ADVANCE NOTICE. SAMURAI KIDS BLOG TOUR

Welcome friends all!

I’ll be chatting with Sandy Fussell about the background and setting of her new book Samurai Kids: Monkey Fist on Wednesday, 5 August as part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of Monkey Fist, the fourth in her Samurai Kids series. [You will find detail of the blog tour schedule at the end of this blog.]

Thinking it prudent to find out something of the ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘what’ issues behind this series, I hurried to my local library and borrowed the first three in the Samurai Kids series - White Crane, Owl Ninja and Shaolin Tiger.

A delighful surprise awaited me! I found myself immersed in the world of Samurai in a refreshing and unexpected way. I sat for a while in the ‘School of Cockroaches ‘(Cockroach Ryu) under the wise tutelege of the Sensei Ki-Yaga.

‘Many years ago,’ he tells them, ‘in the early mists of the mountaim Ryujin, the dragon went walking. A dragon has scales of steel but his feet are soft. It trod on a thorn. The great creature roared in pain. Huge claws could not remove something so small.
‘Wind carried Ryujin’s cries deep into the Earth, but the other animals closed their ears. No-one wanted to help the cruel, boastful dragon. Only Gokiburi, the cockroach came to help. The cockroach was kind and wise “I will help you because no creature is so great it stands alone. Even a proud dragon must sometimes bend to a cockroach,” it said.
‘The dragon bowed and the cockroach removed the thorn.
‘So you see, Little Cockroaches, when the time comes, you will find power over the dragon. Bad breath and big feet are not to be feared.'


Sensei Ki-Yaga is preparing his most unlikely students for a great battle to come. There is one-legged Niya who tells the story; Kyoko, the albino girl; Mikko a one-armed boy; the blind boy, Taji. Yoshi who is doesn’t quite know who he is; and, Nezume, the last one. Not one of them alone can meet the challenges they will face, but as a unit, not only do they discover their strength and learn skills from various martial arts disciplines, they enjoy great adventure. These threads link the books of the series - and yet allow each to stand alone in an inspiring read.

Be sure to join the blog tour of Samurai Kids: Monkey Fist that begins on Saturday August 1, 2009 - and I’ll be back with more right here on Wednesday August 5.



Tour Schedule:

Date Host Location
1 Aug Dee White http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com/
2 Aug Dale Harcombe http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
3 Aug Claire Saxby http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/
4 Aug Sally Odgers http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com/
5 Aug Mabel Kaplan http://belka37.blogspot.com/ [That's right here]
6 Aug Sally Murphy http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
7 Aug Robyn Opie http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/
8 Aug Rebecca Newman http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com/
9 Aug Susan Stephenson http://thebookchook.blogspot.com/

CONNIE ON TOUR

Ooh! My toes are beginning to itch. Just one more sleep before Connie, the pigeons and I set off on our blog tour of my children's picture book: Connie and the Pigeons.

Here's our itinerary:

Monday, 23 March Sally Murphy at http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
Tuesday,24 March, Sally Odgers at http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 25 March, Dee White at http://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com/
Thursday, 26 March, Refuelling stop at http://belka37.blogspot.com
Friday, 27 March, Brenton Cullen at www.bjcullen.blogspot.com

Don't forget to drop back here at http://belka37.blogspot.com on Thursday for the refuelling stop. I've got a surprise for you.

And, if you'd like a copy -

'Connie and the Pigeons' is available through Westbooks in Victoria Park WA (08) 9361 4211
Email: orders@westbooks.com.au; online through http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/book/mabel-kaplan/ or direct from the publisher Stories for the Telling 54 Hudson Avenue Girrawheen WA 6064 Tel. (08) 9342 7150 Email: mabelka@hotmail.com

For those on the Eastern coast it is also available from
HARS Souvenirscnr Airport and Boomerang Roads
Albion Park Rails, New South Wales 2527
and
Qantas Founder Outback Museum PO Box 737 Longreach Qld 4730

BLOG TOUR of Ronda's Gang and the Stolen Wallet by Brenton Cullen

It is Saturday and Brenton Cullen has just arrived to chat with me about his book: Ronda‘s Gang and the Stolen Wallet, published by I-Proclaim Press March 2008. He has been on Blog Road since Wednesday so if you'd like to follow his tour from the beginning , visit

Stop 1: 18 March with Dee White regional Victoria http://www.tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com/

Stop 2: 19 March with Sally Odgers Tasmania http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com/

Stop 3: 20 March with Sally Murphy rural WA http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

* * * * *

And here we are at Stop 4:

Hello Brenton,
Thank you for visiting my blog spot today. I can see you’ve had a very busy week stretching across the continent to tour blogs all around Australia ... and today we’re still in the Western Australia

Thank you Mabel. Yes, so far I’ve visited Victoria, Tasmania and WA, …. All via computer!

Mabel: I’m intrigued by your title: Ronda’s Gang and the Stolen Wallet. Tell me about your book.

Brenton: My book, Ronda's Gang and the Stolen Wallet, is the first book in a series of just three books. It is about a mystery solving gang of 11 year olds, with the leader of the gang, a 12 year old girl named Ronda. The gang are worried that they will get no more cases and their mystery days are over, when they put an advertisement in their local newspaper and get a phone call from a Mrs Kratzman, a teacher at a local elementary school whose wallet has been robbed from her classroom. The Gang go to investigate and find some startling clues that might just lead to the suspect ...

Mabel: Thank you, Benton. Would you tell me more about the gang? I must say (that as you are a boy of about the same age as Ronda) I was surprised that you chose a girl to be the gang leader. Are all the gang members girls?

Brenton: No, there are two girl members and three boy ones, and I chose to have the leader a girl because she was the oldest and it was also a fun experience to try writing her.

Mabel: Can you tell me about cases have they solved before?

Brenton: I can't answer what other cases they've solved as it gives something away in the second book.

Mabel: Well that should keep my blog readers intrigued. What about the first starling clue?

Brenton: I don't want to answer about the first startling clue as not to give it away


Mabel: Aha! You’re really going to make us read the book, aren’t you? Right! Let me back track a little. You said earlier, you chose a girl leader because it was a fun experience trying to write her. Tell me a bit about how you went about developing Ronda as a person

Brenton: Well, she is sort of a universal character, but her attitude and means and antics are real, based on that of one of my friends. I can really understand Ronda as if she’s a real person, living and breathing. She’s my favourite character.

Mabel: I like that. And now to conclude. Is there a segment of description, action or dialogue you would like to share to tempt our readers with.

Brenton: Yes! This piece:
"I have an announcement to make. Yesterday I got a phone call from this lady named Mrs. Kratzman. She would like us to solve a mystery, because her wallet was stolen from her desk. She's a teacher at Murray Elementary School."The buzz of chatter rose but quieted down a fair bit when Ronda raised her hand, as a signal for them to shush."Now, tomorrow afternoon we have to be at her classroom at the school at 3 PM. All right? Now, we're all going to meet there. Her classroom number is 6K. Everyone got that?""Yep", they chorused."All right, meeting dismissed."

Mabel: Thank you, Brenton. Will it be alright if I record a short sound file of that section and include it on this blog?

Brenton: Yes, its OK for a recorded reading, as long as you put the copyright Brenton Cullen, author and my publisher I-Proclaim Press For sure!

Mabel: I’ve enjoyed chatting with you and I will certainly be reading more of your work. You’ve made an impressive start with your writing and I am eager to see in what directions your writing career may develop.

Brenton: All right, Mabel, thank you very much! And remember, if you want to find out those startling clues, pick up a copy …. www.lulu.com/content/2343053

Click the on play button below to listen to an excerpt from Ronda's Gang and the Stolen Wallet


Join Brenton's tour and leave your comments