My son, Dark Omen, started reading Tom Swift when he was six. We had several of the stories left over from Dad’s youth, the only books he read as a child, according to him. Tom was a swashbuckling boy-genius inventor who, along with his wealthy family, owned Swift Enterprises and had access to all kinds of gadgets, labs, and explosive… Read More
Lovely readers, the wonderful folks at Upstart Crow Literary pointed me to this video, the latest idea about how to bring e-readers to kids (in this case, through an iPhone App/Picture book mating): Now this book doesn’t have words, or really a story. It’s more of a touchscreen demo of the possibilities that could come. I’ve blogged about e-readers, and other… Read More
NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) update: Well, I finished NaNo and it was a bit of a wild ride. Clocking in at 58,878 words, the last two being THE END, I wrote a YA (young adult) paranormal novel in a month. No vampires, I promise. And it wasn’t that hard. I’m not saying it was easy, but in retrospect, all it really… Read More
Many people enjoy a certain author and find they like all of that author’s books. This is especially true of genre writers, but also with more literary authors. This is partially due to the author’s Voice. Voice is something that writers continually struggle to master – it is the language, dialogue and mannerisms that make a character, or a book in general, have a… Read More
Today, we have a guest blogger! Dark Omen (aka my 11 year old son) will be reviewing Book 2, Flyte, of the Septimus Heap series, by Angie Sage. Flyte: What to Look Out For by Dark Omen Flyte, the second book in the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage is a good story. It has clearly defined good and evil… Read More
For the most part, here on Ink Spells, I will only review stories I have read myself. However, to give you an idea of other books that have passed the Mom Muster, I’ll be continually adding to this list of books the munchkins have read. Only you can save mankind, by Terry Pratchett Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, by Adrienne… Read More