Josh  Roberts

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Josh Roberts

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
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Member Since
May 2008

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Josh Roberts is the author of THE WITCHES OF WILLOW COVE series and forthcoming VICTORIA DARE series. His debut novel received starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal, and was also a Massachusetts Book Awards Must-Read and a Kirkus Book of the Month.

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Josh Roberts I’ve always believed that the best spooky stories are the ones that feel like they could be happening to real people in real places, so I knew from th…moreI’ve always believed that the best spooky stories are the ones that feel like they could be happening to real people in real places, so I knew from the beginning that THE WITCHES OF WILLOW COVE would be set in a small New England town like the one I grew up in.

The first kernel of an idea for this book came while I was serving jury duty in Salem district court many years ago. During a delay in the case, the judge explained that the famous Salem witch trials actually occurred in a neighboring town, because the town lines were different back then. The idea that much of the witch history we associate with Salem belongs to another town became one of the driving elements of my story.

The other major element came from my childhood. I was a huge fan of stories about the supernatural and unexplained: ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves, that kind of thing. Growing up, I lived in a three-story Victorian funeral home, complete with creaky floors, drafty windows, and a secret room sealed off from the rest of the house, so I spent a lot of time making up stories to spook myself and my friends. When I set out to write a story about witches in a small town with a secret history, I knew that my take on it would be: What happens when you find out you’re one of the spooky things that everyone’s afraid of?(less)
Average rating: 4.35 · 392 ratings · 202 reviews · 3 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Witches of Willow Cove ...

4.28 avg rating — 341 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions
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The Curse of Willow Cove (T...

4.80 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 2024 — 4 editions
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Victoria Dare and the Blood...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Making the Modern Spooky Middle-Grade Novel

Last year, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Rebecca Moody over at WritersRumpus.com about the growing popularity of spooky novels aimed at tween readers. Here’s an excerpt from our wide-ranging discussion.

Rebecca Moody: Why did you want to write a spooky middle grade novel? When you were developing The Witches of Willow Cove, did you decide you wanted to write something witchy, or did th Read more of this blog post »
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Published on January 24, 2020 07:13 Tags: fantasy, harry-potter, interview, magic, mg, middle-grade, witch, witches, ya, young-adult
The Witches of Willow Cove The Curse of Willow Cove
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4.35 avg rating — 391 ratings

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating

Prisoner of Night...
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by Anne Blankman (Goodreads Author)
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Black Point
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The Arkadians
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Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
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Black Point by Jacqueline West
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Josh and 3 other people liked Robin's review of Gypsy Rizka:
Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander
"Lloyd Alexander is one of those authors who wrote many books, the more of which one reads, the more one fancies oneself to be on a mission to read them all. I have already read a lot of them, but I still have a long way to go. I am happy about that, " Read more of this review »
Josh and 9 other people liked Tessa's review of Gypsy Rizka:
Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander
"This was my introduction to Lloyd Alexander. It was the line "Rizka lived by her wits, but since they were quick wits she lived not too badly" on the second page that made me realize that I was a Lloyd Alexander devotee for life.

Reread: August 13 20" Read more of this review »
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The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander
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The Kestrel by Lloyd Alexander
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Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
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Last One Out by Jane Harper
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Goodreads Librari...: [DONE] Some editions of my upcoming book are associated with the wrong author 4 288 May 27, 2024 06:47AM  
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