Summer is here! School is out, and it won’t be long before the kids are complaining that they’re bored. Books geared to an individual child’s taste can help keep the summer break fun and exciting. I’m happy to share that my book, Elephants Never Forgotten, is listed along with other great summer reads here:
https://authorstsanchez.blogspot.com/2018/06/13-exciting-july-middle-grade-summer.html
GRAB ONE OF THESE GREAT MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS!
Image by Chronamut
One of the things I’d really like to do in 2018 is to reach out and partner with other authors who are writing books for kids similar to my own. In general, I’m looking for writers who are creating in the newly emerging genre called visionary fiction.
Does your book involve any of these?
* spiritual/esoteric wisdom relevant to life today
* evolved consciousness
* ghost stories, NDEs, dreams/visions, psychic abilities, healing, etc (all pointing to a
bigger understanding of our reality)
* reincarnation
* spiritual evolution, the rise of Kundalini
If so, I’d be interested in hearing about you and your book(s), and to perhaps do an interview on this blog. Please send me an email at: himalayaspencerellis AT yahoo.com and tell me about your work.
9/9/2016: I’m awarding books to Laura Beth, maryy-st, and Of Glass and Books. I’ll be notifying you all shortly and sending the files. Thanks to everyone who entered.
It’s contest time! Leave a comment below and be entered to win a copy of the electronic version of Elephants Never Forgotten. Contest closes at noon (EST) on Friday (Sept. 9th). I’ll do a random drawing and award two books. To enter, post a comment below on what you most like(d) about school. What was/is your favorite class? Who was/is your best friend? Who was/is your favorite teacher (or who do you despise)? Spill! Don’t forget to leave me a way to contact you. Add your email or website where I can find you. If your icon doesn’t lead anywhere, I can’t find you!
JURASSIC PARK meets MICRO in this exciting MG adventure!
ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGOTTEN
A hundred years from now, twelve-year-old Nigella receives a shipment from her deceased grandfather. Her inheritance is a herd of micro-elephants. While a lot of her friends have micro-pets, Nigella is at a loss on how to care for hers. Why are her micros so different from everyone else’s? What was her grandfather up to? In her struggle to understand them, she learns that there might be a group of wild elephants left in a remote part of Africa. With the help of her best friend, Kepler, the girls set off on an adventure to discover the truth.
What readers are saying:
“Ellis Nelson’s superb writing made this book a joy to read. I felt like I was right there experiencing the journey, the concerns, the total adventure. Lessons about friendship and family, ecology abound.”
“Ellis Nelson has a way with tweens.”
“…buy it for the tweens in your life and let it instigate a discussion on animal conservation.”
“An intriguing, positive read for tweens.”
BUY FROM AMAZON
BUY FROM MUSEITUP
by Susin Nielsen
What happens when two very different teenagers are forced to live under one roof because their parents decide to live together? This is the story of a blended family in modern times facing the age old dilemma: how to get along and make the best of a challenging situation. Stewart is 13, socially challenged, just lost his mother. He’s as brilliant as he is awkward. Ashley is 14, not good at school, and very concerned with her social standing and appearance. She is coping (just barely) with her parent’s divorce and her father announcing he’s gay. The story is told in alternating chapters revealing how each of them is adjusting to the changes. Stewart is a very likable character, but Ashley comes off like a spoiled brat. Their interaction shows Ashley’s ability to be cruel. I suppose, that’s why this book rings so true. The author’s use of humor certainly softens the tension and we do see Ashley begin to change over time. Issues of bullying and intolerance are core themes here. It’s an easy, entertaining read. RECOMMENDED!
June 9, 2016 CONTEST CLOSED:
The winners are TA Sullivan and wildteadrinker. I’ve sent messages to you both. Congratulations!!
It’s contest time! Leave a comment below and be entered to win a copy of the electronic version of Elephants Never Forgotten. Contest closes at noon (EST) on Tuesday (June 7th). Two books will be awarded on Thursday, June 9th. As a theme, name a sci-fi book (or author) you like.
I was the kind of kid who read stories about kids doing things. Going places, discovering things, solving mysteries. Of course, there had to be obstacles. Maybe a bad guy, difficult situations to overcome, parents to get rid of (not in the kill’em off sense) but more in the way of finding freedom and doing what you want. In some ways, it was a huge fantasy! I grew up with four brothers and two sisters and doing anything without someone knowing was close to impossible. BUT, some of them could be bought off. Silly fantasy, really. I was the biggest tattle tale there was! Always being “on the straight and narrow” prevented lots of escapes and adventures except for in books and in my mind.
photo: Laslovarga, 2013
A headline from this week’s news (try finding one that’s not about the insane election, right about now), has challenged my sense of adventure. What if a 15 year old boy discovers a lost Mayan city no one else knew was there? He’s a smart kid, maybe even gifted, and he gets this ludicrous idea that by studying star maps he can decode the placement of an entire civilization? He sets out to prove this, but silly adult organizations like NASA and the Canadian Space Agency won’t loan him their satellite photos. Said kid takes to the road, abandoning his sane life, and becoming a young version of Indiana Jones- except his temples turn out to be real. Anyway, once the book’s out, Steven Spielberg will be making it into a movie.
For more about the real kid, named William Gadoury, click the link. The space agencies did support him and it looks like he’s made quite a find!
Here’s a first look at the cover for my new middle grade novel.
Here’s the back cover blurb:
A hundred years from now, twelve-year-old Nigella receives a shipment from her deceased grandfather. Her inheritance is a herd of micro-elephants. While a lot of her friends have micro-pets, Nigella is at a loss on how to care for hers. Why are her micros so different from everyone else’s? What was her grandfather up to? In her struggle to understand them, she learns that there might be a group of wild elephants left in a remote part of Africa. With the help of her best friend, Kepler, the girls set off on an adventure to discover the truth.
PRE-ORDER LINK: (at MuseItUp)
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/elephants-never-forgotten-detail
Photo: ProjectManhattan
Hot off the presses from School Library Journal comes a list of great beach reads. Check them out!
http://www.slj.com/2015/07/collection-development/hot-ya-titles-for-beach-reading/#_
Abigail Borders is a fellow children’s writer. She has a brand new fantasy available from MuseItUp. Abigail grew up in Asia and is fluent in three languages. There’s no doubt her experiences abroad fuel her writing from her home in Southern California. She has one son she refers to as “El Kiddo”. I’m excited to host her here to talk about her new book entitled, Cyrion.
The blurb: Jon and Saul come home to find their village torched, and everyone they know kidnapped by evil goblin troopers. Armed with little more than rotten eggs and help from their new friend Anya, they take the goblins on and rescue their parents. Only, they somehow end up trying to save one race from slavery, and another from complete annihilation.
Welcome Abigail.
Thank you, Ellis. I am honored to be here.
What was your inspiration for Cyrion and can you tell us a little about it?
I started writing Cyrion roundabout July of 2012. El Kiddo was bored out of his skull and driving me up the wall. I needed to come up with something fun to do with him (like write a story) or lose what few marbles I had left.
I hope “desperation” counts as “inspiration”?
As for the rest, well, I suppose I’m a bit of a magpie. I drew inspiration from my life experiences, people I’ve been lucky enough to befriend and/or am related to, and conversations with my Kiddo.
As a teen, were you the cheerleader, nerd, geek, or something else?
Honestly, I’m unsure how “geek” differs from “nerd”, but I was definitely not a cheerleader. I did my own thing in school, and I performed well enough academically to encourage my grumps (grown-ups) to continue letting me do my own thing.
I do have small groups of close friends – much like my characters in Cyrion. I was going to say “MCs”, but most of my characters have a close group of friends. Even a secondary character like Naeem has Greta.
I can’t imagine going through life without my friends. People I can count on to laugh, cry, and celebrate life’s crazy moments with me. People who are on my side no matter what or when or why, but never hesitate to call me on my bullsh!t. When my notes went missing a week before finals, my friends came through by lending copies of their notes to help me prepare. When I was sick, lonely and far from my family in college, my friends came through with phone calls, emails, packets of Lemsip and cups of soup. When faced with tough decisions, my friends came through with support and prayers.
My friends talked me out of deleting my WIPs when I felt down about my writing ability. I almost chucked Cyrion into my recycle bin at least five times when it was still a WIP. They challenge me to move out of my comfort zone, and write in new genres like romance and science fiction. Although my foray into science fiction resulted in the Burned Bridges Protocol, my attempt at romance is definitely a dead duck.
I don’t think we ever had a label, my friends and I. I know I always thought of labels as irrelevant.
What impact would you like to see your books have on the world?
I’ve written two books thus far, The Burned Bridges Protocol, a young adult science fiction novella published by Giant Squid Books in December 2014, and Cyrion, a middle grade fantasy published by MuseItUp in June 2015.
This is a tough question for me because I never actually expect to be a published author. I only started Cyrion because Kiddo was bored, and the Burned Bridges Protocol started out as a dare. That being said:
What’s your next project?
I am currently working on two projects. One is a short story I co-wrote with Kiddo that involves a minotaur, blueberry pie, and the properties of a circle. The other is a middle grade (for now anyway, who knows what it will morph into in the future) fantasy that involves a New-Yorker and two snarky fairies.
For more about Abigail and her books, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Abigail-Borders/180906748773138
ELLIS NELSON BOOKS 