Day 5: Farewell PJ Hoover

It's Friday and time to wrap up our launch week with PJ Hoover, debut author of the middle grade sci fi THE EMERALD TABLET.

We're putting PJ in the driver's seat. She's promised to take us on a tour of some of the settings in THE EMERALD TABLET.

Take it away, PJ....

THE EMERALD TABLET is set in some unique places, some only mythological.
First off, the five kids are from the hidden continent of Lemuria. If you aren’t sure where this continent is, it’s under a giant dome at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.



In addition to Lemuria, there’s of course Atlantis, the sunken continent in the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve included a map in case you’re curious where these continents are.



Benjamin Holt (our protagonist) and his friends get to travel to some pretty cool places. One place they go is the Royal Palace in Bangkok—to the temple of the Emerald Buddha. And in case you were curious, this is where the picture on the front of The Emerald Tablet is taken from.




Thank you 2k8 classmates for a wonderful, exhilarating launch week on our blog!

You're very welcome, PJ. Our pleasure.

Before you click away, dear bloggy friends, here's what's ahead. Tomorrow is Shameless Saturday where we bring you the week's good news. Then next week is...launch week for Stacy Nyikos, debut middle grade author of DRAGON WISHES. You won't want to miss it.

Day 4: Can PJ Hoover trick us?

We're baaaack! It's Day 4 of PJ Hoover's launch week for her debut middle grade sci-fi THE EMERALD TABLET.

Well, well, well. What have we learned about PJ so far?

She writes good books. Proof: THE EMERALD TABLET.

She's fun. Proof: We've got pics of her real-life launch party.

She's brave. Proof: She picks up scorpions with her bare hands.

She's smart. Proof: She designed chip doohickeys for years. More proof: She can solve a Rubik's Cube in two minutes.

Hmmm.....But just how smart is PJ Hoover? Can she fool us? Maybe. Maybe not.

Here's PJ's description of THE EMERALD TABLET

Benjamin and his best friend Andy are different from normal. They love being able to read each other's minds and use telekinesis to play tricks on other kids. In fact, they are getting all set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin's mirror starts talking. Suddenly, Benjamin's looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace which can only be reached by a teleporter inside the ugly picture in his hallway. And that's the most normal thing he does all summer.

Now we have to guess what happens next. Read carefully. Don't let PJ trick you.


Answer 1: The teleporter takes Benjamin to Mars, along with his best friend Andy, where they must go undercover in a city of mutants to investigate oxygen shortages and corruptness within the government which leads Benjamin to find out he has really been brainwashed and is secretly working for the government and trying to eliminate the scornful mutants.



Answer 2: Benjamin finds himself the new ensign on the Starship Enterprise. Wesley Crusher has been promoted to Chief Engineer, and someone young and new is needed on the bridge. But no sooner does Benjamin teleport to his new post, the Enterprise is attacked by the Q. The Q realize Benjamin’s potential and convince him to join their ranks. Benjamin agrees as long as his best friend Andy can come along also. And so Benjamin and Andy roam the universe, creating havoc and making new friends as they go.


Answer 3: Benjamin teleports under the ocean to a structurally impossible dome. But the dome hasn’t been created by humans, and Benjamin discovers he’s not really a human after all. He thinks the summer will be a blast until an age old relic convinces him he needs to save the world by finding a way to stop the age old war with Atlantis and restore peace to the earth.

So which is the right answer? What do you think really happens in THE EMERALD TABLET?

Day 3: PJ Hoover and Her Real Life Launch Party!

My release party was a blast! You'd have thought it was a wedding. Everyone was staring at me. Except there was no big white dress and no flower girls twirling down the aisle.

So many people came out to support me. And I had awesome little pumpkins with candy corn and laminated backpack tags as party favors. See the way I'm thinking, it's much harder to throw away something laminated, especially when it already has a clip on it ready to hang on a backpack zipper.
Oops, just realized I forgot to put these on my kids' backpacks these mornings.


First and most important, Team Emerald Tablet. My son was thrilled to help set up, his specialty being stacking the water bottles.

So what to do at a release party?
First, have lots of candy for the kids. The punch was also a hit.

My awesome editor, Madeline Smoot, introduced me to the over 150 people who showed up (!).

I showed my book trailer (note - I need LOUDER speakers).
And then I gave a presentation featuring tons on pictures, PowerPoint animation (a new skill for me), a reading of the first few pages of The Emerald Tablet, and a quiz with giveaways.

Featured in the prize pumpkins were

• laminated The Emerald Tablet bookmarks
• a notebook and pencil to write down ideas
• glow sticks to stay up late reading The Emerald Tablet
• and t-shirts featuring the cover of The Emerald Tablet and the Lemurian Alphabet.

We sold out of books and took orders for tons more!

Before the party, my books were actually on the shelf (yes, right up there with The Hunger Games and Libba Bray)!



So that’s it! I’m officially released!

Day 2: Getting the Scoop on PJ Hoover

PJ Hoover enters cautiously and looks around.

2k8: (indicates straight-back, wooden chair in front of her) Have a seat, PJ.

PJ: What's going on? What am I doing here?

2k8: (flips on bright light and pulls out notebook and pencil) It's your Launch Week interview. And we want the scoop. On you.

PJ: Uh, okay.

2k8: (slides large, dark sunglasses up her nose) So, where do you do most of your writing? Photo, please.



PJ: I write in a 7x8 loft. It’s small but cozy, and thanks to shelving from Home Depot, I can keep everything within hand’s reach. It’s funny because our house used to have a double story entry area, but I started eyeing the extra area as more square footage, so we had a small loft put in.
And yes, I do keep my desk that neat pretty much all of the time!

2k8: Seriously? Your desk is always that neat? Wow. (looks at notebook) What made you write THE EMERALD TABLET? How'd the book came about?

PJ: I started writing after both kids were born. It was one of those “I’ve always wanted to write a book” moments, so I headed upstairs, sat down at the computer, and started brainstorming. Really. Just that fast.

2k8: Wow. Impressive. And how did it find a publisher? (lowers voice) Give us the *real* dirt!

PJ: Lots and lots of trying. Revisions. Not being afraid to revise. But finding my publisher almost happened by accident. I decided I wanted to live the writer’s life, so I jet-setted off to NY for a winter SCBWI conference one year. While there I met an editor who offered to read the manuscript and give me feedback to help with my revisions. Her feedback was phenomenal, and I was so excited to revise, I ripped apart the manuscript and sent a revision back to her. Which she read. And I revised again. And she read again.
This happened a couple more times until one day she told me she wanted to acquire the whole trilogy!

PJ with Editor Madeline


2k8: Anything surprise you when you were writing your book?

PJ: How much I had to learn about writing!
How much had to be cut from my first draft!
How awesome the writing community is.
How experienced writers really want to help new writers.
How much I would absolutely love writing!

2k8: What's a question won't most people know to ask you?

PJ and her Rubik's Cube collection!

Question: How long does it take you to solve a Rubik’s Cube?

Answer: Just around 2 minutes. That’s for the 3x3x3. The 4x4x4 and 5x5x5 take much longer – so long I never really time myself. Everyone should learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube.


So, there you have it, folks. The scoop on PJ Hoover, debut middle grade author of THE EMERALD TABLET PJ's just as fun and interesting and creative as we've thought all year long. Although her desk is a little cleaner than we were expecting.

Oh wait, this just in. Another pic...


It's PJ holding a scorpion! Ack!

Well, she's braver than we thought too.

Join us tomorrow to find out about PJ's real-life launch party.

Day 1: P.J. Hoover

We're cracking open a bottle of cyber bubbly to celebrate our launch week for P.J. Hoover, MG author extraordinaire of The Emerald Tablet

And let us tell you a little about P.J.

P. J. Hoover grew up in Virginia visiting museums and dreaming of finding Atlantis. Prior to writing full time, PJ worked as an electrical engineer in Austin , Texas , where she lives with her husband, two children, Yorkshire terrier, and two tortoises (King Tort and Nefertorti).
























P. J. is the author of the FORGOTTEN WORLDS trilogy, a middle grade science fiction series for kids 8-14. The first book, The Emerald Tablet, tells the story of Benjamin Holt who not only is from a hidden world under the Pacific Ocean , he’s not even human. And he’s stuck spending his summer saving the world.



From the cover flap:
Benjamin and his best friend Andy are different from normal. They love being able to read each other's minds and use telekinesis to play tricks on other kids. In fact, they are getting all set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin's mirror starts talking. Suddenly, Benjamin's looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace which can only be reached by a teleporter inside the ugly picture in his hallway. And that's the most normal thing he does all summer.



Some great reviews from older reviewers include:

"I enjoyed it as an adult, but I know that I would have adored it as an 11-year-old. In truth, ever since I finished it, The Emerald Tablet has been popping back into my head, as I wonder what's going to happen to Benjamin and his friends going forward. Highly recommended for later elementary and middle school readers, boys and girls, fans of traditional fantasy or not." -- Jen Robinson, Jen Robinson's Book Page

Five Stars - Recipient of the Gold Star Award for Excellence"I loved every minute that I was reading it, and I feel like I want to reread the book over and over again. ... While reading the book I kept thinking that in a way it was almost like a myth that was being told and how cool it would be if it was actually true... Fans of Rick Riordan’s PERCY JACKSON series will particularly enjoy this book." -- Teens Read Too

"Anyone who enjoyed discovering the world of magic with Harry Potter will enjoy diving into a different magical world with Benjamin Holt and his friends " -- Balanced Steps


"This is a wonderful beginning to a fantasy middle-grade trilogy. Hoover's writing is extremely compelling and makes the book hard to put down." -- Book Chic

And let’s not forget the kid reviewers:

" The Emerald tablet was THE best book I read in a long time! It is a great/awesome book and you will NEED to buy it on October, 21,2008! " -- Bookworms' Reviews (Bookworm Number 1)"Step aside, move down, you unworthy Newbery Award winning books, and such! This book qualifies as the greatest, most AMAZING book in the history of books! I couldn't put it down." -- Bookworms' Reviews (Bookworm Number 2)

"This is FREAKING awesome!" -- Eleanor at Present Lenore



Come back tomorrow for the skinny on how PJ found a publisher. Plus some stuff about PJ and working a Rubik's cube at lightning speed. We kid you not.