Meet Author Mayra Calvani

Welcome to day 1 of the tour for Mayra Calvani

Meet Author Mayra Calvani- This book is a must for those wanting to be in the know about writing and book reviewing. Read about this children's author and follow the tour.




I never thought I’d become a children’s book author. Yes, I started writing fiction when I was about 12, but, back then, I wrote paranormal suspense. I guess all those movies in black & white about werewolves, vampires and witches must have had a strong effect on me. This taste for the supernatural continued throughout my teens, twenties and early thirties. It wasn’t until I had my second child that, somehow, I got bitten by the children’s story bug. Reading all those picture books to my kids at night must have been a big influence. So, one day, I decided to sit down and write a children’s story. That first story eventually became my first published children’s book, Crash! I’ve been writing for children since that day, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve always compared writing for children as walking on a rainbow. It’s a world full of color, full of possibilities. There’s so much room for exaggeration and the ridiculous, the more you let your imagination run wild, the better you’ll be.

I still write fiction and nonfiction for adults, but I have to admit that children’s literature is my new passion. I’m not talking only about picture books, but middle grade and young adult fiction as well.

My latest book, How to Turn Your Book Club into a Spectacular Event, is my first nonfiction book for kids. Unlike my earlier picture books, which are geared toward 3 to 8 year olds, this one is for middle graders ages 9 to 12. The book (actually, it is more of a booklet, only 45 pages long), is based on an article I wrote a couple of years ago. The article was aimed at grownups but I thought it would be a great idea to write a similar version for kids. I searched on Amazon to see if there were similar books, and I wasn’t able to find many. I think there was one or two, if I remember it correctly. So I approached my publisher, Lida Quillen of Twilight Times Books, with the idea and she liked it enough to offer me a contract based on the proposal, which was basically the table of contents and a sample chapter.

Like the antisocial little rodent in my picture book, Humberto the Bookworm Hamster, I’ve had my nose stuck in a book my whole life, and I know I would have loved the idea of starting my own book club if only I’d had the right advice. The more we can instil a love of literature in young people, the better. I know this is self serving, but my book would make a lovely Christmas gift to any girl who loves books.

In How to Turn Your Book Club into a Spectacular Event, using simple steps and examples, I go through the whole process of starting and managing a book club, as well as turning it into a fun, exciting social event. At the end of most sections there’s space for note taking where readers can make lists and write down ideas such as possible members, club names, etc. There’s also a section where I explain the different genres and a list of popular middle-grade authors with links to their websites.

My goal was to encourage young people to enjoy books and reading and to create a short, practical, quick reference guide for them to use. To read reviews and an excerpt of How to Turn Your Book Club into a Spectacular Event, please visit: http://mayrassecretbookcase.com/Middle_Grade.html
 


Follow Mayra to day 2 of her tour here:
http://kristibernard.wordpress.com/