New Releases by Joan Spilman

King and Queen Duckworthy are in a dither. The royal eggs have hatched, but the ducklings are zombies! Their eyes are green, their quacks are growls, and their flesh is pasty gray. Do the twelve ducklings belong to the Royal Couple or Purple Rage, the flamboyant zombie who lives in the Forbidden Vally Bog?

Paradoxically, they belong to both! Queen Esmeralda ate a fishtail fern from the Forbidden Valley Bog while she was carrying her eggs, thus tainting them with "zombiness".

The ducklings are unruly. Six months out of the year, Purple Rage takes half the brood to the bog where they learn the death waddle, the zombie beak click, and how to swallow bullfrogs whole. Those left with the Duckworthys learn good posture, table manners, and the alphabet.

What happens next? Come join the fun by reading about John (aka Megachomp, D.D. S.) , Clutter Guts (aka Charlotte), Gabby (Smoking Hot Feet) and all the rest, for each duckling (and then some) have their own personal tale. These books should be read while eating plenty of sprinkles and ice cream, with Dr. Squawk's words in mind: Keep Calm and Waddle On.

AboutAuthor:

Joan Spilman has an MFA in Creative Writing from Wichita State University where she was awarded the fellowship. She has published in literary journals such as "The Laurel Review", "Short Story International", "Willow Springs", and many others. Her awards include the John Mair Award from Marshall University, the George Garrett Prize for Best Prose from Western Washington University, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. She is also the author of a tween book called "Sansablatt Head" which received a five star review from Kirkus and was called " . . . a masterfully weird adventure, likely to leave fantasty lovers in awe." She has owned one duck, Digger, who now resides at the Blenko Glass Factory pond for retired or ill-tempered ducks.

Joan Spilman brings her trademark humor and love of human eccentricity to a lively young adult fantasy, Sansablatt Head. Alec Mulroon is an angry, unhappy boy, abandoned by his globe-trotting mother, who sends him gifts to make up for her absence. The latest is an ugly wooden head she found in an antique store. But this head is not empty. One night, it begins to talk, and Alec discovers it is the prison of a young king named Sansablatt from the land of Quelle, banished to earth by a sorcerer. Desperate to escape his wooden prison, Sansablatt takes Alec and a dog named Diogenes to Quelle in hopes of regaining his true form. There, Alec meets a host of remarkable people, from the stubborn yet charming General Eugenia McPherson McNutt to the self-centered Princess Claudine. The land is divided into clan domains: swampland for the Heelers, who love mud and slime, and mountains for the Whitehairs, who hunt and ride and love the clear, cool air; and in the plains the Selorians, Sansablatt's clan. Wherever there is food to steal, there, too, are the Swarthy Giants, creatures of immense size and little brain who terrorize the countryside. Presiding over the elements are the Skylls, seven cranky wizards who wield magical power, but not always wisely or well. Without its king Quelle has seen nothing but strife, ruled over by the treacherous mage Garious Durg and Sansablatt's rival, Rock—who looks like a king and talks like a king, but has the intelligence and empathy of, well, a rock. Alec, Sansablatt, and Diogenes embark on a journey through mountainous terrain to the Question Mark Cave, the only place where Sansablatt might regain his true form. On the way they must face their own weakness and fear in order to battle an evil they cannot see or control. Fans of young adult fiction will embrace Spilman's witty tale of a land where appearances are deceiving, truth is hard to come by, and listening to others (even the lowliest) may prove the difference between life and death. Coming soon is the next book in this series: Deep Woods, Dark Danger.