Review of Invasion of the Time Troopers by Jim Denney

Jim Denney's "Tin can Man"—A 99 cent Science Fiction Story for Your Young Reader

Tin can Man
by Jim Denney

"Tin can Human" is a science fiction brusk story by Jim Denney, author of the four-volume Timebenders series. Though the story is written with middle form readers in mind (ages 8 to 14), readers of YA and adult science fiction would enjoy this story likewise. CLICK Hither TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY FOR Only 99 CENTS!

It's the tale of an orphan boy named Jobe who escapes vicious slavery on a hostile planet but to suffer a nigh-mortiferous shipwreck in infinite. Now the boy is adrift in space with merely a robot named Tin can Human for companionship. Jobe is running out of air—and running out of fourth dimension.

This ebook edition of "Tin can Man" includes a BONUS FEATURE—Chapter One of Jim Denney'due south first Timebenders novel for young readers, Boxing Earlier Time .

About the author: Jim Denney is a writer with more than than 100 published books to his credit, including the Timebenders science-fantasy series for immature readers ( Battle Before Time , Doorway to Doom , Invasion of the Time Troopers , and Lost in Cydonia ). He has written books with supermodel Kim Alexis, Star Trek actress Grace Lee Whitney, and ii Super Basin champions, quarterback Bob Griese and "The Government minister of Defense," Reggie White. He has co-written many books with Pat Williams (co-founder of the Orlando Magic), including Leadership Excellence and The Difference You Make . Jim is a member of SFWA, Scientific discipline Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Posted by Jim Denney on July 11, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/jim-denneys-tin-man-a-complimentary-science-fiction-story-for-your-young-reader-limited-time/

The New Timebenders Serial is Hither!

Book 1: BATTLE Before Fourth dimension — Kindle Edition at Amazon.com, $3.99.
Book 1: Boxing Before TIME — Nook Edition at BarnesAndNoble.com, $3.99.

Book ii: DOORWAY TO DOOM — Kindle Edition at Amazon.com, $three.99.
Book ii: DOORWAY TO DOOM — Nook Edition at BarnesAndNoble.com, $3.99.

Book iii: INVASION OF THE Fourth dimension TROOPERS — Kindle Edition, $iii.99.
Volume 3: INVASION OF THE TIME TROOPERS — Nook Edition, $3.99.

Volume four: LOST IN CYDONIA — Kindle Edition, $3.99.
Book 4: LOST IN CYDONIA — Nook Edition, $3.99.

The NEW revised and updated Timebenders series has arrived!

Thanks to the excellent work of my new publisher, Greenbrier Book Visitor, the Timebenders science-fiction risk series is dorsum and amend than e'er, and the showtime ii books are available in all pop ebook formats.

The Timebenders series presents the adventures of Max McCrane, a immature inventor who simply wants to fit in with his young man students at Victor Appleton Middle School. Trouble is, Max isn't your run-of-the-mill eye schooler. He's a boy genius who has invented his ain time machine—Timebender!

That rusty orange Volkswagen Beetle may look like it belongs in a junkyard, simply under the hood, Max has installed a photon-powered, Einstein-defying, fourth dimension-warping ability plant that jaunts beyond the centuries with ease. Don't believe me? Well, climb aboard Timebender and plunge into Volume ane: Battle Before Time !

Journey through time with Max and his friends—Allie O'Dell, Grady Stubblefield, and Toby Brubaker—equally they confront mankind's nigh ancient enemy in a place before time began. Follow them into the fourth dimension as they face otherworldly dangers armed with nothing but courage, loyalty, and the power of belief! Join Max and his friends on a fantastic voyage that sends them hurtling from earliest Earth … to a long-lost Planet Mars … to the Garden of Eden.

Forth the way, these young heroes encounter rampaging dinosaurs, unearthly beings of golden light, and the about deadly opponent of all—the fiendish Silver Dragon! Boxing Before Time is a wild roller-coaster ride through time and space, a page-turning adventure rooted in timeless truth.

In Book two: Doorway to Doom , Max, Allie, Grady, and Toby tumble into a perilous new adventure when they enter a doorway to an ancient, evil kingdom, ruled by the shadowy figure of the Silver Dragon. Within the dark, forbidding walls of Castle Serpenfane, they meet evil King Wyvern, his wizardly alchemist Medico Delyrius, and the foreign and mysterious Lady Galatea. The ruthless male monarch confronts Max with a seemingly impossible choice: either help him in his mad pursuit of weapons of mass destruction—or watch his friends endure a horrible fate.

Meanwhile, Allie must discover the secret that is subconscious among the slithering worms and silent crypts of the midnight maze. Worst of all, Max, Allie, Grady, and Toby are stranded in the by without Max'due south Volkswagen fourth dimension car, Timebender. They have no hope of ever returning home!

And so open the Doorway to Doom —if yous cartel! Then take a thrill ride through an age of castles and kings, knights and fair ladies, chivalry and superstition. This action-packed tale sweeps you along to one of the virtually unexpected endings you lot'll ever read.

Young readers dear Timebenders: "The Timebenders books are so awesome! They really encourage me," writes Chloe. And Ben writes, "I've read all the Timebenders books! My mom reads them to me at bedtime and I accept them for independent reading at schoolhouse." And Elliott says, "The Timebenders books are smashing! Now I'm writing my own book about time travel!"

And parents love Timebenders: "My son has devoured the Timebenders books," one dad writes. "They really entertain him. We hear him laughing out loud as he reads." A mom writes, "Give thanks you for books that are both exciting and appropriate for young readers. Equally a mother of three and a lover of books, I'm thrilled with Timebenders!" Another mom writes, "My son spent nearly of his vacation reading Timebenders—the first fourth dimension he's read an entire book without skipping pages! His video games are all but forgotten."

The next two books in the series, Timebenders Book 3: Invasion of the Time Troopers and Timebenders Volume 4: Lost in Cydonia , were released on Christmas Solar day 2012. And later on that, who knows? I have a lot of ideas for future Timebenders books on the drawing board.

Please aid me spread the news through word of mouth, Facebook, and Twitter. Tell other readers and parents about the thrilling new Timebenders books from Greenbrier Book Visitor.

And delight write to me. Post your comments here at my Timebenders web log. Mail service your reviews on the Timebenders pages at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple tree, and Kobo. Visit my Author Page at Amazon.com. Permit'south get acquainted.

I await forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Jim Denney on July 2, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/the-new-timebenders-series/

Meet Jim Denney, Author of the Timebenders Series, at Beach Bound Books

BBB: What inspired you lot to go a writer?

JD: I've always been fascinated past storytelling. My dad is a natural storyteller, and ever since I was a boy, I loved hearing his stories well-nigh "the old days." When I was just four or five years onetime, I discovered a black-and-white TV prove called Infinite Patrol, and I was instantly hooked on science fiction. When I started elementary school, I looked for time travel and infinite travel books in the school library. At that place wasn't much, but I did observe a volume called A Contraction in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. When I read that book, I knew I wanted to write stories most adventures on other worlds. That'south what actually lit my fire to write.

Read the rest of the author interview at Embankment Bound Books!

Posted by Jim Denney on May 9, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/run into-jim-denney-author-of-the-timebenders-serial-at-beach-spring-books/

Submit Your Story to the 6th Annual Inferior Authors Short Story Writing Contest

INTERNATIONAL Contest

Open to Young Writers
Ages ix to 21 from any Country

Deadline: June 30, 2013

Finalists Appear:
September 20, 2013

Winners Announced LIVE at the Junior Authors Writers Conference on October 19, 2013 (You do NOT have to exist at the briefing if you win. Yous will be contacted past email or phone and volition get your prize.)

COMPETITION AGE CATEGORIES

Category 1 — Ages xviii – 21*
*You can be no more than 21 years sometime every bit of June xxx, 2013.

Category 2 — Ages 15 – 17

Category 3 — Ages 12 – fourteen

Category 4 — Ages 9 – 11

The get-go place winning entry in each category will be published on the Junior Authors Contest website and the author of that entry volition receive a signed copy of Polly Wants to be a Writer: The Junior Authors Guide to Writing and Getting Published by Laura Thomas. The top six writers in each historic period category will receive Amazon Gift Cards in the post-obit amounts:

1st identify – $100
second place – $25
tertiary place – $25
fourth identify – $25
5th place – $25
6th place – $25

For complete rules, go to the Contest website.

(Do yous need some pointers and tips on writing and so that you tin can be inspired to write? Check this folio for Jim Denney's Advice for Immature Writers. If you're a teen writer, hither are some resources to help y'all get started: Websites and Resources for Teen Writers.

So, young author, showtime stretching your imagination—and outset writing!

Posted by Jim Denney on May 4, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/submit-your-story-to-the-6th-annual-inferior-authors-short-story-writing-competition/

Writers on Reading: Interview with Timebenders writer Jim Denney

Battle Before Time

Over a thirty-year career, Jim Denney has written more than a hundred books for diverse publishers—fiction and nonfiction, for young readers and adult readers, as both a sole writer and a co-writer. He has worked with leaders and celebrities in many fields, including Orlando Magic cofounder Pat Williams, political communicator Michael Reagan, Super Basin champion Reggie White, supermodel Kim Alexis, extra Grace Lee Whitney, and many others.

Jim is the writer of the four-book Timebenders science fantasy series for immature readers. The Timebenders books were first published in 2002, and Jim has recently revised and updated the Timebenders series for reissue by Greenbrier Books.

Here, Jim talks about his reading choices and what inspires him to write. Read the entire interview at Writers on Reading.

Posted by Jim Denney on January 21, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/writers-on-reading-interview/

The Blog Hop Tour

Ten Questions for "The Next Big Thing"

A lot of my writer friends accept been doing the "Weblog Hop" bout, in which nosotros all answer the same set of questions near our newest (or time to come) releases. My thanks to award-winning suspense novelist James 50. Rubart, author of Rooms, The Chair, and Soul'south Gate for pointing the mode to my weblog.

Cheers, also, to Dorothy Love, author of fine Southern historical fiction, for linking to this page. Dorothy is the author of the Hickory Ridge series, including Beauty for Ashes and Every Perfect Souvenir.

ane. What is the working championship of your book?

Actually, I desire to talk about a series, not just ane book. My Timebenders serial, first published in 2002, has just been completely revised and updated, with Books three and 4 debuting on Christmas Day 2012. Plus, I am currently writing a brand-new book in the series with the working title War of the Electronic Brain.

The first 4 books in the serial are Book ane: Battle before Time, Book 2: Doorway to Doom, Book 3: Invasion of the Fourth dimension Troopers, and Volume 4: Lost in Cydonia. These books are for middle form readers, ages 9 to 14.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea for the Timebenders serial came from my son, who was a kindergartner at the fourth dimension (he'southward now working on his principal'due south degree!). One day, he came to me and said, "Daddy, would you write a book with me?" I said, "Sure. What kind of book should we write?" He said, "I want to write a book almost a fourth dimension machine and dinosaurs."

So nosotros started working and we wrote a trivial each day for a week or two, then we forgot about it for a while. A few years subsequently, I took a fresh look at the pages nosotros had written, and I decided to finish the book. That first book was Battle Earlier Time, and the publisher asked me to write 3 more. Concluding year, I got the rights back from the original publisher, and I updated and rewrote the books, and Greenbrier Books has reissued them with stunning new covers.

iii. What genre does your book fall under?

The Timebenders series is science fantasy for immature readers. I deliberately chose titles that would have a campy, pulp-science-fiction feel.

I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't a science fiction fan. When I was five years old, my favorite Television receiver show was a space opera called Space Patrol . It had spacemen in infinite suits with fishbowl helmets spouting dialogue like "Smoking rockets! A catholic storm!" And my favorite cartoon at that age was Popeye, the Ace of Space , in which Popeye battles space aliens on Mars.

In uncomplicated school, I searched for scientific discipline fiction books in the school library, and was ecstatic when I discovered A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine 50'Engle on the "new arrivals" shelf. I was only ix, but the scientific concepts and highly-seasoned characters captured my imagination. (I wrote most the bear upon of that book on my life in a recent op-ed piece.)

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a motion-picture show rendition?

My protagonists in the Timbenders series are in their early teens. To play Max McCrane, I'd cast Zach Mills of Super 8 fame (with round-lensed eyeglasses, Zach is Max). The perfect Allie O'Dell would exist another Super 8 alum, Elle Fanning (with the add-on of cerise hair and braces). C. J. Sanders, who played a young Ray Charles in Ray, would exist well bandage equally Grady Stubblefield. For villainy, either Max von Sydow or Christopher Plummer would make an first-class Dr. Delyrius, the evil alchemist in Doorway to Doom.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Here'due south Book ane: Battle Before Fourth dimension in ane judgement:

"Boy inventor Max McCrane turns a rusty orangish Volkswagen into a fourth dimension machine and takes three friends across time and space to boxing a mortiferous dragon in a place earlier fourth dimension began."

Hither'southward Volume 2: Doorway to Doom :

"Max and friends go back in time to an ancient kingdom ruled by evil King Wyvern and Max must either serve the king or doom his friends to a horrible fate."

Here'southward Book iii: Invasion of the Fourth dimension Troopers :

"Max McCrane is hijacked into the past past scheming Luna Skyes, and his friends are chased through time by robot warriors of the time, the Time Troopers."

Hither'southward Volume iv: Lost in Cydonia :

"A frightening miscalculation sends Max and friends to Mars, where they run across an ancient secret guarded by strange blue-skinned creatures, the Timelings."

Hither's Book 5: (working title of work-in-progress) War of the Electronic Brain

"Max and friends get back in fourth dimension to Los Angeles in 1942, and must foil a plot to set on America and change the issue of World State of war 2."

half-dozen. Will your volume be self-published or represented by an agency?

Agency.

seven. How long did it accept yous to write the first draft of your manuscript?

My first four Timebenders books were each first-drafted in about half dozen to eight weeks (each is most 45,000 words long). Once the commencement draft is written, there'due south a lot more work to do—additional drafts, substantive editing, copyediting, outset proofs, and 2nd proofs.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I set out to write the kind of books I enjoyed when I was a male child—a wild roller coaster ride through time and space. I wanted my readers to have the same feel I had when I was a boy reading A Wrinkle in Time, The Martian Chronicles, and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

As time travel fiction, the Timebenders tales are part of a literary tradition going dorsum to Washington Irving, H. G. Wells, and Mark Twain'southward A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Courtroom. There's even an repeat of Dickens' A Christmas Ballad in Lost in Cydonia.

And, of form, there'south a great tradition of adult fourth dimension travel literature that I've enjoyed over the years—classic short stories such every bit Robert Heinlein'southward "All You Zombies—" and "By His Bootstraps," Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner's "Vintage Season," and Harlan Ellison's "Soldier," to name a few. Great fourth dimension travel novels include Poul Anderson's Fourth dimension Patrol series, Gordon R. Dickson'southward Fourth dimension Storm, Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time, David Gerrold'southward The Man Who Folded Himself, and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My son, who was in kindergarten at the fourth dimension, inspired the Timebenders series. That's why the showtime book in the series is defended to him.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's involvement?

I vividly retrieve the writing process of the first four Timebenders books, especially Book 2: Doorway to Doom. I was a couple of chapters into the second book when we were attacked on 9/11. At offset, the horror of that event disrupted my creative menstruum. At that time, some of my writer friends actually stopped writing for a few weeks. I had a tight deadline, and so I had to go along writing. I wrote with the cable TV news blaring in the groundwork, and so I could keep an ear open for news developments.

As I wrote, I kept coming up with new ideas, including a new ending for the book. Afterward, I realized that most of those new ideas had to do with darkness. My mood was dark, and it showed in the writing. I added a scene where Max, my protagonist, was tossed into a dungeon past the villain, Dr. Delyrius. I added another scene involving Max's friend, Allie, threading her way through an underground maze by torchlight.

Fifty-fifty though the scenes dealt with darkness, they demonstrated the lite of religion, hope, and courage. A number of readers have written to say that those scenes are their favorite passages in the whole series.

I recently gave an extensive interview that provides more background on the writing of the Timebenders series. You can read it at Random Writing Rants.

Cheers for stopping past on the Blog Hop Tour. Check out the Blog Hop interviews by these fine authors:

Southern historical writer Dorothy Love (author of Beauty for Ashes)

Fantasy novelist Jill Williamson (writer of By Darkness Hid)

Scientific discipline fiction author Steve Rzasa (writer of The Give-and-take Reclaimed)

Tagged A Wrinkle in Time, Author Interview, Battle Before Time, Doorway to Doom, Dorothy Love, Invasion of the Time Troopers, James Rubart, Jim Denney, Kid Lit, Lost in Cydonia, Madeleine L'Engle, Popeye, scientific discipline fiction, Space Patrol, Time Travel, Timebenders, Writing Advice, Writing Tips

Posted by Jim Denney on January nine, 2013

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/the-blog-hop-tour/

The New, Revised and Updated Timebenders Series is Hither!

Book ane: BATTLE Before TIME — Kindle Edition at Amazon.com, $3.99.
Volume 1: BATTLE Before TIME — Nook Edition at BarnesAndNoble.com, $3.99.

Book 2: DOORWAY TO DOOM — Kindle Edition at Amazon.com, $three.99.
Book 2: DOORWAY TO DOOM — Nook Edition at BarnesAndNoble.com, $3.99.

Volume 3: INVASION OF THE Fourth dimension TROOPERS — Kindle Edition, $three.99.
Volume 3: INVASION OF THE TIME TROOPERS — Nook Edition, $three.99.

Book 4: LOST IN CYDONIA — Kindle Edition, $3.99.
Book 4: LOST IN CYDONIA — Nook Edition, $three.99.

The NEW revised and updated Timebenders series has arrived!

Thanks to the excellent work of my new publisher, Greenbrier Book Company, the Timebenders scientific discipline-fiction adventure serial is back and better than ever, and the outset 2 books are available in all popular ebook formats.

The Timebenders series presents the adventures of Max McCrane, a young inventor who just wants to fit in with his fellow students at Victor Appleton Middle School. Trouble is, Max isn't your run-of-the-factory center schooler. He's a boy genius who has invented his own time machine—Timebender!

That rusty orange Volkswagen Protrude may await similar information technology belongs in a junkyard, just nether the hood, Max has installed a photon-powered, Einstein-defying, fourth dimension-warping power constitute that jaunts across the centuries with ease. Don't believe me? Well, climb aboard Timebender and plunge into Book 1: Battle Before Time !

Journey through time with Max and his friends—Allie O'Dell, Grady Stubblefield, and Toby Brubaker—equally they confront mankind's most ancient enemy in a place before time began. Follow them into the quaternary dimension as they face up otherworldly dangers armed with zip but courage, loyalty, and the power of belief! Join Max and his friends on a fantastic voyage that sends them hurtling from primeval Earth … to a long-lost Planet Mars … to the Garden of Eden.

Forth the way, these young heroes run into rampaging dinosaurs, unearthly beings of golden low-cal, and the nearly deadly opponent of all—the fiendish Silverish Dragon! Battle Before Time is a wild roller-coaster ride through time and space, a page-turning adventure rooted in timeless truth.

In Book two: Doorway to Doom , Max, Allie, Grady, and Toby tumble into a perilous new adventure when they enter a doorway to an ancient, evil kingdom, ruled by the shadowy effigy of the Silver Dragon. Within the night, forbidding walls of Castle Serpenfane, they meet evil King Wyvern, his wizardly alchemist Doctor Delyrius, and the strange and mysterious Lady Galatea. The ruthless king confronts Max with a seemingly incommunicable option: either help him in his mad pursuit of weapons of mass destruction—or scout his friends suffer a horrible fate.

Meanwhile, Allie must find the hugger-mugger that is hidden amongst the slithering worms and silent crypts of the midnight maze. Worst of all, Max, Allie, Grady, and Toby are stranded in the past without Max'due south Volkswagen time motorcar, Timebender. They have no hope of always returning home!

So open the Doorway to Doom —if you lot dare! Then take a thrill ride through an age of castles and kings, knights and off-white ladies, chivalry and superstition. This activity-packed tale sweeps yous forth to one of the almost unexpected endings you'll ever read.

Young readers beloved Timebenders: "The Timebenders books are so crawly! They really encourage me," writes Chloe. And Ben writes, "I've read all the Timebenders books! My mom reads them to me at bedtime and I take them for contained reading at school." And Elliott says, "The Timebenders books are great! Now I'm writing my own book nearly time travel!"

And parents beloved Timebenders: "My son has devoured the Timebenders books," i dad writes. "They really entertain him. We hear him laughing out loud as he reads." A mom writes, "Cheers for books that are both heady and appropriate for young readers. As a mother of iii and a lover of books, I'm thrilled with Timebenders!" Another mom writes, "My son spent almost of his vacation reading Timebenders—the first time he's read an entire book without skipping pages! His video games are all but forgotten."

The side by side two books in the series, Timebenders Book 3: Invasion of the Time Troopers and Timebenders Volume 4: Lost in Cydonia , were released on Christmas Day 2012. And later on that, who knows? I accept a lot of ideas for future Timebenders books on the drawing board.

Please help me spread the news through word of oral cavity, Facebook, and Twitter. Tell other readers and parents about the thrilling new Timebenders books from Greenbrier Book Company.

And please write to me. Post your comments here at my Timebenders web log. Post your reviews on the Timebenders pages at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and Kobo. Visit my Writer Page at Amazon.com. Let's go acquainted.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Posted past Jim Denney on December 24, 2012

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/the-new-revised-and-updated-timebenders-series-is-here/

The Callahan Kids: Tales of Life on Mars

Stories by Ben Bova, Marianne Dyson, Jim Denney, Michael Carroll, Brian Enke, Rebecca 1000. Rowe, and Tom Hill, lavishly illustrated by Michael Carroll and Phil Smith

What would it exist similar to alive on Mars? Find out in The Callahan Kids: Tales of Life on Mars , an anthology for middle-school readers created by science fiction writers and a team of engineers at 4Frontiers Corporation.

The stories accept place at Bradbury Base, a realistic Mars settlement that is full of surprises for the first kids growing up at that place. The nine original tales in the book are beautifully illustrated by Michael Carroll whose artwork has flown in infinite.

Gain from sales of the books volition support educational projects to promote the homo settlement of the space borderland—and the kids who read this book may be the very ones who open the final frontier to human being settlement!

Contributors include Hugo-winning author Ben Bova, Timebenders writer Jim Denney, Rebecca Rowe (writer of Forbidden Cargo and Circumvolve Tide), creative person Phil Smith, former NASA flying controller Marianne Dyson, space scientist Brian Enke, and aerospace engineer Tom Colina. For more than information almost The Callahan Kids: Tales of Life on Mars , visit the 4Frontiers Authors' Folio.

And visit the Crazy4Mars site for gratuitous games, comics, and more!

Tagged 4Frontiers, Ben Bova, Brian Enke, Jim Denney, Life on Mars, Marianne Dyson, Mars, Michael Carroll, Phil Smith, Rebecca M. Rowe, science fiction, Tom Hill

Posted past Jim Denney on December xviii, 2012

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/the-callahan-kids-tales-of-life-on-mars/

fifty Years of Wonder: 'A Wrinkle in Time'

In September 1962—l years ago this month—my tertiary-grade class filed into the school library in search of adventure. I institute mine nigh immediately—a book called A Wrinkle in Time past Madeleine L'Engle. In my new opinion piece at FoxNews.com, I call up the profound bear on this one book had on my life and career. I hope you'll read it and let me know what you lot call back. —Jim Denney

Posted by Jim Denney on Oct i, 2012

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/50-years-of-wonder-from-a-wrinkle-in-time/

Timebenders Mailbag

"I love letters from little kids. Adults never proclaim themselves 'Your Number One Fan!'"
—Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Sisters Eight series

Doorway to Doom

One of the best things about being a "kid lit" author is getting mail from Timebenders readers and their parents. I write these tales in the alone confinement of my lilliputian office, and sometimes it amazes me that people, young and old, in all parts of the world, are actually reading and enjoying my stories!

The Timebenders books, beginning with Boxing Before Time, are about the adventures of Max McCrane. I tried to make his invention—a time machine called Timebender—seem plausible and believable. Patently, I succeeded. One young reader wrote me and said, "I liked the first two books a lot. Have you ever built a time automobile similar Max did?" A question like that reminds me of my responsibility as a children'south author, because kids take these stories very seriously.

I wrote dorsum to this young reader and said, "Thanks for writing to me. I'thou glad you liked the books! I have never built a time automobile like Max did. I don't think anyone knows how to build a real time machine, not even our smartest scientists. I think it would be fun to hop into a machine that could take me anywhere in time, and that'due south why I wrote the Timebenders stories–because time travel is so much fun to imagine. I call up if I could build a real time machine, I'd probably get into all kinds of problem, just like Max and his friends! The other mean solar day, I went to a museum and saw the basic of a Tyrannosaurus King, and those bones were huge! I'd hate to come across a existent dinosaur face to face."

A immature lady, historic period twelve, living in Malaysia, wrote to me for communication near writing. "If I wanted to write a book," she said, "how long are the chapters supposed to be?" In my answer, I told her that her capacity should exist as long equally needed for the story she's telling—merely don't make them too long, because readers like to feel they are making progress through the story. I imagine that, within a few years, nosotros may be seeing this young author's books in print.

Ane of my favorite emails was a unmarried sentence from a boy in Minnesota. The subject line read: "Toby," which is the name of a selfish, surly, irresponsible boy in the Timebenders series. My immature correspondent wrote: "Thank you for writing such heady books, simply why did yous put in such a jerk like Toby?" I wrote dorsum and explained that while Toby is, indeed, rather unlikeable, his bad behavior e'er helped to launch our heroes off on an exciting new adventure.

I was surprised how much mail I received from readers who are exterior the "target demographic" of the serial, which is roughly ages viii to fourteen.

A begetter in Commonwealth of australia wrote to me, saying, "My half dozen year sometime son has devoured your first 3 books and is now into number iv." Six years former? A first grader—and he's reading chapter books on his own? I was impressed. The dad continued. "It'south hard getting him to close off his reading light because your books actually entertain him. I ofttimes hear his laughter from upstairs—and every then oft he comes out of his room and reads to a passage to us that cracked him upwards. And he has given your books to me as a reading consignment!"

At the other end of the age spectrum, I received an email from a software designer in Missouri. He wrote, "I was in the bookstore looking for some grownup reading fare when I spotted the embrace of your Timebenders book, Doorway to Doom. I picked information technology upward on a whim, started reading, and loved the story line. I forgot about all the other books I had picked upwards and I only grabbed upward the rest of the Timebenders serial. I'g 28 years old and married, and probably non a typical Timebenders reader. But now I've got my married woman reading the serial, and I wanted you lot to know how much nosotros are enjoying them."

As you can run across, I savour getting mail service from readers and parents. So, please write soon. Post a comment or utilize the form below to email me with questions, comments, or (certain, why not?) complaints. I look frontward to hearing from you soon.

Posted past Jim Denney on September 22, 2012

https://jimdenney.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/timebenders-mailbag/

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