Introducing My First Middle Grade Novel!

It's been a few days since I released my first middle grade science fiction, Jump Boys: SOS and I'm still giddy with excitement! I swear I almost feel more thrilled over this release than I did over my very first book. I'm not sure why, exactly--maybe because Jump Boys is only the second book I ever wrote and I wrote it for my boys. This was a story for them, and now it's a story for your kids, too.

It's available as an ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, with print coming soon. You can add it to Goodreads, too!

A dare gone terribly wrong.

An SOS from another universe.

A threat from right next door.

Thirteen-year-old twin brothers Jayce and Val are about to jump the multi-verses on a dangerous dare, but true danger is closer to home than they realize.

The Jupiter Prime colony has been orbiting the stormy gas giant for nineteen years and all anyone wants is to get back to Earth. Sent to preserve the best and brightest of the population, a grievous error in the Prime’s navigation coordinates sent the colony to an alternate dimension with no way to return to the Earth they call home.

In a society where technical expertise is valued above all else, Jayce and Val are among the most privileged—until they uncover their uncle’s plot to claim dominion over space and time. While attempting to rescue a lone girl from a post-apocalyptic earth, Val will come face to face with space pirates and Jayce will lay his life on the line for the sake of his brother and the little girl who holds the key to time itself.

Don't forget IndieReCon starts TOMORROW!

Ali Cross is the sensei of the writer's dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

She's the author the a young adult paranormal romance Desolation series. Find Ali online: Blog |Facebook | Twitter

Honesty, self publishing, and home-made pastries.

picture credit

I’m not a cook. I don’t even really know how to cook. I follow recipes. But somehow we do okay. My family eats nutritious meals and sometimes they turn out pretty good. Well, not according to my younger son, who commented yesterday.

“Is that vomit? Or butternut squash?”

I told him he’d appreciate butternut squash when he’s older.

I really don’t want to talk about the numerous times I’ve completely dissolved the chicken in the crock-pot because it cooked too long. Or the fact that my mac and cheese still tastes like pasta with melted cheese despite my many attempts.

What I love is the creative side of cooking. I love to find a fun recipe and then bake it, usually just to see if I can do it. One time, I found the recipe for a breakfast Danish. And decided I was going to do this. Oh, the cookbook made it look so good. Golden crusted outside, a fruit filling spilling out the scored tops, and this melt-in-your mouth glaze dribbled over the top.

Thankfully, without too much trouble, I made it. And it was absolutely delicious. I even got really brave and made it again to bring to a sleepover reunion with high school friends.

The mom of one of my friends took one look at it and smiled. She said, “Now that’s homemade.”

But her remark was not an insult. She recognized the fact that if a professional had made it, or a factory, it would’ve had perfectly rounded corners. Each score across the top would’ve been exactly an inch apart, and the glaze would’ve been evenly applied.

I’ll connect the dots if you haven’t already. I’ve been reading a lot of self published books lately. Not because of the price but because I love the honesty in the writing and the story.

I love that they’re not perfect.

Laura Pauling loves pastries. And you'll find them sprinkled through out the pages of A SPY LIKE ME. The sequel, HEART OF AN ASSASSIN, is due out soon!

Her debut middle grade, HOW TO SURVIVE ANCIENT SPELLS AND CRAZY KINGS will be released in November. Try to say that title several times fast.

Stop by her blog and say hello!