I'm happy to introduce you to a friend and an amazing author of children and middle grade books.
When King of Bad was an early work-in-progress, I
actually called it Super Villain Academy. People responded really well to that
title, but I decided it would make a good series name instead, and I personally
don’t like when the first book in a series has the same name as a series. So, I
had to think up another name, but it needed to get as good a response as SVA
had.
It was during one of the editing sweeps that the name jumped
out at me. The main character, Jeff, recently learned he’s a super villain and
the academy that wants to recruit him set up a family visit at a bogus school
(you can’t ask regular old moms and dads to visit a school of super villains
after all!). Jeff and his sister Sandra are on a plane returning from the visit
when it hits Jeff that he might not be the only super villain in the family.
Excerpt:
“Sandra, do you…um…can you…” Jeff gnawed the inside of
his cheek. If he asked her and she didn’t know what he was talking about she’d
really think he was crazy. But could he handle not asking? No. “Sandra, can you
do anything that other kids can’t do? Like run really fast or hear super well.
Anything unusual?”
Jeff could already tell that her answer was no by the
screwed up expression on her face as she examined him.
“Jeff, what are you talking about?”
“Nothing, I guess. Never mind. I’m just saying that
sometimes I feel like I’m better than anyone at being bad.” Jeff shrugged,
hoping to bring the conversation back to somewhat normal.
“You’re like king of bad,” Sandra said. She shifted into
the middle of her seat. “Remember the rotting cat you left under the school
bleachers during the playoffs? That was genius.”
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah, the maggots were pure bonus. I
bet the teacher who found it still has nightmares.”
“What do you suppose they’ll teach you at that
school?” Sandra asked.
“I don’t know, standard stuff, I guess. It didn’t seem
that bad. Maybe you’ll end up there with me one day.”
“Dope, it’s a
boys’ school.”
“Oh yeah.”
So I guess Sandra really named the book for me. Since King
of Bad was as well received as the series name, it was a keeper.
Obviously, it’s my personal opinion that the first book in a
series should have a separate title from the series, but I’m curious how you
feel about it. Is there a familiarity, or name recognition when you can spout
the title/series name? Or do you – like me – like to know a little more about
what that individual book is about separate from the overall series? Or does it
not matter one bit?
Special thanks to Paty for hosting me. It is so very cool
being hosted by people you know in the real world. You are gracious and sweet
to give me a spot on your blog!
Kai will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC plus a signed book mark to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (International).
Bio:
When the
electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and
they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the
ending, “And then everybody died, the end.” Now an award winning children’s
author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from
their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers
and short stories for younger children Kai entertains children of all ages, and
their adults. Visit Kai’s website, www.kaistrand.com, to browse her books,
download companion materials or to find all her online haunts.
You can
usually find Kai online at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaiStrandAuthor
or Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiStrand
Please follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
