STEFAN MOHAMED - STANLY'S GHOST BLOG TOUR - DAY ONE GUEST POST - WRITING WITH SUPERPOWERS

Cynical and solitary Stanly Bird used to be a fairly typical teenager – unless you count the fact that his best friend was a talking beagle named Daryl. Then came the superpowers and the superpowered allies as well as the mysterious enemies and the terrifying monsters. 

Stanley's Ghost is book three in the Bitter Sixteen series, which hit the superpower charged world on the 15 March 2017, and is published by the mighty Salt Publishing. Get your capes on and follow us on a super powered fuelled journey of words and wisdom with the #STANLYSGHOST blog tour.

The UK blog tour has the first stop here with a cracking post by Stefan on writing with Superpowers.

One of the most common criticisms levelled at the character of Superman is that he’s just too powerful. He’s the strongest, the fastest, the eye laser-est, he’s functionally invulnerable – where’s the drama? There are only so many times you can have Lex Luthor trick him into eating Kryptonite porridge. Surely if a character can immediately overcome anything using his superpowers, it just sucks the tension and excitement from the story? This is also an oft-cited reason for why it’s so hard to write decent stories for the Man of Steel.

To be sure, introducing powers into a story, whether those are magical powers, Gamma radiation powers or solar-assisted eye laser powers, complicates things. While supernatural abilities open up whole new vistas of opportunity for creativity, they also create headaches. What are the rules? What are the limits? Are there limits? If there are, how do you define them without getting bogged down in minutiae, and how do you ensure that you don’t break your own rules? If there aren’t, how do you create tension? 

In Bitter Sixteen, the first book in my superhero trilogy, dysfunctional Welsh teenager Stanly is the recipient of superpowers on his sixteenth birthday, specifically the powers of flight and telekinesis. His progress through the story, mastering his new abilities and discovering their scope, is slow and bumpy. By the time of the newly released final installment, Stanly’s Ghost, his powers have grown to a fearsome level. Arguably, at this point, few could stand against him. 

So how do you maintain drama with a protagonist that strong? Well, while the practical aspects of superpowers are of course important – a story needs to have internal consistency, especially when one is already asking readers to suspend their disbelief – they cannot be the be-all and end-all. There are only so many structural obstacles, i.e. the Kryptonite stopping Superman from doing the thing, that can be thrown up before our attention starts to wander. And while conflict between two superpowered people that is based purely on how much stronger one is than the other, and how much hotter one dude’s eye lasers are, can certainly be exciting and visceral and make for a stunning set piece, drama rooted in emotional conflict, moral dilemmas and thematic concerns is always going to be more compelling, and leave a more lasting impression. That, to me, is how you tell a good story with a superpowered, even overpowered protagonist – by making sure that it remains emotionally resonant. 

So with this in mind, throughout the writing process, I always tried to focus on Stanly’s feelings. The question of what he can do with his powers, what he’s capable of, should always go hand-in-hand with the question of what he should be doing, whether he should push his powers to their limit or perhaps impose limits on himself. To me, someone deliberately limiting themselves for moral reasons is inherently more compelling than someone being limited by outside forces. Which problems can Stanly solve with his powers? Which problems should he solve? Which should he avoid? Who is an acceptable target? Who isn’t? If a character is torn about whether or not they should act, that immediately creates interest. Of course, someone who decides to crack on regardless, perhaps on dubious ethical grounds (see the juxtaposition of Buffy and Faith’s rather different approaches to their work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) can also be compelling, but again it should be rooted in emotion and moral choices. 

That being said, a story does still require external obstacles. As Stanly’s abilities have developed, the world around him has grown more complicated, and problems have arisen that can’t easily be solved with superpowers. In fact, when you stop to think about it, how many of the daily challenges we face could simply be solved with superpowers, without us having to in some way reject the moral consensus and laws that govern a civilised society? Yes, we could simply fly away from our problems, but that doesn’t solve them. Yes, we could choose to psychically punch everybody who gets in our way, but it’s kind of difficult to call ourselves ‘good’ if we do that. A straightforward smashy smashy monster fighting actioner is certainly worthwhile. I loves me some big set pieces and splash page action. But in order to be truly indelible, to touch us emotionally, to be one of those stories that remains a touchstone, the monster, and the powers used to defeat it, should mean more to us. The monster needs to be a consequence of something, a manifestation of something, a symptom of a bigger problem, an element of a larger question. 

By all means, give your character huge, crazy powers. Good drama, good stories, can be found anywhere. Superman is not intrinsically compelling because he can punch asteroids. More interesting, surely, is the question of why he chooses to punch the asteroid.

What is at stake? 

What will happen if he decides not to act? 

What does he have to lose?

Day 2 - 28 March 2017 - http://thepewterwolf.blogspot.co.uk

Day 3 - 29 March 2017 - http://www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk

Day 4 - 30 March 2017 - https://ifthesebookscouldtalk.com

Day 5 - 31 March 2017 - http://www.talesofyesterday.co.uk

Stefan Mohamed is an author, poet and sometime journalist. He graduated 
from Kingston University in 2010 with a first class degree in creative 
writing and film studies, and later that year won the inaugural Sony 
Reader Award, a category of the Dylan Thomas Prize, for his novel Bitter 
Sixteen. He lives in Bristol.

Author Website: http://stefmo.co.uk

Publisher Website: https://www.saltpublishing.com

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's/Teenage US Published Book Picks For March 2016 - Post Two

Brandon Mull - Death Weavers (Five Kingdoms Bk4) - Published by Aladdin (March 15, 2016)
Cole is about to face his biggest peril yet.
Since arriving in the Outskirts, Cole and his friends have fought monsters, challenged knights, and battled rampaging robots. But none of that has prepared them for Necronum.
In this haunting kingdom, it’s hard to tell the living from the dead, and secret pacts carry terrifying risks. Within Necronum lies the echolands, a waystation for the departed where the living seldom venture.
Still separated from his power, Cole must cross to the echolands and rely on his instincts to help rescue his friends. With enemies closing in, Cole risks losing everything to find the one thing that might save them.

Ted Sanders - The Keepers #2: The Harp and the Ravenvine - Published by HarperCollins Children's (March 1, 2016) 
IN THE WORLD OF THE KEEPERS, IT'S BEST NOT TO SPEAK IN TERMS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.
Horace F. Andrews, Keeper of the fabled Box of Promises, knows that nothing is impossible. After all, he has the ability to see into the future, and his friend Chloe can walk through walls. But before either of them can master their Tan'ji--their talismans of power--a new threat looms over all Keepers, and they must prepare to battle their eternal enemies--the Riven.

Far away, drawn by an irresistible summons, a mysterious girl is making her way to the Warren, the Keeper stronghold. She wears the Ravenvine and is learning to wield its fascinating power; but this Tan'ji is damaged. There's no telling what will happen to the instrument or its Keeper if it cannot be made whole again. April's journey is long and dangerous, with strange new companions at her side and a pack of sinister hunters tracking her. Will she reach the Warren in time, and is it a safe haven, or will it offer only more danger?

Ted Sanders's magical series began with The Box and the Dragonfly and continues with this powerful sequel that expands the extraordinary world of the Keepers, where nothing is ever ordinary and three words rule: Curiosity. Discovery. Possibility.

Marina Cohen - The Inn Between - Published by Roaring Brook Press (March 22, 2016) 

Eleven-year-old Quinn has had some bad experiences lately. She was caught cheating in school, and then one day, her little sister Emma disappeared while walking home from school. She never returned.

When Quinn's best friend Kara has to move away, she goes on one last trip with Kara and her family. They stop over at the first hotel they see, a Victorian inn that instantly gives Quinn the creeps, and she begins to notice strange things happening around them. When Kara's parents and then brother disappear without a trace, the girls are stranded in a hotel full of strange guests, hallways that twist back in on themselves, and a particularly nasty surprise lurking beneath the floorboards. 

Andrew Brumbach - The Eye Of Midnight - Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 8, 2016)

A cross between Indiana Jones and The DaVinci Code for kids, you won’t be able to put down this classic adventure set in 1920s New York City with an Arabian twist!

 
On a stormy May day in 1929, William and Maxine arrive on the doorstep of Battersea Manor to spend the summer with a grandfather they barely remember. Whatever the cousins expected, Colonel Battersea isn’t it.
     Soon after they settle in, Grandpa receives a cryptic telegram and promptly whisks the cousins off to New York City so that he can meet an unknown courier and collect a very important package. Before he can do so, however, Grandpa vanishes without a trace. 
     When the cousins stumble upon Nura, a tenacious girl from Turkey, she promises to help them track down the parcel and rescue Colonel Battersea. But with cold-blooded gangsters and a secret society of assassins all clamoring for the same mysterious object, the children soon find themselves in a desperate struggle just to escape the city’s dark streets alive.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children's/Teenage US Published Book Picks For March 2016 - Post One

Raymond Arroyo - Will Wilder: The Relic of Perilous Falls - Published by Crown Books for Young Readers (March 8, 2016)
Fans of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Peter Lerangis’s Seven Wondersseries will embrace this first epic adventure in a rollicking new series by a New York Times bestselling author.
 
Will Wilder is a mischievous, headstrong twelve-year-old with an otherworldly gift—he alone can see the nefarious creatures encroaching on Perilous Falls. For nearly a century, a sacred relic has protected his hometown from the raging waters surrounding it. But when Will “borrows” the relic for his own purposes, he accidentally unleashes an ancient evil.

Jaleigh Johnson - The  Secrets of Solace - Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 8, 2016)
From Jaleigh Johnson, the acclaimed author of The Mark of the Dragonfly, comes another thrilling adventure in the magical world of Solace.
    Lina Winterbock lives in the mountain strongholds of Solace. She’s an apprentice to the archivists, the wise men and women whose lives are dedicated to cataloging, studying, and preserving the objects that mysteriously fall from the sky in the scrap towns.
    Lina should be spending her days with books, but the Iron War has changed everything. The strongholds are now a refuge, and the people Lina once counted on no longer have time for her, so she spends her days exploring the hidden tunnels and passages of her home. The strongholds are vast and old, with twisting paths, forgotten rooms, and collapsed chambers, some of them containing objects that have been lost and forgotten even by the archivists.
    And in one of the forgotten chambers, Lina discovers a secret.
    Hidden deep in a cavern is a half-buried airship like nothing she has ever seen before. She’s determined to dig it out and restore it. But Lina needs help, and she doesn’t know anyone she can trust with her secret.
    Then she meets Ozben, a mysterious boy who has a secret of his own—a secret that’s so dangerous it could change the course of the Iron War and the world of Solace forever. 

Janet Fox - The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle - Published by Viking Books for Young Readers (March 15, 2016)
That’s what Katherine Bateson’s father told her, and that’s what she’s trying to do:  when her father goes off to the war, when her mother sends Kat and her brother and sister away from London to escape the incessant bombing, even when the children arrive at Rookskill Castle, an ancient, crumbling manor on the misty Scottish highlands.
 
But it’s hard to keep calm in the strange castle that seems haunted by ghosts or worse.  What’s making those terrifying screeches and groans at night?  Why do the castle’s walls seem to have a mind of their own?  And why do people seem to mysteriously appear and disappear?

Linda Sue Park (Author) & Jim Madsen (Illustrator) - Forest of Wonders (Wing and Claw) Published by HarperCollins (March 1, 2016) 

Raffa Santana has always loved the mysterious Forest of Wonders. For a gifted young apothecary like him, every leaf could unleash a kind of magic. When an injured bat crashes into his life, Raffa invents a cure from a rare crimson vine that he finds deep in the Forest. His remedy saves the animal but also transforms it into something much more than an ordinary bat, with far-reaching consequences. Raffa’s experiments lead him away from home to the forbidding city of Gilden, where troubling discoveries make him question whether exciting botanical inventions—including his own—might actually threaten the very creatures of the Forest he wants to protect.

The first book in an enchanting trilogy, Forest of Wonders richly explores the links between magic and botany, family and duty, environment and home.

Mr Ripley's Favourite Children's/Teenage US Book Picks For February 2016 - Post One

Victoria Scott - Titans - Published by Scholastic Press (February 23, 2016) - Age 11+
Ever since the Titans appeared in her Detroit neighborhood, Astrid Sullivan's world has revolved around the mechanical horses. It's not just the thrill of the race. It's the engineering of the horses themselves and the way they're programmed to seem so lifelike. The Titans are everything that fascinates Astrid, and nothing she'll ever touch.

She hates them a little, too. Her dad lost everything betting on the Titans. And the races are a reminder of the gap between the rich jockeys who can afford the expensive machines and the working class friends and neighbors of Astrid's who wager on them.

But when Astrid's offered a chance to enter an early model Titan in this year's derby, well, she decides to risk it all. Because for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, it's more than a chance at fame or money. Betting on herself is the only way she can see to hang on to everyone in the world she cares about.

Kate O'Hearn - Valkyrie - Published by Aladdin (February 2, 2016) Age 8+
Freya is dreading her upcoming birthday when she’ll officially have to take up her duties as a Valkyrie. She doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of the legends before her—legends including her mother and sisters. And she certainly doesn’t want anything to do with humans!

Freya thinks humans are cruel, hate-filled creatures, but as she observes their world, she begins to wonder what it would be like to make friends with the girls or laugh with the boys she sees. And what would it be like to live without the fear that she could cause someone’s death with a single touch?

Then when she’s sent on her first mission, she reaps the soul of a fallen soldier with unfinished business…business that sends her on an epic quest to the mortal world. Will Freya find the true meaning of being a human, or will she finally accept the legend she is destined to become?

Pseudonymous Bosch - Bad Luck (The Bad Books) - Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (February 9, 2016) Age 8+
At Earth Ranch, things can get a little magical (some might say strange). Intrepid readers will discover a runaway boy, fishy cruise ship, strange cave paintings, dragon-like footprints, and other mysteries that Clay and his friends need to solve. Danger, adventure, mischief, mystery, llamas, and a delightfully irreverent and hilarious narrator make bestselling author Pseudonymous Bosch's anticipated new novel irresistible.

J. A. White - The Thickety: Well of Witches - Published by Katherine Tegen Books (February 23, 2016) Age 10+

J. A. White’s The Thickety: Well of Witches is an epic quest into an enchanted kingdom with new kinds of magic, an old enemy, and only one way out. Fans of Neil Gaiman will love this third novel in the spectacular and twisty fantasy series that has readers and reviewers raving.

Kara and Taff know that only Grace Stone has the power to reverse her Last Spell on their father, and that in order to save him, they have to rescue their foe from the Well of Witches first. Forgiving Grace should be the hardest part of their journey . . . but soon the children are confronted by creatures called the Faceless, mysteries as old as magic, and an ancient secret that threatens their very lives. Back in the World, a war against magic is brewing that endangers everyone they care about. Can Kara and Taff find Grace and make it back to their father in time?

Favourite Book Picks: Children's/Teens - January 2016 - US Published - Post Two (Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books)

James Riley - The Stolen Chapters (Story Thieves) - Published by Aladdin (January 19, 2016)

Owen Conners would never jump into a mystery. There are too many hidden clues, twists that make no sense, and an ending you never see coming. Mysteries are just not Owen’s thing. So how exactly did he end up in one with his memory erased? And that’s far from the only question.

How did Kiel Gnomenfoot, boy magician, lose all of his magic? Where’s Bethany, their half-fictional friend? And who’s the annoying guy wearing the question mark mask and Sherlock Holmes hat, taunting Owen and Kiel that Bethany is in grave danger?

Bethany is trapped in a hidden room that’s slowly filling with water, and she can’t escape until her friends find her. But is she imprisoned by more than just chains and a locked door? What’s she hiding from Owen and Kiel?

Maybe some mysteries just shouldn’t be solved…

Katherine Marsh & Kelly Murphy - The Door by the Staircase - Published by Disney-Hyperion (January 5, 2016)

Twelve-year-old Mary Hayes can't stand her orphanage for another night. But when an attempted escape through the stove pipe doesn't go quite as well as she'd hoped, Mary fears she'll be stuck in the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies forever. 

The very next day, a mysterious woman named Madame Z appears at the orphanage requesting to adopt Mary, and the matron's all too happy to get the girl off her hands. Soon, Mary is fed a hearty meal, dressed in a clean, new nightgown and shown to a soft bed with blankets piled high. She can hardly believe she isn't dreaming!

But when Mary begins to explore the strange nearby town with the help of her new friend, Jacob, she learns a terrifying secret about Madame Z's true identity. If Mary's not careful, her new home might just turn into a nightmare.

Award-winning author Katherine Marsh draws from Russian fairytales in this darkly funny middle-grade fantasy novel.

Monica Tesler - Bounders - Published by Aladdin (January 5, 2016)

In the tradition of Michael Vey and The Unwanteds, twelve-year-old Jasper and his friends are forced to go up against an alien society in this first book in a brand-new adventure series!

Thirteen years ago, Earth Force—a space-military agency—discovered a connection between brain structure and space travel. Now they’ve brought together the first team of cadets, called Bounders, to be trained as high-level astronauts.

Twelve-year-old Jasper is part of this team being sent out into space. After being bullied back on Earth, Jasper is thrilled to have something new and different to do with other kids who are more like him. While learning all about the new technologies and taking classes in mobility—otherwise known as flying with jetpacks—Jasper befriends the four other students in his pod and finally feels like he has found his place in the world.

But then Jasper and his new friends learn that they haven’t been told everything about Earth Force. They weren’t brought to space for astronaut training, but to learn a new, highly classified brain-sync technology that allows them to manipulate matter and quantum bound, or teleport. And it isn’t long before they find out this new technology was actually stolen from an alien society.

When Jasper and his friends discover the truth about why Earth Force needs them, they are faced with a choice: rebel against the academy that brought them together, or fulfill their duty and protect the planet at all costs.

Jennifer A. Nielsen - Rise of the Wolf (Mark of the Thief, Book 2) - Published by Scholastic Press (January 26, 2016)

Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War -- the battle to destroy Rome from within -- is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet -- one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.

When the Praetors capture Nic's mother, Nic knows he must do anything to save her. He challenges the Praetors to a chariot race. If he wins, they will release his mother. But if he loses, he must hand over a magic that will certainly bring about the end of Rome as well as his own life. Can Nic once again harness his magic and gather the strength to defeat his enemies? Or will he lose his mother and bear witness to Rome's destruction?

Favourite Book Picks: Kids/Teens - January 2016 - US Published (Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books)

Dianne K. Salerni - The Morrigan's Curse (Eighth Day) - Published by HarperCollins (January 26, 2016) 

Adventure, action, and magic collide in the latest installment of the series that School Library Journal called "fast paced and exciting." In the third book of the series that VOYA recommends "for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter," the war over the Eighth Day continues—and there's more at stake than ever before. 

The battle between Kin and Transitioners that's been brewing for centuries has finally come to a head. The sinister Kin have captured Evangeline's younger sister, Addie, a descendant of Merlin whose presence will allow them to reverse the Eighth Day Spell and free themselves. Addie doesn't realize the full consequences of her cooperation. She's been helping the Kin because they value the strength of her magic—something Evangeline never did. The feeling of power coursing through her veins is impossible to resist. 

Meanwhile, Riley, Evangeline, and Jax craft a plan to rescue Addie from her captors. But the Kin's unstoppable magic, and a rebellious Addie, force Riley to reconsider whether saving Addie is worth sacrificing everyone who lives in the seven-day week. Jax won't let Evangeline's sister be used as a pawn, so he risks it all in a secret mission of his own. With the Morrigan pushing both sides of the war toward annihilation, Addie must decide where her loyalties lie, while Jax, Riley, and Evangeline confront the possibility of losing Addie to save the world.

Patrick Samphire - Secrets of the Dragon - Published by Henry Holt and Co. (January 12, 2016)

Mars in 1816 is a world of high Society, deadly danger, and strange clockwork machines. Pterodactyls glide through the sky, automatic servants hand out sandwiches at elegant garden parties, and in the north, the great dragon tombs hide marvels of Ancient Martian technology.

Twelve-year-old Edward Sullivan has always dreamed of becoming a spy like the ones he reads of in his favorite magazine, Thrilling Martian Tales. Instead, he spends his days keeping his eccentric family from complete disaster ... that is, until the villainous archeologist, Sir Titus Dane, kidnaps Edward's parents as part of a scheme to loot an undiscovered dragon tomb.

Edward and his sisters set out on a perilous pursuit across the Martian wilderness. Together they must evade Sir Titus's minions, battle mechanical nasties, and escape deadly Martian hunting machines. If they can't, they will never uncover the secrets of the dragon tomb and rescue Edward's family.

Ryan Dalton - The Year Light - Published by Jolly Fish Press (January 19, 2016)

When 15-year-old twins Malcolm and Valentine Gilbert moved to a new town, they never imagined that the old house across the street could bring them so much trouble. Inside the old house, a secret machine with the power to pierce time has reawakened. Meanwhile, lightning storms are breaking out all over town. They’re getting worse every week, and seem to enjoy striking kids who just want to pass science class and mind their own business. When Malcolm and Valentine discover a connection between the house and the storms, their situation goes from mysterious to crazy-stupid dangerous. Someone is controlling the great machine, and their purpose is nearly complete. In a race against time, the twins must uncover the chilling plan, the mastermind behind it, and the force that’s driving the deadly storms. They’ll hunt a powerful enemy that threatens their town’s existence, and the only clues are written in the sky.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: RYAN DALTON either wears a cape and fights crime abroad, or he writes about it from his red captain’s chair at home. Perhaps he’s a superhero that’s trained with the world’s finest heroes, or he’s a lifelong geek who sings well and makes a decent dish of spaghetti. It’s also plausible that he’s been plotting to take over the world since he was ten, or that he’s since been writing novels to stir the heart and spark the imagination.

Patrick Carman - Voyagers: Omega Rising (Book 3) - Random House Books for Young Readers (January 5, 2016) Website:VOYAGERS HQ

Earth is in danger! The only things that can save our planet are six essential elements scattered throughout the galaxy. And it is up to the Voyagers—a team of four kids and an alien—to gather them all and return to Earth.
 
It isn’t just the Voyagers out in space—they’ve got company in the form of Team Omega. Omegas have their own reasons for wanting the elements—and they’ll do anything to win. The third planet, Aqua-Gen, has unbelievable new challenges in store. Sea monsters, pirates . . . Both teams better know how to swim.