My Dog Can Fly by Patricia Grasher (VBT, guest post, excerpt and GIVEAWAY)

It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author Patricia Grasher, who answers my question...


ELF:  What do you think is the strongest attraction about the genre(s) you like to write in?

Why I Love to Write Middle School Fiction

by Patricia Grasher

The genre I am presently writing for is for kids between the ages of 8 – 10. It’s a very narrow age group but at least for me it was the most magical time of my childhood. It was the age that books became the doorway to flights of imagination without restraint. A mouse could ride a motorcycle, a dragon could be a pet and a rat and a mole could go boating on the river.

    But it wasn’t just animals that had exciting lives there were also mysteries to be solved by kids such as the Bobbsey twins, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. There were books where kids ran away (The Boxcar children or The Lion’s Paw). Books in which kids became heroes and adventures no matter how bad turned out well.

    Within this age group the books are more about adventure and excitement. Most of them don’t get bogged down in heavy description or tangled up emotionally with love triangles or character struggles. Of course the characters do grow and develop a bit but it’s not the underlying thread of the book.

    In writing the book, My Dog Can Fly the personality of the flying dogs has as much importance in the story line as the three children. I totally love the Harry Potter books but in this book the kids (at least not in book one) do not have any magical powers at all. They are completely dependent upon Aminta (the mother dog) and her puppies for taking flights through the air and becoming invisible when necessary. If the dog’s don’t cooperate and in one case one doesn’t then the main protagonist, Michael, is completely on his own to face and work through a difficult situation.

    Perhaps at some point in my writing career I will try other genre’s to write for but for now I’m perfectly happy to write for young kids with big imaginations.

           

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Patricia Grasher (pen name for Patricia Proctor) lives in Vancouver, Washington with a very large dog, a middle sized dog and a cat. All of which contributed comments and feedback to the book. Buddy the cat insists that there be a larger role for a cat in book two and I am working on that.

On my website – Andre (big dog) Pudge (middle dog) and Buddy (the cat) write posts with their own viewpoints of what goes on at 6102 Hazel Dell Avenue.

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My Dog Can Fly

by Patricia Grasher

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GENRE: Children's book ages 8-10

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BLURB:

When a mysterious cave is found by ten year old Michael and his cousin Emma they are excited. But the cave is not an ordinary cave and the hidden secrets inside that cave are more than they bargained for.

Michael and Emma soon find themselves involved in a dangerous series of events that cause them to join forces with the hidden cave dwellers in order to order to rescue a small boy with a huge secret.

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EXCERPT

Do not be afraid. Caden grabbed tighter onto Aminta’s fur as they sailed through the midnight sky of a thousand stars. Do not be afraid. He closed his eyes and whispered the words again as he buried his face into the warm and heavily furred, ruff of the dog’s neck.

It wasn’t working.

He was afraid.

From the minute, he had been grabbed in the night by silent strangers he had been afraid. A rough hand had smothered his mouth with a cloth so he wouldn’t scream but he had struggled and tried so hard to cry because he was, no matter what his mom had told him. Afraid.

He was safe now though. For the moment. Big dog had saved him. His mom had told him he would, that he should not be afraid. But it was hard not to be afraid.

What if they found him again?

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Patricia Grasher is my pen name for the series, My Dog Can Fly. It’s my pretend name. The name I write when I enter a world of magic and adventure. Where anything can happen and often does.

I am now doing what I have always wanted to do. Write books for children. Like Peter Pan a certain part of me has ‘refused to grow up’ and writing allows the fantasy to bloom and grow. My first book, My Dog Can Fly will be out in March 2016. Getting close!

In my ho-hum real life my name is Patricia Proctor. I live in Vancouver, Washington with a giant big dog named Andre who plows through the house and expects everyone to step aside because he is coming through. Pudge my little dog who wants to be first but realizes this is not always possible around Andre. (He squeals if Andre gets too close as he has been run over a few times too many.) And finally there is my cat, Buddy. He is really the brains of the outfit. Being smart he waits until the thundering herd (my nickname for Andre) passes through and then pretty much does whatever he wants. Sleep, chase squirrels, fights off other cats who dare to trespass into his yard, etc.

Looking back in time I have done a number of silly and amazing things. I spent four years in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic technician, getting into all sorts of trouble in Iceland and Germany before being sent back to the United States and told to be a good sailor. Straighten up and sail right. Which I sort of did. After my service was over I bummed around for a couple of years and then joined a monastery in Spokane, Washington. I was a nun for 30 years living a good life with some wonderful sisters. I published 5 books, ran a full time AM radio station from the fourth floor and had a large internet ministry that was recognized at one point by USA Today. I actually managed to live a pretty active life for a contemplative nun.

My life changed in 2009 when things inside my head and outside no longer seemed to fit. I went through a lot of counseling and came up with the decision that being a nun was no longer the best for me. In 2011 I was officially give the okay from Rome to return to lay life. My time in the monastery was wonderful it just wasn’t for forever. God does call us to new adventures all the time. My latest adventure is writing this children’s action fantasy book.

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