Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts

August 11, 2014

Interview with author of The Briny Deep Mysteries trilogy

The new sci-fi/mystery trilogy, The Briny Deep Mysteries, is coming out September 1st, and it's going to be filled with twists and exciting turns that will keep middle graders reading!  To learn more about the writing of this exciting trilogy, we sat down with author Jennifer Torres:

Enslow Publishers: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Jennifer Torres: Since I was very young, I’ve always loved getting lost in a good book. Reading really fueled my imagination. I especially loved to read mysteries and stories about fantastical places. As I got older the idea of creating my own magical lands through writing was so exciting I just had to pursue it.

Enslow: How did you begin your writing career?

Torres: I began writing in journals as a child. My friends and I would also write scripts and plays and then share them with each other to review – and sometimes to act out.  After finishing school, I became a newspaper reporter and columnist. Over the years I worked as freelance journalist, writing for local and national magazines and newspapers. I’ve also written seven non-fiction children’s books, but THE BRINY DEEP MYSTERIES is my debut into middle grade fiction – and truly the kind of writing I’ve always wanted to do. 

Enslow: What inspired you to write “The Briny Deep” trilogy?

Torres: All the books I read growing up captured my imagination with incredible, edge of your seat stories that often involved secret passageways, doorways to other lands, or a compelling mystery seemingly beyond explanation. When I created the town of Briny Deep, I wanted to construct a place that had never existed before, populate it with a cast of amazing characters, and weave a spellbinding mystery that would engage and captivate readers in the same way I was as a child.

Enslow: Where there any particular obstacles you encountered while writing this book?


Torres: My ten year old was a bit of an obstacle because she wanted to use my laptop all the time to play her computer games. I tried to stick to an early morning schedule of writing – way before she woke up, so I didn’t have to wrestle her for it.

Enslow: When do you write best?

Torres: During the week, I like to get up early while it’s still dark outside and everyone else in the family is asleep. I brew a big cup of coffee and try to get a few hours of writing in. I feel most creative in the morning. But I also love to write when it’s raining outside or a storm is brewing. It really sets the mood for me.

Enslow:  If you weren’t a writer, what might you be doing instead?

Torres: I would be a detective or a private investigator.  I grew up wanting to solve mysteries. My childhood friend and I even opened our own “detective agency” – her dad built it for us in her backyard and we kept “files” on everyone in the neighborhood.

Enslow: What is your favorite children’s book?

Torres: I have so many books that I loved when I was growing up. My top three books would have to be; The Phantom Tollbooth, Harriet the Spy (she kept notes on everyone in her neighborhood too,) and A Wrinkle in Time.  Middle Grade books are my very favorite genre. The kind of books with secret passageways, time portals, and hidden paths to magical lands are the best.


Enslow: What kind of experience do you hope your readers have with “The Briny Deep” trilogy?

Torres: I want them to go on a thrilling ride, filled with fun twists and turns through the town of Briny Deep. As they read the series they should feel like they are on an adventure – and a quest for answers that keeps them excitedly reading until the wee hours of the morning, and leaves them with a true awareness of how much magic and wonder can be found inside a book.



Look for The Disappearing, The Return, and The Battle on SpeedingStar.com, or with your favorite bookseller.  

July 25, 2014

New YA science fiction novel available soon

Lost Republic, part of Enslow's Scarlet Voyage imprint and written by Paul B. Thompson, is available for pre-order and will be arriving in Enslow's warehouse soon.

In 2055, the future has arrived and the past is departing as the last steamship in the world prepares to cross the Atlantic on its final voyage. Alongside, a great glittering solar-powered vessel sails, too—a beautiful ship filled with beautiful people. On board the steamer are eight teens—some dreamers, some desperate—for whom the last voyage of the S.S. Sir Guy Carleton is only a step on a longer journey.

Soon the ship is far out to sea, and every layer of modern technology fails. Each teen must rely on their own special skills to survive—but where? What is the strange island in the Atlantic, where no island exists? Who are the men who speak an ancient tongue who capture the survivors of the stricken ship? With every breath a new mystery appears, and the desperate dreamers of the Carleton must find a way to live, or escape, the Lost Republic.

This science fiction/fantasy novel for YA readers will be available from your preferred vendor, enslow.com, bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

July 10, 2012

Do you know or have students who want to write fiction?

Creative Writing in 5 Simple Steps is a series of six titles, each of which discusses a different type of fiction. Each of these 48-page titles, written for upper elementary and middle school students, encourages writers to create their own type of fictional work.

Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3888-2
In Write a Graphic Novel in 5 Simple Steps, shows young, aspiring writers learn how to create new universes of their own through the unique combination of words and pictures that make a graphic novel.

Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3835-6
Author Amy Dunkleberger shows aspiring writers how to invent a believable mystery in Write a Mystery in 5 Simple Steps.
Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3837-0
Anyone who wants to write romance will discover five simple steps showing them how to do so in this title. Written by Suzanne Lieurance, useful tips, exercises, and referrals show readers how to create tales of epic romance.

Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3834-9
Fantasy fiction is a great genre for those who enjoy stories about wizards and witches, time travel, talking animals, and fairies. Laura Lee McKay demonstrates how to create fantasy fiction using five easy steps.

Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3836-3
Horror stories succeed if they strike terror in the reader. Author Laura Baskes Litwin describes the five steps used to get that fantasy fiction story written.

Library Binding: 978-0-7660-3844-8
Michael A. Schuman shows aspiring writers how to write science fiction. Robots, clones, computer technology, cyborgs, life under the ocean or on other worlds are all examples of this popular work of fiction.

All of the above titles are available as library bound books.