Welcome to Day #3 of the Emily and the Spellstone Blog Tour!
Writing MG vs YA
About the Author: Michael Rubens is the author of two YA novels, Sons of the 613 and The Bad Decisions Playlist, and one novel for grownups, The Sheriff of Yrnameer. A correspondent and producer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, he has also been a producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His writing has appeared in places like The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, Salon and McSweeney's. He lives with his family in Brooklyn. Visit his website at www.michaelrubens.com.
Follow Michael: Website | Twitter
GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I’ve written two novels for young adults and one for grown-ups (well, sort of grown-ups), and several people have asked me why I decided that my fourth novel would be for middle-grade readers.
A big part of it is that we have a middle-grade reader at home: our daughter was eight when I started Emily and the Spellstone. Not only was I eager to write something that she could read and enjoy, but two of the major plot points came from being her dad: the first was that she was taking an after-school magic class, and while I was watching the final performance I started imagining what would happen if one of the kids accidentally summoned a demon (spoiler alert: something very similar happens in Emily and the Spellstone). The second is that my daughter and her friends were all desperate to have cellphones, and they’d take old non-functioning phones – or objects that looked like phones – and pretend they were the real thing. And when the novel starts, one of the first things we learn about Emily is that she really, really, really wanted a cellphone for her birthday, and didn’t get it, setting the stage for her finding a strange stone on the beach that looks like a cellphone, so she decides she’ll pretend that it is. Instead, of course, it’s the Spellstone of the title, and the adventure begins.
What’s weird is this: I came up with the idea of Emily finding the Spellstone on the beach...and then my daughter actually found a stone like that on the beach, without even knowing that I was thinking about that sort of scenario. As far as I know the stone my daughter found isn’t magical, but she plays her cards pretty close to her chest and I doubt she’d tell us if it were.
I have to say that writing a middle-grade adventure was the most fun I’ve had writing a book – it was somehow a very freeing experience. I have a tendency to write overly complex, dense sentences, and writing for the MG audience certainly liberated me from that habit. Instead of thinking, I have to impress people with my writing, I was thinking, I want to tell a really fun story that my daughter and her friends will enjoy. Because of that (and because the story came to me almost fully formed), I was able to write the book very quickly -- like, some days I wrote over twenty pages, which is approximately twenty times my usual daily output. If only all books came out so easily....
*****
Stop by Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust tomorrow for day #4 the tour!
Blog Tour Schedule:
June 19th — Bookhoundshttp://www.bookhoundsya.net/
June 20th — Mundie Kids
June 21st — WordSpelunking
June 22nd — Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
June 23rd — Positively Book Crazy
June 26th — GeoLibrarian
June 27th — YA Books Central
June 28th — A Dream Within a Dream
June 29th — Book Swoon
June 30th — Crossroad Reviews
Emily picks up a stone that looks like a cell phone but has unexpected magical powers. It's a Spellstone! Now that she has become an unwilling Stonemaster—one who wields the power of the Stone—she has to figure out Spellstone technology fast if she is to survive a hair-raising adventure among giant dogs, demons, clones, mean girls, and deeply wicked people who want the Stone. A witty tale of a quiet girl who discovers she's a hero when she needs to be. Stonemasters rule!
About the Author: Michael Rubens is the author of two YA novels, Sons of the 613 and The Bad Decisions Playlist, and one novel for grownups, The Sheriff of Yrnameer. A correspondent and producer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, he has also been a producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His writing has appeared in places like The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, Salon and McSweeney's. He lives with his family in Brooklyn. Visit his website at www.michaelrubens.com.
Follow Michael: Website | Twitter
GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY
- One (1) winner will receive signed copies of Spellstone and Michael’s 2 YA novels, Sons of the 613 and The Bad Decisions Playlist, as well as a custom Spellstone phone case!
- Enter via the rafflecopter below
- US Only
- Ends 7/2 at midnight ET
Win a copy of Emily and the Spellstone!
I have one copy for one winner.
-US only
-ends 6/30/17
-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours
-word spelunking is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen books in the mail
4 comments:
This book sounds like a lot of fun. I have many students that love books with elements of magic so this will be one to share with them.
I love the smart, spunky POV character already. This will be fun to read.
I think my oldest would absolutely love this book, it sounds wonderful!
This sounds like the perfect book for my 11 year old twin daughters.
Virginia H
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