Literary Rambles: 2025

Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Happy Friday Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox and MomDoesReviews. I hope you're enjoying your summer. I've been unfortunately taking care of major house repairs--a chimney repair and a new roof. Thankfully, that's all behind me, and I am looking forward to a fun July.

Book of Your Choice or Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

I’ve got a lot of exciting newly released MG and YA book choices this month that you might like. You can also choose another book in the series by these authors or a book of your choice. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads. Here are your choices:

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Giveaway Details

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by June 30th telling me whether you want a book, and if so, which one, or the Amazon gift card and your email address. Be sure to include your email address. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. only and the Amazon gift card giveaway is International.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Wednesday, July 2nd I have an interview with author Nia Davenport and a giveaway of her YA Love Spells Trouble and my IWSG post

Monday, July 7th I have an interview with author Natalie Richards and a giveaway of her MG Survive This Safari

Monday, July 14th I have an interview with debut author Sarah Mendonca with a giveaway of her MG An Enchantora's Guide to Monstros & Magic

Wednesday, July 16th I’m participating in the Hip Hip Hooray Giveaway Hop

Monday, July 28th I have an interview with author Marzieh Abbas and a giveaway of her MG Aarzu All Around

I hope to see you tomorrow!

And here are all the other blogs participating in this blog hop:

MamatheFox, Mom Does Reviews, and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Author Interview: Michael P. Spradlin and Threat of the Spider Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m thrilled to have author Michael P. Spradin here to talk about his newest MG Threat of the Spider and his career as an author. Threat of the Spider is the second book in the Web of the Spider Series. It sounds like an action-packed story set in Nazi Germany, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

A twelve-year-old boy searches for his father and fights for free press amid the chilling rise of Hitler’s Germany in this second book in the action-packed middle grade series Web of the Spider for fans of I Survived and A Night Divided.

Ansel has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind. He’s always the first among his friends to speak up when something doesn’t feel right. When the Hitler Youth first set up shop in Heroldsberg the year before, Ansel quickly made enemies of the chapter’s arrogant leader, Hans. Of course, Ansel is also twelve years old, so he spends much of his time reading his favorite Dirk Goodly, Boy Detective novels and trying to make his friends laugh.

But more and more of his classmates have been swayed by Hans’s tactics and the Youth organization is growing throughout the city. Ansel knows that Hans and his group are spreading false information—after all, Ansel’s father is a journalist for the local paper and has been going toe to toe with Nazi propaganda for a long time.

Then Ansel’s father goes missing right before a prominent Nazi leader comes to town. With the local police in the Nazi’s pocket, can Ansel and his friends use their detective skills to find his father and thwart the Nazi’s plans to suppress the truth?

Follower News

Before I get to Michael’s interview, I have Follower News to share. Victoria Marie Lees released Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College, her memoir, today. Here’s a blurb: You’re not smart enough. Determined to prove both her father and education authorities holding her daughter back they’re wrong, Victoria Marie Lees begins college. The challenge of college takes on a whole new meaning when you add five young children and self-doubt to the mix. And here are a few links:

Interview With Michael P. Spradlin

Hi Michael! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

It was a process. I loved to read as a kid. Really loved it. As I got older, I realized that I actually truly enjoyed the act of writing. But I grew up in a small town that—as far as I know—had no writers. I had no indication it was something you could do to make a living (and there are times it’s still not!). Fast forward to college, where I was a history major and an English minor. You tend to do a lot of writing in those disciplines. It was there that I had several professors start encouraging me about my “writing ability.” One flat out told me, “Dude, you need to do this for a living.” And that was where the idea took root! It wasn’t until I was in my forties though, that I found I had anything to say.

2. Where did you get the idea for Threat of the Spider and the Web of the Spider Series?

It morphed out of a conversation with my editor. I was interested in writing a book about the Edelweiss Pirates. They were a group of German young people (some as young as 12) who, during World War II, opposed Hitler and the Nazi regime and engaged in espionage as well as circulating anti-Nazi propaganda. Some were caught and executed (as young as 12). We started discussing the idea of resistance and how it might take root, and we eventually got back to those who might have opposed Hitler from the very beginning. It’s incredibly important to remember that not every German citizen was a Nazi, nor a Nazi supporter.

Your Writing Process

3. It’s cool that your editor helped you with the idea for this story. This isn’t the first series you’ve written. Tell us how you plotted the series, and when you plotted it out in relation to publishing Rise of the Spider, the first book in this series. When and in how much detail did you plot out this story?

We came up with a rough outline for each book—sort of covering the broad strokes we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss. But that was basically just a framework. I had a lot of latitude with characters and personalities. I would say the finished books are quite different from the original outline.

4. How do you keep track of everything you need to know about Ansel, the main character of your story, as you tell his story over the books in this series? Do you have him work through an emotional in addition to the outward plot problem in each book?

I tend to keep notes with character descriptions and personality traits. Ansel is the main character in Threat of the Spider, but he will be a secondary character in the other books, so it becomes a little easier to keep track of things.

5. I’ve read that you don’t write every day. And you’ve successfully published over 39 books. How do you stay so productive and write so many stories that are good enough to be published?

I don’t write every day. It’s just not possible for my brain! I can’t think of any job where someone does it intensely, every single day without their work suffering for it. I think it’s vital to step away and recharge. That said, when it is a writing day, make sure you write.

Your Journey to Publication

6. How did Timothy Travaglini become your agent?

Tim and I had met at a conference years ago, and he actually became my editor on a couple of my books. He bought The Youngest Templar Trilogy while he was at Penguin and edited that. It’s probably been my most successful project to date! Eventually, he moved on to agenting and he was a natural choice when I was looking for a new agent.

7. Your first book, The Legend of Blue Jacket, was published in 2002. What was your road to publishing that picture book? How did you get your publishing contract for this series?

Most of my books happen because of conversations. I had a conversation about the story behind The Legend of Blue Jacket with an editor at a conference. They asked to see it and bought it. Just like that! I don’t have the “hundreds and hundreds” of rejections that so many other writers have. This series also came out of a similar conversation at a conference several years ago. It only goes to show that you never know how much time something is going to take. Hold onto those ideas!

8. I think we’d all like to sell books through conversations like you have. You write for all ages and have published at least 34 books since 2002. How have you been able to steadily continue publishing for all these years? What advice do you have for new authors for growing their careers?

There’s no secret! Write as well as you can and just keep doing it. Don’t give up. Worry about writing for your own pleasure and not so much for publication. Remember a book is written word by word, while a career is built reader by reader.

Promoting Your Book

9. How have you been promoting Threat of the Spider? How has your marketing of your books changed over the years? Why?

The internet has changed everything. It has made it easier to reach larger groups of people more easily. But I still believe the onus is on the writer to write a great book, and the publisher to publish it well. Publishers do a good job of finding readers. If you stay true to your readers, I believe you’ll eventually find success.

10. What are you working on now?

I am working on the next book in the Web of the Spider series, The Spider Strikes, which will be out in 2026.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Michael. You can find Michael at michaelspradlin.com, and on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.

Giveaway Details

Michael’s publisher is generously offering a paperback of Threat of the Spider for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by July 5th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Michael on his social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Tuesday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 2nd I have an interview with author Nia Davenport and a giveaway of her YA Love Spells Trouble and my IWSG post

Monday, July 7th I have an interview with author Natalie Richards and a giveaway of her MG Survive This Safari

Monday, July 14th I have an interview with debut author Sarah Mendonca with a giveaway of her MG An Enchantora's Guide to Monstros & Magic

Wednesday, July 16th I’m participating in the Hip Hip Hooray Giveaway Hop

Monday, July 28th I have an interview with author Marzieh Abbas and a giveaway of her MG Aarzu All Around

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

Dad-o-mite-Giveaway Hop

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the Dad-o-mite Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox and Mom Does Reviews. Can you believe it's already mid-June? I've been doing fun things with friends and am looking forward to a trip with my daughter to visit family in Dallas next month.

Book of Your Choice or Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

This is a book of your choice or Amazon Gift Card giveaway. This month I want to highlight some middle grade great choices. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads. Here are your choices:

Giveaway Details

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, June 23rd I have an interview with author Michael Spradlin and a giveaway of his MG Threat of the Spider

Tuesday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 2nd I have an interview with author Nia Davenport and a giveaway of her YA Love Spells Trouble and my IWSG post

Monday, July 7th I have an interview with author Natalie Richards and a giveaway of her MG Survive This Safari

I hope to see you on Monday!

And here are all the blogs participating in this blog hop:

MamatheFox, Mom Does Reviews, and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Literary Agent Interview: Mark O’Brien Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today, I’m thrilled to have agent Mark O’Brien here. He’s an associate agent at Azantian Literary Agency.

Hi Mark! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Mark:

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

I began my career in the book publishing industry with an editorial internship at Entangled Publishing in August 2015, six weeks after I graduated high school. From there, I haven’t stopped! I interned and assisted at five literary agencies, including Writers House, Stonesong, and Triada US, before working at NetGalley as Sales Coordinator for three years. In September 2024, I joined Azantian Literary Agency as an associate agent. I’m building my client list slowly and with intention.

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

Founded in 2014, Azantian Literary is committed to guiding the careers of both new and established voices in fiction and nonfiction, particularly those who have been historically underrepresented. We’re a growing agency with a boutique, collaborative style and over a dozen agents. We partner with Mushens Entertainment for foreign rights for books for all ages and genres, excluding graphic novels. Foreign rights for graphic novels are handled by Full Bleed Rights. We’re always looking to serve our clients as best as we possibly can. (We’re also nice.)

What He’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

In young adult, my first love is contemporary realistic fiction, as well as realistic with a twist. I am also building my list in YA genre fiction, including science fiction and fantasy.

4. Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?

As a queer, neurodivergent agent, I’m always excited to see queries from queer, neurodivergent, BIPOC, and disabled creators.

What He Isn’t Looking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

I am not the best fit for horror, thrillers, picture books, novellas, poetry collections, and stories centering intense violence and/or gore.

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

I want to work with voices that refuse to be denied. I find these voices most often come from authors who are marginalized in some way, or (more often) multiple ways. Because of this, I’m a careful agent. I also see myself as a cheerleader for my clients.

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

Yes, yes, and yes! We’ll usually do as many rounds of developmental and/or line edits as it takes to make sure every word counts, and shines, before sending a manuscript out to editors.

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting)

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter?

Query me through QueryManager following the submission guidelines on Azantian Literary’s website. Include your first ten pages and a bio.

9. Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?

I prefer to be addressed as Mark, though I’d absolutely never hold a different salutation against a writer. As long as you’re professional and following my submission guidelines, you’re on the right track!

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

Five minutes to three months.

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11. Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

Yes, I’m absolutely open to established self- and indie- published authors. I recommend these authors ensure they want to pursue traditional publication before sending out query letters to literary agents. Whichever publication path you choose, be intentional about it.

Clients:

12. Who are some of the authors you represent?

I’m still quite new! I represent Faefyx Collington, author of queer nonfiction I couldn’t be more excited about. I’m looking forward to expanding my list!

Interviews and Guest Posts:

13. Please share the links to any interviews, guest posts, and podcasts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

This is my first—thank you, Natalie!

Links and Contact Info:

14. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

Send me a query and ten pages through QueryManager here: http://querymanager.com/bookmarkobrien. Follow me on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/bookmarkobrien.bsky.social. Check out my freelance website here: https://bookmarkobrien.com/

Additional Advice:

15. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

As someone who was a querying writer before he became a literary agent: No agent is better than a bad agent. Always research a literary agent, and their affiliated agency, before querying. If you want to pursue traditional publication, ensure any agent you consider is capable of making a well-negotiated traditional publication deal happen. Otherwise, that agent isn’t earning their fifteen percent!

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Mark.

Giveaway Details

Mark is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment through June 21st. If you do not want to enter the contest, that’s okay. Just let me know in the comments. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use hime before querying an agent. The information found hime is subject to change.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Monday, June 16th I’m participating in the Dad-o-Mite Giveaway Hop

Monday, June 23rd I have an interview with author Michael Spradlin and a giveaway of his MG Threat of the Spider

Tuesday, July 1st I’m participating in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, July 2nd I have an interview with author Nia Davenport and a giveaway of her YA Love Spells Trouble and my IWSG post

Monday, July 7th I have an interview with author Natalie Richards and a giveaway of her MG Survive This Safari

I hope to see you on Monday!