Sands Hetherington's Blog, page 19

Our First Night Buddies Go Sky High Review!

For those of you who have been following this blog regularly, you know that we over here at the Night Buddies Headquarters are gearing up for the release of Night Buddies Go Sky High, the third book in the Night Buddies series! If you haven’t seen the cover yet, here it is again.

Well, we have some pretty big news to share with you. Grady Harp, the prominent Amazon Hall of Fame reviewer, posted an amazing review for Night Buddies Go Sky High! For those of you unfamiliar with Harp, he is a 66-year-old gallerist, retired surgeon, and poet who has reviewed over 3,500 books, CDs, and movies for Amazon, as well as a reviewer for Literary Aficionado. In turn, he has attained a kind of celebrity, a number 7 ranking, a prominent profile on Amazon, and a pretty hefty following.

Some snippets of the review include:

“Hetherington’s manner of dialogue writing is unique and at all times a delight.”

“Where Night Buddies Go Sky High excels is in the pacing of the story – lots of lingering time to laugh, but equal momentum time to make the adventure exciting for children.”

“Hetherington is so adept at writing for children that his books become instant classics – and that means that after lights out, parents will tiptoe in and grab some of this confection for themselves! Highly recommended.”

We couldn’t be happier with the review, and we hope you all go out and give it a read! Thanks so much for continuing on the Night Buddies journey—we will continue releasing more information about the release in the coming weeks!

 

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What are the Night Buddies Thankful For?

This holiday season we sat down with the characters of the Night Buddies series and figured out what they were thankful for this year. Here’s what they said:

Crosley: I’m thankful that me an’ John get to go out on more and more Programs together an’ that we can make each other laugh. An’ I’m thankful for pineapple cheesecakes of course! By the way, have ya got any with you?

John: I’m thankful that I had trouble sleeping at night, because that’s what got me started as a Night Buddy! And I’m thankful for all the friends I made because of it, even if they do all make fun of my curly hair an’ big, round brown eyes.

Big Foot Mae: I’m thankful that I’m the biggest woman you ever seen, because it sure makes me unique. And I’m thankful for Crosley keeping me in business. That crocodile sure does love my pineapple cheesecakes!

Crenwinkle: I’m sure thankful (Wuk!) for my brother, and for John making sure that he stays focused on the Programs I give ‘em! I’m glad that my whatchamacallits get some use, too, because I put a lot of effort (Wuk!) into making those.

Fast Fanny Farnsworth: I’m thankful for my All-Night Emporium staying in business, and for the Night Buddies taking my far-out flying machines for a spin during their second Program. And I’m thankful that I’ve somehow managed not to kill Crosley yet! (He sure does drive me crazy sometimes!)

Sounds like the Night Buddies have a lot to be thankful for! What are you thankful for this holiday season? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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John and Crosley: The Makings of a Dynamic Literary Friendship

Crosley picked out John to be his Night Buddy, for starters.  There must have been a lot of reasons, but the only one Crosley mentions is middle names.  Crosley doesn’t have one, and neither does John, so they have this in common.  Crosley thinks it makes you a little sharper, too.  And hey, we know that John is really sharp, and Crosley is definitely no slouch, so maybe there’s something in it.

The two characters couldn’t help but hit it off with each other.  John doesn’t want to go to bed, so Crosley rescues him and takes him out on adventures.  Crosley for his part gets a genial and very capable partner for his “Programs.”  Sharing these adventures, the good and the bad parts, bonds the two all the more.

John and Crosley are very different, obviously, and before I go any further, I have to confess something.  After I finished The Pineapple Cheesecake Scare, I realized I had used a device made famous by Cervantes and Mark Twain.  (When you steal, steal from the best.)  I don’t know whether Mark Twain had Sancho Panza and the Don in mind when he wrote Tom Sawyer (I promise I wasn’t thinking of any of them when writing my story), but Tom and Huck are very similar to Cervantes’ two protagonists.  There Tom is, the impractical romantic (Don Quixote), and there’s Huck, the no-nonsense, pragmatic sidekick that Tom needs in order to stay grounded (Sancho).  Two pairs of opposites who rely on and complement each other.

Exactly like John and Crosley.  John is the sensible, down-to-earth partner, and Crosley is goofy, full of wild ideas, and ready to fly off to Mars at a moment’s notice for a few pineapple cheesecakes.  And just like those other characters, they appreciate and honor each other’s differences.  They are a team that’s better than the sum of its parts.  This, and their mutual adventures (and maybe a little insomnia) are the essence of their friendship.

And having no middle names doesn’t hurt.

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The Original Mad Hatter?

My son John, who doubles as narrator in the Night Buddies series, is the namesake of our colorful ancestor, John Hetherington, a haberdasher of the Strand in London. Old John is my four-times great-grandfather, and may well have been the prototype for Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter. Surely Mr. Carroll knew about him, because they still talk about what he did, and it made it into Ripley’s Believe It or Not a half-century ago.

Briefly, what old John did was introduce the top hat to London. But I’ll let the The Times (London) take it from there.

January 16, 1797: “John Hetherington, haberdasher of the Strand, was arraigned before the Lord Mayor on a charge of breach of the peace and inciting to riot, and was required to give bonds in the sum of 500 pounds. It was in evidence that Mr. Hetherington, who is well connected, appeared on the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat (which was offered in evidence), a tall structure having a shining lustre, and calculated to frighten timid people. As a matter of fact, the officers of the Crown stated that several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped, and a younger son of Cordwainer Thomas, who was returning from a chandler’s shop, was thrown down by the crowd which had collected, and had his right arm broken. For these reasons the defendant was seized by the guards and taken before the Lord Mayor. In extenuation of his crime, the defendant claimed that he had not violated any law of the kingdom, but was merely exercising a right to appear in a head-dress of his own design—a right not denied to any Englishman.”

The Times wrote the following day: “Hetherington’s hat points to a significant advance in the transformation of dress. Sooner or later, everyone will accept this headwear.” (Actually it would take another 50 years.) “We believe that both the court and the police made a mistake here.”

Some kerfuffle! I am unclear about how the Lord Mayor found, but an aunt told me the 500 pounds was actually a fine, and that John was transported to Sligo, Ireland, in lieu of producing such a sum. In any case, he produced great-great-great-grandfather James there in 1807. James produced eleven children, and some of them came to the U.S.A.

My son and narrator related most of this to the Dean of Admissions at the University of London when he was thinking of matriculating there. I don’t know if it helped, because he decided to go to the University of Edinburgh instead. He did point out the Strand to me once, though, when we were crossing it on the way to somewhere else. It’s a big, wide street.

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Crosley’s Black Bottom Dance

I’ve heard that the Black Bottom started in Atlanta, in New Orleans, and in Jacksonville, Florida, in the first decade of the 20th century. It became well known by semi-rural blacks across the south then, and by the 1920s, it found its way up to Harlem where it was featured at the Apollo Theater in 1926 and 1927. From there it became a national sensation! Its rhythm was based on the Charleston, another popular dance at the time, but people loved the Black Bottom so much that it actually surpassed the Charleston in popularity.

Crosley didn’t know about any of this when the allergy first hit him. Somehow the moves had passed into his system, and now they take him over completely whenever he gets wet! He can’t understand why the dance was so popular. (It takes a lot of energy out of a crocodile!) He personally can’t wait until he gets dry and his body stops having a mind of its own.

You can see people doing the Black Bottom on Google if you want to, but we’ve also got a link to a video on YouTube here:

So far there are no such recordings of Crosley, and that’s just fine with him.

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Exclusive Cover Reveal: Night Buddies Go Sky High!

We over here at the Night Buddies Amalgamated have some exciting news for you!

The third Night Buddies book, Night Buddies Go Sky High, is going to be released early next year! We will provide you with an exact release date soon, but for now we are officially revealing the cover.

As you can see, John and Crosley are going to be in for some out-of-this-world adventures! Each Program the Night Buddies go on only gets bigger and more exciting.

In this new book, when young John Degraffenreidt and his red crocodile buddy, Crosley, show up at the Pineapple Cheesecake Factory and find Big Foot Mae lying on the floor, staring up at her Great Star Puzzle on the ceiling, they expect something’s afoot. Not surprisingly, Crosley is craving a new supply of pineapple cheesecakes, but what Mae points to on her ceiling will start the Night Buddies on a totally new fantasy adventure.

This is one book you’re not going to want to miss out on!

Before the book is launched, I’d like to get your thoughts about the book cover in the comments below. For example, what does the cover say to you? Does it grab you?

If this is the first time that you’re hearing about the Night Buddies series, be sure to check out the first two titles, available on Amazon and B&N.com.

Stay tuned to this blog for more exciting news to come!!

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See You at the North Carolina Writer’s Network Fall Conference!

Fall is here and with it another round of the North Carolina Writer’s Network Fall Conference. The Conference offers a chance for writers of all skill levels and stages of development to network, hone their craft, and develop the marketing skills to take their writing to the next level. I (along with Crosley and John) will be attending and look forward to seeing you there, especially if you are a writer. Writing conferences like this give me an opportunity to learn new ideas and perspectives on the field and craft of writing. With eBooks, social media, and more, writing is not the same as it used to be!

I’ll also be unveiling the cover for my third book in the Night Buddies book series, so feel free to stop my booth to check it out! (Hint: It involves flying and possibly a dessert!) If you cannot make it to the conference, we’ll be revealing the cover in an upcoming blog, so stay tuned!

Information about the Conference 

The North Carolina Writers’ Network 2014 Fall Conference runs November 21-23 at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel in uptown Charlotte. Fall Conference attracts hundreds of writers from around the country and offers workshops and master classes in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, lectures and panels on publishing and finding an agent, and the opportunity to have your manuscript reviewed by literary agents and editors. Allan Gurganus will give the Keynote Address. Saturday’s luncheon features Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina’s seventh poet laureate, and the Annual Banquet on Saturday night features the inimitable Wilton Barnhardt. Register now at www.ncwriters.org.

For those of you that use Twitter, the hashtag for the conference is @Writingeststate.

(Special Note: The keynote speaker happens to be a fellow Civil War history buff like me! To learn more about my interest on the Civil War check out a recent interview I did for Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer. )

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“Wise Words for Writing Dialect” by Ol’ Sands

It goes without saying that you need to be very familiar with any dialect to capture it on paper. You need to be able to speak it yourself and “hear it inside your head” while writing it down. You need some innate talent, a natural “good ear,” in the same way that good musicians are “born.”

With that said, writing dialect is a balancing act. The trick is to deviate from standard orthography enough to impart the flavor and the distinctive “sound” you want, but not so much that the reading becomes difficult. And try to err on the standard side. If you write too phonetically, few will understand you (or put in the effort to try to). This is true for the King’s English (a dialect), Brooklynese, or southern Georgia. By definition, dialect departs from standard speech, but don’t overdo it. Use just enough in your writing to get by.

Let me illustrate this point with two pretty fair practitioners of black American dialect, William Styron and Roark Bradford:

“’Yam,” Arnold replied . . . ‘Majah Riblees he lib dar, ap yonnah road ap yonnah . . . Yam, me tek ‘ee dar, missy, me tek ‘ee dar . . . Yam, missy, me tek ‘ee Majah Riblees!’” (Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner, pp. 262-3)

“’Anywhar you says, John Henry,’ Julie Anne told him. ‘You go and den turn around and you see me standin’ at yo’ side. All de time like dat, John Henry.’” (Bradford, John Henry, p. 121)

See the difference? To be fair, Styron was trying to make a sociological point with his almost un-readable Afro-Virginia patois, and that small sample is all that he uses. Otherwise his book would suffer.

I have to say that Bradford has struck a more proper balance. To be phonetically “true,” he could have written:

“’Anywhar you says, John Henry,’ Julie Anne told him. ‘You go an’ ‘en tuin roun’ an’ ya see me stannin’ at yo’ side. All uh time lak dat, John Henry.’”

But he didn’t take it this far, and his version works much better than my corruption of it. It gives us the Louisiana flavor without stressing the reader.

Dialect is also an important component of children’s literature, such as in the novel Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. He studied the language of his Missouri hometown, Hannibal, which Tom’s town of St. Petersburg is based on, and used the pronunciations in the book. It resulted in language such as this:

“Hang the boy, cain’t I never learn anything? Ain’t he played me tricks enough for me t’know better? But old fools is the biggest fools there is. He pears t’know just how long he can tease before the anger starts.” (Twain, Tom Sawyer)

The dialect used should be somewhat simpler in children’s literature, as it is in the example above, since children are just starting to get the hang of reading grammatically correct English. However, using dialect does help them to sound out words and figure out their meanings based on that, so don’t be afraid to use dialect if you’re writing for kids!

At the end of the day, try to tread lightly when you write dialect into your narrative. No reader, no matter what their age, wants to be alienated by the language used when they pick up your book to read!

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A Single Dad’s Memoir

It was a terrible shock when my ex-wife first told me that she was going to be moving away and taking our son John with her. I did everything I could to talk her out of leaving, especially since this was at a time when mothers were usually always granted custody by the courts, but when we ended up going through the long, bitter legal process I was the one who was granted full custody of our son.

So there I was.  And, as strange as it may sound, single parenthood ended up seeming perfectly normal to me.  Maybe it’s different if you have several kids, but I had just one boy and ample time to spend on him—on us, I should say, because we did everything together. It was the most fun time I’ve had as an adult.  Spending time with John took me back to feeling like a kid again, but with an adult’s powers and privileges. I was like a vicarious kid on steroids.

We drove through forty-nine states and five Canadian provinces.  Our main travel thing was collecting waterfalls.  I’m fairly sure we saw every notable waterfall in North Carolina, not to mention every great one in North America. We did all of the father-son activities: little-league football, basketball, baseball, boxing, boating, golf, and camping.  We got Henry, a Saint Bernard puppy.  I loved every minute of the whole business (except getting him to practice piano, which I must say was a grinding experience).  I had to show John a good life, of course, and it certainly redounded to a great experience for me.

I fell into my present vocation as a children’s book author from all of this parenting.  I always read to John at bedtime, until he was about fourteen.  Listen, parents, you’ve got to do this!  I read him everything there was for kids, from Grimm and Tolkien and Dahl, up into Dickens and Victor Hugo.  One night when I was done reading (he was about seven), I may have suggested he make up a companion to go off to sleep with—or maybe he did it on his own.  The next day, anyhow, he introduced me to Crosley, his imaginary red crocodile friend.  I was duly charmed, and after that we started throwing Crosley ideas around at bedtime and inventing episodes for him.  This went on for over a year, and eventually I decided to put Crosley and John into a story.  As soon as I figured out why Crosley was red, everything fell into place.  (He was allergic to water!) In fact, if you look into the books, you can meet my son John when he was about nine or ten.  He’s the narrator.

With two titles in the Night Buddies series now (a third title will launch in early 2015) and seven national awards won so far, I’m proud to look back on what my son and I created together. Raising John by myself turned out to be quite a journey, but I think we’re both pretty happy with where we’ve ended up because of it.

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Understanding the Iguana Gang

If you’ve read the Night Buddies books, you know that the iguana gang stirs up all sorts of trouble for John and Crosley. They are a greedy, manipulative, and evil gang—all the things that Night Buddies are not. But maybe we are just misunderstanding the iguanas because we don’t know enough about them! Here are five of the most interesting facts we know about iguanas that might help you to understand the gang a little bit better.

1.)  Iguanas are among the most popular exotic animals kept as pets around the world, and because of this they’ve become an endangered species. I know if I was part of an endangered species, I might be a little crabby too!

2.)  Iguanas can be found in Mexico, Central America, several islands in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The iguanas in the Night Buddies books must be feeling a little out of place in the city. They might just be acting out because they aren’t familiar with the area.

3.)  Iguanas are herbivores, which means that they feed on leaves, flowers, fruit, and growing shoots of 100 different species of plant. There’s a reason they don’t like pineapple cheesecake. . .it doesn’t fit in with their very healthy diet.

4.)  An iguana’s tail can be broken off by predators, though it grows back without permanent damage. The iguana gang can feel pretty confident going out to fight knowing that a part of their bodies will grow back if they are somehow harmed by their enemies.

5.)  Iguanas can decide to end their own lives if they feel they are not being well taken care of by their owners. Our iguana gang really has to look out for one another and make sure each member is taken care of to make sure that doesn’t happen!

So there you have it. The iguana gang might have their reasons for being mean and greedy creatures, but it doesn’t make them any more likeable. Maybe one day they’ll learn that being mean to others won’t solve their problems, but thankfully for now we have John and Crosley to clean up their messes!

 

 

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