A new writer, Kurt Christiansen, popped up on Facebook recently in a group I follow (Middle Grade Fiction Writers).

What caught my eye, besides the cover of his book, was this, “13 years in the making, a hundred drafts and revisions, and it’s finally complete and ready to share.”

In his photo he looked elated.

Writers do, indeed, spend years writing and perfecting their books through countless revisions and drafts.

Some give up, tuck the thing in a drawer and forget about not only the book, but their dream, too.

This guy didn’t.

Good for you, I wanted to shout.

So I hopped on Amazon to find his book, Gleam: Semma and the Secret of Stuffmore.

He called it a mash up of Willy Wonka meets Harry Potter.

Who wouldn’t be intrigued?

There are 12-year-old orphan twins, a great uncle Larry Bumbrain—doctor of ExtraOrdinology, the unmapped town of Stuffmore, magical gadgets and more.

It sounded so fun.

And he did something I’ve never seen a writer do in a book blurb, he let the characters review the book.

Pretty clever.

Gleam is a 400+ page parable about today’s Buy More, Be Happier society.

The characters were likeable, relatable, charming.

Uncle Bumbrain (love his name!) uses lots of wonderful, made-up words and phrases that should be in the dictionary.

He tells the children to get their “resties,” asks if they’re feeling “all bright,” says there’s no time for the “gloomies.”

He quotes his Grandma Bumbrain who speaks in koans (those Zen Buddhism riddles whose sole purpose is to enlighten while at the same time making zero logical sense), like this one, “Don’t put your hand in the cookie jar if the baby’s still asleep.”

I’d say I got more Willy Wonka vibes than Harry Potter.

But there were definitely some dark moments.

Overall, I found the book delightful, while also being disturbing in its truth.

Kudos to Christiansen for going the self-published route, too.

I have no idea why he wasn’t able to find an agent or if he even tried.

Traditional children’s book publishing is so difficult these days (was it ever not?) that more and more people are turning to self-publishing—parents, even, who never thought to write a book until something about their child sparked an idea.

They gather a team including an illustrator, cover-designer, developmental editor, copy editor, line editor—all the roles of a traditional publisher—helping to ensure a quality book that will be published in a timely manner.

Traditionally published books can take four or five years to be “born.”

I’m happy to recommend this book to kids aged 8-12 as well as adults (it’s a fantastic review of some lessons we ought to know but may have forgotten).

It’s full of positive messages—without being didactic—about empathy and learning to identify the important “things” in life.

Until next week,

~ Gail

Countdown: 34 weeks more weeks of 2024

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