Y is for Yance Milgim of Skunk Corners #AtoZChallenge

Y is for Yance Milgrim of Skunk Corners

In a nutshell: Yance is no kind of student, but he and his twin brother Hank provide Big Al with a different kind of educational challenge.
Biggest secret: He's really smart. He just isn't good at book-learning, unless he can see what it's used for.
Favorite Line: "We'll have to dig like anything to make your tiger pit in one day."

Yance and his twin Hank are in the Skunk Corners school from the beginning, but they move into more important positions in the stories and the town in books 2 and 3. You'll have to read all the way to The Problem With Peggy to learn why they're digging a tiger pit!

The series is The Ninja Librarian, with three books, suitable for ages 8 or 9 and up (way up--adults love the books too!).

 

The Ninja Librarian is a humorous set of tall tales set in the highly fictional gold-country town of Skunk Corners.  It’s the story of a dusty, tough, unfriendly town that gets a new outlook on life thanks to the advent of the Ninja Librarian—a mild-mannered librarian who offers his wisdom...with a little extra when folks don’t listen.

In paperback from Amazon,  or the Createspace Store

Amazon Kindle ebook  

Smashwords (all ebook formats)

iBooks

Barnes & Noble (Nook or paper)

Kobo Store

  

When Big Al wakes up one morning and finds the Ninja Librarian has left town, everything seems to go wrong.  And just about the time she’s thinking maybe the town can cope after all, he comes back.  After that, it’s business as usual in Skunk Corners: bad guys, irritated skunks, and crises big and small that require the Librarian’s unique brand of outside-the-box thinking and direct action.

Paperbacks:

Amazon

Createspace store 

Barnes & Noble paper
Ebooks:

Amazon (Kindle)

Smashwords (all ebook formats)

iBooks

Barnes & Noble (Nook)

Kobo Store

The Ninja Librarian’s back in town, school’s out, and all’s right with the world…or is it? Big Al may be looking forward to spending her time swimming in the creek and wandering the hills, but Peggy’s looking forward to a life of drudgery. If Al can’t find a way to sway her pa, the brightest kid in Skunk Corners is going to take drastic action. With a mystery from the past haunting one of the houses and creating the biggest threat yet to the town, Big Al’s going to be kept busy this summer, and not just with practicing her moves for the Ninja Librarian!

ebooks:
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble Nook book
iBooks
Paperbacks:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

#AtoZChallenge #TisFor ...Tess Noreen #Fin50

T is for Tess Noreen

In a Nutshell: Tess Noreen is the proprietor of Two-Timin' Tess's Tavern, located in Skunk Corners next door to the bank. She serves food, drink, and a large helping of help to those who need it the worst.
Biggest Secret: Who she's been kissing on the sly.
Favorite Line: "You leave that to me." Often said with a wicked smile.

Since today is also Fiction in 50 day, where we use a prompt from Bruce the Bookshelf Gargoyle to construct a bit of fiction in 50 words. I made mine a little more of a bio of Tess, in keeping with my A to Z project.

Born to Take Care

I attract strays. Everyone says so, and I reckon they’re right. All these folks in Skunk Corners who need just a little help, and how could I not reach out a hand? It’s the curse—or the blessing—I was born with, that I will try to save them all.

***

The series is The Ninja Librarian, with three books, suitable for ages 8 or 9 and up (way up--adults love the books too!). And while the narrator is Big Al, there is no question that the star is the Ninja Librarian himself. A mysterious character, he has only a single name--Tom--and has never told Al much of anything about himself, though bits leak through--everyone knows he grew up in the city--some city--and doesn't know country stuff very well. He's quick study, though, and can think of things no one else would dream of. Then he turns around and gets others to think as creatively.

Tess is an important character in all three books, but like Peggy, she really comes into her own in Book 3.

The Ninja Librarian’s back in town, school’s out, and all’s right with the world…or is it? Big Al may be looking forward to spending her time swimming in the creek and wandering the hills, but Peggy’s looking forward to a life of drudgery. If Al can’t find a way to sway her pa, the brightest kid in Skunk Corners is going to take drastic action. With a mystery from the past haunting one of the houses and creating the biggest threat yet to the town, Big Al’s going to be kept busy this summer, and not just with practicing her moves for the Ninja Librarian!

ebooks:
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble Nook book
iBooks
Paperbacks:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

P is for...Pete and Peggy #AtoZChallenge

P is for...Pete of the Viridian System, and Peggy of Skunk Corners

So why do the best characters keep falling on the same letters? I couldn't miss either of these, so you get both!

From the Viridian System stories by Jemima Pett, we have
Pete Garcia
In a nutshell: One of many exiles from Corsair waiting to be called to arms to rescue the planet from the Imperium, and biding his time with wine, women and asteroid mining.

Biggest secret: His ear-ring

Favourite line: "Any chance of some food, mate?" As an adventurer and a miner, Pete has his priorities straight!

Pete is one of the central characters in the Viridian System books by Jemima Pett.  Book 1 of the series, The Perihelix, will be reissued around November, and work is underway on Book 2! Meanwhile, check out the short stories that started it all:

And, from the Ninja Librarian books, we have
Peggy Rossiter

In a nutshell: the smartest kid in the Skunk Corners school, and the best mathematician for a long way in any direction, Peggy wants an education like no one’s ever wanted anything before.

Biggest secret: what she thinks of Tommy Colson. She may have other, bigger secrets, before it's all over, but this one's a mystery even to her.
Favorite line:  Explaining why she didn't finish some work: "There was an equation...it took me most of the morning to work it out."

 
 Book Three of the Ninja Librarian books--The Problem With Peggy is the story of how Peggy manages to get her chance at that education. Here's how Big Al learns of the problem, from the first chapter of the book:

When I dismissed the class, I kept Peggy back.

“What’s wrong? When I said school was letting out for the summer you looked like I hit you.” I was almost sorry I asked. The look of desperation on Peggy Rossiter’s face would have broken a tougher heart than mine. She looked like she was about to cry, but Peg was no baby.

“I had a birthday a few weeks ago,” she said as though that answered everything. I kept looking at her, hoping she’d tell me what she meant. “Pa says, now I’m fourteen I should be done with school, like the law says.” Her tone was angry, to keep the tears in.

“The law doesn’t say you have to quit school at fourteen. Only that you can. You’re good at it. You should keep going.” 

Peggy shrugged. “I told him that, and that I want to go on. I even cried, but he won’t listen. Pa doesn’t believe in educating girls. He’s letting me finish this year, but I can’t come back next year. I guess,” she said with a smile that made me want to cry, “I was sorta hoping we just wouldn’t quit, and I could keep on coming to school here forever.” 

The Ninja Librarian’s back in town, school’s out, and all’s right with the world…or is it? Big Al may be looking forward to spending her time swimming in the creek and wandering the hills, but Peggy’s looking forward to a life of drudgery. If Al can’t find a way to sway her pa, the brightest kid in Skunk Corners is going to take drastic action. With a mystery from the past haunting one of the houses and creating the biggest threat yet to the town, Big Al’s going to be kept busy this summer, and not just with practicing her moves for the Ninja Librarian!

 

ebooks:
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble Nook book
iBooks
Paperbacks:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

#AtoZChallenge C is for Crazy Jake Jenkins

Following the suggestion of fellow blogger and amazing author Jemima Pett, I'm doing a very simple A to Z with characters from my writing and the books of my author friends! I'm just posting a brief profile, sometimes a quote, and the book cover with links. Though you may also see some of my typical reviews (when I feature other peoples’ books) and the usual Friday Flash Fiction.

C is for Crazy Jake Jenkins

In a nutshell: Crazy Jake and his buddy Wild Harry Colson are  trouble personified. They get a bit straightened out when the Ninja Librarian comes to town, but even he can't fix their propensity for getting into trouble.
Biggest secret: After years of mocking students and harassing teachers and librarians, Jake has a yen to learn to read.
Favorite saying: "Oops." (He doesn't actually say this in the books, but he's that sort. You can bet he's spent his life saying it).

The series is The Ninja Librarian, with three books, suitable for ages 8 or 9 and up (way up--adults love the books too!).

 

The Ninja Librarian is a humorous set of tall tales set in the highly fictional gold-country town of Skunk Corners.  It’s the story of a dusty, tough, unfriendly town that gets a new outlook on life thanks to the advent of the Ninja Librarian—a mild-mannered librarian who offers his wisdom...with a little extra when folks don’t listen.

In paperback from Amazon,  or the Createspace Store

Amazon Kindle ebook  

Smashwords (all ebook formats)

iBooks

Barnes & Noble (Nook or paper)

Kobo Store

  

When Big Al wakes up one morning and finds the Ninja Librarian has left town, everything seems to go wrong.  And just about the time she’s thinking maybe the town can cope after all, he comes back.  After that, it’s business as usual in Skunk Corners: bad guys, irritated skunks, and crises big and small that require the Librarian’s unique brand of outside-the-box thinking and direct action.

Paperbacks:

Amazon

Createspace store 

Barnes & Noble paper
Ebooks:

Amazon (Kindle)

Smashwords (all ebook formats)

iBooks

Barnes & Noble (Nook)

Kobo Store

The Ninja Librarian’s back in town, school’s out, and all’s right with the world…or is it? Big Al may be looking forward to spending her time swimming in the creek and wandering the hills, but Peggy’s looking forward to a life of drudgery. If Al can’t find a way to sway her pa, the brightest kid in Skunk Corners is going to take drastic action. With a mystery from the past haunting one of the houses and creating the biggest threat yet to the town, Big Al’s going to be kept busy this summer, and not just with practicing her moves for the Ninja Librarian!

ebooks:
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble Nook book
iBooks
Paperbacks:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

Cover Reveal! The Problem With Peggy (Ninja Librarian 3)

We've been puttering around with this for ages, and it's time. The third book of the Ninja Librarian series is getting close, and we have a cover to share!

(Insert trumpet fanfare and a troupe of acrobats here)

And don't forget--The price for The Ninja Librarian has dropped to 99 cents for the ebook, at Amazon or Smashwords. So get a copy and discover the world of Skunk Corners for yourself!

 

 

 

Be sure to take a look at Book 2, Return to Skunk Corners, as well!