Rogues and Parents and Robots, Oh My!
If you enjoy young adult fiction and / or spy fiction, come check out my friend Joshua Unruh's fabulous debut novel "TEEN Agents in The Plundered Parent Protocol!"
Greetings, all.
If you’ve been paying attention (and I know you have, because that’s just the sort of sweet, observant dears you are), you’ve noticed that I’ve been rather absent from the blogosphere of late. This is due neither to laziness nor to recalcitrance nor to sudden kidnappedness of my person. But yea verily, I’ve been dealing with some Major Upheaval of Real Life, and thus, the blog has had to slide over to the back burner and stew along without me for awhile.
This won’t last forever, I promise — but still, I will probably remain incommunicado for awhile. I’m sorry for that, but for now, it can’t be helped. I promise I’ll pop in here when I can and also let you know what’s going on with me when I’m ready to. (In the meantime, you’re welcome to peruse the archives; perhaps you’d like to start with the “Popular Posts” over in the sidebar.)
But. Tonight I’m coming out of self-imposed exile to let you know about A Thing. The thing in question is the publication of my friend Joshua Unruh‘s fabulous debut novel, TEEN Agents in The Plundered Parent Protocol.
I’ll let Josh tell you about the novel in his own words below. As for me, all I’ve got to say that in on the dancefloor of YA spy-fi (that’s young adult spy fiction, if you didn’t know), TEEN Agents pops, locks, and does the electric boogaloo. The characters are fun and well-developed, the action is fast-paced, the dialogue is entertaining, and the story structure is solid. The whole package delivers just the kind of read YA readers are looking for. You’re gonna love it!
And now, here’s Josh to tell you more:
I love Young Adult fiction. Most of the time that looks like guys in capes fighting would-be world beaters instead of boy wizards or, God deliver us, sparkly vampires.
But I’m also a lover of a wide variety of genre fiction. One of my favorites is Spy Fi, the genre best exemplified in the past by The Avengers or The Man from UNCLE and, more recently, by shows like Alias and the Middle Man. These two things, YA fiction and Spy Fi, come together in my latest novel.
TEEN Agents in The Plundered Parent Protocol is a novel about three girls, best friends, whose fathers are kidnapped by an evil genius…one who just happens to be ten years old. This is how Elly Mourning, Hea Jung Noone, and Saturday Knight discover the existence of the Teenage Extranormal Emergency Network and how they join its ranks as agents.
There’s plenty of weird gadgets, exciting espionage, and plots for world domination in TEEN Agents. But at its heart, it’s a story about three girls who want to save their dads but have to grow up quite a bit to do it.
Right now, I’m the father of just one kid, a little boy. He and I watch all kinds of adventure cartoons, read comic books, and I continue to take in all that genre fiction I’ve always loved. But now I have an eye as to when I can share it with him.
I’d also like to be the father of a little girl someday. I don’t want to climb a soapbox, but it’s pretty hard to find stuff to excite and empower my hypothetical little girl.
But it shouldn’t be that way.
I should have as much strange and exciting genre fiction with young heroines as I have with heroes. Since I don’t, I decided to do something about that.
So that brings me to Elly, Hea, and Saturday. Elly is sharp and together, a born leader. Hea is a free spirit and incredibly athletic. Saturday has a brilliant scientific mind.
I wrote them to be the kinds of girls I’d like my future little girl to look up to. They aren’t perfect, but they are as accomplished and secure in who they are as thirteen year old girls can be. And they’re learning and growing as they go.
But I didn’t want to write a “girl’s story.” I wanted to write a spy fi story that starred girls. One that would be exciting for girls…and for their brothers and dads. Which is why I can assure you that the genius is evil, the enemy agent is suave and debonair, the traps are deadly, the lairs are secret, and the plan is diabolical.
This book is for girls looking for exciting fiction that makes them feel good about being girls because it’s a book about heroic girls. Not to mention it’s a fun read.
I loved writing this novel for so many reasons. And my beta readers have absolutely loved reading it. I hope you can contribute something to the project. Trust me, if you enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, you won’t be sorry you did.
Because I want everyone to give the book a look, Consortium Books has a very special offer for all you potential TEEN Agents. Today is the official “street day” and for the first 24 hours, this book will be absolutely FREE! You’re just one click away from an exciting spy adventure with three of the most fun girls you’ll ever meet. Give it a shot, will ya?
Courtney again. I can only second Josh’s request and add to it my high recommendation: Check out TEEN Agents in The Plundered Parent Protocol — you won’t be disappointed!
I also have a daughter, who at thirteen is already looking for someone, fictional or not, to look up to. Maybe I can suggest the three girls in the novel. Thanks for the share!
You’re welcome, Betty, and thank you for the visit! I can definitely recommend these three strong heroines as good fictional role models. I hope your daughter enjoys them!