You CAN go home again!

You know that saying, “You can’t go home again.” It isn’t true. You can go home, and when you do, people will welcome you with open arms.

Last Friday, I had the pleasure visiting my former elementary school in Howard, South Dakota. Thanks to a large addition, the school was about twice as big as it was when I attended, yet the hallways and some of the classrooms seemed smaller. (Isn’t it funny how places seem smaller just because you are bigger?)

I read to the kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade classes, sharing my picture books Crabby Pants and Eleanore Won’t Share. They were wonderful and attentive listeners, Even though I spend my workdays thinking about children and their reading, it isn’t often I get to witness it. Until you hear a group of kids laugh at something you have written, you just never know if the joke really works. I am happy to say that I heard a few laughs on Friday, and saw many smiles.

The first graders all had questions ready for me.

Thanks to all the little Howard Tigers who listened so nicely, to the teachers who made room in their schedules, and to Mrs. Ulrich, the librarian who organized it all. Also, thank you to the familiar faces who came out to a book signing after school. It is all of you that make me proud to say Howard is my hometown.

Samantha Archer and the Field Trip Mysteries

Editor's Note: This month is National Field Trip Month and National Mystery Month. We asked author Steve Brezenoff to write about his favorite part about the creation of the Field Trip Mysteries. Check out our Mystery webpage!


When the editors at Stone Arch Books approached me with the Field Trip Mysteries concept, I jumped at the chance. Writing a mystery is great fun on its own, but the idea of a series, featuring four bright and interesting kids, plus the added concept of fun, educational venues — changing from adventure to adventure — sweetened the pot even more.

From the get-go, I knew I wanted to pay homage to some of my favorite mysteries of the past. Rather than look to Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, or Miss Marple, though, I decided to reference the classic detectives, crooks, and stars of American film noir. Several of the cast of the Field Trip Mysteries — regulars and "guest stars" — are named for those colorful characters. But that wasn't enough for me. So I created Samantha Archer.

Herself named for a couple of noir detectives played most famously by Humphrey Bogart and Jerome Cowan, Sam also brings something else to the party: the talk. By putting Sam in the care of her grandparents, and in front of their TV — so often playing the classic American detective films — I let Sam absorb and come to love the distinctive speech of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and their ilk.

Some of those authors' lingo simply won't work nowadays: even in context, modern readers simply won't get the meaning. "Get in the boiler, Bo, or I butter your necktie" probably won't be clear, especially to a striving reader. But used sparsely, and with clear context and even direct translation, such terms bring a tone to the stories that I particularly enjoy, and make Sam Archer my favorite character.

--Steve Brezenoff

ALA events

Meet the Authors
Capstone Author Signings at ALA 2009!
Booth 2040

Meet graphic novelist and bestselling author Donald Lemke! He will be signing copies of his popular Stone Arch Books titles Zinc Alloy vs. Frankenstein and the 2008 Junior Library Guild Premier Selection Captured off Guard: The Attack on Pearl Harbor, in addition to Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom from Captone Press. See him at the booth during the following signing sessions:
Saturday: 3:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m
Sunday: 11:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

Interested in engaging your reluctant readers? Meet Anastasia Suen, prolific blogger and author of more than 100 books for children. She will be signing Picture Window Books' The US Supreme Court (featured in the conference session Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks for Reluctant Readers) and the brand new Stone Arch Readers series Robot and Rico. Anastasia's available at the following times:
Sunday: 1:00 p.m.—2:00 p.m.
Monday: 11:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

Author q&a: Martin Powell

Martin Powell is the author of a number of our graphic novels and chapter books, such as Hound of the Baskervilles, Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Swiss Family Robinson, Adventures of Hercules, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, SUPERMAN: The Stolen Super-Powers, and BATMAN: The Fog of Fear. Here, he answers questions from the Stone Arch Books staff. Thanks, Martin!

Stone Arch Books: How did you become a writer?
Martin Powell: It was a very deliberate decision. I've wanted to tell stories since I was six or seven years old, and started writing and drawing my own books from around that time, in crayon. I've had other interesting jobs from time to time, from an educator in the paleontology gallery of a museum, to acting on stage and as an extra in film. Writing fiction has always been the most driving creative force in my life, and I always kept coming back to it. I'm very fortunate to have been a professional writer for 22 years. I love my job.

SAB: What’s your writing process?
MP: Depends upon the project. I'm a firm believer in research, and writing "what you know". For example, if you're composing a story about, say, a scientist or a detective, then you really need to take the trouble to learn something about them and how they work in real life. If you don't believe in your characters, your readers won't either. I do this full-time, eight to ten hours a day, five or six days a week.

SAB: What were you like as a kid?
MP: Oh my. Well, I have two older brothers who introduced me to comic books, and Batman, which helped me learn to read. My mom took me to the library a lot, too, so I was always bringing home these great books about dinosaurs, ghosts, and outer space. When my friends were out playing ball in the street, I'd rather be inside reading, writing, or drawing, like building a plastic model kit, or watching an old monster movie on our old grainy black-and-white TV. On weekends I spent a lot of time with my cousins on their farms in Kentucky. Being in the wide, open fields and deep, dark woods was very magical and mysterious, and certainly stirred my imagination. I had a wonderful childhood.

SAB: When you were a kid (the age of your readers) what did you want to be when you grew up?
MP: A writer! Guess I'm one of those very lucky individuals who always knew what he wanted to be pretty much from the start. My mom bought herself a portable typewriter when I was about nine years old.. Sometimes she let me use it to do my homework, and almost immediately I was hooked on that little machine. I used it a lot more than she ever did. Eventually she gave the typewriter to me, and hardly a day went by when I wasn't pounding away on it, mostly just to entertain myself.

SAB: What’s your favorite book?
MP: That's a tough question. There are so many. I love books. I guess it would probably be something in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan series, or L. Frank Baum's Oz books. The stories of Ray Bradbury are special favorites of mine, too.

SAB: What do you eat or drink as you’re writing?
MP: Diet Coke. Plenty of it. Too much of it. I really, really should cut down.

SAB: If you could have written any book, what book would it be and why?
MP: It would be extremely thrilling to write a graphic novel adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes. The jungle hero has always been a big influence to me. Also, someday, I'd love the chance to write a long-running series of mystery-adventure books with my own characters, for a younger audience. That would really be a dream come true!