A most magical congratulations to
BETSY THOMPSON!
You have won a copy of John and Carole Barrowman’s HOLLOW EARTH. Look for an e-mail for more details.
A most magical congratulations to
BETSY THOMPSON!
You have won a copy of John and Carole Barrowman’s HOLLOW EARTH. Look for an e-mail for more details.
Mary G. Thompson’s new middle grade sci-fi pubs with Clarion Books this June, but she’s offering one lucky MUF reader a signed ARC now.
From Amazon: Thirteen-year-old Ryan Hawthorn has spent his life on display as a human exhibit in the multi-eyed Pipe Men’s intergalactic zoo. When his father is accidentally poisoned, it’s up to Ryan and his seven-year-old sister, Becky, to scour the universe for the antidote. Along the way, they encounter many strange creatures—from the doglike Hottini to the spindly-legged, hairy Xaxor—and learn that the Pipe Men (or, as Becky calls them, “overgrown drainpipes”) are not kindly overlords, as they had been led to believe. It’s not only the humans who are planning to rebel! A wildly imaginative middle grade space-travel adventure.
Mary stopped by to tell us a little about how she came to write “Pipe Men”:
“I’d had the idea in the back of my head for a long time to do something about an alien zoo. I just love aliens! When I got started, I realized that I not only love aliens, but I also love portals and spaceships and adventure. I also love looking at things from unusual perspectives. My first book, Wuftoom, deals with a boy who is turning into a wormlike creature. At first it’s horrifying, but then he starts to understand where the “monsters” are coming from. This book is very different because the tone is much lighter, but I liked the idea that these kids lived most of their lives in the zoo and were uncomfortable being outdoors on Earth. I hope kids and kids at heart will love this stuff as much as I do.”
Thanks, Mary. For the chance to win an ARC, please leave a comment below.
I’m not usually a fan of aliens. Really I’m not. They give me nightmares and take me on their spaceships and run crazy experi….I mean they’re not real at all and nothing ever happened. It was all a dream. Just a crazy dream.
I blame Kevin Emerson. It’s all his fault. He wrote this book…about aliens and stuff. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Anyway, to make up for the alien abductions dreams, he’s here today to tell us all the warning signs of an imminent alien attack. A little too late for me, but thanks for trying.
Top Ten Signs that You May Soon be On the Run from Extra-Terrestrials Bent on World Domination
10. You notice sometimes that time seems to go by really fast, almost like you missed it, and you have to reset your bedroom clock.
9. You have this weird song in your head that goes “Shoop shoop ba-doop.” When you look it up, you find out it’s from 1994. Who is Salt-N-Pepa? You weren’t even alive in back then. It’s probably your parents’ fault, or is it?
8. Even though it’s four in the afternoon, you are absolutely craving pancakes.
7. Every clown you see looks more creepy than usual. Also, they look like they would be really good at mixed martial arts.
6. You have this weird sense of déjà vu, like you’ve done all this before, like this same day is repeating over and over…
5. Your town seems to have a lot of construction going on, almost like they’re doing something really big underground.
4. You have a strange urge to itch behind your left ear.
3. You remember a place called Juliette, but you can’t find it on any map.
2. You keep hearing a radio station in your mind.
1. You just got a letter that you won the Fellowship for Alien Detection.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting on my acceptance letter! Uh, I mean…who’s Salt-N-Pepa anyway?
I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of The Fellowship for Alien Detection a few months ago. One word: Unputdownable! If you read any middle-grade book this year, you’ll want to make sure this is the one! And now’s your chance. Kevin has graciously agreed to giveaway a copy of The Fellowship to one lucky reader. Just enter your name below for a chance to win!
Thanks for joining us here at the Mixed-Up Files today Kevin! I’ve got this informative list neatly packed away in my 72 hour kit, you know, for my next alien abduction dream.
Amie Borst writes fairy tales with a twist with her 12-year-old daughter. Their first book, Cinderskella, releases October 2013 by Jolly Fish Press.