Today is time for another Creative Kid Thursday!
But before I get to the Creative Kid of today – I want to tell everyone to check out ANOTHER creative kid – my little sister Josie who entered a drawing in Susanna Leonard Hill’s –

Meet kid author – Rena Marthaler! Woo!
Rena wrote a book during NaNoWriMo when she was just 9 years old!
Here is the description of her book:
“Magic The Crest tells the tale of ten-year-old Rachel and her three best friends, who discover they have extraordinary powers to save their elementary school from a terrifying flying dragon. These strong girls use their powers to follow prophecies to rescue a lost child and to find a series of coveted jewels. They battle mythological monsters, shape-shifting animals, and forces of nature in their quest for the Crest.”
I read Magic the Crest and was impressed with the action in the story. Rena combine magic, friendship and some cool sci-fi themes her first middle-grade reader.
by Rena Marthaler
138 pages – ages 8+
Published by Create Space on December 20, 2013
Rena agreed to do an interview with me too!
You sure get the reader into the action right away! Your characters are battling dragons by page four! How important do you think it is to hook your reader right away?
I think it is very important to hook your reader! I tried to do that with the action and exciting chapter titles. The first chapter is called “I Have Powers and a Sword.” Another chapter is called, “Escape Except for One.” It’s an adventure story, so I wanted my readers to know that right away.
You thank NaNoWriMo in your acknowledgements and even make reference to it in your story (you have an eel saying “Na No Wri.” Do you think you would have written this book if it weren’t for NaNoWriMo? For those who do not know what NaNoWriMo is, could you tell us also about your experience with it?
The idea for my book came from a game I play with my friends at recess and I wanted to write the story before I found out about NaNoWriMo. But, NaNoWriMo motivates writers to finish the whole book so it can be published.
Writing with NaNoWriMo was exciting. I set my word count goal too high and I had to write a lot to finish by the end of the month. My mom let me skip some of my homework. But don’t take that as a reason to join NaNoWriMo. There are hundreds of other great reasons to be a writer in that contest.
I think I’ll have to try our NaNoWriMo this year. Okay, so where did Lily and Ashley get the pizza and soda from when they were way up on Mt. Hood in the middle of nowhere?
The weird thing is, I really have no idea where Lily and Ashley get the pizza and soda. It’s the twist in that scene. A lot of odd things happen in my book!
You left the reader with quite a cliffhanger in “Magic The Crest.” Are you writing another book in the series?
Yes. A lot of my classmates are telling me that I should write another one. So I’m 99.99 percent sure I will.
I sure hope you do write another! What do you like to do other than write?
–
I like to visit new places. I have sat on a crocodile in Thailand, climbed the Eiffel Tower, and learned how to snorkel. But at home, I like normal stuff like reading, spelling, basketball, video games, playing with friends and my dogs, and making French toast and lemon bars. I like a lot more than that, too, but I don’t want to bore you.
Hmm… maybe you could mail me some of those lemon bars… If you could sit down with one author (living or dead) and have a conversation, who would it be and why?
Oh, my! Rick Riordan. His books have cliffhangers at every moment, the characters are loyal and persistent, and they don’t give in to their enemies. His characters are smart alecks but in an endearing way.
GREAT answer Rena! 🙂 Thanks for doing this interview!
To learn more about Rena, visit her Facebook page HERE and her website HERE.
Magic the Crest is available on AMAZON HERE.
Categories: Creative Kids
Oh My Goodness! I do LOVE meeting these brilliant young authors. Well done Rena and Erik. Great interview!
Thank you Dr. Clune! 🙂
Wow! 138 pages? Congratulations, Rena. I absolutely love the cover, and the story sounds fabulous. Erik, where do you find all these amazing young authors?
We kids have our ways… MWAH HAHAHA HA HA HAAAAAaaaaaaaa
WOW, 138 pages is totally impressive during NanoWriMo from anyone. Congratulations, Rena and great interview!
Thank you for your comment Miss Marple! 🙂
Fantastic stuff! I’m a big fan of dragons myself so this is definitely going on my TBR pile! 🙂
Thanks for your comment Mr. Tucker!
I have co-opted Rena’s blog to add a comment. Erik, thank you for interviewing Rena. It’s wonderful that you have created a forum for young and grown up readers and writers to connect about books. What will you call your site when you’re no longer a kid?? :)))
Thank you Ms, Marthaler! Well I already have the domain “ThisTeenReviewsBooks.com” ! 😉
So you also need “ThisYoungAdultReviewsBooks.com” & “ThisCollegeKidReviewsBooks.com” & “ThisGraduateHasReviewedThousandsOfBooksPayHimBigBucksToWriteForYourPublication.com” 🙂
LOL!!! You made me BARK, I laughed so hard! LOVE that! 😀 😀 😀
Ha ha ha!!! I’ll have to grab those too! 😀
🙂
Fantastic cover. WOWZA! Rena, you’re well on your way. I love the chapter names. It IS super important to hook the readers. Looks like you did great job! Excellent interview, Rena and Erik (person who eats all the donuts). *waving and smiling*
nom nom nom Whaf donufs?
Thanks Ms. Campbell! 🙂
Wow! Amazing, Rena! Congrats on you book. It sounds action-packed and that’s what I like!
Thanks for your comment Ms. Klostermann! 🙂
Wow! I am very impressed Rena. Your book sounds like it has a lot of action and adventure. Good for you!
Thanks for your comment Mrs. Tilton! 🙂
OMGoodness, Rena! Did you say f-f-f-flying dragons? *gulp* I hope those girls are as tough as they sound and I hope they can come to my house to protect me. Great interview, E.
Love and licks and I like lemon bars, too,
Cupcake
I’ll save you some lemon bars Cupcake!
Wow, Erik, I’m REALLY falling in love with your “Creative Kid Thursday” posts! I’m blown away by the ambition and talent of these young people, for sure. LOVE that cover! And Rena is adorable! 😀
The cover is amazing isn’t it? 🙂
Oh, and I forgot to mention: I posted art in Susanna’s contest. LOVE Josie’s, btw. EXcellent content for Mike Allegra’s version of the story! 😀
Thank you! Josie worked hard on that! 🙂
Josie did a GREAT job on her illustration! Rena is another remarkable SuperKid author that you’ve featured here! Great interview!
Thank you for checking out Josie’s illustration! 🙂 I am glad you like SuperKid Rena!
Another great interview Erik!! You have a special knack for finding special kids!! That book sounds great! I like dragon stories. I also like lemon bars. I once ate a whole pan all by myself! I think I like Rena!!
I think that would give you a tummy ache Rhythm! 🙂 I’ll save you some lemon bars too – now I just have to get Rena to send them to us…
My Mom Person thought I would be having a tummy ache too, but not me!
Another fab-u-lous interview, Erik. We are thrilled, here, that we met Rena through your blog. Gotta love a kid who would want to talk to Mr. Riordan, right? 😉 Thank you for introducing talented kids to the kidlit blogging world. We love Josie’s book cover, too!
-The Gang
Thanks for checking out Josie’s cover! Rena is a SUPErkid! 🙂
Wow, what a great kid–a female YOU! Nano is tough. I did it last year and wore myself out getting to 50,000. At age 9, there is no way. What a terrific kid, balance, and becoming a world traveler!
Yeah – I am not sure I’d have enough time to try NaNoWriMo… maybe – 🙂
Thank you for all the nice comments! I think I should send Erik some lemon bars 🙂 Best wishes, Rena
I will be waiting for them Rena! 😉
Hello there Rena, great to meet you through Erik! Keep writing! 🙂
I just ordered this book! I can’t wait to read it. It’s been on my TBR for forever. Nice interview!
Thanks! I hope you like it! 🙂