Breaking News – The New Casey Grimes Book Has a Title

and a bunch of Hyena Toads are giving me feedback

Hope your summer is winding down in a relaxed, dignified way, unlike mine. We visited DeGray Lake in Arkansas for a few days. The trip included paddle-boarding, disc golf, hiking, volleyball, and lots of swimming. Shortly after that, heat exhaustion, sunburns and a stomach bug—from the lake water we accidentally swallowed? The bug hung around way too long, delaying the arrival of this post. No one told us it was possible to play too hard.

Since recovering, I’ve been taking it a little slower, doing fewer chainsaw workouts, and giving fishing a try with my daughter Flannery—who is an expert, she tells me. But as skilled as she may be, we’re both batting 0% after several outings. The fish, when we see them, have huge grins on their faces. A Hugemouth Bass actually laughed out loud, showing us its stabby teeth when it surfaced. On the bright side, I’ve figured out how to bait my hook, I think.

Here at the Vanderhorst School of Adventure, hummingbirds have been fighting endless battles over their feeders, giving me some great chase scene ideas. I’ve been doing lots of writing outdoors so I can keep an eye on the little duelists, except when the temps hit the high 90s and low 100s. Then I have to take my laptop and hide in various corners of the house. My office still looks like a cluttered attic where a book bomb went off, so it’s not easy to write in there. Heck, it’s not easy to sit down in there.

We’ve entered my favorite and best phase of book writing, the Live Audience Round. This is when my whole family gathers in the living room and listens as I read the manuscript out loud with as much expression as I can give all the characters. Every once in a very long while, I mean, hardly ever, I’ll pronounce something wrong, like a character’s four-syllable name, for example—and everyone gets way too excited.

The audience feedback, which is supposed to be professional and full of tact, spirals out of control as my kids act like a pack of laughing hyena toads, a bunch of weak-kneed wusses (I still can’t believe they thought that scene was too much), and every now and then, a crowd of fans. One of my daughters, whose name I won’t reveal, now and then shakes her legs in the air, and I’m never sure if she’s enthusiastic or bored, so thanks for that, Gwendolyn.

It’s a lot of fun, even when I have to shout them down or tell my wife to stop trying to get special treatment for her favorite character, Luciana. Being an author is pretty up and down, and it’s an occupation that shuts you inside your head a lot. That said, reading my stories to this rowdy bunch of saps and shouters is a great privilege. They know a lot about plots and character arcs. They laugh at the right times (or not). You’d better believe all the instant feedback makes the stories better. Without times like this, I wouldn’t be writing kids’ books, that’s for sure…or putting the loud back into read-aloud. Now and then I wonder if I’ll get to do this with my grandkids someday—looking way further into the future than is wise for any kidlit author.

Our last read-aloud session is happening tonight. Which means, yes, we will be drinking punch in Sylvan Spy fashion, but probably more important to you, it means the second round of edits will be complete. Just one round left. The new book is getting closer and closer.

I’m about to start cover design, and will be putting the finishing touches on Casey #5 over the next few weeks. Which brings us to an important announcement. This book now has a title. And that title is:

The Beastly Scheme beat out a few other contenders: The Marauding Monsters, United Monsters of America, and The Monster Mission were all on the ballot, but the voting wasn’t close. In fact it was unanimous. What do you think of the new title?

More details in the days ahead as the book picks up speed, as well as a couple more announcements. Both of the announcements are cool, and one of them is a pretty big deal (not a movie deal, since I know some of you will ask—still pitching to studios). Keep an eye out.