One of my many wonderful author friends has come out with another book for middle grade readers. I've know Braden to be a skilled writer who knows how to captivate young people on the page and keep them reading. Take a minute and find out more about Braden and his writing through this interview and promotional tour of his latest book.
Q: Tell us about
Penumbras.
A: Penumbras
is the second volume in The Middle School Magic series. The first installment, The
Kindling came out last summer.
I am currently working on the third volume, which will hopefully come out next
summer.
Q: “Penumbras”
is a somewhat unusual title. Can you explain it?
A: A penumbra is a vague, shadowy, area, neither
fully light nor dark. The Kindling, the first book in the series was about the
sparking of new and exciting powers. This particular book follows the
characters as they confront the complex consequences of those initial events
and confront the shadowy places in their own hearts.
Q: How did you
get the idea for this series?
A: One night during a sky-splitting spring thunderstorm,
my kids came home from a church activity and told me about a man they had seen
driving home. He had a black cape and was walking across people’s yards in the
storm. Wondering about who he was and what he was doing triggered the idea for
the book. I love that triggers can come from one single event. This is what happens to me too.
Q: What is your background?
A: I am a middle school choir and theatre
director at a small private school. I’m the father of five children and the
husband of one wonderful wife.
Q: Speaking of that background, is it a
coincidence that a middle school theatre and choir teacher has such a prominent
part in the book? How about the students and other teachers in the book? Are
they based on anyone specific?
A: Well, writers write what they know! Dr.
Timberi is admittedly similar to me in some ways. However, that’s not because
he’s modeled on me. Rather, it’s because he is someone I would like to be. As
far as the other characters, in the very beginning, I did sort of model their
voices on some specific people—but that changed within a few pages of the first
draft and they quickly become their own unique characters.
Q: Beyond
the characters, are there any other events based on real life experiences?
A: There is a sad
scene towards the end between Dr. Timberi and one of his students. While it is
not an exact replication, being a theatre director means I have dealt with
disappointed and/or angry students (and parents!) for many years. I tend to
have a pretty thick skin. However, there are occasional times when this gets to
me. This scene was actually inspired by a particularly difficult confrontation
with a student of whom I was quite fond. I wrote the scene as a way of working
through the incident—and ended up keeping it. The only other thing that might
be based in reality is the degree to which teachers truly do care about their
students. I don’t think the students often realize just how much teachers and
other adult figures care about them and what they would do to protect and help
them. I was a public school teacher for five years and my husband has been for over 25 years. I can relate to this very well.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do, besides
reading or writing?
A: My wife and I
love to watch old movies, or adaptations of literary classics. Nearly anything
by the BBC! I also love working in my yard. This is something I have in common with Braden. I love old movies and BBC, but I don't love working in my yard so much. I have a feeling from facebook posts Braden writes that we also both love Mexican food.
BLURB:
Conner Dell didn't meant to blow
up the school bus.
Or the bathrooms.
In fact, he only wanted to go to
sleep and possibly dream about Melanie Stephens.
But explosions had a funny way of
happening when Conner and his friends were around.
***
Conner Dell wants to be good--he
really does. But he is terrified that he might be turning into a Darkhand,
especially when new powers start to surface. What's worse, the Stalker is
following Conner, but no one else seems to be able to see him. The Magi think he
might be hallucinating, the guilt of what happened in the Shadowbox keeps
weighing on him, and his relationship with Melanie Stephens is complicating
things. Even for a Magi, Conner knows his life is anything but normal.
Author
Bio:
Braden Bell grew up in Farmington, Utah and
graduated from Davis High School. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
theatre from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in educational theatre from
New York University. He and his wife, Meredith live with their five children
on a quiet, wooded lot outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where he teaches
theatre and music at a private school. An experienced performer, Braden enjoys
singing, acting, reading, gardening, and long walks with the dog.
EXCERPT:
CHAPTER
ONE
SHADOW
PUPPETS
Conner Dell didn’t
mean to blow up the school bus.
Or the bathrooms.
In fact, he only
wanted to go to sleep and possibly dream about Melanie Stephens.
But explosions had
a funny way of happening when Conner and his friends were around.
It all started on
the annual seventh grade science trip to the Sea Lab at Dauphin Island,
Alabama. Fifty-four thirteen-year-olds on a five-day field trip. What could go
wrong?
Especially when
three of them happened to be Magi.
#
For a fraction of
a second, Conner thought he saw shadows slithering along the base of the
cinderblock walls. Tensing, he blinked and looked again.
Nothing. He was
alone in the darkness of his dorm room.
Well, except for
his friend and fieldtrip roommate, Pilaf.
Across
the room, Pilaf disturbed the darkness by turning his flashlight on and digging
through a giant floral print suitcase. Fishing a book out, Pilaf hunched over,
tucked the flashlight under his chin, and read.
“What
are you reading?” Conner asked.
“Sorry. Did I wake you up?” Pilaf
squeaked. “I couldn’t sleep. I guess I slept too much on the bus.”
“No
worries.” Conner burrowed into his sleeping bag. He didn’t like messing with
sheets on these trips. The springs of the ancient bed creaked beneath him. “I’m
not sleepy either.” Lexa? Can you hear me? Conner
reached out in his thoughts, wondering if his twin sister was awake in her room
on the girls’s floor. Head-talking was a cool benefit of being one of the
Magi—a secret group of warriors who used the power of Light to battle evil.
No answer from
Lexa. Her allergy medicine must have knocked her out.
Melanie? He tried Lexa’s best friend, Melanie Stephens—also
one of the Magi-in-training. Conner listened for her response, trying to ignore
the backflip in his chest that came when he thought of her. No answer. Melanie
had taken something for motion sickness on the bus. She must be knocked out
too.
Conner
jerked up as something skittered across the ceiling right above him. No doubt
this time. He grabbed his own flashlight, raking the beam across the ceiling
tiles as someone whispered his name.
Coooonnerrrrrr.
“What?”
Conner pointed his flashlight at Pilaf, who looked up from his book, blinking
behind his thick glasses. Pilaf’s blinks always reminded Conner of the way a
light on a computer blinked when it processed data.
“What?”
Pilaf squinted back at him.
“Why
did you call me?” Conner asked.
“I
didn’t.” Pilaf looked down at his book.
On edge now, Conner lay back down, scanning the room
for more shadowy movement, his fingers ready to snap his flashlight back on at
any second.
Co-n-n-e-r-r-r-r-r-r
D-e-l-l-l-l-l.
A
whispered, hissing sort of growl sounded in his head as a flicker of movement
caught his eye. He whipped his head around in time to see a shadowy tail vanish
under Pilaf’s bed. Flipping his flashlight on, he investigated the space under
the metal frame.
Nothing there.
“What
are you doing, Conner?” Pilaf managed to blink and stare at the same time.
Trying to
protect you from slithery shadow monsters that could slurp your soul like a
slushie, Conner thought. How could he keep
the flashlight on without alarming Pilaf? Out loud, he said, “Uh, it’s a game.
Flashlight tag. You’re it.” He shined the flashlight at Pilaf.
“How
do you play?”
“Well
. . . one person’s it and he shines a flashlight all over the room.”
“That’s
all?” Pilaf blinked until Conner wondered if he was broadcasting the telephone
book in Morse code. “It seems kind of pointless.”
“Uh,
yeah.” Conner said. “You’re right. Lame. How about shadow puppets?” He slipped
his hand in front of the flashlight, wiggling his fingers until the shadow
resembled a horse.
“Cool!”
Pilaf shouted.
A
knock at the door interrupted them and a tired-looking science teacher poked
his head in, glaring beneath tousled red hair. “What’s going on in here?”
“Sorry,
Mr. Keller,” Pilaf said. “We slept on the bus ride, so we’re not tired.
Conner’s making shadows with his hands. Look, a horse!”
“Neeeiiiiggghhh.”
Conner threw in sound effects as a special feature.
Apparently
unimpressed with great art, Mr. Keller frowned. “Get some sleep. We have a full
day tomorrow.”
“Yes,
sir.” Conner swallowed his depression at the thought of a five-day science
class. Five days of plankton, ocean salinity, salt marshes, and beach ecology.
Five days of science, 24/7. At least they were close to the beach. That might
be fun.
“Do
another one,” Pilaf whispered as the sound of Mr. Keller’s footsteps retreated
down the hall.
“Okay,
but be quiet this time.” Conner opened his fingers, making a snake’s mouth,
complete with a flickering tongue.
It seemed so real
that Conner thought he heard a hiss. Unsettled, he dropped his hands, but the
hissing noise continued, twisting into words.
Co-n-n-e-r-r-r-r-r-r
D-e-l-l-l-l-l—
Trying to squash
the sound, Conner raised his voice. “Here’s another one.” He cupped his hands
on top of each other, stuck his thumb up, and opened his fingers slightly.
“Wow!” Pilaf
yelled. “A wolf!” He giggled as Conner opened the mouth and growled. “Little
pig, little pig let me come in.” Conner prayed that none of the other
seventh-grade boys heard he’d been doing Three Little Pigs shadow plays. That
would not be cool.
Co-n-n-e-r-r-r-r-r-r
D-e-l-l-l-l-l—
The weird voice
came louder. Conner dropped his hands away from the flashlight.
The wolf head
stayed there.
Fighting panic,
Conner switched the flashlight off, but the wolf head remained, darker than the
darkest shadows on the wall.
It stretched and
grew bigger, becoming life-sized within seconds. It turned and stared at
Conner, a three-dimensional head sticking out of the wall like some kind of
freaky hunting souvenir.
The wolf growled,
then jumped off the wall, and sailed across the room toward Conner.
Are you intrigued by this book yet? Or have thought of a favorite young person who would enjoy it. Here's some links to find out more.
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