Misunderstood Monsters

I've been working on a book for my youngest daughter, Madyson, who is eight. She likes supernatural things and also girls who are heroes and "plucky" like she is. It is REALLY HARD for me to dial back the gory content. Now, Madyson is the type of kid who LOVES gory stuff but let's be honest, I can't put the kind of things in this book that I did in "Sideshow" or in "Ravens" because it's way too graphic. But I think I'm doing a good job so far in making it Madyson-friendly. The age-appropriate gory stuff won't happen until a later chapter but here is an excerpt of Chapter One-The Werewolf's Errand from the book I am writing for her, called "Misunderstood Monsters":




Chapter One-The Werewolf's Errand


Greta Goldfinch sighed and drummed her slender fingers on the steering wheel of the black 1939 Lincoln Zephyr. The car was a gift from Mr. Tepes, since she was his emissary during daylight hours. But sitting in an alleyway waiting for a werewolf was proving to be a very boring babysitting duty, whether or not one was immersed in the luxuriant leather seating of a meticulously restored classic car, or not. She checked her watch for the fourth time, impatient. Molly was due home from school within the hour and if furface didn't hurry his fuzzy rear end, she was going to leave him at the butcher's shop. Granted, he wasn't currently in werewolf form but the name still applied.

Driving the underage werewolf around during daylight hours, when he was clothed in his human skin and human clothes for that matter, was part of her new job working for Mr. Tepes. This new job was not too trying, as jobs went, though relocation had been somewhat troubling. Mostly the position consisted of driving around, doing errands, paying bills, and a little light housekeeping at the rather grand home that the vampire shared with his werewolf nephew and a frightening looking fellow described as an "old family friend". The three bachelors kept the place pretty neat, so there was never a great deal of laundry or dishes to care for, and Greta found the job to be rather mundane. After all, one would expect a certain element of danger, or perhaps a little excitement, when working for employers who were supernatural.

Greta sighed again and checked her watch a second time. She could not imagine how her husband, Joseph Goldfinch, had done this job for so many years. Not that he'd done the housekeeping bit, but Joseph was Mr. Tepes' daytime representative for six years before he died. It still brought tears to Greta's eyes, over a year later. She remembered that terrible night as if it were yesterday...





Madyson and Kitty reading! I love this :)

What was your favorite book to read as a child? Your favorite chapter book? Picture book? Young adult book? There are so many to choose from!