“This box may seem empty,
But there’s more than meets the eye…”
Sam Miller seems like an ordinary 12-year-old boy, until he discovers a mysterious box. Suddenly, he lands in a magical world in which he must battle deadly pirates, savage warriors, giant man-eating spiders, and a fire-wielding tyrant. To survive, Sam must overcome his fears, solve riddles, and most of all, be extraordinary.*
But there’s more than meets the eye…”
Sam Miller seems like an ordinary 12-year-old boy, until he discovers a mysterious box. Suddenly, he lands in a magical world in which he must battle deadly pirates, savage warriors, giant man-eating spiders, and a fire-wielding tyrant. To survive, Sam must overcome his fears, solve riddles, and most of all, be extraordinary.*
So without further ado, I turn you over to Kevin!
I was given the fun task of providing the Top 10 Facts about Sam and I viewed this as part introduction to the character/story, part behind the curtain, and part teaser. So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 Facts about Extraordinary Sam:
10.
The book began as a simple bedtime story I made up for my then four year
old son. It was about a boy who would go on adventures based on the hat
he pulled out of a magical hatbox. After a couple weeks, the stories
were replaced by others and were forgotten by me, but not him. Almost
two years later, he asked for another hatbox story and I had to give
life to this character.
9. The original
plotting for the book was for a picture book. After a week of writing, I
realized I couldn't tell the whole story in 32 pages. I had too many
"ooh, what about this" moments to limit his adventure. I feel in the
end, I gave Sam the proper start to his adventure.
8.
Sam is based very loosely on my childhood. I grew up on a farm in
Maryland and relied on my imagination to create my own adventures. The
other characters are a mixture of several people or what I felt would
best serve the story, so know that my parents didn't wear matching
turtlenecks and sweater vests. :)
7. Sam's
adventure has just begun. I have plotted out four books and there is a
small reference to this near the start of the first book. More will be
revealed about this in the second book.
6. When
I try and describe the story, I tend to talk about what happens, but I
truly feel it is about more. The action and adventure do drive the
story, but underneath is a story about a growth and self-realization.
5.
In the story, Sam is transported to a different world, the Realm of
Ashling. Naming a world proved to be harder than I thought, so I spent
hours researching the meaning of names. When nothing stood out as "the
name," I turned to Google Translate. There are a few words that play a
key role in the story, so I wrote them down. One stood out over the
others - dream. After researching translation of the word, I came across
the Irish Gaelic word "aisling" (pronounced ash-ling). So, the realm of
dreams was born.
4. Extraordinary Sam was
almost never written. I hit a block in the story when Sam faces his
first obstacle. I decided to put the manuscript away for a few days and
start again with a fresh perspective. Fast forward eleven months and a
friend I haven't seen in a long time asked me how the story was going
and I realized I needed to dust it off and get back to work.
3. The
start of book goes against everything I have heard from agents and
editors and I didn't care!! Q&A panels, blog entries, rejection
letters, and webinars all agreed - don't start a story with a dream.
Well mine really needed to and luckily my publisher agreed. Sam dreams
of adventure and not being ordinary. I wanted to introduce him to the
reader in the way he wished he could be - the hero. This changes
quickly and we then see the truth. This was the way it needed to be when
I looked at the full path of the story.
2. When
it comes to the other characters, there are a few surprises in store. A
couple are revealed at the end of book one, but those aren't the good
ones. Each book will give you more information about some characters'
backstories and some will just surprise you.
1.
Sam's story will be wrapped up at the end of the fourth book, but
Ashling may need another Adventurer in the future. Another hero will
need to step up. After reading book one, you may be able to figure it
out. I thought about giving a hint, but where's the fin in that.
I hope you enjoy reading Extraordinary Sam & the Adventurers' Guild. I look forward to sharing book two soon.
Thanks again for having me.
Kevin is a self-proclaimed dreamer and a kid at heart. When he’s not writing or reading, he is coaching soccer or helping with homework. He lives outside of Atlanta with his wife, two extraordinary boys, and dogs. He is also a co-founder of the Middle Grade Mafia blog. Check out his blog and follow him on Twitter.
*Synopsis taken from http://www.goodreads.com
3 comments:
It's amazing how the process of writing a book unfolds. Each one is different. This sounds like a great book (I read about and commented elsewhere as well). I like the approach in this post of listing the top ten things about the book.
Thanks, Elizabeth!!
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