Imagine a Read Aloud!
Imagine a Night
Got to love the Sevier County Public Library System in Tennessee…they periodically post videos of the librarians reading aloud to kids, as a service to far flung patrons who have difficulty making a trip to the library. I’m honored that they’ve chosen Imagine a Night and Imagine a Place!
Read MorePlesiosaurs!
Didn’t illustrator Andrew Plant do a stunning job with these fabulous prehistoric aquatic beasties?
It’s always a good day when proofs arrive! Suddenly that collection of sketches and artwork and facts and sentences and “did we put that page break in the right place” anxiety is–a book! An actual book that actual people will actually read! Very, totally exciting.
Read MoreA Halloween Treat
Something scary to whet your appetite for Halloween: a tidbit from my upcoming novel, Deadly Wish! Our favorite ninja, Kata (familiar to readers from Deadly Flowers) has a spooky encounter when alone on the street at night….
This street held craftsmen’s homes: cobblers and potters, a basket-weaver, a man who made clogs and another who sold combs. One building showed the dim light of an oil lamp through a screen, with a shadow cast on the rice paper. Someone was working late. The hunched figure behind the screen rose and stretched, as if to ease an aching back.
I turned away. Time to keep moving. As I did so, I heard a soft sound from behind me, something between a pop and a crunch.
The sound of a paper screen breaking. I spun around.
The light from the house I had noticed earlier was brighter now, because two or three panels of the paper screen had been broken. And coming toward me, outlined against that light, was a shape on two legs—but not a human shape.
Oh, no. Not here, not now…
My knife was in my hand as I backed up carefully, putting distance between myself and the thing approaching me.
The creature should have been awkward, balanced on two legs, but it was not. Lithe and muscled, as tall as my shoulder, it stalked toward me, lamplight brushing soft gray fur. It let out a soft, hungry meow.
Two tails waved, helping the thing keep its balance. Its ears were flattened, its whiskers swept back; the green-gold eyes were narrow and hungry. A double-tailed cat, a neko-mata.
I’d been pleased to have finished my mission, to be out in the night, to be done acting like a timid and stupid servant girl to fool stupider men. And so I’d gotten careless. How could I have forgotten to be on my guard at every moment? Had I let myself believe that there was nothing in this darkened city more dangerous than I was.
Careless. I’d pay for that carelessness now.
The neko-mata faced me and pulled back the corners of its mouth back in a snarl. Its teeth were half the length of my longest finger.
“Mine,” it whined, an unnatural sound, human words forced out of an animal’s throat. “Mine, mine…”
Its back legs flexed as it drew itself together to leap.
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Scary Stories!
Want to give goodies for the brain as well as the sweet tooth this Halloween? Drop a mini-flyer into the treat bags and kids can go online to discover more than a hundred scary stories by fabulous children’s book authors. Visit Trick-or-Reaters to print flyers and learn more!
Amazing Whales–Amazing Book Report!
This charming second-grader did a video book report on Amazing Whales. Love her command of her topic and her self-possession on camera. Nicely done!
Read MoreSecond Draft
The second draft of Deadly Wish (which will be the sequel to Deadly Flowers) just went back to my editor. I think only Edward Gorey has really captured what this moment feels like to a writer, in the immortal The Unstrung Harp, or Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel:
Read MoreHolding TUH [The Unstrung Harp, or The Novel of the Title] not very neatly done up in pink butcher’s paper, which was all he could find in a last minute search before leaving to catch his train to London, Mr. Earbrass arrives at the offices of his publishers to deliver it. The stairs look oddly menacing, as if he might break a leg on one of them. Suddenly, the whole thing strikes him as very silly, and he thinks he will go drop his parcel off the Embankment and thus save everyone concerned a good deal of fuss.
Trick or Treat! Smell My Stories!
My own sweet tarantula and her friend Medusa are terrifying Trick-or-Reaters!
Pretty soon hosts of tiny demons and witches and princess and superheroes will be showing up at your door. Want to give them something that will strengthen their brains instead of rotting their teeth*? Check out this fabulous new promotion from Curious City: Trick-or-Reaters! Give kids spooky, scary, suspenseful, and delightful stories for Halloween as well as yummy treats!
* Or in addition to rotting their teeth. I am not opposed to teeth-rotting Halloween goodies!
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly