Book Spotlight: Night Buddies by Sands Hetherington

Hello fellow readers! Today I invite you to check out this book spotlight as part of the World of Ink Blog Tour:

 

Publisher: Dune Buggy Press

Published: February 1, 2013

Illustrated by: Jessica Love

Pages: 320 Pages

Formats: Paperback

Buy the Book: Amazon

Synopsis:

For young John Degraffenreidt, a sleepless night is no reason to fret when tossing and turning in bed brings a bright red crocodile named Crosley out from under his bed. Night Buddies like Crosley promise an evening of adventure to any not-tired-yet kid and tonight is no different! Out of bed, and into the city, John embarks on a one-of-a-kind program with his crocodile pal. It seems like Cros is a one-of-a-kind individual that is, until red crocs start popping up all over the city, creating confusion, committing crimes, and causing Crosley to go bananas at the sight of them.

The impostors must be stopped, and Night Buddies John and Crosley are just the guys to stop them! Racing blimp stakeouts high in the sky, impostor traps organized with the help of friend, and a never ending supply of pineapple cheesecake frozen yogurt make for one totally super sleepless night

Q&A With Sands Hetherington

 Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I'm an old man and live by a small lake in North Carolina with my Saint Bernards Dudley and Maggie.  I didn't finish tenth grade but got into our state university by the back door.  I have two advanced degrees, two children, have been a hod carrier, a laborer at a newspaper, a mutual fund counselor, and a sporadic storyteller.  Now it's just the stories.

Describe your desk/workspace.

Sometimes the kitchen table, but usually it's the old chaise in my living room.  There's a little table on one side, and I always use an ancient green clipboard on my knees like I'm doing right now.

 Do you have a favorite quote?

No.  There are too many great ones.

 What are you currently reading?

Huckleberry Finn.

 What is the best advice you've ever received?

Don't just do something.  Stand there.

 If you could have coffee with anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would it be and why?

Caesar (the Dictator).  I'd give anything to see what some of these ancient colossi were really like.

 What are your top three favorite books and why?

That's really a hard one, because there are probably 35 in my top 10.  Three that I really, really like are the one just mentioned that I'm reading for the fifth or sixth time, Joyce's Ulysses, and The Catcher in the Rye.  Obviously for different reasons which are too complicated to explain in fifty pages.  I could easily add twenty more books to these three.

 What was your favorite book as a child and why?

The OZ series.  Critics said Frank Baum had no literary merit, and I understand what they meant, but kids weren't interested in literary merit.  They knew what they liked, and that guy had a captivating imagination if anybody ever did.

 What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Really goofy ideas.

Do you write full-time or part-time?

I don't know any fiction writers who do it for more than two or three hours.  I call that fulltime.  It's certainly as much as I do.  I suppose you could consider this part-time if the writer goes off and plies some other trade for the rest of the day, but this is muddying the issue.

 If you could do anything in the world, what would it be and why?

I would have a time machine, and a device to make me invisible like my character Crosley has, and I would go back and snoop on all of the great people and events.  Just the past, mind you: I don't want to know the future unless it's just the stock market.

 What is the craziest thing you ever did? This could be as a writer or any other time in your life.

During the oil embargo in the early seventies, I hoarded 120 gallons of gasoline in an aquarium in my garage.  The gasoline started dissolving the aquarium sealant and leaking, and I had to move it to proper containers just before the neighborhood would have been incinerated!

 Did you feel like a celebrity when you held your first published book?

No, that was just the start.  For all I knew, it might be a bust.

 If you could have a star like on Hollywood Blvd, who would you want to have your star by?

This can be an actually star on Hollywood Blvd. or someone you just admire.

L. Frank Baum.

 Is there anything in your life you wish you could do over and why?

The number of things is legion.  (There were approximately 6,000 soldiers in a Roman legion.)  All of the usual stuff like bad marriages, bad investments, and I really wish I had done something to prevent two of my dogs from getting run over.

 Who has been your biggest support or inspiration?

Probably my grandmother.  She was a prominent educator and role model who raised and put up with me.

 What would be the best way for readers to contact you?

www.dunebuggypress.com

info@dunebuggypress.com

 Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Thanks for having me.  I've got to go try to get John out of the fix he's in.

Cheers, Sands

About the Author:

Sands Hetherington, creator of the Night Buddies series of chapter books is delighted to

have published his second title, Night Buddies, Impostors, and One Far-Out Flying

Machine. Sands credits his son John for being his principal motivator in creating Night

Buddies. He and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series

during months of bedtime story give-and-take. They collaborated many nights on

escapades starring John and Crosley, until eventually it occurred to Sands why it was that

Crosley was bright red. That was when the first book came together. Now, Sands is

pleased to announce the second title in the series!

Sands is also a Civil War buff. He would like to spend a month of evenings with common

soldiers from both sides to see how they felt about the business. And eccentric generals

like Jackson, Sherman and Forrest, and most of all Lincoln. Because Lincoln never gets

to smile in his pictures. Sands majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an

M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives in

Greensboro now, and hangs out with his longtime friend Ann and their Saint Bernards

Dudley and Maggie. He likes visiting ancient Mediterranean sites in Turkey and Italy,

and most of all Greece

About the Illustrator:

Jessica Love grew up in California, with two artist parents. She studied pintmaking and
drawing at UC Santa Cruz, then went to study acting at The Juilliard School in NYC.
Jessica currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, toggling back and forth between her
work as an actor and her work as an artist.

Learn More about Night Buddies:


Follow the Night Buddies at
Fan Website: www.nightbuddiesadventures.com
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/nightbuddies
Twitter: @Night_Buddies
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nightbuddies2/
GoodReads Author Sands Hetherington
Publisher Website: www.dunebuggypress.com