Tag Archives: middle grade novel series

Mar22

Interview with Ron Crouch

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Tiffany Turner

Ron Crouch is the author of the Beyond Belief series. The second book in the series, “Beyond Belief: The Adventure of Zombie Island” will release on March 31, 2021. Pre-orders available now.

I am a sucker for a good zombie book. I also remember teaching all the different genres when I was a teacher. October was the “Spooky” genre month, but I found many students reading them all year long. If you have a child that enjoys the “Spooky” or horror fiction genre, I think I’ve found the right author for you.

Ron Crouch is a child psychologist that loves to write and help kids critically think. He is writing a series of middle grade novels and the second will be released on March 31. With a love of fantasy as a kid, he brings alive a gripping and humorous world kids can get lost in. I had the chance to talk to Ron Crouch about his childhood reading memories, favorite author, writing routines and what projects he has planned in the future.

What is your favorite memory from reading as a child?

Ron Crouch: My favorite memory from reading as a child was the joy of stumbling onto a really good series and realizing that there were many more books to read.

Who was your favorite author and how did they influence you?

Ron Crouch: I loved Lloyd Alexander and I read every book he published. I finished them sometime between the ages of eight and fourteen. When I took up writing myself, I found that although my settings and characters are very different, and my use of language in much more modern, I still had the same love for quests, adventures, and tall tales.

Do you have a writing routine? Share what works for you.

Ron Crouch: I work as a child psychologist during the day, so my writing routine starts early, usually before 5AM. I try to fit in all my writing before I leave for work at the hospital each day. Luckily, I’m an early bird by nature and find that I am most creative in the hours before the sun rises.

What subjects would you like to write about in future projects?

Ron Crouch: The Beyond Belief book series is for middle grade readers, and I would like to finish the series with five books. But beyond that I would like to write nonfiction for parents. In particular I would like to help parents in their efforts to teach their children how to think critically in our current misinformation age.

What is writing to you in one sentence?

Ron Crouch: For me, writing is a way of contacting like-minded people and offering them a sense of belonging in a world that might not value them and support them.

“Beyond Belief: The Adventure of Zombie Island” is Ghost Adventures meets the Goonies. Kenai is an ordinary kid that just happens to be a paranormal investigator. With his sidekick Tinkerbell, an AI drone, he has gone after ghosts in a haunted theater, run from herds of jackalopes, and gotten lost in underground bunkers. But in this book two of the series, he finds himself somewhere he’d never imagine: stuck selling door-to-door products for the Happy Day pyramid scheme. But there seems to be something wrong with the company. Can he find out what is behind the sinister business before the zombie thugs find him?

“Beyond Belief: The Adventure of Zombie Island” is the second book in the Beyond Belief series. It is available starting on March 31, 2021 and is currently on pre-order at Amazon.com.

If you’d like to start the Beyond Belief series with book one in preparation for the release of book two, here is the link to it. Start with “Beyond Belief: The Adventure Begins” HERE.

Both titles are in the Kindle Unlimited program.

For more information on Ron Crouch and his other projects, please visit his website at:

https://raisingaskepticalkid.com/.

Feb26

Middle Grade Book Review: The Supernatural Pet Sitter (The Rescue)

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Tiffany Turner

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Middle grade novels are my forte. So you can take my word when I find a new one that is awesome. The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Rescue by Diane Moat is a fun take on a world with gnomes, elves and witches all living together with humans. It’s like the world evolved differently than our own world. I loved it!

Pepper is a gnome that has already had some amazing adventures. In previous books, she has already been helping her world with her best witch friend, Luna. But now, some high school students have gotten trapped in a cave-in. Her whole family and neighbors are activated, as the whole community of elves, gnomes and witches work with the humans to free them. Then, the secret of who is behind all the attacks underground is revealed. TROLLS! Can Pepper work with her friends to defend her family and neighborhood against these ancient foe?

I really like this series. It is filled with characters I would enjoy as a kid: gnomes, witches, and elves. Relating with a gnome as the main character, it’s like playing a mini-Dungeon and Dragons game with Diane Moat as the DM. Add the fact that they are part of a community and trying to help humans and the greater good, I’d recommend this for kids that love fantasy. This book is number three in the series.

***The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Rescue is available at Amazon.com and is a Kindle Unlimited title.

Sep4

Back To School Blog Tour 2014: Featured Author D.R. Martin

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Tiffany Turner

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Welcome to Day 4 of the Back to School Blog Tour 2014! If you haven’t signed up for the Book Bundle Giveaway, there are still several days left. Entering is easy. From liking authors on Facebook to commenting on their blog, you can enter to win the fabulous book bundle of children’s book each day. So, keep coming back each day and enter.

ENTER HERE TO WIN THE BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY! Open until Sept. 8!

Today’s featured author is D.R. Martin. He began his writing career as an arts journalist before moving on to marketing communications work. He has covered topics ranging from consumer electronics and medical technology to travel and classical music. For many years, he reviewed science fiction and fantasy books for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

D.R. Martin is the author of the Johnny Graphic Adventures series.

D. R. is the author of the Johnny Graphic children’s ghost adventure series and the Marta Hjelm hard-boiled PI mystery Smoking Ruin. Under the pen name Richard Audry he has published the Mary MacDougall historical mystery novella A Pretty Little Plot and the canine cozy mystery The Karma of King Harald. The second Mary MacDougall novella, The Stolen Star, was issued this past summer. A Mary MacDougall Mystery Duet is the paperback edition of the two Mary MacDougall novellas. In addition, D. R. is the author of Four Science Fiction Masters: Lost Interviews with Herbert, Pohl, Simak & Dickson; and Travis McGee & Me: Reflections on the Man from Slip F-18.

Below is the exclusive interview with D.R. Martin:

1) What is your favorite memory from the beginning of a school year?

Trying out for plays. We had a great theater program and I was fortunate to get parts in shows every autumn. I always had some stage fright before performances, but a great sense of accomplishment afterwards.

2) Who was your most inspiring teacher? Why?

His name was Robert Burrows. And his demanding high school history and English courses scared away most of the students in my school. But those of us who took on the challenge of his classes felt we learned ten times more than we would have otherwise. In addition to the subject matter, we learned discipline…how to research…how to give and take criticism…how to frame arguments…how to study and write long and hard. For junior year English we each had to create our own American literature textbooks. I still have mine, almost three inches thick—self-illustrated in pen and ink. I think I began my journey as a real writer in Mr. Burrows’ classes.

3) What is the advice you would give children’s authors to get started?

There are various genres of children’s books and you should choose the one you feel the most passion for. For me, it was middle grade fantasy adventure. Make up a list of story ideas, filling in as much of the plots as you can. Then choose the best one and write the book. Get as much feedback as you can. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t have immediate success. You may need to write several books before you learn how to do it well. You must be willing to keep writing, even without much encouragement in the form of income and recognition. In a nutshell, the trick is to keep writing. Never, never, never quit.

4) Who is your favorite character from a children’s book?

As a boy, I loved to read science fiction and fantasy stories, and action-adventures. It was that sort of thing that inspired me to tackle the Johnny Graphic Trilogy. I simply wanted to create a ripping ghost-adventure yarn that both young readers and adults could enjoy. But having said all that, my favorite character in a children’s book is something quite different. It’s Ratty, from The Wind in the Willows. (Which is my all-time favorite novel.) He is the center of gravity in that peerless story of three fast animal friends. While the Mole is shy and timorous, and the Toad grandiose and lunatic, the Water Rat is the solid one who keeps it all together. We should all be as decent and steadfast as Ratty.

5) How could you sum up what writing means to you?

I’ve been fortunate to make my living as a journalist and marketing-communications writer. But even when no one is paying me, I have to keep writing. Though my novels and blogs don’t make much money, I have to write them. Writing is simply too much fun to ever quit putting words on the page. To me, it is as essential as breathing.

6) What are your current writing projects?

In the year since I finished the second Johnny Graphic book, Johnny Graphic and the Attack of the Zombies, I’ve concentrated on two adult mystery series, written under my pen name, Richard Audry. The Karma of King Harald is the first book in a canine cozy series starring a rescue dog who sniffs out crime. I’m working on the second book, King Harald’s Haul, right now. I’ve also written two historical mystery novellas, A Pretty Little Plot and The Stolen Star, which feature 18-year-old sleuth Mary MacDougall. And I’m plotting out the third and final Johnny Graphic adventure. I’ve grown very fond of Johnny and his friends, and I want to make sure they end up safe and sound after all the turmoil I’ve put them through.

His websites include: D. R. Martin Books; The Johnny Graphic Adventures; and Travis McGee & Me.

A free reader’s guide for Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb is available at the Johnny Graphic Adventures website.