Book Party for Aspiring Authors

 

In 2017 my husband, Nick Goss, began a fun journey of turning bedtime stories into a fantasy series for middle grade students (ages 8-12.) This series is called "The Traveler's League" and is a collection of 5 books that follow a group of children who use a magical timepiece to portal into different worlds.

Nick and Christian would create characters and plots at bedtime and when I would gather with the children at the breakfast table the next morning, Christian couldn't wait to tell me what happened in the latest "chapter" of the story! I encouraged Nick to use his wordsmith talents to start writing down this story!

The book The Timepiece was Nick's first novel and published a year after he began creating these stories and worlds with our children. It wasn't long before "Lady Inspiration" continued her work and more stories were born out of this idea. Braxo's Escape, Fire and Chaos, The Pirates of Scuggi, and The Black Fox finish telling the story of Hoops and the Traveler's League and how they are able to put everything right that has been wronged by the evil in the 12 worlds. We have loved hearing from children that enjoy the stories and were thrilled to have our local paper write about Nick's books! 

Here is the synopsis of book 1:

Twelve magical worlds await young 'Hoops'.

And Evil wizard waits, too...

Hoops craves adventure and the chance to be a hero.
But will his appetite for danger and exploration be his undoing?

It’s not an adventure ‘til something goes wrong. That’s what the Traveler’s Code says.

On the way home from school, a strange red-headed teenager gives Hoops a mysterious gift; an old timepiece. When Hoops accidentally unlocks the magic of the timepiece, he’s whisked away and forced to travel through twelve different worlds. If he can survive the adventure, he’ll be inducted into The Traveler’s League, an ancient order of brave children who have all made their own journey with the timepiece.

Little does Hoops know that an evil wizard, trapped in one of the worlds, will stop at nothing to steal the timepiece and escape to the other worlds, where his power can be unleashed and he can carry out his revenge against the Traveler’s League.

Can Hoops evade the wizard’s snares and become a member of the Traveler’s League?

 

We've been so thrilled for Nick's success in this genre and the passion he has for writing stories! He has been continuing to hone his talent and inspires our children to write down their stories and ideas. Eva Mae has filled so many journals with her ideas and stories and Christian inspires many of the ideas and plot lines for books like the next adventure series, Hacker Jack.

We wanted to host a book party for aspiring authors where Nick can answer questions about what it's like to create characters for a book, write an outline, visualize scenes and describe with words, and do the tedious work of editing, formatting, and hiring artists and others to make it to the final publishing.

This is truly not a self promotion party and I hope it doesn't come across that way! In fact, the really exciting part of this party is that all the students participating will actually be writing a book that they will take home after the party!

Here's how it works: Read or listen to the audio book of the Timepiece. Pay special attention to the characters of the "Frumps" or "Marsh Trolls" in the chapters Hapis and The Escape. For this activity, students will be completing a Google form (moms, you can do the typing) to supply Nick with the background information on the world of Hapis (the 9:00 world.) There is always an opportunity to create a "backstory" in fiction! In fact, a great lesson to do with your students as they write down their ideas is to learn about "Fan Fiction!" For a storyboarding worksheet to use in writing, download and print this sheet to use!

I also read a great article about the benefits of fan fiction writing for students who are new to writing and finding their "voice!"

Nick will be taking elements from everyone's Google Form entry and will be writing a short story book and publishing this as a free ebook. However, there will be an option for the purchase of paperback books and all the proceeds of this book purchase will be going to a homeschool charity, Generation Joshua. 

Since Nick will have to write, edit, and order author copies of the book for all the children, we need to put a completion date on the Google Form. All entries must be entered and received by January 8. For a suggested timeline, add the book now to your reading pile and complete your reading or audiobook by Christmas! Keep a notebook handy as you read chapters Hapis and The Escape. Think about what the history of the Marsh Trolls could be. How did they get to the land of Hapis? Was the land a warm land before something bad happened? Were the Marsh Trolls always an angry people or do you think something happened to make them grumpy? How many travelers do you think went to Hapis before Hoops? Create a character of a traveler from the past and how he or she interacted with the Marsh Trolls in Hapis. Or, write about an adventure that Doc, Jonathan, or Myra might have had before Hoops traveled into the nine o'clock world. Since all the "Frumps" are a grumpy species, do you think there are any within the world that are cheerful and have to live in hiding from the rest of the village?

Take these ideas and run with them! Nick will be turning each entry into a collection of short stories with your child's name or pseudonym! They will leave the book party with the title of author and their own copy of their book! It will be a special memory for everyone! I hope you can put the date on your calendar and participate in this fun party with us! I'll be in contact with everyone in January to make sure all the entries are complete and will update you on party details through your e-mail!

Complete the Google Form below: