#sophiaofthebrightredsneakers, #middlegradebooks, #middlegradedetectiveseries, #newyearsevestory, #childrensfriendshipbooks

Sophia and Pedro prepare for the perfect Christmas Eve celebration with Mr. O'D and Henry. Missing are Lionel, Henry's nephew, an NYPD officer, and Pedro's parents, all scheduled for work over the holiday weekend. Go to "A Christmas Eve Suprise" here. #shortstory, #middlegradefiction, #christmasstory, #free, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakers

@writer_susanstoderl, #middlegradedetectivebooks, #childrensfriendshipbooks, #travel, #sanfrancisco, #travelogue, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakers,

One of the nastiest words in the writing world has to be "typo." I discovered that today, but luckily it was me who found it and it's fixable. In a way, it's not a typo, but rather the scanner that turns the manuscript into an eBook and print book does not read Chinese characters. It substituted commas. The other mistake I found was that I had obviously changed a sentence, but accidentally left in a word that should not be there. I sincerely hope I caught them all. The book

Several weeks ago, I scribbled a brief article on an interview by Writers Cooperative with the author, Amy Tan. She spoke about the autobiographical aspects of her writing: “Readers of The Joy Luck Club often suspect Tan wrote herself into the story as a single character (a woman named Jing-mei), but she says, ‘The truth is that every character has a bit of me.’” This caused me to question this regarding my middle-grade series, Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers. Guilty as ch

#selfpublishing, #indieauthor, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakers, #middlegradefiction, #middlegradeadventure

Today, we're going to start meeting the Bad Guys in the first book of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series | Mission 1: All in a Day's Work. This will be in two parts, with the second part coming next Friday. #SophiaoftheBrightRedSneakers, #childrensbooks, #middlegradebooks, #indieauthor

Sean O'Donohue was Sophia’s grandmother, Elspeth MacGregor's soul mate and best friend. When Sophia came to live with Nana as an orphan baby, Mr. O’D became her surrogate grandfather. He understood Sophia because he had been an orphan in Ireland before coming to live with an Irish couple in Hell's Kitchen. Now in his late sixties, he is Sophia’s guardian but still maintains the same living arrangements as when Nana was alive. Mr. O’D and Sophia, as well as Pedro, eat most mea

One of the major themes of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers series is the creation of her own unique family as an orphan. This would also apply to kids who have parents but still spend many hours alone. Pedro has living parents but is an only child. His parents work five and one-half days a week away from home, so he is often alone. Sophia and Pedro become de facto brother and sister, and BFF. The other chosen members of her unique family are all single adults, ranging in ag

Meet Zelda Screech Cat

From Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series | Mission 1: All in a Day's Work He looked around his home with pride. “My, my, my, I have an eye for décor.” The shelves held his prized shiny objects, such as an antique French parquetry and gilt clock. It was a surprise gift from Christie’s Auction House. As it was being unloaded, the antique had attached itself to his talons as he flew away. What was a gentleman raven to do if he liked pretty objects? Birds, no matter how dapp

From Sophia and the Bright Red Sneakers, Mission 1: All in a Day's Work. Meet Ella Cru "As if to remind Sophia of her status, standing in front of the door to Mrs. Dumfries’s classroom was Ella Cru, a.k.a., Cruella the Creep. Ella was the prettiest and the richest. Her highlighted chestnut locks always glistened. The ugly bag dress even looked elegant on her. Though Ella instigated her share of evil, she always appeared to be one step from sainthood." Meet Suzy Snodgrass "Suz

Pedro Gonzalez is Sophia’s best friend and co-conspirator in sleuthing and improving the world one mission at a time. He is ten years old, almost eleven, and a scholarship student at the James Samuel Calder Academy. He has two strikes against him—low income and he’s Brown. But this does not stop him from always being positive and kind. Plus, he’s about as smart as Sophia, which also does not go over very well with the reigning Cru Crew in the eighth-grade honors class. Sophia

Sophia MacGregor, a.k.a., Boss-In-Chief, is a precocious ten-year-old who is in the eighth-grade honors class at the posh James Samuel Calder Academy on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Her best friend and co-conspirator is Pedro Gonzalez, who lives in the building next door and who also attends JSCA. In my Friday posts, I am going to be writing about different aspects of my upcoming books. Today’s blog introduces the main character on a typical day at school. In an encounter wi