Tag: Halloween books

Meet Clare C-Saunders, Author of CHARLOTTE & ARTHUR’S ADVENTURES – THE PUMPKIN PORTAL

October 1, 2024 / Katie L. Carroll

Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures – The Pumpkin Portal
A Middle Grade Adventure for spooky season!

Thank you, Katie, for asking me to be a guest blogger on your lovely website. I’m happy to introduce my new book Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures – The Pumpkin Portal to you and your readers. This book cover has been beautifully illustrated by my daughter Rose, who is only 17 years old. Rose has worked together with me as a mother & daughter team on all our books since she was only nine years old, her first illustrations can be seen in, Seven Nights of Snuggles. She’s also done an amazing job of putting our book trailer together along with her dad’s music and my voiceover. Working with my daughter makes author events so much fun, as she often comes along with a craft activity for children. We’ve appeared at the Derby Book Festival, our local libraries and independent bookstores, and we even did a school book talk along with our Newfoundland dog in tow for World Book Day.

The Pumpkin Portal book and cover were inspired by our family trips out to our local pumpkin patch in Derbyshire, UK. Obviously, the book features a fictional version of it with a good dose of artistic licence for entertainment value. This is a beautiful farm near where we live, it has many different varieties of pumpkins and gourds in every size, shape and colour. I hadn’t realised you can get a blue pumpkin until I found one in their patch! Every year we visit together as a family to wander around their fields with the colourful wheelbarrows they provide, and we each pick a couple of pumpkins to decorate our woodland cottage with.

As well as their fields full of delightful colours we also visit the food marquee which is named the Witches Kitchen. Inside is always full of yummy food and drink choices and is surrounded by hay bales that you can sit on. There are also hay bales stacked up outside for children to climb on and fairground rides as well as other food vans and fun activities.

The story came to me when I thought about what might happen if a modern-day teenage girl had her Cinderella fantasy come true. Would she really like it? Or would her dream become a nightmare? Readers will find out as they follow Amara after she is whisked away from child minding Charlotte & Arthur at the Pumpkin Patch. Charlotte & Arthur must once again journey back to The Wheel World to save Amara from the Gnome King and his friend, Tricky Jack (the Pumpkin King). In doing so they learn about the magic of witches, go on death defying broomstick rides, have a close encounter with a mermaid and have fun with a baby dragon. During this adventure they will also unveil a hidden family secret to discover who they really are.

About the CHARLOTTE & ARTHUR’S ADVENTURES – THE PUMPKIN PORTAL:

Charlotte & Arthur are enjoying a day out at The Pumpkin Patch when their friend Amara is whisked away by a pumpkin portal. It’s up to Charlotte & Arthur to rescue her.

Grab your broomsticks for a trick or treat ride into a magical world. Zoom past dangerous mermaid filled waters, dodge flying pumpkins, learn about the magic of witches and fly a dragon.

Can Charlotte & Arthur rescue Amara with the help of their magical friends? Join them for a Halloween adventure on a path to self-discovery, as they unveil a hidden family secret and find out who they really are.

You can order this book through your local bookstore or it’s available in paperback and eBook online at Amazon.

About the Author:

Clare C-Saunders is from Derbyshire, England, UK. Clare has released three books to date, along with her young daughter, Rose, as illustrator. All made it into a top 100 Amazon best sellers chart. Currently she is writing her fourth book under the working title The Crystal Dragon’s Egg, which will be the last in the Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures trilogy. Yule and the Helter Skelter had originally been a short story intended for her first book, but she decided it could make a better middle grade story. With 25 chapters it makes the perfect gift, not only as a book, but as an advent calendar for the whole family to enjoy in the festive run up. Next book in the series is, The Pumpkin Portal, featuring new character, Amara, who is whisked away by a pumpkin while child minding Charlotte & Arthur. The children must find a way to rescue her from the clutches of the Gnome King and his partner in crime Tricky Jack (the Pumpkin King) in this fairy-tale fantasy gone awry.

Seven Nights of Snuggles is a picture book for younger children. This book has seven delightfully illustrated stories designed to be read to children at bedtime. As well as books Clare has also worked in writing, producing and directing for radio. Her work includes an informative children’s internet safety campaign series entitled, The Internet Wizard and an interactive pantomime style radio play of Snow White. Today, when not writing, Clare can be found recording voice overs in her home recording studio, she voiced her own audiobooks for Seven Nights of Snuggles and Charlotte & Arthur’s Adventures – Yule and the Helter Skelter. You can hear samples of her audiobooks at www.clarecunliffe.com

Look out for more information on upcoming events, book festivals, magazine and blog articles, media interviews and special offers over on the following social media pages:
Facebook: Clare & Rose C-Saunders
IG: @theclarecs
X: @MediaClare
TT: @clare.csaunders

The Charlotte and Arthur’s Adventures series of books are published by Fisher King Publishing Ltd, find out more on their website.

The “Skin and Bones” inspiration behind GRAMMY’S HALLOWEEN SCARE

July 30, 2024 / Katie L. Carroll

The next book in the Family Holiday Tales series GRAMMY’S HALLOWEEN SCARE is out in the world! Once again, illustrator Phoebe Cho has created an atmospheric setting for characters that pop off the page. We get new characters in Grammy and her black cat Jellybean, but we also get the return of a bunch of spooky kids who you might recognize from the other books in the series. Grammy’s tale is the culmination of many things I love with Halloween, witches, and crows all making an appearance.

GRAMMY’S HALLOWEEN SCARE can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and Kobo. It took a surprising amount of research to make this book come together, so here’s the story of what inspired me to write it.

A witchy page from the book THE BEDTIME KNIGHT, written by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Erika Baird.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Anyone who’s ready my middle grade novel WITCH TEST knows I have a soft spot for witches. A “witch” even makes an appearance in my picture book THE BEDTIME KNIGHT.

When it came time to figure out what holiday I wanted to highlight for the third Family Holiday Tales book, I wanted to do something other than Christmas, so Halloween was the obvious next choice for me. I’d already featured a mom and a dad in the other books in the series. A grandparent was a logical next choice, and a witchy grandma felt like a no-brainer!

I also had to figure out what I would use as the rhythmic inspiration for the book. MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS is based off the famous poem by Clement C. Moore “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and DADDY’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS can be sung to the tune of the classic Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For my witchy grandma, there wasn’t anything obvious that came to mind. It also had to be something that was in the public domain.

Then I remembered this song I used to sing in music class around Halloween time. It started with kids singing, “There was an old woman all skin and bones, ooo-ooo-oo-ooo.” It end with a deep-voiced “boo!” for a jump scare. A quick search, and I found the musical version from when I was a kid. There was no YouTube back then, so we didn’t have a video to go with the music.

I loved that silly, slightly scary song. A little more research led me to the book SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Those books terrified me as a kid…in a way that I loved! The book version (below as performed in the audiobook by George S. Irving ) was even more disturbing than the one I used to sing. It also gave me the important clue that it was from an old folk song.

Even more research led to me to more versions of the song, each one seemingly more disturbing than the last! The different recordings of the song were simply haunting (see “Skin and Bones” sung by Jean Ritchie and scroll down for this unknown singer performing “Skin and Bones”). I wasn’t able to trace the exact origin of the song, but my research showed it was certainly old enough to be safe to use as inspiration for my book.

GRAMMY’S HALLOWEEN SCARE is more fun than scary. It can be sung to the tune of the song I grew up singing, and I included sheet music with my lyrics in the front of the book. I’ve done a couple of read-alouds of the book, and the young audiences have loved singing along on the “ooo-ooo-ooo” part. Here’s a video of me singing the book!

Path to Publication: ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA

July 11, 2023 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m excited to have author Gayle C. Krause on the blog today to talk about her latest release ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA, written by Gayle and illustrated by Kate Talbot. I love Halloween books, and this one looks adorable. Welcome, Gayle!

Katie, thank you for having me on the observation deck.

I’m happy to share my latest picture book news with you and your readers. ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA, a reimagining of the classic Cinderella tale, with a Halloween twist and no prince, has just released. Here are the links to Barnes & Noble and Amazon if you know a child who would love the fanciful illustrations of Kate Talbot and the whimsical Halloween story of little Zadie’s kindness.

My favorite holiday is Halloween and my favorite genre to read and write is fantasy. So, it’s easy to see the inspiration for this book. Also, my sisters were a huge influence. We often tease each other about our “witchy” powers. (When one calls, the other already has the phone in her hand.) So to celebrate our sisterhood and our sibling thought waves, we gather every summer for fun, food, wine, and of course, ‘dress-up.’ We call it our Witchy Weekend.

Add to that my love of fairytales, which I absolutely adored, as a child, and still do. My teaching career, training prospective educators for the Pre-K and Elementary classrooms, (I taught Children’s Literature at the secondary and post-secondary levels), and my Fairytale Seminar – BEYOND THE FAIRYTALE – which teaches prospective children’s writers how to reimagine a traditional fairytale and make it their own, and you can see how I love this little witch.

Book blurb: When Little Zadie’s sisters dash her hope of attending the biggest event of the Halloween season because she has no “witchy” magic, her determination and a surprising Fairy Godspider enchantment sends her as a special guest. The adult witches try to outdo each other by casting spells and chanting charms to become the assistant to the most powerful witch in the land. But a kind gesture from Zadie wins the night and the title, and her sisters learn that kindness proves stronger than any magic they possess.

Zadie’s path to publication took many turns. First written in 2016, it had too many words. Then I tried to illustrate it myself. I drew my version of the pictures but could do nothing else beyond that. In 2018, I signed with an agent, and she loved it. But when she subbed it to publishing houses, they said it was too long, and they’d like to see it in prose. So, reluctantly, I revised to write less words and no rhyme. But it hurt my heart to do that. Picture books come to me in rhyme. Asking me to write them in prose is like asking me to write them in another language.

I’m aware of good rhyme vs. bad. I belonged to The Poets’ Garage for six years, was the assistant poetry editor for Beneath the Juniper Tree, and served on Angie Karcher’s Rhyme Revolution Committee, helping to write the rhyme rubric, and select the “BEST” Rhyming picture book in the U.S. for three years. And they wanted me to write it in prose! So, I took a break and used my creative time to design and sew Zadie, her sisters, and the Grand Witch.

During my time at the agency, Kate Talbot and I were agency sisters, in fact, we shared the same agent. Since then the agent left the business and Kate and I left the agency. But it was easy to reach out to her because her whimsical illustration style was perfect to bring Zadie’s story to life.

Kate’s work is beautiful.

If I have any advice for children’s writers, it’s to write what’s in your heart. If it’s rhyme, so be it. If it’s non-fiction biographies, go for it. If it’s board books or novels, the only rules to follow are know your craft, and give it your all.

ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA is published by Trowbridge Books, a small, independent, traditional publishing house. www.trowbridgebooks.com

I am offering a signed copy of ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA to one of your readers who comments on Zadie’s story, and shares news about my little witch on social media (please list where you shared). I also have Zadie swag that will accompany the book. (USA only)

Thank you for having me and letting me share Zadie’s story with your readers.

When a Writer Doesn’t Have Time for Writing and New Books from Katie L. Carroll

October 13, 2022 / Katie L. Carroll

I have been longing to get back into creative mode. I’ve got a revision of my YA psychological thriller Hamlet retelling that has been inching along so very slowly. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starts in a few weeks, and I really want to draft my next YA during November.

However, with two book releases this fall (and approximately a thousand soccer games for my kids), there’s been little time for the actual book writing and revising. It’s a case of the writer not getting to actually write. The fact is being an author means marketing our books, and being an indie author means producing our books as well. I’ll get back into the fun stuff eventually.

The good news is that WITCH TEST is out in the world and spreading all kinds witchy, crow, Halloween vibes. It recently hit #1 in all its categories on Kobo, so that was super exciting! Thank you so much to all who have read, reviewed it, or shared it. Posting reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and other book retailers is so helpful to authors because it increases the chance of new readers finding it.

MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS comes out in 12 days! It’s available for pre-order at all the usual places, like Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, and Kobo. I’ll soon be getting the listing up on my Purchase Books page for those of you who are interested in signed copies. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS makes for a great Christmas gift for any moms you know. I still can’t get over the beautiful illustrations by Phoebe Cho.

Here’s a little video I created for it. How’s your fall going?

@katielcarrollauthor
Mommy’s Night Before Christmas by Katie L. Carrol with illustrations by Phoebe Cho is the perfect gift for all the moms (and the kids). #mommysnightbeforechristmas #picturebook #christmasbooks #giftsforher #booktok
♬ We Wish You a Merry Christmas (music box) – yostimar

WITCH TEST Cover Reveal & ARCs

June 23, 2022 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s here! The cover for my upcoming middle grade WITCH TEST is such a mood. I love Liza’s stance and the glowing moon reflecting off of everything. It’s got the corn maze and the crows, which are so important to Liza’s story. Big shout-out to MiblArt for creating the cover!

WITCH TEST will be out on September 13, 2022. I’m working on getting it up for pre-order on all the usual book retail sites and scheduling events for the fall. In the meantime, ARCs (advanced reader copies) will be going out in the next few weeks. If you’re interested in receiving an early copy to read and review, you can fill out the ARC form here.

WITCH TEST blurb:

Liza is sinking in a bubbling cauldron of middle school rumors.

When the entire eighth grade begins studying the Salem witch trials, it seems everyone is on a witch hunt…with Liza as target number one. Worst of all, her ex-best friend is the one who started a rumor that Liza bewitched a boy with a love potion.

As the bullying intensifies, Liza’s loneliness grows. More than ever, she wishes her mother were still alive. A glimmer of hope arrives when Liza finds her mother’s diary…until she actually reads it. Turns out Liza’s family connection to witches goes back for centuries. So much for the witch stuff being rumors!

If Liza can channel her inner witch at the Halloween night corn maze, she might find the strength to stand up for herself. If not, she risks losing a piece of herself to a growing depression and any hope of happiness.

WITCH TEST is an upper middle grade Mean Girls meets The Craft novel for pre-teens and young teens.