Bianca with Chris Wieland on The Crabtree Monster: A Kat Dylan Mystery

This episode is brought to you by our guest, award-winning writer and filmmaker Chris Wieland. He's here to talk about his first book in the Kat Dylan Mysteries, The Crabtree Monsters. Chris is the father of two fierce children, including a tough, smart tween who helped him find the voice of his protagonist, Kat Dylan. He lives in Southern California with his family.

Order copies of The Crabtree Monsters on Amazon.

Transcription:

You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review.

Resources:

For more information on the series, visit https://www.thesmartaleckpress.com.

Discussion Topics:

• About The Crabtree Monsters
• A look at the character development of siblings Kat and Alec Dylan
• A talk through the funny moments in the book from pre-baby to parent
• The importance of having strong female characters for kids to identify with
• Rewriting a screenplay to become a middle-grade novel
• Inspiration from the family-adventure movies of the 80s
• Kat's resemblance to Ruth Langmore from Ozark
• How reading inspires and influences Chris Wieland's writing
• Great mystery writers
• Why kids love reading mystery books
• What's next for the Kat Dylan Mysteries