Mommy's Pen

A writer's notes on family

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Season 8, Episode 3: Award Winning Author Julie Sternberg

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This week we to talk Julie Sternberg, a middle grade author living in Brooklyn who writes charming stories about everyday kids.

Julie is the author of the best-selling LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE; its sequels LIKE BUG JUICE ON A BURGER and LIKE CARROT JUICE ON A CUPCAKE; THE TOP-SECRET DIARY OF CELIE VALENTINE series; and the picture book BEDTIME AT BESSIE AND LIL’S. 

Her books have received many accolades, including: LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE is a Gryphon Award winner and a Texas Bluebonnet Award finalist; LIKE BUG JUICE ON A BURGER is a Gryphon Honor Book, a Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards Nominee, and an Illinois Monarch Award Finalist; and LIKE CARROT JUICE ON A CUPCAKE was named An Amazon Best Book of 2014 for kids ages 6-8.  The JUICE series as a whole has been named to the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books’ Stellar Series List.

Before becoming a writer, Julie worked as a public interest lawyer.  She graduated from Princeton University with highest honors and holds a JD from Harvard Law School and an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Things we mention (or forget to mention) that you should check out:

  • Julie’s middle grade novel Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, which is book one of the JUICE series.
  • Julie’s mailing list! Join now and get “Really, You’ll Like These,” her list of ten fabulous children’s books that somehow never make it onto standard top-ten lists.
  • Our mailing list! Sign up today and you’ll get cool subscriber only perks like bonus material.

Disclosure: By the way, all of these links are affiliate links, so if you buy something, you pay the same, but Nora gets a few pennies for her big 8th grade trip fund.

Season 8, Episode 2: Kristin Glasbergen, Author of Dragon Canyon

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We’re continuing our author interview series with another Canadian author, Kristin Glasbergen.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 8, Episode 2: Kristin Glasbergen, Author of Dragon Canyon

This week we to talk Kristin Glasbergen, a Canadian author who was brilliant enough to mix Lit RPG with Dragons! She writes a middle grade series called Dragon Canyon. The first book is Fire of Four and we learn the story behind it and the help she got from her 12-year-old, dragon-loving daughter.

Kristin is the author of the Dragon Canyon series. A story for middle-grade readers based on a fictitious multiplayer video game.

She also writes young adult books. Red Magic, a paranormal romance, is available now.

Kristin lives on the beach, in her mind. In reality, she lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a dog guide foster puppy.

She can usually be found avoiding housework.

Things we mention (or forget to mention) that you should check out:

Disclosure: By the way, all of these links are affiliate links, so if you buy something, you pay the same, but Nora gets a few pennies for her big 8th grade trip fund.

Season 8, Episode 1: Valerie Francis, Author of Crossing the Rubicon

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In this episode, we launch our author interview series! And we’re starting with Canadian Author and Story Grid Editor, Valerie Francis.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 8, Episode 1: Valerie Francis, Author of Nature Knights: Crossing the Rubicon

This season we’re launching a series of interviews with authors of middle grade fiction. First up, Valerie Francis, author of Nature Knights, Crossing the Rubicon, a middle grade fantasy.

Valerie Francis is both author and Certified Story Grid Editor. She has published fiction for both women (love stories for busy women) and children (middle grade fantasy), and is currently working on her first thriller.

As a bona fide story nerd, her passion for the craft of storytelling led her to become a Certified Story Grid Editor in 2017. Her non-fiction credits include a Story Grid Guide to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (publication TBA) and regular articles for the Fundamental Fridays column on Shawn Coyne’s Story Grid website.

Valerie co-hosts two podcasts for writers. The first, The Story Grid Editor Roundtable, is focused on the craft of writing. Each week Valerie, along with four fellow Certified Story Grid Editors, analyze a film according to the editing method developed by Shawn Coyne. The second is focused entirely on book marketing. On The Book Launch Show, Valerie learns how to develop a relationship with her readers from book marketing expert, Tim Grahl.

Things we mention (or forget to mention) that you should check out:

  • Valerie’s middle grade fantasy novel Nature Knights: Crossing the Rubicon.
  • Valerie’s website! Hop on her excellent mailing list to get the first part in her Masquerade series (for adults) and to get great book recommendations for books by women, for women and about women.
  • Our mailing list! Sign up today and you’ll get cool subscriber only perks like bonus material.

Disclosure: By the way, all of these links are affiliate links, so if you buy something, you pay the same, but Nora gets a few pennies for her big 8th grade trip fund.

Season 7, Episode 6: School Visit Recap

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In this episode, we recap a school visit we did—in matching outfits—to a fourth grade class.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 7, Episode 6: School Visit Recap

Things we mention (or forget to mention) that you should check out:

And, don’t forget, you can now, buy, read and enjoy my book: The Cat, the Cash, the Leap & the List. (And leave a review when you’re done, pretty please.)

Disclosure: By the way, all of these links are affiliate links, so if you buy something, you pay the same, but Nora gets a few pennies for her big 8th grade trip fund.

A New YA Release We’ve Been Waiting For! And Alma Gets Her Moment in the Spotlight.

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Alma thinks it’s her podcast now…

Resistance has its grip on Nora; she’s not made progress on her story. Hey, happens to the best of us. Plus, she’s busy with homework and middle school dances and such. But that left us with nothing to talk about on the podcast.

So, I decided to bring in Alma, my four-year-old, to guest host for a week. She chose to talk about Moana, and I discovered she has a pretty tenuous grasp of its plot. You can listen here. But she had a great time recording, and now she’s trying to edge Nora out, “The podcast and just you and me now, right?” It’s pretty hilarious.

Since finishing the young adult novel Carry On, Nora and I have been impatiently awaiting the publication of its sequel, Wayward Son. Our dreams finally came true on September 24 and we both already finished it. I liked it just as much as Carry On. And now we hunker down to wait for book 3. Listen to us gush here.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, you can support the show by mentioning it to a like-minded friend, or leaving a review on iTunes. And thanks SO much to those of you who’ve already done so! Warms our hearts and keeps us going.

xo
—Sue

P.S. Your kids can hang on to summer by reading my summer adventure story, The Cat, the Cash, the Leap, and the List.

P.P.S. If you were an early reader of the book, thank you! And I’d love if you take a minute to leave an honest review on Amazon! Reviews are critical for a book’s success! Thanks in advance. 

P.P.P.S. All product links are affiliate links, so if you buy something, you pay the same, but Nora gets a few pennies for her big 8th grade trip fund.

Back To School Jedi Mind Tricks

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One of my kids is desperate to get back to school. The other one, not so much.

Not feeling it.

Nora, my twelve-year-old, was pretty much bored out of her mind all summer. And unlike previous episodes of summer boredom, this one did not resolve with a big acts physical creativity like digging an enormous hole in the backyard or washing her hair in a bucket that the chickens drink from.

We’re on the brink of the teens years. And if I didn’t already know that, I could tell by the amount of David Bowie music emanating from her bedroom (SO proud) and her general apathy towards almost every activity I suggest.

This was her first summer with no real plans. No viola lessons, no swim lessons, no art camp. And her phone, which she was using to text a few friends (she doesn’t have cell service yet) broke and we haven’t replaced it.

Without really meaning too, we starved her of social interaction for nearly twelve weeks. As a result, she’s VERY eager to return to school. 

I’m calling that a parenting win.

The four-year-old, Alma, has NOT been eager to return to school. Mind you, her school is a veritable kid paradise. Warm, beautiful classrooms, lots of time outdoors, a ludicrously loving staff. She’s just anxious because she’s moving from preschool to kindergarten.

Every time school is mentioned, her pat response has been, “I’m going to hateit.” She had a home visit from her teacher, a potluck with her new classmates, and plenty of coaching and coaxing from me, but it hasn’t put a dent in her sour attitude.

Finally, my husband called her bluff. And it was beautiful. Part Jedi mind trick, part reverse psychology.

“Alma, if you’re really going to hate it, we won’t send you. We would not make you go someplace you hate. So don’t worry. You’re not going.”

“Nooooo!” she cried immediately. “I saw some things that might be fun! I want to—” here she caught herself showing too much enthusiasm, “I mean—I’ll try it.”

“You want to try school. You might actually like some parts of it.”

“Yes,” she pleaded.

“Well, okay,” he said. “We’ll let you try.”

Today, we visited the classroom for about an hour, so she could get a feel for it. I practically had to drag her out of there after an hour so the poor teacher could finish setting up her room.

I highly recommend picking a Jedi co-parent.