Tag Archive for Exit 13: The Whispering Pines

Summer Hours, Some News, etc.

Cool image created by Scholastic Australia — as in: actual Australia — promoting the first book in the “EXIT 13” series — you know, the place with wombats and kangaroos, and koalas eating eucalyptus leaves — whereas the second one in the series, where things really get bananas, titled THE SPACES IN BETWEEN, comes out August 1st. I still haven’t seen it yet, but I hear it’s pretty good! Ages 8-12.

Thanks for stopping by. We are in the “Summer Hours” phase. It’s too hot to read blogs. People are vacationing.

I will post randomly. Meanwhile: Many, many good things are happening behind the scenes. I sold three books that I can’t talk about, and I’m handing in a middle-grade novel in a few days. A range of things. I’m happy & proud of what I’ve done. But more on that later, the pride thing, believing in the work and standing behind it. Even though the world is indifferent. Doesn’t matter.

Oh! Anyway, the cool image . . . 

EXIT 13: The World Strangely Bends Toward This Book

On a recent school visit, I parked in the lot and approached the main door from the side of the building. The first door I saw was this one — a promising & slightly spooky sign.
To be clear (and one must be very clear these days), the school administration did not erect the door or the sign for my arrival. They had other exits, other numbers; this was simply the first door I encountered, seconds after stepping out of my car. EXIT 13.
Clearly the world wants you to read this book, to go on this strange little journey with Willow & Ash. Doors figure large in Book 2: The Spaces In Between (Summer, 2023)
Thanks for checking it out, ages 8-12.

Short Excerpt, EXIT 13: THE WHISPERING PINES — Pub Date 2/7/23!

 

 

What follows is a brief excerpt from my new book, EXIT 13: THE WHISPERING PINES (Scholastic, February 2023, grades 4-6). The McGinn family, including siblings Willow and Ash and Daisy (their goldendoodle), find themselves in a mysterious motel. The family is caught in a rift in time, trapped in place, but they don’t know that yet. The elevator pitch for this series was “Schitt’s Creek” meets “Stranger Things” — and our first story in the series will take Willow and Ash deep into the dark, dangerous, forbidding woods. In this scene, we’re early in the book, after a fire alarm rouses the guests. Illustrations by Kevin Keele. 

Kristoff, dressed in black lace-up boots and a dark trench coat, walked along the length of the hotel, stopping to speak briefly with each guest. They scratched their heads, yawned, headed back inside. At last, Kristoff came to the McGinns. He paused for the briefest of moments as he observed Mr. McGinn’s blazing pink boxers, knobby knees, pale shins. He glanced at Mrs. McGinn, her face covered in a mask of green moisturizer. Something flickered in his eyes. A private joke. “I’m awfully sorry,” he finally said. “There was a small kitchen fire –- nothing, really –- it’s embarrassing — and, well, there are safety protocols to follow. It’s safe to go inside. I’m so sorry for your inconvenience.”

Mr. and Mrs. McGinn were too tired to talk. Feet dragging, they shuffled back into their room. Ash paused at the doorway with Willow. He watched as Kristoff rounded the corner, headed toward the back of the building. Ash shuddered and felt cold all over.

“That’s him,” he whispered to Willow.

“What? The clerk?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him before.”

“Well, duh, yeah, he’s the cutie who checked us in,” Willow said.
Ash frowned at his sister.

“Cutie? Him? He looks like a vampire!”

“Yeah, and that’s my type!” Willow protested. “The haunted, hunted kind.”

“You don’t have a type. You never even had a boyfriend,” Ash said.

“Did, too. Angel Villar, we had two beautiful weeks together.”

“That was third grade!”

“So?”

“So?! You broke up with him when he put jelly in your hair during a spelling quiz.”

Willow grinned and held up her hands. “What can I say? We were wild and crazy kids.”

“You used to complain that he farted all the time,” Ash recalled.

“Well, yeah, there was that –- the whole toxic gas problem.” Willow paused, thinking it over. “Maybe Angel was lactose intolerant?”

Ash shook his head. He grabbed Willow by the sleeve and pulled her inside the room. “Anyway, he was the guy I saw outside the window.”

“Angel? My farting boyfriend? What’s he doing here?”

Ash groaned.

“I’m kidding!” Willow said. “Lighten up, LB. What do you mean, ‘He was the guy’?”

Ash turned serious. “I recognized the way Kristoff walked, like he’s leaning into the wind. And the coat, the way it billowed behind him. He was with that creature with red eyes. I saw those two go into the woods together.”

“You didn’t tell me there was a guy,” Willow countered.

“I’m telling you now,” Ash replied.

“There was a guy and a creature with red eyes?”

“Yes! And the guy was Kristoff!” Ash said.

Willow eyed her brother thoughtfully. Was he just imaging things? Why didn’t he mention it before? “Okay, color me curious,” Willow said. “Let’s do it.”

“Do what?” Ash asked.

“Let’s follow my vampire hottie.”

 

IN STORES, FEBRUARY 7th! PRE-ORDER NOW FROM YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL, INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE. IT REALLY HELPS!

What Makes a Great Photograph?

 

What makes a great, award-winning photograph?

I mean, what qualities lift a photograph above the commonplace?

Is it the lighting? The composition? The careful arrangement of objects? An emotion captured? A storyline conveyed? The inclusion of Yoda?

All of those things, I guess.

When I look at this photograph of Colin, a lad I’ve never met, sent to me by Erin, a mother I’ve never met, I know I’m looking at something special. 

Doubly so. 

Thanks, Erin, for passing this along, and for your desire to gift my new book to your classroom teacher.