My New Middle Grades Novel is in Development!!

I couldn’t possibly be more pumped up about writing as we head into the final months of 2018. Overall, despite the world feeling like it’s been burning to the ground around us at times, 2018 has been extremely kind to me. I released my debut YA novel, NO SAD SONGS, back in February and spent most of the year traveling around to schools, book festivals, and book stores meeting readers and presenting my experiences with Alzheimer’s caregiving. I also signed another YA novel, REEL BEAUTY, with Fish Out of Water Books and have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of an official release date (which is expected to be sometime in mid to late 2019).

Currently, I’m in the thick of pushing my very first middle grades novel out into the world. If Found Please Return To: Norbert M. Finkelstein is truly near and dear to my heart. I wrote it as a form of healing, as way of distracting myself from the utter hopelessness of losing my best friend (my dog, Mike) prematurely to cancer. The story is a humorous twist on the traditional diary novel, much like smash hits The Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It follows the daily life of Norbie Finkelstein, a middle school English teacher who happens to moonlight as a semi-professional wrestler when he’s not lecturing on classic literature and stopping bullies from taking over his classroom. When he loses his personal journal and it is picked up by one of his students, his journey up the wrestling stepladder is revealed and the reader is given the chance to watch Norbie’s outlandishly hilarious matches unfold just as his epic training sessions with the brutal Sensei Clement spiral out of control.

I’m excited to announce my partnership with INtense Publications, a relatively new indie press based in Texas that specializes in publishing materials intended to be consumed by the educational marketplace. As we speak, I’m in the thick of developmental edits and have secured an illustrator (stay tuned for an official announcement to follow) that I know will bring the hyperbole-rich moments of this novel to the surface. I can’t wait to see how the finished product of this book turns out. I hope you’ll keep it in mind for all the middle grade readers in your life! Release date to come!