The Trajectory of Today’s Topics

• The Decline by Nine

• Looking for a book version of The Craft?

• Book series by multiple authors

• From abstract to modern art

Hot Off The Press

Kids And The Decline By Nine

Teen reading rates are dropping drastically. A survey from the UK recently came out reporting that teens are reading less now than they ever have, and the trend is especially rampant in males. According to the study, only one in three 8 to 18-year-olds reported enjoying reading very much or quite a lot. The study spanned two decades, and in that time, they’ve seen nearly a 40% drop in the number of young readers who enjoy reading. 

Who else loved the Scholastic book fair? The lack of reading is termed “Decline by nine,” by Scholastic. Remember them? If you’re old like me, you were sent home with a booklet full of exciting books to choose from. I remember scrutinizing them for much longer than I should, trying to pick the very best books. Sometimes we would mail them in, and sometimes we were allowed to browse the shelves and pick a couple. Well, that was an unexpected trip down memory lane. Let’s get back to the real issue, shall we? Anyway, the decline by nine research states that between the ages of eight and ten, children stop reading by 35 to 57%!

Is there anything to be done? While there is a lot of blame to spread, pointing fingers is not solving any problems. The key is finding ways to motivate young readers. It’s been shown that books that relate to favorite shows or movies, or books that match their interests and hobbies, often get kids reading. You know what? Young adult FanFics might end up spiking more than super spicy dark romantasy! Maybe we need more authors to churn out YA books that align with 8 to 10-year-olds’ interests, or start creating graphic novels. 

Graphic novels and illustrated books may be the key. Comic books, manga, and other illustrated books are on the rise, and may help to combat the decline by nine. Books such as Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Captain Underpants, and Dog Man have helped bridge that gap. Ooo, I’d love to see how Plight of the Familiar or Virtual Nightmare looks in graphic novel form! Sigh… another couple of projects just got added to my infinitely long list. Any artists out there want to collaborate with me??

The TBR Files

If The Craft Was Set In The 1970s

This thriller author doesn’t disappoint. Grady Hendrix has quickly become a go-to author. I’ve read three of his nine published novels so far, and have loved every one of them. To me, they aren’t exceptionally frightening; I’m jaded like that, but they are suspenseful and full of excitement. Of the three I’ve read, they are female-driven narratives, and centered around small towns where frightening, paranormal events dramatically alter their lives. In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, it’s set in the 1970s, and underage, pregnant girls are treated like outcasts, are shunned, and often kicked out of their homes. I know that can still be the case today, unfortunately.

It’s like The Craft for pregnant unwed mothers. Neva is fifteen, pregnant, and her parents send her to the Wellwood House to ‘avoid scandal,’ and ‘hide their shame.’ In the home, the girls are all given plant-related names to sever ties from their ‘old life.’ Neva is Fern, and she befriends Holly, Rose, and Zinnia. Here is where the real tragedy starts. These girls are treated more like animals in a cage. They’re forced to do chores all day, aren’t allowed basic freedoms, and have to deal with iron-fisted matriarchs and creepy doctors. And when their time comes, their babies are forcefully taken away, and then the girls are sent home as if absolutely nothing happened. To me, that’s more horrific than any witchcraft or physical demons they actually encounter.

They use witchcraft to fight injustices. When a traveling bookseller arrives, Fern purchases a strange book called How to be a Groovy Witch. It’s mostly garbled nonsense, but they soon figure out how to translate it. At first, the few spells they learn are small and seemingly inconsequential, but the girls soon realize these spells come at a drastic cost. Their lives and their souls now hang in the balance as they try to stop malevolent forces intent on consuming them.

A privileged man, writing about teen pregnancy? That’s a valid concern, because what do men know about the trials of pregnancy? I have a hard time comprehending all the challenges, but Hendrix seems to do a great job. Many female reviewers compliment his take and say that he doesn’t miss much. Most claim that Grady Hendrix does a fine job of hitting those small, feminine, pregnant nuances and emotions. He must have done his homework.

This wasn’t his best work, but it was still very good. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls was a little slow at first. We are introduced to so many characters, and so much explanation about what’s going on, that it took a hot minute to really get interesting. Once that passed, the chills hit, and the thrills kept coming. It was like the caffeine took a minute to hit my veins, but when it did, it kept me energized. ☕☕☕☕ And then you’re hit with the prologue… yeah 😭 All the feels… You’ve been warned. 

…And Then This Happened

Arts And Crafts Time!

You’ve probably seen my original cover of Plight of the Familiar. And you probably thought when you saw it, “I’m confused.” Or something close to that, and that’s okay. It was a little abstract, and it certainly had a creepy design. In my defense, at the time, I was probably reading a lot of Stephen King, true crime, and stories about serial killers. And Halloween is my favorite holiday… so there’s that. 👻

We all do it. I’m not going to go into judging and books and covers, because that doesn’t apply to books; it applies to people. Am I wrong though?? 😅 I’ve had a few people say they don’t understand the cover. Others physically clutched their quivering hearts when they saw the book and took about three steps back. It’s true! They acted like it was holding a red balloon and saying, “We all float down here…” So I knew I had to change the cover, but deciding on a cover is only slightly less difficult than “What’s for dinner?” After about a year, I had an idea of what I wanted, and I set out drawing it. See the kids running above. 

I was all set! And then that little nagging voice reared up and kept telling me it wasn’t good enough. Sure, it’s a pretty good drawing if I do say so myself, but every book that sells anything looks digitized, smooth, polished… commercial. 😔 So I did what everyone else before and after me did and will do, I made a digital cover. Also above. And here we are. Hopefully, you enjoy it, and the picture doesn’t conjure up images of white vans and murder dungeons. It’s a little less Jackson Pollock, and a little more Monet (see what I did there?🤭 Monet… Mo-ney… as in $$? See, that’s why I’m not doing stand-up. 

And now the resin (of the story). A little nod to Paul Harvey there. I created that cute little, imperfect dragon embryo egg. It was a fun silicone mold I found on Amazon. I had some resin, bought a bunch of colors, and thought it would be great to sell those alongside my books, or give them away with a purchase. Like most crafts, resin pouring is not as easy as it looks. It’s bubbly and yellowish, but the more I look at it, the more I appreciate the imperfections. I think I want to do a giveaway with this one. I’ve just got to figure out how to do that, and I’ll keep you posted.