Calypso Blue is no orphan, but she might as well be. When she finds herself on a lush tropical island with two pesky adults who insist they’re her parents, she knows they’re lying.
For one thing, they (and their five children) have brown hair; Calypso has blond. For another, her real parents would never make her comb her hair. Or demand she dig a latrine. Sure, they all wear the same glasses as Calypso–glasses so thick and geeky they might as well be safety goggles–but that does NOT mean they’re related. It means nothing at all.
Obviously, Calypso’s best option is to run away and join a family of parakeets. Or orangutans. Heck, even a den of spitting adders might be nice. But then, Calypso finds a filmstrip where a shadowy man in a hat claims she chose to come to the Island. She answered a want ad–an ad she can’t remember, but that promised constant danger, feelings of utter abandonment, and perhaps … treasure.
Targeted Age Group:: Ages 9+
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I had many kicks in the pants to get this book written. I wrote about one in my interview. Here’s another:
Shortly after the birth of one of my babies, I decided that for my birthday that year, I was going to read as many novels as I wanted in one week’s time (And no, no children were harmed or criminally neglected during this period). One of those evenings, I was sitting on the couch with my husband, enjoying my book when I said, “Wouldn’t it be fun to write a novel?”
He looked up from his laptop to say, “Why don’t you look at that link I just sent you?”
Which, when I did, was an essay that basically said: Don’t wait for the big idea. Start now. So I did.
Three years later Goggles Gone Strong: Mighty Monday was published.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I have a lot of characters in my book (I do love a book with a lot of characters!), and they all serve specific purposes, but I came up with my main characters pretty early on. The first few weeks I did a lot of free writing, just trying to find what I could write about. I remember working through a young adult novel with a female protagonist, an orphan boy middle grade novel and eventually settled on an 11 year old girl stuck right in the center of a strange family.
Book Sample
VRRRRRRT. The projector buzzed to life for a split second. Frank wrinkled his brow and pulled more at his beard. Small, brown hairs like eyelashes littered the neck of his t-shirt.
“Almost got it,” he muttered.
There were yelps and screams and Pepper shrieked, “I’s wants a’s hug!” as Mae threw the boys off and darted to the projector. Her hair fell to her shoulders and she aimed an elastic band like a crossbow at Frank. Her triumphant laugh was now explained–she had a weapon.
“Stop, Frank,” she said. “Or I’ll shoot!”
No one said a thing. Then—
VRRRRRT. VRRRRRRRRR—
Baby Boo had bumped the leg of the desk with his head and the projector started. A frame of light flickered against the far wall.
A shadowy man stood behind a desk. His hair was hidden by a red beanie and his eyes by a dark pair of sunglasses. The only clear thing was his dazzling, white teeth that gleamed like stars through the crackling of the filmstrip.
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