The Mystery of Shadow Hills: Now 99 Cents!

To celebrate the release of my next book, SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS (November 2014) I am offering SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS for 99 cents on Nook and Kindle throughout July and August! Please help me spread the word. Autographed copies of The Mystery of Shadow Hills are available for $8.99 plus postage, and come with a FREE pair of kid’s binoculars! Please email me through the contact form below for details. Book 2 cover finalSkylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow HIlls

FREE BINOCULARS!

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Boys Like it Too!

JamesReadingAs more boys become fans of this new Middle Grade detective novel, Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills is proving to be more than just “a girls’ book.” In fact, one of Skylar’s best groups of Secret Agents is Wilkerson Boys, P.I. Come join them in The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels, coming soon!

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Skylar Robbins: 99 cents for a limited time!

Summer’s almost here, so it’s a perfect time to load your ‘tweens Kindle or Nook with a 5-star book: SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLSonly 99 cents for the next two weeks! Praised by parents, librarians, teachers, and professional reviewers alike, Skylar will teach your kids how to stand up to bullies and think creatively while solving an exciting, edge-of-your-seat mystery! Only 99 cents until June 30! Personally autographed paperbacks are also available through www.carrie-cross.com. Just send me an email through the website. Please tell your friends! Likes and shares are very appreciated. ~ Carrie Cross

Allison’s Book Bag Interviews Carrie Cross

Interview with Carrie Cross

Posted by: Allison on: May 24, 2014

Carrie Cross is an avid reader who fell in love with books as a little girl after reading Goodnight Moon. Her absolute most-loved books are the ones she read in her ‘tweens. Cross has great memories of lying in bed on stormy nights reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Harriet the Spy, The Changeling, and Nancy Drew mysteries.

Writing is her favorite creative process. Cross has loved words since she was a little kid. She also wrote her first “book” at age four: Blackie the Little Black Dog and the Flying Washing Machine. Since books for this age group were the most fun to read, she thought as an adult that they would also be the most enjoyable to write.

According to her About, her inspiration for the Skylar Robbins’ mysteries comes from an incident when she was six years old. Cross played hide-and-seek with the little girl who lived in a creepy two-story in Santa Monica Canyon. There were closets and secret hiding places with doors that opened into other rooms. Later, she wondered, “What if there was a clue hidden in one of those closets?” Skylar is modeled on her mom, a strong woman who faced fears head on. The fingerprint illustrations are from actual jpeg images which Cross found online and that her husband recreated in Adobe Illustrator to give them a more kid-friendly feel.

In addition to writing mysteries and reading, Carrie loves to cook, hike at the beach, go boating, and travel. I posted a review yesterday of The Mystery of Shadow Hills.

ALLISON: Were you an only child or one of a sibling group? How did that impact the kind of adventures you experienced during your childhood?

CARRIE: I am an only child, so when I wasn’t spending time with friends I had to entertain myself, and loved to do anything creative. When I was about ten I got my first guitar. I taught myself chords out of a book and wrote songs I would sing with my friends, trying out simple harmonies. I also enjoyed making art projects like creating faux stained glass windows with liquid lead and glass stain. I’d hunt through the field behind our house for pretty rocks and paint them with clear nail polish to make paperweights. And of course, one of my favorite creative pastimes was writing. Besides writing songs, I penned poems and short stories in elementary school, and then I made my first attempt at a novel in junior high. I wrote an adult novel after college that was never published, and then decided I wanted to try writing a middle grade mystery. Teen Mystery Press published Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills in June 2013, and the sequel, The Mystery of The Hidden Jewels, comes out this summer.

ALLISON: Who served as your role model during your adolescence?

CARRIE: Definitely my mom, the late Sylvia Cross. I always try to emulate her leadership and strength of character. She had a quote from Calvin Coolidge hanging over the desk in her study where I used to do my homework, and it has remained my motto to this day: “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” As president of the Women’s National Book Association, my mom took the organization to new heights, winning the respect of all of the chapter presidents. She was a mentor to many friends and coworkers. People still tell me that when faced with a problem or dilemma they ask themselves, “What would Sylvia have done?” What a nice compliment! I learned to be a good listener from my mom, and like her, I’m a friend people turn to for advice.

ALLISON: You lived in Malibu for eight years. What were your favorite activities there?

CARRIE: Walking on the beach, photographing my husband while he surfed, hiking in the hills overlooking the ocean, body surfing, and exploring caves. One of my favorite scenes in Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills takes place in the caves on Malibu Beach. Skylar’s new friend Kat challenges her to search three caves at midnight to search for seeds she promises will grow into gems.

“Sky,” Kat cried suddenly, pointing across the black sand. “Look. There they are.” I was more concerned about the rising tide, and looked out over the dark rumbling ocean. White spray flew up in the air as another huge wave crashed nearby. So loud it sounded like a refrigerator fell off a tall building and landed right next to us. I hurried after Kat as the water rushed forward. “This is it. Three caves.” Moonlight cast shadows behind the boulders that guarded the entrance. We darted around them and climbed under the rock arch.

The dark cave stunk of washed-up kelp, dank and rotten. I shuffled forward on the damp sand with my hands out in front of me like a sleepwalker, hoping I wouldn’t stumble over a rock or bash into a wall. I pulled out my flashlight and turned it on. As soon as its beam lit up the cave, heavy flies woke up, buzzing around the seaweed and bonking into my face. I ducked, swatting them away. Kat hurried past me and rushed toward the back of the cave, peering at the ground. Suddenly she cried, “Sky—here they are. I found the gem seeds!” Hidden between the boulders, disguised as wet pebbles, shining gem seeds winked up at us.

ALLISON: What is the most mysterious incident you can remember from growing up?

CARRIE: When I was six years old, my parents decided we needed to buy a bigger house. We looked at a creepy two-story in Santa Monica Canyon, and I played hide-and-seek with the little girl who lived there. I remember disappearing into closets and secret hiding places with doors that opened into other rooms. Later, I wondered, “What if there was a clue hidden in one of those closets? Or what if a cupboard door opened into a long, dark tunnel, with a big surprise at the other end?” I never forgot that house, and it was the inspiration for my second book, The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels.

ALLISON: What inspired you to write a mystery series?

CARRIE: I’ve always loved mysteries and stories about spies and sleuths. I read Nancy Drew and The Happy Hollisters as a kid, and loved Harriet the Spy. Another one of my favorite authors when I was younger was Judy Blume. So I thought, what if I could come up with a teen sleuth series and integrate some of the coming-of-age themes I loved to read about when I was a tween? That 13-year-old sleuth is Skylar Robbins. I’ve also always been interested in witchcraft, and wanted to weave that theme into my first detective story. So I decided to pit a teen witch against that young sleuth to kick off the first book in the series: Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills. One reviewer described it as, “Nancy Drew meets Harry Potter.”

ALLISON: Your bio says that you “look for clues in unexpected places”. What is the most unusual clue you have found?

CARRIE: It has been a long time since I have found a mysterious clue myself. However after reading my first book, more than one group of girls formed their own detective agencies. Girls Secret Agency in Oregon combed their school for clues and posted them on Skylar’s Facebook page along with their analysis of what each clue meant. Here is a picture of their most unusual clue:

Clue

ALLISON: Why did you decide to write for middle school?

CARRIE: My absolute favorite books of all time were the ones I read in my tweens. I have great memories of lying in bed on stormy nights reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, The Changeling, The Velvet Room, Nancy Drew mysteries, and Harriet the Spy, while I listened to raindrops hitting the metal sill outside my window. Since books for this age group were the most fun to read, I thought that they would also be the most fun to write.

ALLISON: This is the time when boys often stop reading books. Any plans to feature males to entice this audience?

CARRIE: Skylar is such a gusty heroine that I think she’s appealing to both boys and girls. Also, several of the main characters in the Skylar Robbins mysteries are boys, so I think the series will entice the male audience. I gave preview copies to a lot of my coworkers’ and customers’ kids to read before I was published so I could get honest feedback. Several of these kids were boys, and I was elated when I heard that they enjoyed the mystery as much as the girls did. Here’s a quote I got from one boy’s mom: “My 11-year-old son started reading the manuscript last night & couldn’t put it down…we finally had to take it away & turn the lights out. He keeps raving about how detailed & descriptive the book is.”

One group of brothers started their own detective agency: Wilkerson Boys, PI. Their mom is a photographer and took this picture while they were on the beach hunting for clues:

WilkersonBoysPIALLISON: Skylar’s new friend in the book associates herself with Wicca. Did you have any concerns about the negative reaction this might cause of some parents?

CARRIE: Skylar Robbins would never participate in black magic since she’s an ethical girl with integrity. But I needed her to be involved with magic in the story. What tween girl wouldn’t want to experiment with witchcraft if the outcome could be charming a cute boy or growing her own diamonds? I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot, but by the end of the book, Skylar exposes most of the Wiccan characters as charlatans. Moms and librarians have given the book a 5-star rating and their seal of approval, so I’m pretty sure parents will be happy with the outcome of the book and Skylar’s conclusions.

ALLISON: How has your husband supported you?

CARRIE: My husband has supported me in every way. He’s a graphic artist and designed the book’s cover, which won an award for best cover design. We bought an image of a young girl from a stock photography site and Ed used various techniques to tweak it and make her resemble my description of Skylar from the novel. I can’t pass up the opportunity to give him a shameless plug: His website is Mental Ward Design. Also, he’s a great editor and gave me excellent constructive criticism on everything from plot to punctuation.

ALLISON: What’s next?

CARRIE: At the end of The Mystery of Shadow Hills, Skylar sends a message to the readers: The Skylar Robbins Detective Agency needs a few secret agents to help solve her next case, The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels (summer, 2014). But they must have mad detective skills! They need to decipher her web address by using a mirror if they haven’t yet learned to read backward. Then find the Secret Agent Application form, and decode their password using a code they learned in the book. The second mystery is interactive: Skylar’s secret agents will help her figure out what the clues mean by posting their guesses on her website. Skylar’s adventures will continue in The Mystery of the Missing Heiress (2015) and The Curse of Koma Island (TBA). Updates, clues, and games are available on Skylarrobbins.com, and more secret agents are welcome to join the fun!

FREE SKYLAR ROBBINS BINOCULARS!

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Start your own detective kit! Order a personally autographed copy of SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS and receive a FREE pair of binoculars and a FREE interactive bookmark. Only $9.99 plus postage while supplies last. Leave a reply to get ordering information. Binoculars are in limited supply!

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Let’s Play, “Silent Detective!”

1525542_10152139976036357_1282891918_nMoms and Dads: need a fun game to keep your kids quiet in restaurants? Check out this passage from SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS, and learn how to play, “Silent Detective.”

My grandfather always made everything fun. I remembered going to my favorite seafood restaurant with him when I was six years old. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep Skylar busy,” Grandpa said, winking at my mom as we followed the hostess to our table.

Goody! We got a window seat. Waves crashed right next to us on the other side of the glass, spraying white foam into the air like someone had just turned on a gigantic fountain. It was exciting and I talked too loud.

“Use your restaurant voice please,” my mom said.

Grandpa held up one finger, catching my attention. “Let’s play Silent Detective,” he whispered. I nodded fast, wiggling in my seat. “I see something…blue.” My grandfather’s merry smile and folded arms challenged me to figure out what it was. If I said anything out loud, I would lose. After looking around the restaurant for a second, I pointed out the window at the ocean.

I raised my eyebrows but Grandpa shook his head. Too easy. I tugged on my ear, signaling that I needed my first clue. He pointed at me with both index fingers, and then moved them closer together. Something smaller.

A lady sitting near us wore a light blue blouse. Grabbing a tuft of my shirt, I tilted my head in her direction and mouthed, “Her top?” while raising my eyebrows.

Was I right?

Grandpa blinked twice, signaling no. Brought his fingers together again. Something smaller than that.

I looked slowly around the restaurant. A big, multi-colored bouquet sat on a table near the entrance. Bright blue peacock feathers poked up in between green ferns and some weird-looking red-orange flowers. I pointed at the bouquet and flapped my arms like a bird. “Peacock feathers?” I mouthed silently.

Blink, blink. Wrong again.

I needed my second clue and tugged my ear again. If I couldn’t guess it after two clues, I would lose the game. My grandfather touched his fingertips together and pulled his hands toward his body: Silent Detective language for something closer. I concentrated on our table. Nothing on it was blue. I looked at my dad’s colorful tie. No blue there either.

A busboy set down four glasses of ice water and my mom reached for hers and took a sip. Her ring sparkled. Grinning with my success, I pointed at the blue gem on her finger and watched Grandpa touch his nose and smile. I’d won Silent Detective.

“I’m proud of you,” he said, reaching forward just as the waiter came to take our order. Grandpa pulled a quarter out of my ear, and I got to keep the prize.

Interview with Jaime Buckley

I had an opportunity to take a few minutes and talk with a wonderful author who has used her passions to empower a new generation of young readers in the time honored tradition of famous books like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series. Her name is Carrie Cross and she is the clever author of “Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills.” The book, now in paperback, was published in July of 2013 by Teen Mystery Press, and can be purchased through Amazon. Read the rest of the interview here.

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