The Crow’s Tales: The Bird Caper follows a ten-year-old boy whose family is moving to a new home, and he is worried about what his future will hold for him and his pet birds. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Deep in the process of writing our first book, The Big Dream, we agreed to create a series. The dilemma was that The Big Dream didn’t capture the essence of what we wanted for Book One. This challenge ignited the inspiration for The Bird Caper as the perfect opportunity to introduce Brandon, his pet crow, Ralph, and the evolution of new friendships. The goal is to make the reader feel like they truly know and relate to Brandon. You get to meet Brandon’s family and intimately share his fears about moving to a new home and see his strength in resolving difficult situations on his own. We hope perhaps readers will even like him as a friend.

It seemed like you took your time in building the characters and the story to great emotional effect. How did you manage the pacing of the story while keeping readers engaged?

Pacing is a middle-grade challenge in today’s fast-paced electronic world. As novice writers, we followed a basic formula. We created dialogue wherever possible and used care with dialogue tags. Varied sentence and paragraph length. Monitored filler words. Inserted new twists and events in every chapter. And kept the chapters short.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

The primary theme is “change.” The story shines a light on young Brandon’s new life experience, showing him that, while daunting, change can also open doors to new friendships and adventures. The story depicts what kids go through all over the world. But it’s not often as scary as it seems. This is an excellent message for young readers.

Additionally, the story emphasizes the value of friendship and community as we follow Brandon’s journey of leaving his beloved neighborhood and longing for a sense of belonging in a new environment. The story introduces determination, exploration, and perseverance as his means to cope with his newfound challenges.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

The Bird Caper is Book 1 in our The Crow’s Tales trilogy. Book 2, The Big Dream is scheduled for release as a 2nd Edition in 2024. In this book, Brandon and his friends desperately try to raise money over the summer break to enter a remote-controlled car race. They will stop at nothing to achieve their dream even if it means bending the rules, just a little bit. Young readers will laugh out loud at the fund-raising adventures and the (mis)adventures of Ralph the Crow, who is drafted in to help. The book captures the essence of summer, childhood friendships, and the innocence of youth. A fun read, with a surprising, unexpected twist at the end. Book 3, The Crow’s Ring, is a clever mystery about finding the truth (Coming 2025).

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