Surprise!!

More publishing secrets!

I’m sure you’re wondering why I am back in your inboxes so soon after the last announcement, but I had one more secret up my sleeves that I can finally talk about!

I GET TO BE A MIDDLE GRADE AUTHOR!!!

I don’t know how many of you were around while I was querying this, and I’ve not talked about it much during the last year and some change while we’ve been on sub since, well, there wasn’t much to talk about while it was on sub, and there were a lot of things to do with Child of the Dragon. It was a long time on sub—middle grade is not in a great place these days between book bans, the literacy crisis, paper costs, big box book stores not stocking as many middle grade books anymore, etc etc etc. But that’s why I care so much about this book and middle grade in general! Middle grade is the age range just before YA—the about 8-13 range—and those kids deserve books for them! I’ve fought tooth and nail for this book, and it’s so surreal to finally have this little blue box Publisher’s Marketplace deal announcement for it!

About three and a half years ago, I was sure Child of the Dragon was doomed. It was time to think about moving on. But I’d spent so long with CotD (and the series!) that those were my only ideas I had at the time. I was really worried I’d run out of ideas. But one day, I was driving alone in my car on the way to go teach a poison prevention class to some preschoolers for my grad school internship with the health department, and I just had this idea: What if paranormal investigators, but one of them is the paranormal they’re investigating???

Something about that idea really excited me. I’d only ever written YA, so I immediately started trying to think about it in terms of writing YA or even adult. But very quickly I realized that no…this was a middle grade story through and through.

It’d been a long time since I’d read middle grade books besides some of the newer Percy Jackson books, though. So, I spent months reading middle grade paranormal books, and absolutely fell in love with middle grade!

It very nearly wrote itself. I had a few plot hiccups and the ending was difficult to get right—I even eventually got my agent after an R&R that needed me to completely redo the ending—but this book wanted to be written. I wanted to tell this story about friendship, and love, and pancakes and werewolves. It’s silly, it’s wholesome, it’s cozy, it’s a little bit spooky, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written.

I know as we get older, we don’t really read much middle grade anymore. They rarely trend on tiktok or instagram. With all the issues I mentioned before, they can be hard to know they even exist. But, C.S. Lewis said it best when he said “some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again,” and that’s how I feel about middle grade books! We outgrow them as teenagers, but I feel strongly that they’re worth revisiting as adults. I’ll give some recommendations for my favorites at the end!

But even if you personally don’t want to read a middle grade book again, if you have any 8-13 year olds in your life, would you consider telling them about this book when it comes out? I wrote this for them, and I really, really hope it finds them.

Here’s the blurb:

12-year-old Sophie, a 6th grader at Forest Hills Elementary School, knows mythological creatures are real—she just has to prove it. And when she finds what she believes to be werewolf tracks in the park on the way to school, she knows this could be her chance to finally find a mythological creature. She just needs to grab her best friend Lizzie, follow the tracks, and BOOM. Werewolf proof.

Lizzie, a 6th grader with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), adores Sophie and usually loves to go on ghost hunts with her, but this time is different. Because, um, well...those tracks Sophie found? They lead right to Lizzie’s house. She’ll help Sophie, of course she will. But she can’t let her friend find out that not only are werewolves very, very real...she is one.

But when Lizzie finds werewolf tracks that don’t belong to her, she knows that means there’s a new wolf in town—and based off the tracks, they’re not just new to town, but likely to lycanthropy as well. If someone is out there creating new werewolves, that means there might be a much more dangerous force at work that could put Sophie, Lizzie, and their friendship in danger. If Lizzie can’t stop the rogue werewolf in time, werewolves could be exposed to the entire world—a world that would only see them as monsters.

SOPHIE’S GUIDE TO WEREWOLVES AND PANCAKES is a dual POV MG paranormal fantasy with elements of mystery, cozy spooky vibes, disability rep, a wholesome werewolf family, and so many pancakes… Seriously. So. Many. Pancakes (with bonus recipes for sourdough pancakes and waffles at the end). It will appeal to fans of the supportive paranormal family dynamics of Maria Tureaud’s The Last Hope in Hopetown and the friends and family solving paranormal problems of Mark Oshiro’s Jasmine is Haunted.

Middle grade books I recommend!

• Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin

• Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

• Mythspeaker by Christopher Roubique

• Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

• Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp
  Accidental Demons by Clare Edge

• River of Spirits by Shana Targosz

• The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay by Mary Averling (honestly anything by Mary Averling)

• The Skeleton Flute by Damara Allen

• Valentina Salazar Is Not a Monster Hunter by Zoraida Córdova

• Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

• Jasmine Is Haunted by Mark Oshiro

• Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

• Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

• Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd

Debuts I’ve read recently!

Go give them all some love!!

• Cursed Ever After by Andy C. Naranjo

• Second Time’s a Charm by Taylor Epperson

• Fire and Death by Jenee Dutary

• Alex, by Proxy by Karen Myna Cantor

• Fire to the Stars by Morgan J. Watchorn

Upcoming events!

August 29th

Starting at 12pm, I’ll be signing at the Farmington Station Barnes & Noble again! Swing by, say hi, get a book (or several!), and talk about dragons!

September 24th - 26th (date and time TBD)

I just found out that I’ve been accepted for at least one panel at FanX in Salt Lake City! I’ll keep you all posted on the time(s!) when I know more!

If you’ve not gotten a copy of Child of the Dragon, you can still get the book, ebook, and book box. And if you’ve had a chance to read, if you could take a moment to leave a review on any platform, it really helps so much! Find links for both here: https://ashleysheesley.wordpress.com/child-of-the-dragon/

Love you! Bye!!