Susan Stoderl
- Dec 30, 2022
- 1 min
New Year's Eve Plans Go Awry
#sophiaofthebrightredsneakers, #middlegradebooks, #middlegradedetectiveseries, #newyearsevestory, #childrensfriendshipbooks
Susan Stoderl
- Dec 3, 2022
- 1 min
Creative Steaming
Author Susan Stoderl ( @writer_susanstoderl ) is reading an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Mission 1: All in a Day's Work, the first book in her Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series. In this excerpt, Brad Whitewood a.k.a. Brad-the-Block, tries to intimidate Pedro and Sophia, but ends up getting a "Creative Steaming." #middlegradebooks, #storytelling, #girlpower, #middlegradeanimalbooks, #middlegradefriendshipbooks
Susan Stoderl
- Nov 11, 2022
- 2 min
A Peek into Mission 1: All in a Day's Work
Chapter 1 A New Beginning Nana’s memorial service (arranged by Sophia MacGregor, Life Celebration Planner Extraordinaire) was over. Sophia noticed that even sorrow didn’t stop her editorializing in “parentheticals,” her silent qualifiers of spoken words. She sat in apartment 4B with her best friend, Pedro Gonzalez. Everything was so familiar until she thought of Nana’s absence. In a rare moment of panic, Sophia came close to sobbing. “What if the school finds out I live here
Susan Stoderl
- Nov 2, 2022
- 2 min
The Week Before Sophia Comes Out
I was deciding what to write about today and then it occurred to me. What else could I write about but my anxiety about getting everything in place for my book launch? The least that a writer does to publish a book is to write it. That's the easiest part. I could have written ten more in the time that it has taken to learn everything necessary to get it before the public. I have reams of notes and web articles on all facets of self-publishing, and I still don't know exactly w
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 28, 2022
- 1 min
An Excerpt from Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers | Sophia & Pedro vs. THEM
From Mission 1: All in a Day's Work, Chapter 1 Sophia and Pedro were outsiders at the fashionable James Samuel Calder Academy on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Each formed its own small minority. Pedro was a scholarship student and Hispanic. Sophia was outspokenly individual and feminist, whereas her classmates were devotees of Teen Vogue and the New York Times society pages. The fashionistas thought Sophia’s unruly, curly red hair and high-top red sneakers with striped laces a
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 2, 2022
- 1 min
Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers | Zelda Screech Cat | Chapter 14 Excerpt
#middlegradefiction, #middlegradebooks, #indieauthor, #storytelling, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakersseries, #writerscommunity , #womenwriters
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 26, 2022
- 1 min
Meet Ivan, the Third Bad Guy
Mission 1: All in a Day's Work, is the first book in my Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series. You'll find a narrated excerpt from my middle-grade book with graphics. #SophiaoftheBrightRedSneakersSeries, #MiddleGradeBooks, #MiddleGradeFiction
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 19, 2022
- 1 min
Bad Guys | Mikhail and Dimitri
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
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 5, 2022
- 1 min
Meet Sean O'Donohue (Mr. O’D)
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
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 27, 2022
- 1 min
A Family by Choice — Not Blood
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
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 22, 2022
- 1 min
Meet Zelda Screech Cat
Meet Zelda Screech Cat
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 15, 2022
- 1 min
Today Meet Wahoo the Raven, a very Dapper Dude
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
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 8, 2022
- 1 min
Introducing the Cru Crew
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
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 1, 2022
- 2 min
Meet Pedro Gonzalez
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
Susan Stoderl
- Jun 24, 2022
- 2 min
Meet Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers
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