The BiblioFiles Presents: Platte F. Clark

platte f clarkJust posted! An in-depth interview with Platte E. Clark, author of Bad Unicorn and its newly-released sequel, Fluff Dragon.

Max Spencer, middle school student, is about to have a very unusual day. It begins when he drags an old book from under his bed to use for a last-minute book report. Unbeknownst to Max, this book is the legendary Codex of Infinite Knowability, the most powerful book in three worlds, and Max is a descendent of Maximilian Sporazo, the book’s creator. Right now, however, Max is just hoping to avoid the school bully, Ricky “The Kracken” Reynolds, and hang out with Dirk, his hyperactive, game-obsessed best friend.

When Max unknowingly unleashes a spell from the Codex, he transports himself, Dirk, a girl named Sarah, and a disgruntled dwarf named Dwight into a future where humans are extinct and machines have taken over. It’s going to take more than Glenn, the Legendary Dagger of Motivation, to get them out of this mess. As if that isn’t bad enough, Max and his companions are being hunted by a unicorn. A bad unicorn. A nasty, petulant, human-eating unicorn. Princess the Destroyer has agreed to find Max and the Codex in exchange for an all-the-humans-you-can-eat rampage in Texas.

Bad Unicorn is irreverent, ironical, and completely hilarious. Clark composes an epic tale of good versus evil complete with nods to Dungeons & Dragons, computer games, malevolent sci-fi robots, zombies, and 80s arcade games. There’s even a dash of geek romance and an explanation of the true purpose of jackaolopes. Bad Unicorn has it all. The second book in the trilogy, Fluff Dragon, was released last month.

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview

The BiblioFiles Presents: Candace Fleming

candance fleming

Author photo by Michael Lionstar

Just posted! An in-depth audio interview with author Candace Fleming.

Her award-winning biographies for children include Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life; Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life; The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary; The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum; and Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

Candace discusses her research process, her pursuit of primary sources, her philosophy on writing difficult material for young audiences and…my personal favorite…her surprising answer to people who think that reading biographies is boring!

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview

The BiblioFiles Presents: Kat Falls

Kat FallsPremiering today…a BiblioFiles interview with Kat Falls, author of Dark Life and Rip Tide.

Dark Life is set in the future after a global disaster has caused most of the world to sink under the seas. Most humans live Topside, crammed into over-populated cities, stacked on top of one another in graffiti-covered skyscrapers. But a small group of scientists and pioneers choose to live below the seas and farm the deep ocean floor – a place that is as dangerous as it is beautiful.

Fifteen-year-old Ty was born subsea and has a secret he’s desperate to keep. He has a Dark Gift, something that develops in children who live subsea. For Ty, it’s biosonar ability; for his sister Zoe, it’s the ability to shock like an electric eel. Dark Gifts are considered abnormal and must be hidden from everyone – including one’s own parents. Ty’s world changes when he meets Gemma, a girl from Topside who comes to the subsea to find her older brother. Together, they make some dangerous discoveries that neither of them expected.

In the sequel, Rip Tide, Ty and Gemma uncover a wreck while try to anchor some supplies in a trash vortex in the Atlantic. It turns out that the wreck is a crime scene – an underwater community that was deliberately sealed and sunk with the inhabitants still inside. In the wake of this crime, another happens. Ty’s parents are kidnapped during a crop sale, throwing Ty and Gemma into the underworld of politics, outlaws, and perilous secrets.

The Dark Life series is unlike any other. The various machinery used to traverse the ocean floor, the flexible architecture of subsea homes, the liquigen you breathe into your lungs to survive the deep,  Kat Falls has created a unique world with amazing details and a biology textbook full of aquatic wildlife. The pace is fast, and her ability to weave characters, emotion, dialogue, and details into the story is astounding.

Kat Falls’ new young adult book, Inhuman, was released this month.

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview