Building Character with Rosemary and Josh Cooper from Shadows of New York
It’s Friday! Time for Building Character in which you get
to meet characters from a book. Talking to a character outside of their book is
fun! Huge. Amounts. Of fun.
This week
Strands of Thought plays host to Rosemary and Josh Cooper from Shadows of New
York. Rosemary and Josh are brother and sister (just like the writing team that
wrote their story – huh!)
I’m so glad you guys could join us. I’m really looking
forward to reading your book. Can you tell our readers a little about
yourselves, please?
Josh: Hi, I’m Josh. Um,
I’m eleven years old and this is my sister–
Rosemary: Ladies first,
Josh!
J: I was just about to
introduce you. You can be so annoying sometimes!
R: Whaevs. Hi, everyone!
I’m Rosemary Cooper. I’m six years old and I love glitter!
J: Um, don’t you think
there’s something more interesting we should tell them about?
R: Like what?
J: Like the fact that our
nanny is a werewolf?
R: Oh, yeah! Aiden is a
werewolf. Isn’t that cool?
Oh! Well, that has to make things…uh…interesting. Is there
any other conflict are you up against?
R: What does conflict mean?
J: It means something you're
fighting against.
R: Oh. I fight with you a
lot, Josh. You can be such a poodle sometimes.
J: I'm not really sure what that
means. But I think the question was more about the book. I'll answer this one.
In Shadows of New York, there's a creature, a shadowy wraith named Mr.
Midnight, creeping around, attacking other magical creatures. Werewolves are
really good at fighting wraiths, so our nanny Aiden has to help stop him.
What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks you’ve
encountered trying to resolve your conflict?
R: Oh my gosh! I'm always stumbling
over my baby brother Jackson's blocks. He leaves them all over the floor.
J: I'll take this one, too. Well,
Aiden can't just drop everything and chase after Mr. Midnight. He still has a
job to do, taking care of us. My stumbling block is that I want to help, but
everyone seems to think I'm too young. So I have to get creative and talk them
into letting me help.
What have you learned about yourself or friend or family
while trying to resolve your conflict?
R: I don't think I learned anything. I was pretty smart to
begin with.
J: Well, it’s like Aiden told me: sometimes you have to
stand up for the people you love, no matter what.
R: Oo, I know! I learned that I look good in sparkly
lipgloss!
What do you want to be when you grow up?
R: I want to be a cat. With a rainbow-colored collar.
J: Probably a werewolf trainer. Now that I’ve learned so
much about the Imaginary World, I could probably get a job like that.
If you could change one thing in this world, what would
you change?
R: Two words: glitter Fridays.
J: That sounds terrible. What does that even mean?
R: Be quiet, you poodle. It means that everyone would have
to wear sparkly clothes every Friday.
J: Okay. I would say that I'd want all the creatures of the
Imaginary World to be able to live out in the open without worrying about
regular people being scared of them.
R: Oh, that's so sweet. Can I make that mine, too?
See, dear Readers, why I’ve been SO looking forward to
this book? These kids are awesome! Here is more information about their book, Shadows
of New York.
What do
you do when your view of the world gets turned on its head? Eleven-year-old
Josh Cooper is surprised when his new nanny ends up being a dude, but that
pales in comparison to how he feels when he learns the nanny, Aiden, is also a
werewolf. Aiden teaches Josh about the Imaginary World, even introducing him to
his friends Larry Fancypants (a suave-yet-goofy vampire) and Steve Lickerman (a
tall-yet-meek leprechaun). This fascinating world seems harmless, until Josh
learns of the shadowy wraith that’s stalking New York, attacking creatures and
stealing their powers. As werewolves are ideally suited for fighting wraiths,
Aiden is called upon to help capture the elusive Mr. Midnight, unintentionally
drawing Josh even deeper into the strange and mysterious.
Here is some info on the brother/sister writing duo:
Heather Fraser Brainerd is a multi-published author
and a renaissance woman. After earning a degree in Anthropology, she embarked
on an incongruous career as a workers’ compensation insurance adjuster. She
rapidly climbed the claims-handling ladder before surprising her colleagues by
leaving the high-powered world of lumbar strains and carpal tunnel syndrome to
run a child care center. Thousands of dirty diapers and gallons of strained
peas later, she decided that maybe the insurance industry wasn’t quite as bad
as she remembered. Unfortunately, it was. Fortunately, a few years later, she
met the most wonderful man in the world. Now a stay-home mom to three amazing
boys, she is able, at long last, to focus on her writing. She works in a
variety of genres, including paranormal mystery, Young Adult paranormal
romance, and Middle Grade fantasy. Heather lives in New York with her family
and their crazy pug/terrier.
David Fraser was born on March 25, 1973. March
25, incidentally, is International Waffle Day (Vårfudagn in Sweden) and Tolkien
Reading Day (The Ring was destroyed on March 25). Elton John shares his
birthday. So next March 25, you should eat a waffle while reading Lord of
the Rings and listening to Rocket Man. I know Dave will.
Before deciding to become
an internationally-famous author, Dave held a number of different jobs. He
processed small business insurance policy changes, tested software on digital
copier/printers, put out little orange flags in pick-your-own strawberry
fields, installed internet cable in schools, shelved books in a library, taught
college calculus, and handed out raffle tickets at a Barry Manilow concert.
Granted, this last job was a one day temp job, but it was awesome.
Dave: https://twitter.com/DonaldFarster
Kai, thanks for hosting Josh and Rosemary!
ReplyDeleteThey are so much fun! I'm so glad they could visit.
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