Friends of A. Bugg

When I couldn't find a Facebook group for Middle Grade Writers, I started one. (We <3 Middle Grade & YA Books) 

It was by far one of the best things I've done. I've met some great people along the way; here's a few of them.

 We've expanded to YA as well. If you're looking for a great read, start here!   

I go back with "Hooey" a long way. I met her at a writer's forum. Pretty sure we "met" in "the cream cheese and bologna burrito cantina" or something like that. LOL We've since hooked up in real life a few times. She's a total blast. Love her & love her series.

http://www.melaniehoo.com/hoosblog/

 

Blurb for #1: Biz is a perfectly normal teenager except for one minor detail: she uses sunlight to jump back to yesterday. She takes advantage of flickering by retaking Trig tests, fixing fights with her boyfriend (or reliving the making up), and repeating pretty much anything that could be done better. Trouble is, flickering makes her head explode from the inside. Or feel like it anyway. No one knows about her freakish ability and she’s content to keep it that way.

Guys don’t stick around because she refuses to let them in, but all that changes when Cameron, her best friend, starts looking oh-so-yummy. Suddenly she’s noticing his biceps, his smile, and the cute way his eyes crinkle when he—gah! This is her friend! But the butterflies come to a screeching halt when little girls start disappearing, then take a nosedive when the police link the kidnappings to Cameron’s sister, who vanished years earlier. As the police grasp for clues, Biz photographs a strange man lurking in the shadows and realizes that her flickering can help more than just herself.

Facebook Fan Page 

Amazon

Website

Interview 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sharon is a buddy from a mutual publisher. I really enjoyed her series one as well. It reminds me of a YA version of my own series. There are currently two and more to come.

She's my #1 at the group. Couldn't do it without her.

Blurb for #1: When Amanda Sault and her four classmates are caught in a major food fight at school, they are given the choice of suspension or yard duty. It was a no-brainer. A two-week crash course in landscaping leads the kids to discover a weathered stone arch buried in an overgrown backyard. Instead of a forgotten lawn ornament, it turns out to be an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from an evil force—the five children, along with two offbeat adults, are sent on the adventure of their lives to save the Earth from an uncertain future. The Timekeepers’ first mission lands them in England in 1214, where they must find an adolescent Robin Hood and his band of merry teens before history is turned upside-down.

Website

Facebook Fan Page 

Amazon 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lisa is one tough cookie! She's kicked cancer in the fanny!! Another wonderfully talented buddy.

Blurb for Super Spies and the cat Lady Killer: 

In a small town in Michigan, fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her

sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman and what's worse? One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own investigation.

The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the investigation. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer. Or die trying...

Lisa Orchard at Amazon 

Website

 

Blog

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Another multi-published buddy, Rita helps keep the gang in line at the facebook group when she's not writing.:)

Moving is nothing new for ten-year-old Nikki Landry. Her fisherman father relocates their raggedy old houseboat several times a year in search of better crabbing spots. However, their latest move has brought her to a mysterious bayou where she feels something is watching her from a nearby island. 

Nikki learns of a local legend about something sinister inhabiting those swamps, stealing the souls of dogs…which would explain the strange howling sounds. Papa reassures her there’s nothing on the island but gators and snakes. He would know. He’s spent his whole life trapping and fishing those bayous and swamps. But Nikki and her new friends uncover strange happenings from years ago that may have started the old legend, and town folks aren’t talking. Then her beloved beagle goes missing.

Join Nikki as she seeks to discover the real truth behind the legend of Ghost Dog Island…before it’s too late.

Website

FB fan page

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah is another helper at the group. Here's one of a few of hers.

Finger Bones has been sending ghosts to their next destination for many years. Now it's Wendy's turn. The Bridgeville Clipper announces Finger Bones is dead at 122-years of age. Wendy is not upset. He will be back. Finger Bones and Wendy have unfinished business in this small town. When ten-year-old Wendy Dee Winkelmann needs to do some serious thinking she likes to chew bubblegum. While sitting on a bench in town reading, she becomes friends with an old man the townspeople call, Finger Bones. Some locals consider him odd and spread rumors about the ghastly man who lives up a dirt road in an old ramshackle cabin. Yet Wendy knows different, and soon she discovers this old man, who walks to town with a burlap bag tied to a stick, has a special job. He sends ghosts to their next destination, and the stick and burlap bag he carries are magical. Now Wendy chases the lingering spirits, and her two best friends, Claire and Henry, are determined to help her through thick and thin. Soon she finds herself caught up in a devious plan of a dark sinister power, and if it means hurting someone, or worse, it will do whatever is necessary to succeed. It’s all up to Wendy to save Bridgeville before the evil power takes over the town.Website

Amazon

Blog

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I've enjoyed both of Linda's books that I have read! Check her out!

Jared is smitten when his teacher seats the new girl, Sophie, right next to him. Even with the scar running up the side of her face, Jared thinks she’s the most beautiful girl in the entire fifth grade. But why did she transfer here so late in the year? Rumors say something bad happened to her.

Jared and Sophie become friends while walking the guidance counselor’s new puppy, but when his parents object to this arrangement, Jared fabricates a series of elaborate lies to meet Sophie on the sly. But little brothers can be pests. First Petey lets the orange cat loose at the animal shelter where Jared and Sophie have been secretly walking the dogs. Then Petey turns up missing. And Sophie's past finally catches up with her.

More Linda Benson at Amazon

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Paul was an amazing find at a blog hop. Check out his fun books!

Lionel’s Grand Adventure is a beginning chapter book about a twelve year old boy who is constantly subjected to ridicule from his Mom and older brother. Things change when he makes a seemingly innocent discovery. The magical, yet unpredictable, Three-Toed-Potbellied Walbaun foot takes him on the adventure of a lifetime. Explore Lionel’s adventure and discover the wonderful world of the magical Walbaun foot and the lesson that it helps teach Lionel. My book helps children who want to feel better about themselves. It helps them find a role model. Lionel is very comfortable with who he is despite his physical shortcomings and his bullying Mom and older brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marie has become an amazing friend. I realized she wasn't here as I read her book. It was ton of fun! She claims to be shy, but I get wonderful message stretches out of her on Facebook when I need a chat! :)

Another Prolific buddy with MG & YA books. Kai Strand 

Tragedy has left Cara Cassidy broken and the only thing keeping her from giving in completely is her guilt. Until Nik Rock.Nik stirs up feelings in degrees she has never experienced, and causes her to do things that most assuredly give him the wrong impression – like kiss him before their first date. Somehow, he breaks down the walls around her emotions until she has no choice but to forgive herself and feel again.But a mysterious, troubled past follows Nik, and Cara may prove to be his weakest link.When a royal princess shows up looking for Nik, and an international gang arrives looking for missing jewels, Cara lands in mortal danger. Will she be able to save herself? What will happen to her newly repaired psyche if she loses Nik?Romance, mystery, and high stakes – just another day in high school.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

http://www.kaistrand.com/young-adult.html

S.J. Henderson is a great gal & on the growing TBR pile!! Stand by for the sequel....

"This is no ordinary pencil,” says the cat sitting on the end of nine-year-old Daniel’s bed. "It's magic." 

Everything Daniel draws with his pencil--flying dragons, Octobears, and pizza-loving aliens from the planet Beezo--comes to life. It’s pretty awesome until the pencil draws a line between Daniel and his best (and only) friend Annie. 

Come along with Daniel and his fantastic creatures on this fun-for-the-whole-family journey as he discovers that friendship is the greatest magic of all. 

Daniel the Draw-er is available for purchase now for eReaders and as a paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or in S.J.'s store.

Website

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Some great fantasy for you! I'm looking forward to more in this series as well!

For his sixteenth birthday, all Jon wanted were the keys to the family car. Instead, he got a lousy magic ring…

Artistic prodigy Jon Hansen yearns to fit in, but when he stumbles onto a supernatural kidnapping, his life changes forever. Unfortunately, his search for answers uncovers a magical secret—one that makes Jon a danger to everyone around him.

The Wolf Clan wizard Efysian has been draining the magic from Yden. On a quest for eternal power, he’s willing to kill to feed his addiction. To harness the ultimate source of energy, he travels to Earth. This time, however, he has a persistent witness to his crime.

Can Jon survive long enough to outwit the most evil wizard the magical world has ever known? Or will Efysian add the young wizard to his gruesome collection of trophies?

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marie has become an amazing friend. I realized she wasn't on my page as I read her book. It was ton of fun! She claims to be shy, but I get wonderful message stretches out of her on Facebook when I need a chat! :)

Once you find out your mother is an alien, what ISN’T possible?! 

That’s what 12-year-old Anne and 10-year-old Atticus Reade want to know. Minutes after learning that their mother is from the planet Farbookonia and that their parents’ secret project has put them all in danger, the children are wrenched from their sheltered existence in the Midwest and whisked off to a safe sleep-away camp in New Jersey — each with a tiny, protective “Globot” on one shoulder. 

Painfully aware they’re not like the others at camp, Anne and Atticus do their best to fit in while concealing their alien background and the “special talents” that go with it. But everything is so new to them, they have a hard time sorting reality from fiction. Quirky campers, campfire ghost stories, a bizarre camp director, Anne’s mysterious dreams, and Atticus’s unusual animal encounters are all equally disturbing. 

Just as they start getting the hang of life among young Earth humans, a broadcast on the Rec Hall TV shakes things up, and things that are truly strange emerge from normal newness. It turns out Anne and Atticus — and their new friends — may not be safe at camp after all. A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp thrusts them into a reality they wish was fiction. 

Website

Facebook fan page

Amazon buy link

She also makes the most adorable book charms!