Tell us about yourselves!
We’re Christian homeschooling parents of six kids, ages six through sixteen. We started writing our series as a way to teach our kids about the character, habits, and mindsets required to live a life of freedom and to run a small family business.
Tell us about your books.
The Wonderful Wandering Wagon is a chapter book series about four siblings on a journey with their grandfather’s cat home to their parents. We’ve currently written four of the twelve or more books (we will do an initial twelve-book arc and then potentially create more standalone stories).
We are Christians and write from a Christian worldview, but the series is better classified as wholesome/clean fiction rather than Christian fiction.
We designed this to be a fun family read aloud and have tried to keep the content lighter and suitable for smaller ears. However, since there are no world-crushing bad guys in our story, most of the drama comes from our characters’ poor choices, and the siblings can be quite mean to each other in the early books. We do this to show the negative consequences of poor choices so that our readers can learn vicariously through our characters’ mistakes.
This story contains many fantasy elements and races (elves, giants, halflings, dungeons) but also contains many elements that might be found in a tabletop role-playing game (classes, experience points, attributes, and special skills that can be activated for windows of time).
In books three and four and side journals, we do talk about “imagining my day going the right way” instead of expecting the worst outcomes. Some may consider this visualization, but it’s not what we’re intending in the New Age sense of the word.
What kind of child are you trying to reach with your books?
Our family is very comfortable with neurospicy tendencies, and we have entire line of dyslexic-friendly books that are optimized for readability.
This book is especially great for a child who enjoys less traditional learning and has entrepreneurial ambitions. It is also great for children who struggle with anger or self-control, bossiness, or confidence.
Give us a little flavor of some great characters or the setting.
I really love the way the parents and grandparents’ positive presence permeates the stories, even though they are not physically present. They are very aware of what is going on, because both the father and the grandfather took a similar journey themselves.
I love how warm the parents’ marriage is and the way the siblings truly do love each other and demonstrate it despite all their fights.
What inspired you to write this series?
My husband had a stray character (the wagon) from a different story he was working on that didn’t really fit. Our cat has a very big personality and likes to be the center of attention. She loves to sit on Joe while he’s at his computer and basically demanded we write a story about her.
We wanted a story that would allow us to engage with our kids in a non-preachy way while also instilling good values and practical skills.
How did you know you wanted to be an author?
My husband started writing, and I became emotionally invested in his characters and his stories. I loved working with him on something together, and it’s been especially fun polishing and refining the story he gives to me (about 90% complete).
What’s one middle grade book you always recommend?
The Wingfeather Saga and The Green Ember Series. They’re such classics.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Pray before each writing session and ask the Lord to give you words.
Take the time to outline so you have an idea of where you’re going, and then just get words on the paper without trying to edit them. Edit separately, because you can fix a broken manuscript but you can’t fix a blank page. Editing while writing is the easiest way to never finish your story.
What formats are your books available in?
- Paperback
- Hardback
- Ebook
- Audiobook
Find them here.
What’s next?
We release two chapters a week to our membership community. Book two is in full-fledged production and may be available on Amazon by the time this is published.
How can parents find you?
Parents can find us at www.wonderfulwanderingwagon.com and on Instagram @wonderfulwanderingwagon.
The book is available on Amazon and at www.wonderfulwanderingwagon.com.
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If you’re in the market for middle grade books, I’d love to share my series with you!
Power Pup is a Christian superhero adventure series for readers ages 9-13.
Calvin Quinn is a long way from the corn fields of Nebraska.
The rookie canine reporter dreams of bringing criminals to justice with his front page headlines, while working alongside famous investigative journalist team Mittens Meow and Alex Digger.
But Calvin has a secret:
He’s also a rookie superhero!
After months of training, Calvin Quinn is ready to hit the streets and defend the innocent as . . . Power Pup!