John Micklos Jr. Writer

Two very cool packages arrived in the mail last week—advance copies of my latest books. The books are titled The Challenger Disaster and The 1918 Flu Pandemic, and they are part of Capstone’s Fact Finders “What Went Wrong?” series. These mark my 20^th and 21^st published children’s books, representing a nice mixture of history books, biographies, and poetry.

I must admit that I don’t get as excited about my new books as I did years ago. Maybe the thrill of each individual title has grown less as I do more of them. Also, however, there is a bit of superstition on my part. I simply don’t like reading my books once they are published. I’m always afraid I’ll find an error—or at least something I don’t like. For instance, one of my favorite poems from my Mommy Poems book is “The Keeper of Dreams,” but there’s one line in it that makes me cringe every time I read it. I wish I had written it differently, and sometimes when I read it in schools I actually change to what I wish it had been.

Part of it, too, is that for me the process of doing the book is just as important as the product. I love researching new topics and immersing myself in a subject over a period of time. That is why, even as I celebrate the arrival of my new titles, I am just as excited about getting ready to dive in and begin research on three new books for Capstone. I can’t discuss the specifics yet because I haven’t formally signed the contracts, but they are all history topics, and I look forward to researching all three of them.

I’m also excited about a picture book I am self-publishing titled The Sound in the Basement, with illustrations by New York City-based illustrator Eric Hamilton. Another exciting aspect is that I plan to help support its publication through a Kickstarter campaign that I will launch soon. This means that my friends and relatives will have a chance to get involved in the project and earn some cool things such as signed copies of the book before they are available to the general public. Watch for more details soon!