While touring Northern Virginia and taking pictures of places that inspired The Travelers, I thought it might be fun to check out the cemetery adjacent to my mother’s childhood farmhouse in Manassas, right near the battlefield. (Yes, I realize my idea of fun might not be the same as everyone else.)
Yep, I admit it. I'm a total book nerd. I love Shakespeare. It all started in 9th grade… My English teacher introduced us via Romeo and Juliet. At the time, I rolled my eyes and groaned, mistakenly thinking I’d be bored to death by long-winded prose and overly flowery language. But, even though my moody, everything-sucks, 14-year-old self wanted to hate it, I couldn’t. (Thanks Mrs. McDermott!)
Yes, I’m clearly obsessed with Teen Read Week. Anything that encourages people to read more is great, in my book. (Sorry, I know that was a terrible pun. I couldn’t help it!) Sadly, Teen Read Week is coming to an end. In honor of that ending, I’ve compiled a list of books with crazy plot twist endings! Predicting the plot twists for any book, movie or TV show is one of my superpowers...
Since it's October, I felt the overwhelming need (perhaps compelled?) to combine the awesomeness of Teen Read Week and Halloween. It just had to be done. And since my own book, The Travelers, is about witches, that seemed like an appropriate place to start. Therefore, here are some spellbinding YA books where the main characters are teen witches or thought to be.
Halloween is just around the corner. In honor of it, I thought it might be fun to list the top 5 “scary” or “monster-themed” books that influenced me as a teenager or young adult.
My first book, The Travelers, just came out on October 2, 2016. The journey to this point took a long time and, along the way, I learned several important lessons. While I’m still on this path of publishing, I wanted to impart the wisdom I’ve gained on this crazy trip so far to help any other aspiring authors trying to find their way through the land of publishing. (Alright, I will dispense with the traveling puns now.) Best Advice I Was Given – What’s the harm in trying? Here’s the truth, it terrified me to let anyone read my book, let alone send it to publishers.
So, what is The Travelers about, you might ask. Is it a book about people who travel through a forest? (Uh, no.) Is it a book about people who travel around the world observing nature? (Nope, sorry.) Does it have anything to do with traveling anywhere? (Well….) Actually, the title is a little misleading. Most of the book takes place in one location, which is based on my hometown of Northern Virginia. (OK, yes, that’s not really a town. It’s more like a collection of small towns, suburbs and counties just outside Washington, DC. Just go with it people.)
So, this is my first blog and not just on this website, but ever. Maybe I should have called this blog “38-year-old Grandma in Progress” because I’m not exactly social media savvy. (I also just recently discovered twitter @klkranes.) My husband and daughter constantly tell me I’m turning into my technology-phobic mother...
K.L. Kranes 