I'm a librarian at a small Jr/Sr High School in Indiana. Finding books for reluctant readers is a challenge, but very rewarding when they find a book they can't put down.
I'm struggling with the empty nest syndrome, so I'm dusting off my manuscripts and sharing my stories.
I have two daughters - my youngest just graduated from college. I live in the country with a cat and a dog.
I enjoy attending Writer's Conferences around the Midwest.
I've been a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators since 2007.
Professor William Holt wrote:
When I was eight or nine, the four Great Books were Alice, The Water Babies, The Wind in the Willows, and Stuart Little. I don't know what the four Great Books will be for future generations, but if The Hobble Knobble Gobble Tree proves as popular with children everywhere as it deserves to, joining the Harry Potter books and who knows what else, college curricula will need revising and the name of Camille Singleton will become a household word.
You won't be disappointed. Or if you are, tell me why. I think it's a sheer, somewhat horrific delight. If a sundew or a Venus' fly trap can eat a bug, why can't a tree eat a kid?
Hey, it's no scarier than Hansel and Gretel or The Juniper Tree. And the children I know LOVE to be scared!
Professor Holt specialized in Creative Writing and British Literature at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas. He taught three writing classes and two that encompassed the entire range of British Literature. * Now enjoying retirement.
Alecia Stone, author of Talisman of El, wrote of The Hobble, Knobble, Gobble Tree:
I was pulled in right from the start. What an intriguing story you have here. Great, vivid descriptions that gave a great sense of place. Your characters felt real and the dialogue was spot on. What I like more than anything is that even though this is a children’s book, it’s not patronizing in any sense. I like the eerie tone.
This is very well written. I think you’re onto a winner and I’m certain you’ll go far.
Poppy Z. Brite, author of Lost Souls, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:
The story is compelling, the characters appealing, the authorial voice clear and often quite funny. As a writer, you are what teachers from the Young Writers' Workshops at UVA I attended in my teens used to call "a natural".
Gerry McCullough, author of Belfast Girls, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:
An interesting book with an unusual plot. The description of Lesley turning into a fly, seeing her hairy fly legs, and realising what was happening, was very striking. The prologue is a good hook. It's clear something is going to happen to whoever ends up with this golden object. Lesley and Samir, are excellently drawn characters, very individual, with good dialogue. The relationships in Lesley's family are very true to life, 'Dinner and a show every night,' is a great line; and over the six years since Samir left, it seems to be true that Lesley has turned into a bully. This is very unusual for a central character. We see the fear she instills into both pupils and even teachers, and hope that she intends to put things right, when she talks of dropping in on people later. Plenty here to make me read on.
Raymond Nickford, author of Cupboard of Skeletons, wrote of Curse of the Golden Fly:
Lesley and Samir are an endearing portrait of young love. The treehouse scene where Samir gives Lesley the magic fly is particularly engaging.
Lesley's metamorphosis will leave the mouths of many a child - and indeed adult - agape, her return to the recognisable Lesley engineered with a subtle psychology as she tentatively readjusts herself to being a person again.
The description was consistently good; the scene in the tomb very atmospheric, the whole effect bound to maintain the involvement of the YA reader when combined with the fluous prose and easily readable style.
