Dragons & Fun with Kids at Midwinter Festival

Today I had fun at the Writers Plot & Readers Read Midwinter Book Festival. Writers Plot is a cool bookstore in Upper Hutt that only stocks books by kiwi authors They invited me to read some of my dragon books and bring along my dragon costume.

Fun with dragon costumes — Hannah and I had fun after the festival! Her twin sister Isobel was fun too, but those photos didn’t end up on my camera.

Well, if I’m going to bring a dragon costume, why not wear it?

And if I’m going to wear a costume, why not do my hair too?! (Luckily, one of my best buddies is into creating wacky multi-colored dragon hair, so we gave it a whirl! Yes, I flinched whenever I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror for the first day!)

AND, if you’re going to wear one costume, why not stay up late the night before, making an extra costume for the kids, too? (I swear there was no cursing at the sewing machine, at all, when the foot dropped off and the fabric bunched because I’d forgotten that I needed a special microtex needle! And no mutterings of, “giving up in ten stupid minutes, if I can’t get this silly machine working!” But I did sigh in relief when after an hour’s struggle, the machine suddenly hummed. An hour or two later, the kid’s costume was born!)

Dragon costumes by Eileen Mueller, author of middle grade and YA dragon books — More fun for Mia and Renae, a.k.a. fighting dragons.

At the festival, we dived into the word of Dragons’ Realm —A You Say Which Way Adventure, where a dragonet sings off-tune, farts chocolate wrappers and pines for its mother! Of course that’s not the only story in Dragon’s Realm. In this book, You Say Which Way the story goes, so you can discover all sorts of adventures in one book —22 to be exact.

Of course, the kids got to choose at every decision point and my lovely assistant (dressed in the kid’s dragon costume) awarded them with blood stains or medals for their efforts. It was loads of fun, with kids joining in and even teenagers eye-rolling at all the manure jokes! These kids chose a long and involved story with lots of action, adventure and opportunities to ride (you guessed it) dragons!

After the festival was over, we had the chance to snap a few photos and enjoy cos-playing dragon attacks! My books flew off the sales table! Everyone loves dragons — and adventure. With four dragon books to choose from, there was something to suit all types of reader — pulse-pounding adventure and plenty of laughs with Attack on Dragons’ Realm and Dragons’ Realm; fun and frolics with Dragon Tales; laughs with Fangtastic Dragon Jokes & Clawsome Limericks; and interactive fiction with Mystic Portal and Dragons’ Realm.

Ben Spies child author has a dragon fight with his brother — Ben Spies, a young author, has a dragon fight with his brother Daniel.

I was thrilled to meet Ben Spies, who wrote his first novel, Weirdo, at nine years old, and his next The Magic Pencil at ten! Ben is now twelve and still writing up a storm. The kids in his workshop loved his book and enjoyed his insights. It’s inspiring for them to see someone so young and already published!

A big shout out to Writers Plot owners, Cat and Caro, for doing such a great job. It’s well worth a trip to Upper Hutt to see their great selection of kiwi books for kids, teens and adults. They also have an online store, so if you’d like one of my paperbacks, you can shop here, or contact me here.

Ben Spies, Eileen Mueller and a junior dragon. — Ben Spies, a young author, and his brother enjoyed being dragons for a change.

1 December 2017

Big Book Bash – Carterton

At the Big Book Bash in Carterton, Eileen Mueller is teaching YSWW

The Big Book Bash is coming up!

The Big Book Bash is a book festival for kids and teens , featuring many Wellington and Wairarapa children’s and Young Adult (YA) authors. It’s all happening this weekend on December 2^nd in Carterton.

There’s fabulous line-up of well-known NZ authors, music, workshops and a carnival atmosphere. Libraries, schools, newspapers & radio stations are talking about it, the local book community is excited, and it’s going to be fun.

In my workshop, You Say Which Way – Create a Sci-Fi or Fantasy Story, I’ll be taking youth on an adventure in the world of interactive fiction. We’ll journey through exciting worlds, making choices that shape the reader’s experience. They’ll start a science fiction or fantasy adventure of their own.

Come Along!

I’m in good company with many famous NZ children and YA authors. The full programme is here, featuring:

Go behind the scenes of Annual 2 and enjoy Melting Moments with Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris
Traveling Zine Museum with Murtle Chickpea
Paper Bag Dogs with Fifi Colston and Anne Manchester
Ngāti Kahungunu stories with Rawiri Smith
Events with two young writers, Ben Spies (age 12) and Zed (age 15)
Writing workshop for teens & adults with Mandy Hager
Poems of Protest and the Environment with Tim Jones and Harvey Molloy
You Say Which way Sci-fi & Fantasy workshop with Eileen Mueller
Going to Antarctica with Philippa Werry
Ginomee hats and stories with Ali Foster
Rainbow storytelling with drag queens La Quisha St Redfern and Pamela Hancock
Drawing with Rhondda Greig
Readings and arts and crafts with Alan Bagnell, Paul Beavis, Gillian Candler, Mary McCallum, Michelle O’Connell and Christine Parker
A storytelling finale with Marama Fox.

The big Book bash is also on EventFinda and has it’s own Facebook page

4 October 20164 October 2016

Amazon Bestseller

Amazon Bestseller #5 & #8

I woke up to a text at 6:25am this morning from my diligent publisher! It was worth hopping out of bed for! Mystic Portal is #5 and Dragons’ Realm is #8 on the Amazon bestseller list in UK kids interactive fiction.

And Mystic Portal is #1 in hot new releases.

Exciting stuff. But then again, so are these You Say Which Way adventures, where you get to choose how the story goes. Kids love saying which way to go. They choose their story. They find out how clever they are when things go their way. Or they test dangerous decisions that lead to tricky outcomes – all from the safety of their own homes.

Fun. Adventure. Great mountain bike rides. Weird creatures. And good laughs.

Mystic Portal and Dragons Realm are on Amazon.

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23 September 201625 September 2016

Mystic Portal

Dare to ride the Mystic Portal!

Mystic Portal is no ordinary bike trail. Weird things happen there. They say each new jump leads to another world. You and your friends can’t wait to try it!

The choices you make will determine your adventure. Will you ride a camel? Fight bandits? Meet Bog the ogre? Or end up in an underwater city? What ever you choose, watch out for mad genies, suspicious merchants and one-eyed creatures with orange fur.

Cool adventures are waiting , so jump on your bike and ride the Mystic Portal.

The Fairytale Factory bring you Mystic Portal on Amazon, part of their You Say Which Way Series of interactive fiction for children aged 8-13 years.

Dragons Realm, a You Say Which Way adventure by Eileen Mueller, won the 2016 Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Youth Novel. In You Say Which Way adventures, your choices shape the outcome of your story.

Available in e-book and paperback.

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30 May 201630 May 2016

2016 Sir Julius Vogel Awards

The short list for the 2016 Sir Julius Vogel Awards has been out for a while. Although I’ve been very busy writing and have neglected to post this earlier, I’m very excited to be a finalist in two categories!

Dragons Realm is shortlisted for Best Youth Novel
I’ve also been shortlisted for Best New Talent.

To be eligible for Best New Talent, writers must have had their first story or book published less than four years ago. MIne was my short story Dad’s Wisdom, in the Baby Teeth anthology in 2013. A writer may only ever be shortlisted twice for this category.

Check out all the finalists here. The winners will be revealed on June 5th at Au Contraire, the New Zealand National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, in Wellington this coming weekend.

9 November 201515 November 2015

Dragons Realm launch

Dragons Realm

My first novel

A ‘You Say Which Way’ e-book – now available on Amazon!

Escape the school bullies and stumble into Dragons Realm – a world of dragons, magic and adventure. Can you trust the strange people you meet? And will the bullies follow you? Luckily, you’re prepared with a great picnic lunch.

Dragons Realm. Next generation storytelling, where YOU say which way the story goes.

Dragons Realm (You Say Which Way) by Eileen Mueller — A You Say Which Way adventure from the Fairy Tale Factory

Dragons Realm is suitable for kids over 10, or younger kids who read well – although children up to 110 will enjoy it too! You choose the outcome of your story! Have fun and beware of tharuks lurking in the forest.

Great price! 99c but not for long!

I’d like to thank my publisher, The Fairy Tale Factory, who are offering Dragons Realm for 99c as an introductory offer on Amazon. The e-book is available for pre-order now, and will be sent to your device in time for the weekend. If you’d like to order the book, I’d love it if you order before Friday, as this will help boost Dragons Realm’s rankings on Amazon.

If you don’t have a kindle, you can download this book to your tablet, i-pad, phone or computer. Just open your browser in the device you want to install Kindle reader on, and click the appropriate link, below.

Kindle for PC [Download]

Kindle for Android

Enjoy riding dragons miles above Spanglewood Forest, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for those bullies!