirit earn back the peace of the city?

Buy It:

MuseItUp

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Or look for it on iTunes

  

About the author

Kai Strand writes fiction for kids and teens. Her debut novel, The Weaver, was a finalist in the 2012 EPIC eBook Awards. She is a (very lucky) wife and the mother of four amazing kids. The most common sound in her household is laughter. The second most common is, "Do your dishes!" She and her family hike, geocache, and canoe in beautiful Central Oregon, where they call home.

To find out more about Kai’s books, download companion documents, find links to her published short stories and discover all the places to find Kai both virtually and in person, visit her website: www.kaistrand.com. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to send her an email or visit her facebook page, Kai Strand, Author. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Genie Wishes by Elisabeth Dahl

Today I am pleased to introduce Genie Wishes, a middle grade novel by Elisabeth Dahl, which releases today!

This sweet, funny novel follows fifth-grader Genie Kunkle through a tumultuous year. From the first day of school, Genie knows there will be good, bad, and in-between. The good? She’s in homeroom with her best friend, Sarah. The bad? Sarah’s friend from camp, Blair, is a new student at their school, and is itching to take Genie’s place as Sarah’s BFF. The in-between? Genie is excited to be elected to write her class’s blog, where she’s tasked with tracking the wishes and dreams of her class. But expressing her opinion in public can be scary—especially when her opinion might make the rest of her class upset.

Elisabeth Dahl authentically captures the ups and downs of a tween girl’s life, and the dramas—both little and big—that fill the scary transition between childhood and adolescence.

About the Author

Elisabeth Dahl grew up in Baltimore, Maryland; studied literature and writing at Johns Hopkins (B.A.) and Georgetown (M.A.); and worked in publishing in Washington, DC, and the San Francisco Bay Area. She now lives back in Baltimore, where she writes for children and adults. GENIE WISHES is her first book. Her Web site is elisabethdahl.com, and on Twitter she's @ElisabethDahl.

Genie Wishes can be found:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble