Monday, September 28, 2015

Moonlighting With Marsupials


I recently had the pleasure of attending the first annual Local Authors' Book Signing Extravaganza at Bessemer Public Library in Bessemer, Alabama. What an enjoyable day it was!

Couldn't take a live marsupial into the library, so here I am with Pascal the Possum, from my extensive collection of possumables.

I'm looking forward to an exciting autumn season and all the fun holidays ahead of us. Now is a perfect time to get your copy of the newly issued edition of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, and get ready for the sequel, The Witches of Moonlight Ridge, full of surprises and coming soon!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Sweet Music - Volume One of The Moonlight Ridge Series

What kind of music drifts across the mountain ridge above the tiny rural Alabama town of Eden, and what are the secrets hidden on the mountain paths, under the ancient trees, and under the mysterious moon of Moonlight Ridge?

Discover a family history filled with a legacy of curiosity, courage and delightful eccentricity, in a setting where the natural fauna and flora of the woods of Alabama create a wonderland for two unusual children.



Can you hear children's voices, singing and laughing as they dance beneath sweet gum, dogwood, and sycamore trees, with the gentle Alabama breeze murmuring leafy music around them?














Wouldn't you like to see what these two precocious cousins see, hear the whispery secrets, and feel the ancient magic in the deep woods and on dusty red-dirt trails, as they look for answers and follow their hearts 'out on the mountain?'
.





All these secrets and mysteries come to life on the pages of
Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge

Read it and discover an enchanted world you'll not soon forget.

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
A Novel
by
Ramey Channell

Friday, April 3, 2015

Those Kids Are Back! Lily Claire and Willie T. on Moonlight Ridge

I'm so happy to announce that my debut novel is now Book One of the Moonlight Ridge Series, in a beautiful new edition and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kindle. 

Pick up my new edition from Amazon here 

and from Barnes & Noble here

and from Ingram Books for retailers here


I'll be announcing upcoming book signings here, so stay tuned.
And, Book Two of The Moonlight Ridge Series is on its way.






Saturday, March 28, 2015

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge



"Willie T. and I were expert doodle bug catchers. But once you've caught a doodle bug, there's not much to do except look at it and say, "Yep, that's a doodle bug!" then put him back in his doodle bug hole. And ugly? Hesperolean abdominalis is a gruesome sight." - Lily Claire Nash

I'm pleased to announce that Book One of the Moonlight Ridge Series, Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge will be available very soon in the long awaited second edition: projected date, around the third week of April 2015! I'm so happy to share this news with all my readers, fans, and friends.

Watch for updates and announcements of book-signing locations and times.
It's almost doodle bug season!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, second edition coming soon , followed by Book Two, The Witches of Moonlight Ridge. I can't wait!

I was invited by Teresa Thorne, author of the highly acclaimed novel, Noah's Wife, and Last Chance for Justice, to participate in a book blog chain. The idea of The Next Big Thing is that I discuss my WIPs, works-in-progress, then invite other bloggers to do the same.

My first book, Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, introduced a pair of surprising, unforgettable characters, Lily Claire Nash and her famous cousin, Willie T. Nock. The story tells how Willie T. became a famous hero in their hometown of Eden, Alabama and Moonlight Ridge, the wooded mountain home where these eight-year-old mystery solvers live.


Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, published by Chalet Publishers LLC in 2010, is Southern literary fiction with a touch of the supernatural, mystery, music, and humor. Set in a small 1950s Alabama town and surrounding woodlands, this is the tale of  two young intrepid explorers who come to the rescue when an important member of their community is apparently kidnapped. Lily Claire and Willie T. use their wits, courage, and knowledge of the mountain to restore peace when tragedy threatens to destroy the harmony of their idyllic community.

Here's what authors Cassandra King and T.K. (Teresa) Thorne said about Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge:

"The antics of the delightfully eccentric Greenberry family had me laughing from the first page, and by the time I'd reluctantly finished their story, I wanted to pack up and move to Eden, Alabama.  I can't wait to share this charming and original book with friends and family!"  
Cassandra King, author of The Same Sweet Girls

“If you didn’t grow up on Moonlight Ridge, you will wish you had. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would be right at home. I promise you laughter and the sweet music of a place and time you will not soon forget.”        T.K. Thorne, author of Noah’s Wife

A few copies of the first edition are still available on Amazon and B&N. Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge will be out soon in a second edition as Book One of The Moonlight Ridge Series, followed by Book Two, The Witches of Moonlight Ridge. I can't wait!

 
                                                                Witches are coming!
.

The Next Big Thing: Witches are on their way to Moonlight Ridge!


1-What is your working title of your book?
The Witches of Moonlight Ridge. Lily Claire and Willie T. befriend a charismatic young teacher who comes to Eden Elementary, and the trio find themselves immersed in a haunting manifestation that will lead them into a truly mysterious adventure.

2-Where did the idea come from for the book?
As with my first book, I must thank my family, parents, grandparents, relatives, for inspiring me to write The Witches of Moonlight Ridge. My writing is a mixture of fact and fiction, and, like the first of the series, the most remarkable and unbelievable parts are the ones that are true.

 3-What genre does your book fall under?
The Moonlight Ridge Series is Southern literary fiction.

4-Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I'll have to go back to my debut novel, first of the Moonlight Ridge Series, to answer this question. After watching the phenomenal Hatfields and McCoys TV series, I definitely want Kevin Costner to play Great-granddaddy W.T. Greenberry! I think for young actors to play Lily Claire and Willie T., there would have to be a great talent search to find the right ones!

And for this current work-in-progress, I would want to choose a young dark-haired beauty to play "the witch."

5-What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
In  Book Two, autumn comes to Moonlight Ridge, and with the changing seasons comes a spooky story that brings many changes out on the mountain, transporting the reader into the realm of the supernatural.

6-Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
After the publisher of my first book went out of business, I have been considering what direction to take for publishing the entire Moonlight Ridge Series. I'm happy to announce that a new publisher is on board.

7-How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I'm still in the middle of working on this new manuscript. I have chapters, notes, scraps of paper, notebooks, and print-outs all over my house! I expect to have the first draft finished in a couple of months. That will make it about two years that I've worked on the book.

8-What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Reviewers compared Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge to Because of Winn Dixie, Tom Sawyer, and most flattering, To Kill a Mocking Bird. I originally compared the series to an adult version of The Bobbsey Twins. My work-in-progress is much more gothic, a Southern gothic  Bobbsey Twins for adults.So I don't know for sure if there are other books to compare it to! It's a totally innovative idea.

9-Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I can't say much about this question without letting "spoiler" information out. I mentioned before that my family, family stories, and the mountain environment are the true sources of my inspiration. The tale I have to tell is wrapped up in the life and legacy of the real Moonlight Ridge.

10-What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I hope everyone who read and loved Sweet Music will watch for the publication of The Witches of Moonlight Ridge. You'll find some new characters, new-old songs, bewitching poetry and spine-chilling adventures as the witching season comes to Moonlight Ridge.

If you like adventure, strange beasts, Southern songs, friendly possums, precocious children, and scary stories, then please leave a comment!



.