Tag: Middle Grade

2 Days to Release: Theme the Book Explores

We’re only 2 days away from THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST being on shelves! And for #18DaystoMGDebut that means I’m talking about the theme the book explores. This book started with an idea of what would happen if a boy woke up on a beach with no memory of how he got there…
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3 Days to Release: Object That’s Significant to the Story

Since the boy in THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST wakes up alone on a mysterious beach in the book, he doesn’t have much with him, just his clothes and a piece of fabric in his pocket. He does, however, find something early on that becomes a source of comfort, and that’s the object…
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4 Days to Release: Acknowledgements

While writing is solitary, publishing takes a huge group of people to make a book the best it can be. For day 4 of #18DaystoMGDebut, I’m looking at my acknowledgements for THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST. I actually wrote the first draft of these long before the book was bought by Paula Wiseman…
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5 Days to Release: Dedication

Day 5 until THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST comes out! So close, and today’s prompt for #18DaystoMGDebut is the book’s dedication. This was an easy one, because while there are lots of people I would like to dedicate a book of mine to, at the top of that list are my parents and…
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6 Days to Release: Favorite Secondary Character

For day 6 of #18DaystoMGDebut, I’m describing my favorite secondary character from THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, and that’s definitely the baby owl. Without giving away too many spoilers, the Boy meets a baby owl along his journey, and this owl’s presence in the story had quite a journey itself. Originally, the owl…
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7 Days to Release: The Book’s Antagonist

On day 7 of #18DaystoMGDebut, it’s time to look at the antagonist for THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST. Craft books describe five main types of conflict in stories: person vs person, person vs nature, person vs supernatural, person vs society, and person vs self. THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST has elements…
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8 Days to Release: Celebrities You’d Cast as the Lead

THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST comes out in 8 days! And in the #18DaystoMGDebut countdown, the prompt is to imagine who would be cast in the movie version of the book. This one is hard for me. While I love reading character descriptions in books, I get my own idea of what they…
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9 Days to Release: Powerful Pull Quote

Wow! We’re at day 9 of our #18DaystoMGDebut countdown, and the topic is a powerful pull quote from THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST. Funnily enough, the pull quote I’d chosen for this is one I’ve seen showing up in some of the tweets from early readers: Maybe you can’t tell the strength of…
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10 Days to Release: ARC in the Wild

One of the most fun parts of this publishing process is seeing ARCs of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST out in the wild, which is why I’m so glad that’s the topic for day 10 of #18DaystoMGDebut. There have been a lot of wonderful sightings, with authors, teachers and librarians sharing their photos…
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11 Days to Release: Novel SWAG

For Day 11 of #18DaystoMGDebut, I’m looking at my book’s SWAG, and I do love it. When I was working on the many revisions for THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, I had an idea for an item I would give readers if this story ever became an actual book. In 11 days, that…
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