A Very Wilderson Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I ate way too much (as one does) and saw a movie. The Man Who Invented Christmas. See it, if you can. It was lovely.

So, it has been a crazy week. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the holiday weekend, and now Cyber Monday. By the way, if you're looking for good books to give to kids as holiday gifts, might I suggest Under Locker and Key? ;)

 

Also, the SCBWI BookStop goes through November 30, so it's a great way to look up kids' books during this time. Consider it an online catalogue that you can comment on (and the authors can see your comments!).

Anyway, with it being Thanksgiving and all, I also spent time considering what I'm thankful for, like my family, good books and music, delicious and healthy food, a good night's sleep before a run, candy sugarplums, Christmas specials, Jell-O, clever jokes, etc. I'm sure lots of you did the same exercise in gratitude over the holiday.

So, I thought it might be fun to ask my characters to name 5 things they are thankful for. Here are their answers:

Jeremy Wilderson

- My parents. And my meathead brother Rick, sometimes. Rarely. Very rarely.
- Case and Hack, for the way they have my back and don't laugh (too much) when I fall out of the ceiling on a job.
- My lockpick set, of course. I'd be grounded so many times over without it.
- My grappling hook, for the same reason.

- Chocolate cake. I'm grateful for chocolate cake. What? Did you think I was going to same a certain uptight detective? Ha. No.

Becca Mills

- I guess I have to start with my family, right? It would be wrong not to.
- Law and justice. Or are those two different things? Either way, I'm grateful for how they exist to keep the world ordered and safe.
- Police and lawyers, for upholding law and order through justice.

- My camera. I'm recording this interview on it right now!
- Dirty rotten thieves who remind me why it's so important to honor the law and not give in to sneaky schemes as well as inspire me to work harder to catch them!

Case Kingston

- J and Hack. Of course.
- My collection of acrylic paints. Or do I say my brushes? Argh! The conflict of an artist.
- My parents. And (sigh) my sisters. Even the annoying ones. As long as they don't snoop around my room! And my little brother, for bringing balance to the Force.
- Elmyr de Hory (look him up) for being an inspiration to us all.

- The Philadelphia Eagles. No matter how the seasons go, they're my team.

Paul "Hack" Heigel

- Mom, for working so hard and bailing me out of detention.
- Dad, for teaching me the skills that put me in detention.
- Case and J, even though they accuse me of using cheat codes when we play video games.
- Video game cheat codes.
- The internet. I don't know what I'd do if it had never been invented. Maybe avoid trouble, but at what cost?

BONUS INTERVIEW:

Rick Wilderson

- My family. Including Dr. Evil. He makes me look like the good kid.
- Football. And, by extension, my amazing physique.
- The virtue of humility.
- Root beer. Nectar of the gods.
- Mathematics. What? I can't be a jock and smart, too? Shame on you for falling prey to stereotypes.

Here is this week's debut:

Middle Grade:
Sarah Cannon - Oddity (11/28)

Book Report!!!

I made the first Christmas cookies of the season!

Aren't they cute? They're Chocolate Candy Cane Kiss Cookies, from the recipe in the link in this sentence. If you look closely, though, you can see I added some red sugar sprinkles in with the white sugar on the outside, because I'm starting to feel like a fraud if I don't alter a cookie recipe in some way (even if it's pretty insignificant).

Anyway, today I need to share the cutest thing! My agent's nephew read Under Locker and Key and did a book report on it, and I freaking love it. She sent me pictures, which also ended up on Twitter (not by my doing):

I guess the assignment was to make a box for the book and fill it with items that represent the story. Those of you who've read Under Locker and Key, any guesses to what this kid put in the box? Okay, got your guesses? Now, scroll down to find out.

A key, like the master key.

Lock picks, always important for the aspiring retrieval specialist.

GRAPPLING HOOK!

And we can't forget the burned rag that may have caused a grease fire. May.

I. LOVE. THIS. I think it's so cute and creative and I love seeing that kids are 1) reading my book and 2) enjoying it enough to make such fun book reports about it. It's very flattering. I know kids have a lot of great books to read, better than mine (I know because I read them too), so I'm honored that I could make the list some of the time.

I know one thing I'll be giving thanks for this week!

In other news, I'm still doing SCBWI's BookStop, and I bring this up because the holiday season is about to start, and mine isn't the only page. You can look at a whole bunch of new books and ind that special book for a special kid. Lots of great books on this list!

There are no debuts this week. Enjoy the holiday!

The Adventures of Florida Man

You know I like superheroes, right?

And you also know I like internet memes, or at least I hope you do.

So, today I'm combining these things as I look at a true internet superhero: FLORIDA MAN!

I know, I know, I'm not the first to document this hero, nor am I the best. Consider this a tribute, a moment of entertainment, for you. Then go enjoy the Twitter for the full experience.

Maybe you've heard tell of Florida Man and his heroics:

Maybe you thought they were fake news, as surely nobody as amazing as Florida Man could possibly exist:

And honestly, half the time (or most of the time) I'm right there with you in that disbelief:

But in the end, there's often too much documentation to credit everything Florida Man does as a hoax:

Sometimes we fear that this cannot last, that sooner or later Florida Man's exploits will come back to haunt him, and sometimes we're right:

But then there's always another hero ready to take up the mantle:

So let's hear it for the hero we neither needed nor deserved, but when we're bored and in need of humor, we often want: FLORIDA MAN!

Stay tuned for the coming adventures of ARKANSAS WOMAN!

*DISCLAIMER: I don't actually know how many of these headlines are true or even honestly represented. I present them to you as pieces of a story about a character known by the internet as "Florida Man." Take them as the memes they are.*

In other news, I'm still doing the SCBWI BookStop, so come by and check out my page!

Here are your debuts for this week:

Middle Grade:
Jeff Ruby - Penelope March is Melting (11/14)

Young Adult:
Ruth Lehrer - Being Fishkill (11/14)

Halloween Weekend, Pt. 2

Hey!

Another week, another post talking about what happened last week.

I'm still doing SCBWI BookStop, by the way. Come by my page and say hi!

The big news this week is Halloween. But before we get to that, I'd like to talk about the radio interview I did!

I didn't mess it up! So I'm pretty happy about it.

Laura Moe was so nice and friendly, and she did a great job. Although, I wasn't worried about that. I was more worried about how I'd do. But I think I kept my head and spoke clearly enough, although I was pretty nervous.

If you'd like to listen in on the recorded interview, the link is below:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheairradio2/2017/10/30/mg-author-allison-hymas-talks-about-the-good-thief-in-her-new-series

Let me know what you think!

After that was over, it was time to start celebrating Halloween!

 

One of my favorite parts of Halloween is seeing everyone's costumes. This Halloween party was particularly clever. I wasn't able to take pictures of everyone, but I tried to get a good sampling.

I went to class on Halloween dressed in my Jekyll and Hyde costume. Pretty effective result, considering I'm the teacher. I think my students may have been slightly better behaved that day than usual. :)

I wasn't the only person dressed up on campus that day, either. Check out this link to see the other BYU costumes roaming the grounds that day.

Halloween itself was good. Pretty typical; good party, lots of candy. So much, in fact, that my house still has lots laying around! At least I'm recovering from a run, right? That Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin is necessary for my health!

Here are this week's debuts:

Young Adult:
Somaiya Daud - Mirage (11/6)
Anna Priemaza - Kat and Meg Conquer the World (11/7)
Amy Giles - Now Is Everything (11/7)
Amy Brashear - No Saints in Kansas (11/7)
Dave Connis - The Temptation of Adam (11/7)